(SKKN mới NHẤT) some methods of teaching and learning english vocabulary for 6th grade students at tran mai ninh secondary school

THANH HOA CITYTHANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING INITIATIVE SOME METHODS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING TRAN MAI NINH SECONDARY SCHOOL Writer: Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang Position: Teac

THANH HOA CITY

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND

TRAINING

INITIATIVE

SOME METHODS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

TRAN MAI NINH SECONDARY SCHOOL

Writer: Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang

Position: Teacher School: Tran Mai Ninh Secondary School Subject: English

THANH HOA - 2020

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale page 2

1.3 Sample of the study page 3

CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM SOLVING

2.1 Some topics of vocabulary in English page 4

2.2 Some techniques to learn vocabulary in English page 4

2.3 Drills for practice page 7

CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

3.1 Findings page 12

3.2 Recommendations page 12

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE

1.1.1 Theoretical basis

Integrating with the trend of social development in particular and the

world in general, English subject has an important role to play in the

comprehensive development of each student With the aim at enabling them to

integrate with international and regional communities, access various

information about science and technology as well as apply the acquired

knowledge at school effectively, educational management levels have

continually opened different themes, seminars and model lessons on issues

about innovating the teaching and learning methods of foreign language.

Currently, in the process of innovating teaching approach, the ultimate

aim is to form and develop students the basic knowledge, skills in English and

intellectual qualities necessary to continue studying or working

Along with the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, learning

vocabulary is essential Vocabulary works as an important basis for them to

complete their skills in learning any foreign languages However, in fact

learning a foreign language is not easy, so students often get bored because of

numerous challenges in foreign language learning One of their difficulties is to

perceive and memorize words they have learned or read before Therefore, it is

pivotal for teachers should show their students effective techniques to study and

remember words so that vocabulary is not the serious burden to them

1.1.2 Practical basis

Teaching and learning foreign language is different from other school

subjects as it is about an exotic language As a result, students are faced with

numerous challenges, especially in Vietnam where English is taught as one of

many foreign languages and students do not have many opportunities to use

English outside classrooms and Tran Mai Ninh Secondary School in Thanh Hoa

city is not an exception Therefore, the teacher should find out and provide them

with techniques to learn vocabulary effectively while creating favorable learning

conditions which are conducive to students’ willingness to learn vocabulary as

well as English Accordingly, they are more interested in English, which make

the learning process become more comfortable

After conducting mini tests to the students of 3 classes 6C, 6F, 6H at Tran

Mai Ninh Secondary School with the same content, the results are as follows:

Number of students with pass mark (50%) 18/ 37 22/ 46 23/ 45 The table above shows that the number of students scored the pass mark is

on about the average (the number of students scoring the average mark is around

50% in all 3 classes) It is evident that the students' lexical resource is relatively

limited compared with the knowledge of the vocabulary they have been

provided from the secondary level

On the basis of theory and reality as well as my teaching experience, I

finally select the teaching initiative named "Some methods of teaching and

learning English vocabulary for 6th grade students at Tran Mai Ninh secondary

school"

1.2 Objectives of the study:

- Work out the methods of teaching and learning vocabulary suitable for

high school students

- Consolidate the lexical resource for students by developing exercises

for them to practice

1.3 Subject of the study

6th grade students at Tran Mai Ninh secondary school have learned

10-year English pilot program published by the Ministry of Education and Training

1.4 Scope of the study

Lexical resource is taken from English course book for 6th grade students

in 1st semesters

1.5 Research methodology:

1) Quantitative method: The author systematizes the number of vocabulary that

students have learned

2) Observation: The author has experienced teaching in many classes and

compared different classes The evidence is shown through results of tests that

the author marked

3) Interview: The author interviews students about the learning method of

vocabulary In the position of group leader of English teachers, the author has

chance to interview other colleagues, parents and students

4) Experimental method: Students in two experimental classes were asked to do

two similar tests before and during the study (after the application of the

techniques to learn vocabulary), then the author compares and draws the final

conclusion about the practicality of appropriate methods of learning vocabulary

CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM SOLVING

Like the Vietnamese vocabulary, English vocabulary is divided into

diverse types and different topics Therefore, in order to remember groups of

vocabulary we need to have these suitable methods and techniques to memorize

each type of word

2.1 Some topics of vocabulary in English:

a / Direction: Behind, in front of, to the left of, to the right of, opposite, near,

