Skkn cấp tỉnh organizing project activities about local cultures to improve communication skill for students at muong qua high school to develop ecotourism in mon son, con cuong

NGHE AN EDUCATION & TRAINING DEPARTMENT MUONG QUA HIGH SCHOOL TEACHING EXPERIENCE ORGANIZING PROJECT ACTIVITIES ABOUT LOCAL CULTURES TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILL FOR STUDENTS AT MUON

NGHE AN EDUCATION & TRAINING DEPARTMENT

MUONG QUA HIGH SCHOOL

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

ORGANIZING PROJECT ACTIVITIES ABOUT LOCAL CULTURES TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILL FOR STUDENTS AT MUONG QUA HIGH SCHOOL TO DEVELOP

ECOTOURISM IN MON SON, CON CUONG

School year: 2023 - 2024

NGHE AN EDUCATION & TRAINING DEPARTMENT

MUONG QUA HIGH SCHOOL

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

ORGANIZING PROJECT ACTIVITIES ABOUT LOCAL CULTURES TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILL FOR STUDENTS AT MUONG QUA HIGH SCHOOL TO DEVELOP

ECOTOURISM IN MON SON, CON CUONG

Writer:

1 Trần Thị Thủy Phone number: 0976717733

2 Trần Thị Bích Liên Phone number: 0919577480

3 Hà Văn Tảng Phone number: 0948280801

School year: 2023-2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.The definition of Project-based teaching and learning 2

2 Procedure of teaching project lessons 3

2.1 Identification of a Problem or an Opportunity 4

3 Some methods of assessing students’ projects 5

1 Situation of designing Project activities about local cultures 6

2 Situation of students’ participation in Project lessons at our school 7

PART 3 SURVEY 7

1.Organizing project activities in classes we taught 9

2.2.1.Content of the STEM booth exhibition competition 13

2.2.3 Assessment for English presentation test 14

3 Writing booklet about traditional cultures and common

exchanges at ecotourisms with foreigners

3.4.Organize activities for students to use content of the book and

practice speaking skills

17

PART 5 THE SURVEY OF EVALUATING THE URGENCY

AND FEASIBILITY OF THE SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

18

2.2 Method of the survey 18

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of choosing the topic

English is a compulsory subject in the 2018 National Curriculum and is also one of the instrumental subjects in high schools It focuses on the goal of forming and developing common competencies and good qualities in accordance with the provisions of the 2018 General Education Program

In the 10th and 11th grade English textbook (Global Success), the core content of

English subject is expressed through the system of subject matters and themes Project is delivered at the end of each unit, so the content of each Project is based

on the topic of each unit Through this, students will consolidate their language knowledge of the unit, and at the same time they will develop their skills, especially speaking skill

Con Cuong is a highland mountainous district with many attractive landscapes Besides, Con Cuong is also home to 7 ethnic groups (Kinh, Thai, Dan Lai, Hoa, Nung, Kho Mu, Muong), with unique traditional cultural features and historical and cultural relics , a revolutionary historical relic creating an attraction, attracting tourists to Con Cuong to visit, experience or learn about the culture of ethnic minorities

Through the practice of teaching and organizing extracurricular activities for students about local cultures in Con Cuong's hometown, we find those activities very practical because through which the students better understand their hometown, about people, about nature, about culture - society and other aspects Muong Qua High School is located in Mon Son, Con Cuong which preserves many cultural features of ethnic groups This place is famous for a variety of ecotourism sites in Lang Xieng, Pha Lai dam Therefore, helping students understand about their own local cultures is one of the most important factors to develop ecotourism

in Mon Son in the future

Because of above reasons, we choose the topic: ‘‘Organizing project activities about local cultures to improve communication skill for students at Muong Qua high school to develop ecotourism in Mon Son, Con Cuong’’

2 Aims of the study

- Help students develop communication skill through project activities in Tieng Anh 10,11 and in some other extra activities held at school

- Apply a number of methods of organizing the implementation of "Project", creating interest in learning for students while improving the ability to work in groups and present for students

- Help students take the initiative, react promptly to all communication situations

- By including local culture in the teaching and learning process, it is expected that

students will be aware of their own culture and able to learn English better since they are asked to describe something they know very well

- Educating students to love their hometown and country In addition, students have senses of protecting, promoting local culture to the domestic and international community

