There are many reasons but above are the main drivers for us to engage in this study entitled: Helpi...

There are many reasons but above are the main drivers for us to engage in this study entitled Helping students understand the meaning of words in context for “Tieng Anh 11“ TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents[.]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Name of the theme

A.Introduction

I Reasons of choosing the theme

II.Purposes of the study

III Scopes of the study

1 - 2

I Conclusion

II.Suggestions

Reference books

A INTRODUCTION

I.The reasons of choosing the theme

According to my teaching experiences, four language skills – listening, speaking, reading, and writing should be fully stimulated during the course of study to help the students communicate in the target language since the lack of any skills will spoil the effectiveness of communication However, learning quality is still far from being satisfactory Learners have faced many difficulties

in English learning, especially in the learning of speaking skills

In fact, it is undeniable that many Vietnamese students after seven years learning English at schools still feel confused when communicating with foreigners or they even could not say a simple utterance like an offer Obviously, the ability to communicate in a foreign language clearly and effectively contributes to the success of the learner in school and success later in every phase of life

Like many high schools in Vietnam,at Quang Xuong 3 high school, English has been a compulsory subject in its curriculum for many years and teaching new words always plays an important part in teaching the whole lesson Because words are the bricks that help students build their house of English However, many teachers have the habit of teaching isolated words Actually, they have used many techniques of teaching words, but the words presented by the teachers are not in the same contexts with the words in the lessons Moreover, we all know that words and phrases have different meanings in different contexts As a result, it is difficult for students to understand the true meaning of the words in the lessons In addition, students feel that it is really difficult for them to remember the words This leads to the fact that students are lack of motivation for learning new words And they feel that learning words are really boring because there is no linking between the words in the lessons and the words presented by the teachers Therefore, in each lesson I have tried my best to help my students understand the meaning of words in the lesson context

There are many reasons but above are the main drivers for us to engage

in this study entitled: Helping students understand the meaning of words in context for “ Tieng Anh 11 “

II In what ways were my activities carried out?

In the school year 2016-2017, I was responsible for teaching grade 11

So, in this paper I would like to deal with the lessons only in Textbook “ Tieng Anh 11” Here are the description and the purpose of each activity

Activity1:

At this state teacher led students to the context by giving the topic of the lesson or the main content of the lesson to activate students’ background knowledge The reason for doing this was that students were motivated to get interest in the topic and had ideas of words related to the topic

Activity 2:

At this state students were given some suggested questions by the teacher, they were step by step led to this context to another one by the teacher’s instructions The keys words in each lesson were underlined And the lessons which I used “ the power point” to present, the keys words were both underlined and changed the colour in red to make students easier to notice In some cases, students understood the contexts and the meaning of words, but they did not know how

to express in English, I myself helped them know what those words in English were As a result, their words were developed in a natural way Therefore, they were eager to learn new words because they found no difficulties in understanding and remembering Besides, this not only helped students understand the new words but also helped students have the prediction of the content of the lesson that they would learn

The main technique I used for my activities were to brainstorm the ideas to fill

in the “mind map”

The following is the full description of how I helped my students understand the meaning of words in context in some lessons in “ Tieng Anh 11”

III Scope, object and researching the method

- Scope: Researching in the process of teaching English at Quảng Xương III high school

- Object: This subject is concerned with ways of organizing activities in the class

- Researching method: Reading reference books, discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences

B Contents of the theme

I Theoretical basis

In reality, a textbook can never totally be an effective tool for teachers to follow without any adaptation because of its intrinsic deficiencies such as linguistic inaccuracies, out-of-datedness, lack of authenticity or lack of variety Thus, I favor Madsen and Bowen’s (1978) and Tice’s (1991) view that is the purpose of material adaptation is to compensate for those deficiencies This is important to all teachers of English because it can activate learners and stimulate their motivation, and increased motivation, in turn, is likely to create a more conductive classroom atmosphere

II Practical basis

Part of reading comprehension involves using the other words in a sentence or a passage to understand unknown word An author often includes hints, or clues, to help the reader expand vocabulary and crasp the meaning of the passage Skill in using context clues enables a reader to comprehend advance texts

Basing on these views, an action research is to caried out on adapting some activities for the ‘Tieng Anh 11 to help the learners to understand the lessons more

III.Applying some activities

UNIT 1: FRIENDSHIP

A READING:

In this lesson, students were led to the context of “ THE FRIENDSHIP” From the context, I asked students some questions to activate their background knowledge of friendship to complete a mind map

Question 1: Do you have any friends?

From the word “ friend”, I taught my students the word “ acquaintance”

Question 2: What qualities are necessary for true friendship?

Students gave some qualities of true friendship However, some words were only given in Vietnamese, I helped my students understand what those words in English were

 The mind map

UNIT 2: PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

A READING:

From the fact that teenagers tend to have their own idols, I led students to the context by asking questions:

1.Do you have your own idol?

2 Do you immediate his/ her in different ways?

Students answered my questions about her/ his own idol and in what ways they liked to immediate her own idol After that I said that in this lesson they would read a story about a girl who wanted to have a hat like her idol’s one Her father

FRIENDSHIP

acquaintance

give-and-take

mutual

understanding

unselfish

friends

qualities for true friendship

loyal

not suspicious

knew this and gave her some money so that she could buy the one for herself Next, students were divided into groups and were asked to build a story based

on the pictures in the textbook Each student in the group who was chosen to tell the story completed the story they had built During the time students told the story I helped them to understand the meaning of some new words based on the pictures

Picture d: > idol

Picture b: > floppy cotton hat

Picture f: > glance > sneaky; not making a fuss > take the money back

C LISTENING:

In this lesson students were led to the context of a fire They were told to listen

to Christina who would tell the audience about her unforgettable experience that she had witnessed The experience was that her house caught fire during the night time when she was very small Then students were asked to look at the picture in the textbook and to answer some questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: What do you think were the causes of the fire?

