Some effective teaching strategies to help students do the tests of language functions and responses...

Some effective teaching strategies to help students do the tests of language functions and responses at Nong cong 4 high school TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE Table of contents 1 PART I INTRODUCTIONS[.]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 General tips of language functions

1.1 Identify the questions

1.2 Identify special communcative functions

1.3 Logical thought

1.4 Grammar in use

1.5 Using antonym and synonym

6 6 6 7 7 8

2 Language functions and responses

2.1.Collecting and confirming information

2.2 Etiquette

2.3 Making requests and asking for permission

2.4 Complaination and criticism

2.5 Expressing one’s opinions

8 9 10 12 12 13

3 Some common language functions and responses 14

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

I Rationale

As far as we are concerned that English has become an international

language because it is widely used in many parts of the world In the tendency of integration of the global economy, English is one of the effective communicative tools for everybody not just only in Vietnam but in all over the world as well The role of English is considered to be extremly important in the great number fields

of economics, politics, science, culture and education Especially, Vietnam’s

integration has opened a new door for everyone to use English in the daily life, and more and more people want to learn English for communicating with foreign partners, tourism, study tours and so on

Furthermore, Thanks to the innovation of ways in teaching English, English lessons are taught with different skills (listening, speaking, reading,writing togerther with the part language focus) in each unit This really helps students improve their skills as the commmunicative teaching aim beside the grammar exercises to pass the exams However, there is a fact that most students find it really challenging to get to know English as they are unable to speak much English, incapable of listening, impossible to write academically and hard to read

on account of being lack of new words Moreover, students regularly face up to the fact that the English grammar is too complex for them to deal with while doing the tests Therefore, the effect of teaching English from teachers and learning it from students should be reconsidered and applied in more practical ways

When teaching English at Nong cong 4 high school, I find that students usually choose the wrong answers in doing the tests with language funtions responses because they have various meanings, different usages for certain situations and this makes students puzzled whenever they face up to this kind of

test Therefore, I decided to carry out the experience initiative “Some effective

teaching strategies to help students do the tests of language functions and responses at Nong cong 4 high school” Based on the results of this experience

initiative, some changes and improvements could be applied in my lessons, and some appropriate strategies needed to be designed with the hope that students will work more effectively in this kind of tests Hopefully that the results of this study would be shared with any colleagues who had the same problems or anyone who

is interested in this study

II Scope of the study

This study was carried out in English classes with the students at Nong cong 4 High School The research focused on effective teaching strategies to help students do the tests of language functions and responses at high schools This one mainly mentions the ways of dealing with specific communicative situations, categorise the language functions into different kinds

III Significance of the study

Teaching strategies to help students do the tests of language functions and responses at high schools are designed to encourage the active styles of teacher training and motivate students to find enthusiastics for learning English anywhere and anytime Nevertheless, how to teach and how to learn effectively often poses great problems to both teachers and students Some of the teachers even ignore teaching some skills and focus only on grammar excercises for the exams However, nothing is difficult if the teachers make decision to make it easier by categorising certain kinds of communicative spaking situations so that students can apply for solving with the language functions and responses in the tests Hopefully, with a range of suggestions introduced in this research will be more motivating for the teachers to teach and make progress in learning from students

IV Method of the study

The study is basically a qualitative research, which employs the following methods:

+ Investigating and observing method

+ Testing and experimental method

+ Analytic and systematic method

+ Statistic method

+ Contrastive and comparative mehtod

+ Experiential and evaluative method

PART TWO: CONTENTS

I Theoritical bases of the research

Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely

to encounter in real life Unlike the audiolingual method of language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the communicative approach can leave

students in suspense as to the outcome of a class exercise, which will vary

according to their reactions and responses The real-life simulations change from day to day Students' motivation to learn comes from the desire to communicate in meaningful ways about meaningful topics

Margie S Berns, an expert in the field of communicative language

teaching, writes in explaining Firth's view that "language is interaction; it is

interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society In this light,

language study has to look at the use (function) of language in context, both its linguistic context (what is uttered before and after a given piece of discourse) and its social, or situational, context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have come together to speak)" (Berns, 1984, p 5)