3 Scope of the study

The method is conducted among students on the whole school The activities are designed for the topics in some Units in new English 10 and 11 textbook (Global success), products of students and in the book written by teachers

4 Methods of the study

- Observational method: The teacher self-searches and researches the program

of textbooks and reference books; conduct class visits of colleagues

- Method of exchange and discussion: After attending the time with colleagues, being attended by colleagues, both conduct exchanges and discussions

to draw out experiences for the lesson

- Experimental method: The teacher conducts experimental teaching of some specific lectures

- Control method: The teacher applies a variety of methods to organize activities in different pairs and groups, comparing the performance results with lessons that are performed only in one form

5 Significance of the study

- Theoretical aspect: It is hopefully expected that this study would make a

little contribution to help teachers and students realize the essential role of using local culture in Mon Son in English language teaching

- Practical aspect: with the results of the study, it is hoped that students

would make some improvements in the English speaking and communication The research finding indicated that bringing local culture in English language teaching

would build up learner’s cultural knowledge, awareness, and competence

II CONTENT

PART 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1 The definition of Project-based teaching and learning

Many definitions of project-based learning have been proposed by various authors Moss and Van Duzer define it as an instructional approach that contextualizes learning by presenting learners with problems to solve or products

to develop As is discussed in, project-based learning (PBL) is a model that organizes learning around projects which are complex tasks, based on challenging questions or problems, involving students in design, problem-solving, decision

making, or investigative activities; giving students the opportunity to work relatively autonomously over extended periods of time; and culminating in realistic products or presentations Project-based learning is a dynamic approach

to teaching in which students explore real-world problems, issues and challenges, are inspired to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they are studying and more likely to retain the knowledge gained through this approach far more readily than through traditional textbook-centered learning In addition, the students develop confidence and self-direction as they move through both team-based and independent work PBL shifts away from the instruction of teacher-centeredness

to that of student-centeredness The purpose of PBL is to foster students’ abilities for lifelong learning through contextualizing learning by presenting them with problems to solve and/or artifacts to create; in doing so, students’ motivation and enthusiasm, their problem-solving abilities, research skills, sense of collaborations, resource management skills, longing for communication and information sharing, and language use awareness are progressively evident, and more important, such a process of engaging in various levels of projects may turn their life experiences to advantage In language instruction, PBL is a flexible methodology allowing multiple skills to be developed in an integrated, meaningful, ongoing activity Beckett states that projects are generally thought of

as a long-term (several weeks) activity which are part of an instructional method which promotes the simultaneous acquisition of language, content, and skills A major goal of project-based instruction is comprehensible output which generally occurs both during the project and as the final product of the project The variety

of definitions has provided the features of PBL Thomas proposes the five criteria

of project-based learning: centrality, driving question, constructive investigations, autonomy, and realism

2 Procedure of teaching project lessons

PBL does not engage students in a project for an hour or a day, but it entails active participation for a longer period to build meaningful products or find an answer to a complex question However, it doesn’t imply that no schedule is followed in PBL, because it may stretch from a week to a whole semester

Project-based learning helps students to learn how to work in teams and encourages them to use their creative, problem solving and critical thinking skills

to come up with innovative solutions and products for real life audience

The steps of project-based learning are shown in the following progress:

1 Identify the problem

2 Plan the project

3 Schedule

4 Monitor the progress

5 Assessment

6 Evaluation

2.1 Identification of a Problem or an Opportunity

This is the leading step in project-based learning Teachers or students identify a problem or an opportunity from their surroundings that requires meticulous work and demands a resolution This problem can be related to the curriculum and may be affecting the school, community, city or a country

This is an inquiry-based step that requires great attention to detail and group work because the learning goals of students will be based on the precise mapping

of the driving problem statement Brainstorming and bloom’s taxonomy will assist you in this step to formulate the driving question

2.3 Schedule

This is the third step of the PBL which involves setting a timeline and schedule for the project activities Students should be given a set date or time frame in which they had to present their final project work However, to realize the benefits of the whole process, be prepared to be flexible in your schedule Set the schedule by working collaboratively with students

2.4 Monitor the Progress

In PBL, a teacher is engaged in the process right from the beginning to the end Teachers should incessantly monitor student work and progress The role of the teacher in PBL is that of a facilitator who strives to make the learning experiences worthwhile for the students

2.5 Assessment

This is the fifth step of the PBL, and it involves assessing the learning outcomes and participation of students Teachers can use a rubric to record students’ progress and their learning outcomes

