(SKKN HAY NHẤT) on how to improve the quality of teaching high school students for the provincial gifted student exam

AN GIANG DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING CHU VAN AN HIGH SCHOOL ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FOR THE PROVINCIAL GIFTED STUDENT EXAM TEACHER: DANG

AN GIANG DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING CHU VAN AN HIGH SCHOOL

ON HOW TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FOR THE PROVINCIAL GIFTED STUDENT

EXAM

TEACHER: DANG THANH TAM

Academic year: 2018 -2019

TABLE OF CONTENT

1 BACKGROUND AND PROBLEMS

1.1 Practices 2

1.2 Rationale 2

1.3 Research Questions 2

2 SOLUTIONS 3

3 CONCLUSION 6

3.1 Reflection 6

3.2 Achievement 6

3.3 Subjects and field of application 6

APPENDICES 7

APPENDIX 1: An experience in study strategies 7

APPENDIX 2: Syllabus for the Provincial Exam for the Gifted. 8

APPENDIX 3: Structure for the Provincial Exam for the Gifted 13

APPENDIX 4: Structure for the National Exam for the Gifted 15

APPENDIX 5: Sample topic of Chu Van An ESC…>>> 17

APPENDIX 6: My website for English learning and teaching 21

PART I: BACKGROUND AND PROBLEMS 1.1 Practices of teaching high school students for the Provincial Gifted Student exam

at high schools in An Giang

It is generally accepted that the teaching of high school students for the Provincial Gifted Student exam at high schools in An Giang is various from school to school



Length of the course for teaching high school students for the Provincial Gifted Student



Compensation for the English teacher(s) who is / are in charge of the course is not satisfied.





Only outstanding students, often coming from privileged high schools or high schools for





Most students from high schools in rural Districts have trouble with dealing with both written test and speaking section for various reasons: lack of reliable and effective materials; lack of motivation in teaching and learning; ineffective syllabus or strategies for teaching

1.2 Rationale

From the practices mentioned above, There‟s no disputing the fact that there is a big gap between high schools in An Giang and the teaching of high school students for the Provincial Gifted Student exam at high schools has been a hard job for most high school English teachers, especially those who are working in Districts Therefore, there should be proper steps to get over the difficulties step

by step and in this writing I would like to share some experiences in teaching high school students for the Provincial Gifted Student exam with a view to helping improve the quality of teaching and learning for the exam in high schools in entire province”

1.3 Research Questions:

exam among high schools in An Giang ?

2 What are the contributors to the success of the teaching of high school students for the Provincial Gifted Student exam ?

PART II: SOLUTIONS

From the data that have been collected from English teachers and the test results of the previous years, I recommend that some of the factors should be considered and applied to help improve the situation

a The identification and selection process for the gifted students

There must be a diagnostic test for selecting potential gifted students for the team The students chosen must satisfy certain essential requirements for the exam:

-+ be able to speak English at a certain level ( for speaking section that makes up 20 %

of the test )

+ be able to deal with the written test at a requested level

There should be a team leader, usually the best student

b The course syllabus : Building the syllabus for the entire course based on the structures

or forms of the previous tests for the gifted

( analyzing the previous tests to draw out the forms /structures as well as anticipate the difficulty level of the tests and prepare for the teaching and learning materials)

c The teaching and learning sources: Gathering materials and distributing them

to students based on their strengths and weaknesses

( The materials can be classified into two sections: “online and offline”



Online materials: websites, materials stored in emails and facebooks; E-books etc.





Offline materials: printed books ; materials compiled by teachers; official tests and

d The Timetable : Setting the timetable for the team

e Teaching & learning facilities: cassette players, quiet rooms / classrooms / ……

3 Good teaching strategies (including teaching methods) Prerequisite requirements:

1 Length of the course

2 Effective teaching strategies

3.1.Length of the course

- It‟s advisable that there be at least 3 months for the whole course

- It‟s a good idea for the teachers to take advantage of every opportunity even right in the classroom English sessions they are in charge of to train the team

3.2 Effective teaching strategies:

There are 3 possible ways to teach gifted students during the course:

a.Teachers and students FROM “ TEACH” TO “TRAIN”

Stage 1: MAINLY TEACHING

Teachers give - students take

-In this stage, it‟s the English teachers that provide students with :

-The teachers should take every opportunity to train the team right in the class they are

in charge of

THEORY → PRACTICE = KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

Stage 2: MAINLY TRAINING

a Students work - Teachers help

In this stage, the teachers are supposed to give students enough materials for intensive practice of language and skills and students make great attempt to fulfill all the tasks given by their teachers

b Students – Students ( group work / team work)

+ It‟s suggested that students of the same grade may form a group

+ There should be at least a gap-day for the whole team to work together

+ Joining online forums or communities of the same purpose

Tasks often given to work in groups:

+ Discussions about grammar and structures, word usage , tips for test-taking, etc

+ Doing and sharing practice tests, mock-tests

DIY (DO IT YOURSELF) → SHARE = PROGRESS

c Self-study

Self-study can be at the school library / English lab / at home etc (online / offline).



