Skkn chapter 1 statement of research problem

In this document, on the basis of pointing out the disadvantages of the traditional teaching method, I discuss and explore one way to teach students effectively – using games in teaching

Part 1 INTRODUCTION

1 The Aims of the Study

Many have been said about the weaknesses of the traditional English teaching method in Vietnam, and the strengths of the communicative language teaching approach However, the general situation of Vietnam’s English teaching and learning at present is not very satisfactory, as “dumb English” is still stubbornly rooted in a large number of English learners So it is safe to say that there is still

a long way to go in English teaching reform and improving the English teaching quality of Vietnam Sometimes it is easy to get a new method like the communicative language teaching approach heard but difficult to get it accepted, understood and applied to practical classroom teaching in the end Therefore, it

is not out of date to discuss the techniques of applying the communicative language teaching approach to classroom teaching In this document, on the basis of pointing out the disadvantages of the traditional teaching method, I discuss and explore one way to teach students effectively – using games in teaching English speaking skill, which is often considered as one of the best way

to get the students involved in the classroom activities in which their communicative ability is practised and improved Language games, as one of the most valuable and effective techniques in English language teaching, have been used for a long time by many western teachers However, they are less used in Vietnam, especially in High School English Teaching classrooms Most teachers and students think games are a waste of time or just a fun activity for students

In this article, I propose to talk about the importance of using games in English Teaching and list eight types of games to practise students' speaking Finally, some considerations are put forward on using games and the success of using

games is stated

2 New Points and Benefits Bringing Innovations

- These suggestions focus on explaining how to design activities for some speaking tasks in the textbook to facilitate teaching speaking skill to students at yjklpqfghutot nghiep down load thyjuyiplaluanvanfull moi nhat z z vbhtjmkgmail.com Luan van reteythac si cdegjghgkwqe

low level basing on the theory of adaptation and principles as well as approaches

of teaching speaking

- The measures have been applied in teaching and preparation for the tests and

exams at Tien Du 1 high school over the past two years They may be useful

reference materials for students as well as colleagues in teaching and learning in

new ways

3 Contributions of the Study

The measures help my students not only practise speaking English better but

also feel more confident in communication It also contributes to improving the

quality of English subject in school and bringing students themselves good study

results

With a core knowledge base limited to the current textbook curriculum content,

the measure proves to be accessible to a wide range of students Therefore, the

ability to apply these measures in practice is feasible and easy to implement In

the future, the author hopes to receive the comments from colleagues and

students to continue improving the study further, turning the measures into a

valuable reference material for the work of teaching and learning

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Part 2 CONTENT Chapter 1: STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

For years, the main method of teaching English in Vietnam is like this: firstly, the teacher explains the new words in the vocabulary list by giving definitions and examples Then he/she will give a brief introduction to the background of the task When dealing with the task, the teacher always explains and translates

it sentence by sentence or even word by word, sometimes with a few questions which seldom elicit answers or responses from students Finally, a reciting task

or translation exercise is given to the students In short, the traditional way of English teaching is teacher-centered and language-knowledge-focused The way

of teaching English is similar to that of teaching mathematics: new words presented, related grammar explained, and then written exercises assigned; if students can do the exercises well, it means that they have learned the language knowledge well, and then the lesson moves on Under such pattern of teaching, students are passive information receiver and written exercises doer They can remember large numbers of words and grammatical rules, and they can do very well in exams, but they scarcely have chances to express themselves in the target language and test their understanding of the received information about the language And they are found having a lot of difficulties in communicating with others in English This phenomenon is ironically defined as “Dumb English”, which is the “product” of long hard work of both teachers and students