Rubrics allow teachers to grade student learning against certain standards and give effective feedback to the individual student at the end of the project The assessment helps students in enhancing their skills and thus increases their confidence Besides teachers, experts and the audience can also be consulted to give feedback

2.6 Evaluate the Experience

This is the last step in PBL which involves reflecting what worked and what didn’t during the whole process Reflection helps teachers to improve their instructional strategies in the future Teachers are also able to incorporate changes

in their teaching strategies

3 Some methods of assessing students’ projects

Most of our assessment focuses on content mastery Techniques we are all familiar with include the evaluation of the final product and having students complete quizzes or tests Other benchmarks for content mastery you can use include the number of citations a student references, amount and quality of research, use of experts, validity and effectiveness of arguments, meeting the topic, and answering the essential question

Completing complex authentic projects that require collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and innovation helps prepare students for increasingly complex life and work environments Effective communication in the 21st-century requires that students can effectively express themselves in writing, verbally, and visually

Be sure to assess the quality of writing, including ideas, vocabulary, fluency, organization, and conventions, as well as the use of media and overall design Since a project is a collaborative effort that occurs over time, include evaluation components that consider teamwork, organization, planning, and behavior

3.2 Creating Rubrics

Because many performances cannot easily be quantified, we want to be as specific about our expectations as possible Creating a rubric for the final product and various components of project work can ensure a more accurate, specific, and useful assessment

3.3 Involving Students in Assessment

Involving students in project assessment boosts motivation, improves cognition, and promotes self-directed learning Students who are asked to reflect

meta-on their own performance learn to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and are able to pinpoint where to focus their efforts to see the greatest results

You might have students provide feedback and critiques by asking them to keep a project journal or work log, evaluate themselves using the project rubric, and answer additional self-assessment questions An open-ended self-assessment allows students to share learning that occurred during the process that was not included in the rubric As they reflect and evaluate, students should describe their learning and contemplate decisions they have made individually and as a team You may also want to have students complete a peer evaluation for components of the project, such as the project presentation Students can also evaluate the writing, design, and effective communication during the creation and presentation of the final product Combining your assessment of the process and the end product with student reflections and evaluations will help you create a more accurate assessment of student performance

3.4 Audience Assessment

Authentic project work should reflect the questions, problems, and needs of the world beyond the classroom If the work is something that has real value, make sure there is a wider audience for the final product presentation Having students create web pages to display their ideas and findings enables their products to easily reach a wider audience If the project deliverable involves an oral presentation, invite peers, family, or community members to attend

You may also want to invite subject matter experts in the area of project work

to participate in the final product’s assessment Developing public-service announcements? Invite employees from a local advertising agency Designing a new school? One of your classroom parents may just be an architect

If students know that other people will be relying on and judging the information and ideas they propose, their motivation to work hard and take risks increases If you involve the audience in the assessment process, be sure to provide

a rubric or other guide to ensure the feedback they provide is pertinent to project goals

PART 2 SITUATION ANALYSIS AT MUONG QUA HIGH SCHOOL

1 Situation of designing Project activities about local cultures

Project activities are still new for our students, so teachers are still confused in preparing and guiding students In addition, the language and cultural knowledge

in this new set of English books are quite a lot, varied and new to teachers and students If the preparation is not careful enough and the topics are not familiar to students, they will be passive and the lessons will not be really effective

To ensure the effectiveness of the project, students are made to work pairs or groups of 6-8 people Depending on the number of students in the class, the

number of groups can range from 5-6 groups, each group has a group leader to take the main responsibility and urge the team members to work The selection of group leaders is appointed by the students in the class (mainly students with real ability in English), then the teacher will assign the group number to the group leaders, the members who want to work with any group, go to the captain of that group

To present the product, each student, or each group can choose from a variety

of presentation channels, such as using posters or power point to present, act out, talk show, make clips, interview, or recreate a contest, an event that delves into an aspect with specific content After each presentation, students will be encouraged

to give a message to express their understanding and awareness about local cultures and the responsibilities for protecting them

2 Situation of students’ participation in Project lessons at our school

To carry out a project lesson effectively we need not only a lot of preparation but also students’ active participation However, during the process of conducting a project lesson, we still have some certain difficulties Firstly, the number of students in the class is quite large (from 35 to 40 students per class), so it is difficult to control students to work on their own Secondly, the English ability of students in each class is not equal, so the design of teaching activities is not

favorable Thirdly, students’ participation in Project lessons are not really active