It can not be denied that Learning is a long progress and the results of the study are assesed throughout the tests or examinations Therefore, how do students get good points, especially those in language functions and responses parts of the tests? Or what aspects of communicative situations should students focuson? etc In order to answer those kinds of questions, a great number of teachers are trying to find out the best solutions to them I am also among those ones who wish to give students a hand in their study of this contents, to make

students aware of the suitable methods to do good at communicative situations Through my long time studying and real experiences, I do hope to share my

experience initiative: “Some effective teaching strategies to help students do the tests of language functions and responses at Nong cong 4 high school”

II The practical bases of the study.

With a view to helping students do the tests of language functions and

responses better, I have kept organizing group work in each of my classes about this topic In addition, I always remember to ask students to learn by heart the specific types of communicative situations so that they can apply the ones they get to the fifteen minute tests, forty five minute test, the first or the second

semester After certain time, there were some English competitions about this topic held to find the winnners with the rewards

At the same time, I provided my students with a wide range of handouts about communicative situations and required them to complete the topics in a limited time As a consequence, I received the positive feedback from my students

by means that they were able to do the tests better They felt relaxed when

meeting the tests with language functions and responses

At the beginning of this school year, I have still been applying this method

of teaching students how to cope with the communicative situations tests and continuing to modify the test banks of this topic for annual weeks I have checked what students have to do week by week, as a results, they can take it easy to do the tests with the presence of language functions and responses Applying the communicative approach has helped my students to make more progress in doing the tests of communicative situations and I suggest this strategy should be

followed in any circumstances

III Solution and implementation

Language functions are the parts normally appearing in the many kinds of tests in multiple choice However, students find it really embarrassed to deal with, they may not choose the right answer due to the fact that they lack of vocabulary,

especially strategies to learn how to overcome those difficulties

Futhermore, Language is used to serve certain communicative functions, for instance,asking for information, inviting, advising, warning and so on Thus, communicative functions have speaking styles and cultures of that country which make students puzzled Therefore, this research aims at helping students approach different language functions, find effective methods

1 General tips of language functions

There are many tests that ask students to choose the responses for available language functions Therefore, students are supposed to use the folloing methods:

1.1 Identify the questions

Yes/no questions are often chosen with yes or no and Wh-question are followed with long answer basing on the meaning of the questions

Linda: “ How often doyou go to school?”

Mary: “ _”

A I go there early B everyday except Sunday

C I don’t think so D I go there by bus

(National examination for GCSE )

How often is used to ask the regularity, so the answer is B

Peter: “Do you like playing soccer?”

Tom: “ _”

A Yes, I did B I like soccer

C Yes, I do D No, I didn’t

This question is used only for getting information whether Tom like or

not and the tense used is the simple present, so the answer is C

1.2 Identify special communcative functions

- Step 1: Identify the communicative functions of each sentence: suggestions,

invitation, advice, warning, greeting, complement, thank you…

- Step 2: Think of the responses that you have learnt

- Step 3: read the options and then choose the correct answer

- Speaking styles are different from writing ones, so sudents had better get used to the phrases of responses in order that they can find the accurate answers

Laura: “ What a lovely house you have!”

Susan: “ ”

A Of course not, It is not costly B.Thank you I hope you will drop in

C I think so D No problem

(entrance examination)

The statement is used to compliment, so the correct answer is B

John: “Thanks for the nice gift!”

Peter: “ _”

A In fact, I myself don’t like it B you are welcome

C I am glad you like it D But do you know how much it costs ( entrance examination)

The answer is the response for someone’s gratitude, so C is the most

suitable

1.3 Logical thought

If you wonder which is the best option to choose, think about the meaning, logic, prediction

Maria: “I’m taking my end of term examination tomorrow”

Sarah: “ ”

A good luck B good day C good time D good chance

(National examination for GCSE, the second time)

By predicting, interpreting the statement, you can choose the correct answer A

1.4 Grammar in use

The options are sometimes wrong themselves, so students can find it easy

to choose the best answer

Nam: “Don’t you like folk music?”