As you know, our students have learnt English at primary and secondary schools However, English is still the most difficult compulsory subject for them

as it is a foreign language Besides, they are not good at English so many of them find studying this subject difficult The reason for this is that they come from low- income families in a rural area and do not have the chance to use English outside classrooms Their parents are mainly farmers who cannot help them at all in studying English and they do not have enough money to support their children to learn English in extra classes in Foreign Language Centres As yjklpqfghutot nghiep down load thyjuyiplaluanvanfull moi nhat z z vbhtjmkgmail.com Luan van reteythac si cdegjghgkwqe

a result of this, these students have no motivation and encouragement, no good

conditions to study and they do not find English useful and important They are

not well supported in their study This means that their levels and motivation to

learn English are rather low

Actually, most students have no good conditions to study, so English learning is

still limited And students rarely get access to good studying orientation,

especially to learning English skills For the past few years, the school's

enrollment scores have been very low as it is a rural school In fact, no one in

my school has ever got mark 10 in English subject in the GCSE exams The

number of students getting marks from 4 to 5 has accounted for the large

proportion in some recent school years From 2019, I am in charge of teaching

English for grade 10, 11 and 12 students I love teaching and I want to be a good

teacher I know my students’ difficulties when studying English In other words,

I want to help the students achieve the goal that they set in their lives During

the time of teaching English, I have realized that it is significant to change my

methods of teaching and my students’ view about learning speaking skill

through useful games

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Chapter 2: THE PROBLEM SOLUTIONS

1 The Real Situation and the Reason to Choose This Study

We can see that English is a compulsory subject in the national curriculum as well as in the GCSE exams in our country Students have to learn English from grade 3 until grade 12 But only reading, writing skills and grammar are tested

in the national exams So listening and speaking are not really paid much attention by the teachers and the students The problem we have to face is how

to raise students’ awareness of speaking skill and make speaking lessons more interesting so that they will learn it better In the international relationship, English speaking ability is very important to be able to participate in the wider world of work The speaking skill is measured in terms of the ability to carry out

a conversation in the language This really makes teachers and parents think that speaking ability should be mastered by their students and children Basing on the fact, I focused on doing research on methods to teach and learn speaking skill that will help students improve their speaking skill and help my teacher colleagues have more practice teaching methods in speaking classes

My school uses the new national English syllabus for high schools by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) named Tieng Anh for Grade 10 students It aims at helping students to achieve pre- intermediate communicative competence In this school year, the textbooks, Tieng Anh 10 (new), 11 and 12 all consist of 10 units For every unit of English lesson, four language skills such

as reading, listening, speaking and writing as well as language (vocabulary and grammar), communication and culture and project are included and taught in 8 periods The speaking lessons are also theme-based and task-based However, as

a matter of fact is that tests of all levels at secondary schools are almost in written forms Although speaking skill accounts for 20% of the test at the end of each term, there is no period given for students to do the speaking tasks during the term So the teachers often use time in different lessons to consolidate to evaluate students’ speaking skill

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Knowing the drawbacks of teaching and learning English at the current time, I

have done research to find out solutions to improve the students’ speaking skill

through games However, before applying the solutions, I looked more closely

at conveniences and obstacles for the implementation of games in teaching

English

* Conveniences:

+ The recent renewal of tests and assessments of English has strongly raised the

sense of individual learners

+ In the current context, more and more attention is focused on the creativity of

students in learning towards the promotion of qualities and abilities

+ The interaction between students and teachers when using active methods in

the teaching process often flashes the students with wonderful ideas

+ The input quality of English of Tien Du 1 High School’s students is low, but

in recent years it has been improved

* Obstacles

+ It was the non-interest of students in achieving communicative competence or

working in groups

+ Speaking skill is not tested in all exams, that’s the reason why it is ignored by

students and, sometimes, teachers

+ Large class-size of mixed-level students causes difficulty in teaching

speaking

+ It is students’ inhibition Students feel ashamed when they are unable to

answer teacher’s or friends’ questions correctly

I still expect to promote potential students’ capacity through my study: “Using

games to teach speaking skill effectively”

2 Solutions to Improve the Students’ Speaking Skill through games

2.1 Solution 1: Suggestions on using games

There are four elements which should be taken into consideration when playing

games in English class Teachers should keep them in mind and apply the above

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to punctuate a lesson, to relieve tension after a test or concentrated practice session, or at any time that the teacher feels appropriate It is important that they are used positively, to give students enjoyment and useful practice