There are lazy or unconfident students who are not willing to take part in the project They often rely on hard-working students As a result, some active students usually do almost tasks in every project while the others hardly do anything That is why the less active students can not make any progress in learning and improving their skills

PART 3 SURVEY

1 Survey and the results

The study is mainly conducted with the participation of 160 students at Muong Qua high school including 10 A (40 students), 10B (40 students), 11C (40 students), 11D (40 students) They are supposed to be at the similar level of English language ability basing on the results of the entrance exam to Muong Qua high school

The questionnaire is done twice at the beginning of the first semester- before using the activities and at the middle of the second semester – after using the activities

A survey questionnaire including five statements with four options from which the students choose their answer is conducted to find out the experimental students’ attitudes towards the participation of students in project lessons and activities about local cutures The questionnaire focuses on finding out the students’ general comments on the importance of project activities about local cutures in helping students to be confident to speak English , how actively

students’ participation is, the abilities students can gain through their participation, the frequency of teachers’ using activities to enhance students’ English speaking skill

The following table shows the results of questionnaire (before using the activities):

1.Is the project activities about

local cuture easy to follow and

2.How important is the use of

project activities about local cuture

to promote your English

communication?

Very important 38,3

Less important 4,5 Unimportant 3,1 3.How often do you speak English

in project lessons or project

4.How was your level of

participation in group activities

during the lesson?

Less active 12,5

5.What abilities have you improved

by actively participating in group

activities in the project lesson and

activities about local cuture?

Communicating 25,2

Solving problem 23,5

2 Findings from the survey

From the data analysis of the survey results, we find that more than 50% of the students see the importance of the project lessons and the activies about local cutures in learning English speaking More than 54% of the students find the project activites easy to follow and participate in However, the fact was that they have less chance to get involved in the activities Because students in a group often depend on good students to do the group tasks, only 27,3% of the students actively participate in group work of project lessons and activties Another finding from the survey is that students only see that participating in group activities in project

lessons only improve certain ability for students

PART 4 SUGGESTED SOLLUTIONS

1 Organizing project activities in classes we taught:

1.1 Description:

Students work in groups to produce powerpoints presentations.They have to present the result of their research and findings after they finish finding information and visiting at heritage sites

+ In English 10:Unit 3 Music and Unit 10 Ecotourism

+ In English 11: Unit 6 Preserving heritage

After Lesson 1 - Getting started in each Unit, English 10 and English 11(Global Success), students have gained certain background knowledge about the topic We divide each class into three groups to do research on traditional cultures in Mon Son, Con Cuong and make presentations in three minutes at Lesson 8 Looking back and project

At Unit 3 Music (Tieng Anh 10):

+ Group 1: do research on traditional singings

+ Group 2: do research on traditional dances

+ Group 3: do research on traditional instruments

At Unit 10 Ecotourism (Tieng Anh 10):

+ Group 1: do research on traditional cusine

+ Group 2: do research on traditional festivals

+ Group 3: do research on scenic landscapes

At Unit 6 Preserving heritages (Tieng Anh 11):

+ Group 1: do research on historical sites

+ Group 2: do research on traditional costumes

+ Group 3: do research on intangible cultures

1.2 Sample application:

Textbook: Tieng Anh 10, UNIT 3: MUSIC Lesson 8: Project (page 37)

We organize project activities to improve tenth graders’ communication skill in Unit 3 – Music of Tieng Anh 10 – Global Success with the following parts:

Part 1: Setting the stage

After Lesson 1 - Getting started in Unit 3 Music, English 10 (Global Success), students have gained certain background knowledge about the topic, we divide class 10 D into four groups to do research on traditional music in Con Cuong and make presentations in three minutes at Lesson 8 Looking back and project

+ Group 1: do research on traditional singings

+ Group 2: do research on traditional dances

+ Group 3: do research on traditional instruments

+ Group 4: do research on costumes for traditional music

We ask students to prepare and deliver presentations by using visual aids about local cutures: group 1 and group 2 use PowerPoints with pictures and activities about traditional singing and dances in Mon Son, group 3 uses poster made by themselves about traditional intruments and group 4 use real objects like dress, skirts, headscarves, tops and bells to diliver presentations

Part 2: Assessment

We introduce the form of project teamwork plan, checklist and rubric for oral presentation to students (see appendix) then give a clear explanation to help students understand all requirements before they start doing their project