Bac: “ ”

A Yes, I don’t B No, I like it a lot C Yes, I love it D It’s nice

We must know that negative Yes/no questions have answer Yes if you do not agree and No if you are in favour

Mai: “When will you call me?”

Lan: “ _”

C I don’t know who call D I’ll do it this evening

Apparently, the question is used in the simple tense,as a consequence, the answer is also used in that tense Therefore, the key is D

1.5 Using antonym and synonym

Students are supposed to pay attention to the meanings of the questions to find out the key The questions may be antonym, synonym, contrast structures…

Tom: “Mary dances very beautifully”

John: “ _”

A Yeah She is a wonderul dancer B True, she dances badly

C Right, She’s a clumsy dancer D Yeah, so terribly

Students should focus on the word “beautifully” to find the answer, its synonym word is wonderful Therefore, the key is A

Mary: “Have you read many novels”

David: “ ”

A No, I’ll buy some today B No, it is just a life story

C No, just a few D No, There aren’t many of them Yes/ no questions are applied here but four options begin with no, we should use antonym word of “many” for “few” Therefore, the key is C

2 Language functions and responses

As we know that the most difficult for learners to choose the correct answers in this topic is the communicative functions If students know how to use each function, they can easily deal with this one

In order to help students understand how to choose the correct answer from this subject, I do hope to give some common systems of communicative functions

in the tests

2.1 Collecting and confirming information

+Yes -No question

Questions often begin with am, is, are, was, were, do, does, did, will,

would, have, may might, can, could and the answers “Yes” or “No” and give further information What is more, we can reply by:

I think/ believe/ hope/ expect/ guess so

Sure/ Actually/ Of course/ Right

I don’t think/ believe/ expect/ guess so

I hope/ believe/ guess/ suppose not

I’m afraid not

+ Or questions

Questions often contain “or” and require students to choose one correct option and the answers are one of the two options We do not use “Yes” or “No” to

answer this kind of test

Example: Are they Chinese or Japanese? – They’re Japanese

Pork or beef?- Beef, please/ I’d prefer beef

+ Wh-questions

The questions often begin with the wh- questions such as: what, which, who, whose, where, when, why, how to collect the information The answers provide the meanings to reply for the questions

Example: What did he talk about?- His familly

What was the party like?- Oh,we had a good time

Which of these pens is your?- The red one

How often do you go to the cinema?- Every Sunday

Why did he fail the exam?- Because he didn’t prepare well for it

+Tag questions

The questions are used to confirm the information with the intonation down at the end of the questions The answers are similar to yes/no questions Example: Jane left early for the first train, didn’t she?- Yes, she did

Peter made a lot of mistakes again, didn’t he?- Right, he did

+ asking for directions or instructions

Could you show me the way to ?

Could you be so kind to show me how to get to ?

Is there a bank near here?/ Where’s the nearest bank?

We can use the following replies

Turn left/ right;Go straight ahead for two blocks and then turn left; Keep

walking until you reach/ see It’s just around the corner; It’s a long way;You should take a taxi; Sorry, I’m new here/ I’m a stranger here myself

Sorry, I don’t know this area very well…

2.2 Etiquette

+ Greeting and introducing

We can use some of the following ways of greeting and introducing:

Good morning/ afternoon/ evening Hi/ Hello Have a good day How are you?/ How have you been?/ How are the things? Nice/ Pleased/ Glad/ Great to meet you Hi I am … Anh you? Have we met before? It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?

I would like to introduce you to / to you I would like you to meet This is Have you two met before?

So as to reply those , we can use: How do you do ? Nice/ Pleased/ Glad/ Great to meet you

+ Invitation

Would you like to ? I would like to invite you to Do you feel like/ fancy having ? Let me

Agreement on Invitation: It is a great idea That sounds great/ fantastic/ wonderful/ cool/ fun Yes, I’d love to Why not? OK, let’s do that