 Mainly practice and assignment completion 

4 Good learning sources

There should be useful and reliable learning sources (both online and offline sources – INDEX 1) for students’ reference during the course

Online learning sources: websites, facebook, Emails, forum, blogs ect.





Offline learning sources: printed books, materials compiled by English teachers who



Materials distributed by the team ( usually requested or assigned by the teachers )

5 Experience sharing in study strategies from the excellent ex-students

It is advisable that teachers should have outstanding former students share their study experience so that the gifted students of the year can gain more for their own

III CONCLUSION

1 Reflection:

Although my school is just one of those which are located in rural areas and meets the same certain difficulties as others in some parts of An Giang, after some years of applying the solutions mentioned above, the test results has been improved yearly and personally I think if those solutions I have just recommended are carried out completely, there will be an

improvement in the quality of the exam

Good (motivation + preparation+ teaching strategies + learning sources + Learning experience sharing)

= SUCCESS

I hope that my sharing will be helpful to English teachers at high schools

2 Achievement:

Here is the test results of my students in the 2018 Provincial Exam for the Gifted Students

team selection

team selection

3 Subjects and field of application:

This research can be applied by English teachers who are in charge of teaching high school students for the Provincial Gifted Student exam among high schools in An Giang

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1

AN EXPERIENCE IN STUDY STRATEGIES: “ HOW DID I STUDY ?”

By Diệp Thanh Hào – the 3 rd prize student in the 2013 National Exam for Gifted Students

With the ongoing process of globalization and integration, it is irrefutable that English is playing an increasingly important role in our society, especially in developing countries like Vietnam This in turn has triggered the start of various English competitions in the country to promote better English learning and teaching, most notably the National Competition for Gifted Students in English In this essay, I, as a Third Prize recipient in that competition, would like to deliver a brief discussion about my experience as well as some useful tips on how to master the language in general, and thoroughly prepare for the contest in particular

First of all, to improve listening and reading skills, I believe that self-study is the determining factor There are a large number of easily accessible sources of material on the Internet, and our task simply is to devote our time studying and make the best use of those resources Some of them are the

“BBC Learning English” program, the FCE, CAE and CPE series, or the 10-book series of “Cambridge IELTS” Regarding the method, I always listened at least three times for every recording and learned new vocabulary from the text scripts to ensure I could clearly understand all the important details I also learned to apply the SKIM and SCAN methods in reading and they proved to be very effective to me

In terms of writing and speaking skills, I think it is essential to find a partner that can practice together with us, give us helpful feedback and help correct our mistakes Also, for the writing skill, doing research and reading sample essays about the topic before writing should be laid great stress on, because this would provide us with insightful knowledge and advanced vocabulary about the mentioned issue When practicing, we should not concern about the time limit and should only focus on perfecting our essays as much as possible For the speaking skill, watching English movies and listening to English radio channels are my ways to practice pronunciation and intonation, and I would also recommend the two books of Matt Clark and Mark Allen as a great guide to improve your speaking skill

All in all, I still strongly believe that perseverance and determination are the two most crucial elements to achieve proficiency in English Hopefully, my experience and several small tips discussed above would be of help to those who are striving to improve their English command

HAVE A GOOD TIME !

-Michael A Pyle M.A , TOEFL CLIFFS -B.D Graver, Advanced English Practice

SECTION 1: LANGUAGE FOCUS

I PHONETICS:

Pronunciation : vowels & consonants



 Stress : words with two or more than syllables 

II.GRAMMAR & STRUCTURES

CHAPTER 1: Verb form

Finite verb

Modal Verbs + Modal perfect construction / Auxiliary verbs 

verb tenses + sequence of verb tenses 

Subject and verb concord/ agreement

The active and passive voice

Non-finite verb The infinitive: To-infinitive & Bare infinitive

The sensitive verbs: see / hear / notice / watch / listen to……

The –Ing Form : Gerunds & Participles

The gerund & its usage

The participle & its usage

Special cases : Common verbs followed by either infinitives or Gerunds



The infinitive or the gerund after the verbs :permit, allow, advise ,recommend , need , want



Either the infinitive or the gerund after the verbs: like , try , stop, forget ,remember , regret

CHAPTER 2: Phrases and clauses

Reported speech 

Commands 



 Statements 

Type 2: present unreal conditions

Type 3: past unreal conditions

Type 4: “mixed time in conditional sentences”