next to, the between

b/ School: School, grade, classroom, English, literature, history, geography,

math, Timetable

c/ Occupation: Student, teacher, nurse, doctor, engineer, worker, driver, farmer,

business, policeman

d/ Family: Family, sister, brother, father, mother, children, classmate

e/ Sports: Sport, soccer, football, volleyball

f/ Transportation: Bus, plane, bike, car, motorbike, truck, road sign, accident,

traffic light, intersection

g/ Quality: Big, small, noisy, quiet, beautiful, tall, late, old, high, difficult,

dangerous

h / Things: Desk, door, window, board, clock, waste basket, schoolbag, pencil,

pen, ruler, eraser, bookshelf, stereo, lamp, couch, armchair, table, chair, stool,

television, telephone, bench, letter, photo, flower, tree

k/ Action: Come in, sit down, stand up, close, open, get up, get dressed, brush

one's teeth, wash one's face, have breakfast, go to school / bed, so one's

homework, take a shower, play games / soccer, read, have jobs, spell, walk, turn,

l/ Places: House, living room, class, school, floor, classroom, city, town, street,

country, farm, rice paddy, paddy fields, river, hotel, village, store, temple,

restaurant, bank, hospital, factory, museum, stadium, drugstore, toy store, movie

theater, zoo, police station, bakery, well, garden, mountain, clinic, post office,

shop, supermarket, market, sea, food stall, canteen

2.2 Some techniques to learn vocabulary in English:

When you encounter a new English word, it is necessary to remember it

immediately and find tips to memorize it It is a mistake if you forget the word

because when you happen to see it latter, you but cannot remember it or know it

by face without memorizing its meaning Above are some tips to remember

words faster and for a long time

2.2.1 Learning vocabulary by grouping them in relevant topic, part of

speech or the extent of use (Using Network)

When learning new words, you should find out whether there exists any

relationship between the words you have already known and new words Below

are effective ways to learn and remember new words There are some

relationships between words in English as follows:

Example 1:

Example 2:

2.2.2 Learning new words through words with similar meaning or

synonyms

Although many adjectives are not synonymous, their meanings are

related to each other because they refer to the qualities of an object, event, or

phenomenon

The recording and learning words with similar meaning also prove its

effectiveness and these new words will gradually be added to the list during the

learning process

For example, when talking about the temperature, we have a series of

adjectives demonstrating from low to high temperatures

Children

Mother

Friends

Sister

Father

FAMILY Brother

Traffic light

Intersection Sign

Car Truck

Accident

Motorbike

Train

Bike Bus

ROAD / STREET

2.2.3 Learning vocabulary by comparing with opposites/ antonyms

This relationship has a strong impact to the memorization of vocabulary

For example, when you are asked for a word related to the word 'hot', you will

reply the 'cold', rather than words like 'desert', 'sun', 'weather'

Consequently, you'll find out that noting and learning words with opposite

meaning are very effective For example:

expensive narrow shallow dishonest poor defend

2.2.4 Learning vocabulary by combining words

There are words which are often combined together into a phrase such as

'perform a task', 'make a suggestion', or 'do one's homework', etc You should

also learn how to memorize new words in this way because this technique is

practical and you can understand how to use and incorporate words

systematically

The words will be recorded in the form of mind map and recall visual

diagram as follows:

2.2.5 Learning words through separation and combination techniques

Example 1: The word “Brusque” (adj) means being rude, impolite

This is a very difficult word to remember and rarely found in English

materials Let’s see the separation technique to make the memorization at ease

Brusque can be separated from the BRUS - QUE

Make

Waste Spend

MONEY

Then, Brus is transformed into BRUSH and QUE is changed into

QUEEN.

As you can see, words like BRUSH (pen) and QUEEN (Queen) are

simple words to those who have learned English

Now, the word BRUSQUE originally means "grumpy and rude", you

associate it to BRUSH and QUEEN Let’s imagine, in the kingdom of the

brush, there is a queen reigning and she is a very rude and gruff person

The BRUSH QUEEN is very BRUSQUE

Example 2: AUGUR (v): predict

Let’s think AUGUST

Imagine: A magician can AUGUR (predict) what may happen in AUGUST.

A shaman can AUGUR everything that happens in AUGUST

Example 3: BERATE (v) strict punish

Let’s think BE- A-RAT (a mouse)

Imagine: A naughty boy is punished by a fairy She BERATE (punishes) him by

MAKING HIM BE A RAT (turning him into a mouse).