Question 2: How did she feel when she saw the fire?

Question 3: Who do you think she was the first person that she called when she saw the fire?

Question 4: What did her mother do to save her?

Question 5: Was the fire a forgettable experience?

* The mind map

A HOUSE CAUGHT FIRE

causes of the fire

gas stove

electricity problems

her feeling

terrified

scream

her mother

protect

her

help her to

escape

memorable

experience

UNIT 3: A PARTY

A READING:

In this lesson, students were led to the context by looking the pictures in the textbook and answering the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1:

1 On what occasions are parties held?

2 What is the relationship between the people in the pictures?

3 What are they doing?

* The mind map

A PARTY

a birthday party

celebrate

a wedding

anniversary silver anniversary

golden anniversary

C LISTENING:

In this lesson, students were led to the context by answering the questions in the textbook to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: What do you usually do to prepare your birthday party?

Question 2: What foods and drinks are often severed at your birthday party? Question 2: What activities do you often have at your birthday party?

* The mind map

UNIT 4: VOLUNTEER WORK

C LISTENING:

In this lesson, students were told to listen to a talk about a school for disadvantaged children in Ho Chi Minh city Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: Who are students in Spring School?

A BIRTHDAY PARTY

foods and drinks

birthday cake

fruits

prepare for a birthday party

candies

coke

wine

activities

games

sing songs

cutting the birthday cakes into slices

open presents

saying “ happy birthday

to the host”

preparing the birthday cake with

icing

decorating the house

putting flowers

inviting guests

prizes

for winners

Question 2: How is money raised to support charities in Spring School?

Question 3: Who set up classes in Spring School?

* The mind map

SPRING SCHOOL

disadvantaged children fund-raising activities

Organisation for Educational Development co-operates with Spring School set up the classes

UNIT 6: COMPETITIONS

A READING:

In this lesson, students were told that they would read a passage about an English competition in a high school Then students were led to the context by answering the questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: How often is the English competition held in your school?

Question 2: What is the purpose of the competition?

Question 3: What do we call in English the students who are chosen to take part

in the competition?

* The mind map

ENGLISH COMPETITIO N

how often

every two years

every year

( yearly )

the purpose

to stimulate the spirit of learning English among students

students chosen to take part in the competition

representatives

UNIT 7: WORLD POPULATION

A READING:

In this lesson, students were told that they would read a passage about WOLRD POPULATION Then students were led to the context by answering the questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: Do you know what the population of the world in 1850, 1950, 1985, and 2000?

Question 2: Can women in the world limit the size of their families?

Question 3: How does the government help them in family planning?

* The mind map

WORLD POPULATION

the population

reached the figure

of

1,300,000,000

in 1850

2,510,000

,000 in 1950

6,600,000,000

the government help the women limit

the size of their families

safe birth- control

methods

B SPEAKING:

In this lesson, students were told that they would talk about WOLRD POPULATION Then students were led to the context by answering the questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: What are the causes of population explosion?

Question 2: Can you list the problems facing poor and overpopulated countries? Question 3: Can you suggest the solutions to the problems of overpopulation?

* The mind map

WOLRD POPULATION

causes of population

explosion

not aware of the problem of overpopulation

religion

a large family is

a form of

insurance

problems facing

poor conditions

lack/ shortage of school/ hospital/ teacher/ doctor

solutions

raise awareness

implement reward and

punishment policies

use birth-control method

C LISTENING

In this lesson, students were told to listen to a world population expert talking about the world population Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: Which country has the population ranked the first?

Question 2: What problem does population explosion cause to the world?

* The mind map

UNIT 8: CELEBRATIONS

A READING:

In this lesson, students were watched to a video clip about Tet Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map”

Question 1: When is Tet?

WOLRD POPULATION

China ranks the first

problems population explosion cause to the world

illiteracy

lack of hospitals and schools/ shortage of food / poor living conditions particularly in

developing countries

Question 2: What activities do people usually do at Tet?

Question 3:What are special things at Tet?

Question 4: What do people prepare for Tet?

 The mind map

TET

activities

when

special things

visit relatives

eating special foods

receiving lucky money

go to pagoda to

pray

between 19 th January and 20 th

February

grandest

and most important occasion

for agrarian people, the start of a new year

flowers ( apricot blossom, peach blossom )

candied fruits (

sugared apples, plums

Banh chung

preparations

streets decorated with

colored lights and red

banners

decorating the house

B SPEAKING:

In this lesson, students were told that they would talk about popular holidays and celebrations in Vietnam and in the world Then students were asked to look at the pictures in the textbook and answer the teacher’s questions to complete the

“mind map”

Question 1: What are the holidays and celebrations?

Question 2: What is the purpose of each celebration?

Question 3: What are main activities in each celebration?

* The mind map

POPULAR CELEBRATIONS

IN VIETNAM AND IN THE WORLD

Thanks giving

valentine’s Day

Mid- Autumn Festival

celebrate the

harvest

a large meal

with roast

turkey

express their love give chocolates, flowers or gifts to the people they

love

celebrate the largest full moon

children wear

masks, parade in the streets