We give each group a team work plan to assign the task for group member, give students a checklist of peer and self –assessment then explain that they have

to tick appropriate items while listening to their classmate’ presentations and write comments if they have any The presenters should complete their self assessment after completing their presentation Also, we show students a rubric for oral

presentation (see appendix)

Assessment: focus on the improvement of students’ communication skill

Part 3: We organize project activities for students with 4 steps:

Step 1: Finding information and materials for powerpoint presentations

We ask students to find information, pictures and videos before creating the final products We guide them to find information on the internet, on facebook or they can find in their daily life because the topic traditional music is very popular

at speacial events like weddings, festivals or at the ecotourism sites

Step 2: Creating the presentations

According to teamwork plans, students in each groups to create oral talks, power point presentations, oral presentation by using poster and oral presentation

by using real objects (students wear traditional costumes as models) until they decide on a final design During this stage, We move from group to group to guide the students' work and help them with translation if necessary We ask them to write typescript to be ready for rehearsal

Step 3: Preparing to Present by using powerpoints, draft or oral talks.

After students finish creating PowerPoints and drafts for oral talks, we ask students to rehearse the presentations before they officially perform in class

Students go to class and take turn to make the talks until they can choose the best students to make real talks

Step 4: Presenting the final results

We have students present their findings to the class and ask groups take turns

to deliver presentations

The presentations will have 4 main parts:

Part 1 Warm –up

+ greeting

+ introduce the members of their groups

Part 2 Pre – speaking: Use video clips, pictures, poster or real objects to lead in their topic of each group’s presentations

Part 3 While- speaking

+ give the main contents of their presentations:

The presentations should include:

- Brief introduction about types of traditional music?

- What is the typical features of each type of traditional music ?

Part 4 Post- speaking: Give the meaning of the projects and your feeling about the traditional music

1.3 Findings and discussion for applying activities in Unit 3 Music

1.3.1 Students’ presentations

The table shows the comparison of assessment for presentations of class 10

A before and after applying the solution

Group Students’ assessment

for their friends

Teacher’ assessment Result

B: before applying the method; A: after applying the method

18-20: Excellent, 16-17: Good, 13-15: Satisfactory, 10-12: Unsatisfactory, <10 redo is required

From the above table, it can be seen that most of the students in class 10A before applying the solution are at unsatisfactory level meanwhile after organization of the activities, they are good and excellent at speaking English

1.3.2 Achieved result

After applying the activities in Unit 3 Music , we see that our students have a clear change in attitude and sense of learning, actively participate in speaking activity, they are more confident to speak English than ever before

We make a survey in class 10A after the project lesson

English well

English rather well in

poorly and cannot speak anything in front of many people

in person to the audience

2 Designing activities with Stem projects

2.1 Purpose and requirements

+ Purpose:

- Create practical, meaningful projects that spread to the community

- Develop and educate life skills for students (planning skills, leadership skills, teamwork skills, presentation, persuasion, defending opinions, loving living)

to help students spread the word Spread and share love with everyone

- Develop and improve scientific research abilities for teachers and students

- Apply knowledge into practice; develop STEM education

- Practice public speaking skills in English for ethnic minority students

+ Requirements:

- Continue to strengthen life skills education for students, improve the quality

of activities to guide students in scientific research and creative experience activities

- Promote STEM education and scientific and technical research in schools

- Create the best conditions for students to express ideas and carry out projects

- Organize a STEM creativity contest to ensure fairness, objectivity, and suitability for each level and grade, in accordance with the actual conditions of the school, without causing overload and affecting learning activities

- Subject teachers and homeroom teachers of classes focus on propagating the purpose and meaning of the STEM festival, mobilizing the support and help of all social forces in orientation and consulting and help students express ideas and carry out projects

2.2 Content of Stem festival

- Competition in making traditional dishes

- STEM booth competition

- Banh chung wrapping competition

- Beauty costume contest

- Presentation test in English for all products

2.2.1 Content of the STEM booth exhibition competition

- Each class has 01 booth to participate in the competition; Each booth has: table, tablecloth and 1 poster; Products displayed on the table: Stem products of various disciplines, banh chung, traditional costumes, traditional dishes

- Requirements for:

+ Products displayed in the booth: teachers guide students in the school to research and manufacture, encourage the creation of new ideas and do not use other people's finished products (with commitment) of all disciplines