2.1.2 Choice

In each category of game mentioned above, there are different kinds of games

So the teacher must take many factors into account when deciding which game would be most appropriate and most successful with his or her students at any time He or she should consider the level of the students, the main aim of having

a game, the interest of the students, the appropriate time to use a game and the availability of aids and materials

2.1.3 Preparation

Games may be good fun but they need to be carefully prepared and organized

Firstly, the teacher should find a good game in a book or invent one Then he or she must be sure that the necessary facilities are available An overhead projector can be very useful if one is available If not, a typewriter and cards and the objects needed should be prepared in advance Also, the teacher should ensure clear handwriting on paper or cards so that the students will take the teacher's intentions seriously Finally, the teacher must work out how the game

is to proceed, what the students will need to do and how they will be instructed

in what to do It is important to try to anticipate any logistic or linguistic problems that may occur in order to be able to deal with them effectively

2.1.4 Management

The teacher must decide in advance how to organize the students and the classroom so that the setting up of a game can be carried out as quickly and yjklpqfghutot nghiep down load thyjuyiplaluanvanfull moi nhat z z vbhtjmkgmail.com Luan van reteythac si cdegjghgkwqe

smoothly as possible It is advisable to encourage pair and group work where

possible, as this will increase student participation and the amount of language

practice offered to each student will be much greater While the students are

working, it is useful for the teacher to keep a close eye on pairs or groups to

help, correct or stimulate less active students The teacher should stop a game

and change to something else before the students become tired of it In this way,

their willingness and concentration are retained

2.2 Solution 2: Using some Typical Games

As stated above, the main purpose of using games in English classes, especially

in speaking sections, is to practise students' different skills, especially their

communicative ability Here, eight types of games from published sources

(Carrier 1980, Ellis 1986, Harmer 1985, Kallsen 1982, Klippel 1984, MaCallum

1980, Porter-Ladousse 1987, Stern 2002, Willis 1982, etc.) are identified,

discussed and explored

2.2.1 Guessing Games

The basic role of guessing games is very simple: one person knows something

that another one wants to find out The thing to be guessed can differ greatly

from game to game It can be a word, an object, an activity or many other

things Guessing games are useful in helping students practise logical thinking

and asking questions

2.2.2 Picture Games

Picture games include several types: Comparing and contrasting pictures;

Considering differences or similarities; Considering possible relationships

between pictures, such as narrative sequence; Describing key features so that

someone else may identify them or represent them in a similar way; Making a

story according to the given picture

Most of these picture games involve the learners in the relatively free use of all

the language at their command and at the same time give them the opportunity

to practise their speaking and listening

2.2.3 Sound Games

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Sound effects can create in the listeners’ mind an impression of people, places and actions There is a demand for the listener to contribute through the imagination This inevitably leads to individual interpretations which mean that the listeners can exchange their points of view and express opinions and ideas

This kind of games can stimulate students' imagination and thinking, and offer them a chance to practise their listening and speaking Students can make guess

at the object described by sound, or make dialogue or a story

2.2.5 Fact-finding Games

This mainly deals with general knowledge and is a very practical exercise

Every day, there is something important happening, so the students can be asked what happened on a day in history It may be a historical accident, a birthday of

a famous person, or something strange or marvelous Then further details can be asked The students can discuss in pairs or groups in order to find much more information

2.2.6 Debates

In this activity, a topic is given and two sides are set up, one supporting the idea and the other opposing it Then they argue giving their evidence The aim of this activity is to get the students to talk and stimulate their interest and competitive spirit Such activities make the students think about their values and priorities

There is no doubt that this activity will improve students’ conversation and eloquence