Other cases: -omiting if

-using unless , providing / provided (that), as long as, so long as, suppose/ supposing (that), in case, even if, otherwise, or (else)…

Relative clause vs the reduced forms of relative clause

1.1 Relative clause

Definition

The infinitive phrase

The present and past participle phrase

Clauses and phrases of reason with BECAUSE / SINCE / AS vs BECAUSE OF Clauses and phrases of concession with ALTHOUGH vs IN SPITE OF (DESPITE) Clauses and phrases of purpose SO THAT vs IN ORDER TO / SO AS TO Comparisons: equal comparisons, comparatives, superlatives and double comparatives

Cause and effect sentences with ….so+ adj / adv that… /… such (a/ an) adj + noun that… /

… too adj ( for O) to verb… / …adj enough (for O) to verb ……

CHAPTER 3: OTHER GRAMMAR STRUCTURES

2 Interjection (Exclamatory sentences)

3 Expressions of quantity : little / a little , few / a few , most / most of , many / much………

4 Structures with used to+v vs get / be used to+ V-ing / be accustomed to +V-ing……

Other kinds of Subjunction: would rather…./ It‟s (high / about ) time… /

6 The structures : Used to vs Be used to / Be accustomed to

7 The different patterns with the expletive IT

Dummy Subject / Object

Cleft sentence

8 Inversions

Definition

Negative adverbs in initial position -Single adverbs

Inversions with SO and SUCH

9 Forms of OTHER: another / other / the other(s) / some… others

10 Interjections : what & How

11 Forms of questions

Trang 10

Yes / no questions and information question (WH- questions)



Negative questions 

Why (for reason) vs Why ( for purpose) / what …….for?

How + adj / adv… ? vs What…… like ?

Which / What + noun………?

Preposition + what/ which +noun…….?

Tag questions

12 Prepositions : during / between / until / by / for……

13 Phrasal verbs with go / take / break / make / get/ come……

14 Compound expressions

15.1 The use of coordinators: and , or , but (yet) , nor , for , and so

15.2 The use of coordinators in pairs

16 The use of transitional words or phrases

17 Placement of modifiers

Misplaced modifiers

Dangling modifiers

SECTION 2: WRITING Error identification

- Prepositions, word form, grammar & structures…

9 Cause and effect sentences

10 Used to + verb vs be / get used to + V-ing / noun phrase

11 Tenses and Structures B.Lexical transformation C.Idiomatic transformation

I Everyday questions & responses

+ Asking about name, age, health, job… + Asking for permisson

+ Breaking news ( good news / bad news / intention…) + Thanking

 Listen & Hear

 Here & There

APPENDIX 3

STRUCTURE FOR THE PROVINCIAL GIFTED STUDENT EXAM

o

1 I/ LISTENING (5/20 http://www.esl- Sources: pts) lab.com/index.htm -Listening strategies for the IELTS TEST TYPES: TEST (Lý Á Tân) 1 True-False http://www.luyennghetienga -Special news 2 Gap fill / form filling / nh.com/ -Succeed in Cambridge English table completion + KET (10 Practice tests) 3 Matching http://www.bbc.co.uk/world + PET 4 MCQ service/learningenglish/lang + FCE 5 Note completion uage/newsaboutbritain/2009 + CAE 6 Answering questions /02/090210_nab_valentine.s

7 Summary html

https://www.podcastsinengli

sh.com/index.shtml

2 II/ LEXICO - http://blogchuyenanh.wordp Sources: GRAMMAR

-Baron‟s esential words for the - Phonetics ress.com/

TOEFL) - Grammar

-Chuyên đề word form (Biên soạn) + Finite verbs

http://www.susasoft.com/tie -Chuyên đề “ Error identification” + Non-finite verbs

-Chuyên đề Preposition + phrasal + Preposition ng-anh-online/35/cae-

verbs ……… sample-papers-bai-thi-cae

( Lê Văn Hải + IELTS / CPE –nâng - Vocabulary 1641.html

cao)

-Phrasal verb organiser - John Flower http://www.englishclub.com -Cụm động từ trong Tiếng Anh ( Dictionary- Lê Hồng Lan)

-Word Forms, Nguyễn Tấn Lực -Tiếng Anh Chuy ên Đề, Lê Văn Sự -Practice Tests (TOEFL)

3 III/ READING (5/20 Sources: pts) http://dreamreader.net/ CAMBRIDGE A CLOZE TEST -PET - Semi-cloze Test (10 -FCE items / 1 passage) https://www.readworks.org/ -CAE - Cloze Test (10 items / 1 -IELTS passage) -TOEFL -CHUYÊN ĐỀ ĐỌC HIỂU B READING

COMPREHENSION

- MCQ

- T (Yes) , F (NO) & NG

- Heading matching

………