2.2.6 Learning vocabulary through association technique

It means that you learn words through associating words with other familiar

words

For example: Stable (a) = firm and unchanged

The word “stable” is similar in spelling with the word “table” Your association

is because the table has 4 legs so it is very stable

2.3 Drills for practice

In order to support students to learn vocabulary effectively, the teacher

should introduce the topic in advance to students This way can help them focus

on thinking

2.3.1 Jumbled words

 Things

= stereo = eraser

dobar

seetor seerra

chocu

 Subjects

This is a type of exercise in which words are jumbled in a disorderly

way and students are asked to find correct words The exercise helps students

develop the ability to guess words quickly and accurately, as well as generate

excitement for them when revising vocabulary

2.3.2 Word folks

This type of exercise provides students with a root word/ phrase and they

will have to find words or phrases which can be matched with the original

phrase suitably

For example:

2.3.3 Word square

This exercise requires students to know words as well as find related

words quickly with suggestion or without suggestion Before finding the

vocabulary students are provided with topics so students could anticipate the

words related to a given topic and then start to find words given in boxes with

different letters

For example:

 Topic: Places/ Means of transport

2.3.3 Crossword Puzzles:

Crossword puzzles require students’ ability to remember the words

because in order to do this exercise, students must deal with crossword puzzles

with clues given After understanding the clues to infer, students have to find the

exact word to match the crossword Normally, this exercise requires students to

find the key word which is the first presumed vertical column

Another difficulty for students is that there is no common topic for

crossword so students can hardly judge the key word in vertical column if they

cannot solve quizzes in horizontal cells Because of the difficulty and precision

of vocabulary, students need to have relatively abundant lexical resource

Answer

 pool, car, temple

 well, garden, bus

 train, zoo

 bank

 apartment

 park, vegetable, market, mountain, plane

Answer

 right, behind, front, left, between

 near, next

 opposite

Therefore, this exercise will help students with the ability to think quickly and become more responsive to the vocabulary Besides, students can memorize words much better after completing the crossword

For example:

1 A natural cavity below the earth surface or in the mountain

2 Light of the sun

3 A large natural stream of water

4 A short journey usually for pleasure

5 A temple or sacred tower in Asian countries

6 The science that studies the surface of the earth and its associated physical, bi-ological, economic, political features

7 A hill of impressive height

Key

2.3.5 Network

Students will be given a hint and they need to list words related to the teacher’s suggestion (as much as possible)

In a network exercise, students should remember words in themes, read and write them on their own without any hint This exercise will help students

systematize words in accordance with themes, remember how to read and write the exact words

For example:

Rock ‘n’

Roll

Jazz

Classical music

Types of Music

CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 3.1 Findings

Based on the experience of teaching and experimental students’ results in vocabulary exercises in 3 classes 6C, 6F, 6H at Tran Mai Ninh secondary school, the results of effectiveness after applying the techniques to learn English vocabulary can be seen through the number of students with pass mark over the total number of students in each class as follows:

Before application 18/ 37 22/ 46 23/ 45

After application 24/ 37 30/ 46 32/ 45

Looking at the results we can see the progress of the students in doing the interesting exercises about vocabulary after they apply learning techniques These results demonstrate that these techniques and exercises have brought effectiveness Students were able to use a lot of words and remember more, they also began to feel excited when learning with different words and no longer felt afraid to learn vocabulary as well as vocabulary exercises

3.2 Recommendations

From the results obtained above I would like to put forward some recommendations:

Firstly, as teachers we need to disseminate techniques for learning vocabulary to students at low level so that they can remember simple words and accumulate more words when they level up If their vocabulary is restricted, students will encounter many difficulties at higher grades because vocabulary is increasingly diverse, easily leading to disruption when learning words

Secondly, it is challenging for students to learn new words after every lesson Accordingly, teachers should make every effort to design suitable types

of exercises about vocabulary for students to practice It is important to design diverse drills for each unit and revise words regularly through practicing because these activities will contribute to improving their memory Students, thus, can remember words in class without taking the time to learn at home Therefore, it is necessary to further strengthen the lexical exercises, especially integrate them in new units in the warm – up, post- teaching session or the consolidation period Thanks to these exercises done before, during or after the lesson, students will be able remember better