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Class Debates are the best alternative methods to improve students’ speaking

skill when they do not have enough time to do all of the tasks in the speaking

sections in their textbooks

Each and every student possesses his or her own opinion Classroom debates

enable students to voice their opinions A debate provides the students with an

opportunity to conduct themselves in a professional manner According to the

International Debate Education Association, “Debate is, above all, a way for

those who hold opposing views to discuss controversial issues without

descending to insult, emotional appeals or personal bias A key trademark of

debate is that it rarely ends in agreement, but rather allows for a robust analysis

of the question at hand.” The whole class can play some games in the classroom

leading up to the debate, and allow the competing teams to play against each

other building a productive rivalry through words

2.2.7 Jigsaw Games

Each participant in a jigsaw task holds one part of a solution, which may be a

story, a factual text or a picture They are equally important They should work

together to fit their pieces together to find the solution They, therefore, improve

co-operation and mutual acceptance within the group Participants in this game

have to do a lot of talking before they are able to fit the pieces together in the

right way Wright (2006) also claims that these games practise two very

different areas of skill in the foreign language: “Firstly, the students have to

understand the bits of information they are given and describe them to the rest of

the group.” This helps them realize the importance of pronunciation and

intonation in making oneself understood “Secondly, the students have to

organize the process of finding the solution and a lot of interactional language is

needed.”

2.2.8 Role Plays

Role plays often consist of short scenes, which can be realistic or pure fantasy

Role plays may be enacted around everyday situations as well as around topical

problems One easily-obtained role play is from the text, which may be actual

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role play material After learning the text, students can be asked to give a performance of it This can improve their oral performance generally and, of course, help students to understand what they have learned in an easy way

Furthermore, role plays are useful for generating free expression and the feeling

of spontaneity in the language classroom

2 2 3 Practical Application of the Solutions at Tien Du 1 High School

The study involved 45 students from 10th grade at Tien Du Number 1 High School, Bac Ninh province Those students took part in the study during

speaking sections in the school year 2022- 2023

Sample 1 (Guesing game) Lead in the lesson Unit 1: Language (English 10)

GAME: Guess the words

The teacher gives instructions:

+ There are 8 pictures related to the topic “Family life”

+ Students have 5 seconds to think, then guess the word/ phrase corresponding

to the picture

+ The guessing members have to use their questioning skills to get the answer

To give an example, the teacher gives the students a question to explain the word/ phrase The students have to widen their thinking instead of being occupied in a narrow way and be told to think of more than one sense of a word

or a sentence Then after a period of thinking, they are likely to find the answer

+ Correct answer +1 + Wrong answer -1 Then, the teacher counts the points, decides the winner, asks some more questions and leads in the lesson

* 8 words/ phrases given

6 do laundry

7 wash dishes

8 clean the house

Sample 2 (Picture game): Lead in the lesson Unit 1: Speaking (English 10)

WARM-UP: Matching time

Teacher divides the class into groups of four There are ten pictures of

household chores on the slides Teacher asks students to match the pictures with

the corresponding names of chores Teacher throws the ball to the team which

raise hands the fastest If the answers are correct, the round ends If not, the

round continues until there is a winner

Students discuss in their teams and match the pictures with the name of chores

Students raise their hands when they finish

Teacher confirms, checks the answers from the fastest team and then recaps the

vocabulary and leads in the lesson

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Sample 3 ( Fact - finding game): Lead in the lesson Unit 2: Getting Started

(English 10)

Games: Listen to some pieces of music and guess the name of the songs Find

out the name of the artist mentioned

Teacher gives instructions, plays the recordings

Students listen and guess the names of the songs Students may discuss with

other members in their teams

Teacher confirms the correct answers:

Song 1: Love yourself

Song 2: Sorry

Song 3: What do you mean?

Song 4: Where are you now?

Song 5: Stuck in the moment

Teacher asks students some questions and leads in the lesson

+ Whose songs are these? (>They are Justin Bieber’s.)

+ Is he a talented singer? (> Yes, he is considered the Prince of Pop.)

After that, more work can be done by drawing a typical picture of him and

describing his appearance At last, the teacher can ask the students to think why

Justin Bieber is loved by people all over the world and why his songs are so

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