+ Classroom booths are arranged and displayed to ensure aesthetics, ensure a traditional Tet atmosphere, and encourage creativity in classes

2.2.2 English presentation test

+ Presentation: each team sends 1-3 students to present in English Total presentation time: maximum 07 minutes to introduce their booth

+ Evaluation for presentations:

- Each exam content will be scored on a 10-point scale

- The program's organizing committee will summarize and announce the results of each team and then award prizes

2.2.3 Assessment for English presentation test

+ Scoring criteria:

- Presentations are evaluated based on the following criteria (100 points):

• Speech construction (20%): the presentation has a clear, recognizable structure, the introduction, body and conclusion meet functional requirements, ideas are developed in a logical sequence, Fluently use linking words/phrases to closely link the presentation both in terms of ideas and language

• Content of Speech (20%): The presentation clearly shows the author's views and purposes, provides enough convincing ideas and evidence to defend his point

of view, clearly states the strengths, Weaknesses of own and opposing viewpoints and refute opposing viewpoints with convincing arguments (if any)

• Presentation and Delivery (20%): Contestants make eye contact with the audience throughout the presentation, ensuring the audience is listening and supportive; keep appropriate gestures and body language to persuade the audience; The presentation duration meets the requirements according to the regulations;

• Pronunciation and Intonation (20%): Correct pronunciation, intonation consistent with eloquent and persuasive style, use of language fluently with appropriate volume and speed, appropriate pauses

• Language (20%): The presentation demonstrates fluent language ability with high accuracy in grammar and vocabulary, showing a rich and diverse vocabulary and appropriate use

Scoring method for each part: Fair: 1 - 5 points; Good: 6 – 10 points; Very Good:

11 – 15 points; Excellent: 16 – 20 points

- The Q&A section from the jury is evaluated based on the following criteria (20 points):

• Respond to questions quickly, intelligently, and humorously

• Views are clear, coherent, and straightforward

• Persuasive, clear and specific ideas and evidence

• Intelligent, witty criticism with convincing ideas and evidence

Scoring method for each part: Fair: 1 - 5 points; Good: 6 – 10 points; Very Good:

11 – 15 points; Excellent: 16 – 20 points

3 Writing booklet about traditional cultures and common exchanges

at ecotourisms with foreigners

3.1 Situation of developing community tourism in Con Cuong district

Possessing many attractive landscapes, and ecology, with unique traditional cultural features of ethnic minorities, cultural historical relics, revolutionary historical relics, lifestyle, culinary culture rich food Con Cuong is considered a district with many favorable conditions for developing community tourism Community tourism not only helps people protect ecological resources, but also preserves and promotes the unique traditional culture of local people

+ Developing community tourism creates sustainable livelihoods

In fact, Con Cuong community tourism was born in 2011, after the policy of building Con Cuong district into an ecological urban area, the district's first community tourism group was established in Ban Nua, commune Yen Khe After its establishment, members of the Tourism Team were sent by organizations to train and visit to learn experience in skills and knowledge of community tourism With existing passion, the members have self-taught, studied, researched and transformed the traditional cuisine of the Thai people, combined with flexibility in thinking, step by step renewing new dishes, rich in national identity, at the same time restoring the culture of the Thai people such as folk songs, folk dance, singing and dancing, theater dancing, brocade weaving, bamboo and rattan weaving After the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Decision No 4798/QD-UBND dated October 21, 2015 on approving the "Project to build Con Cuong district into a town in the direction of ecological urban area, meeting the needs of economic development" Economic and social conditions in the mountainous region of Southwest Nghe An", Con Cuong district continues to promote the implementation of investment solutions to develop facilities and infrastructure at community tourism destinations, especially 03 households ( Hoa Thu homestay, Hanh Chien homestay, Nhuong Thanh homestay) were selected by the JICA Japan project to invest in facilities to ensure the best living conditions for tourists In addition, members are also trained on community tourism skills Besides, by preserving the clean, airy traditional stilt houses along with spacious garden space, the homestays have ensured the sleeping, eating, and hygienic living conditions of tourists guest Basically, the stilt houses still preserve the traditional house style consistent with the cultural identity of the Thai ethnic people in Con Cuong On the other hand, the people live friendly, gentle lives and still maintain their living habits, which attracts tourists to visit Con Cuong

Along with the construction and development of Ban Nua community tourism site, up to now Con Cuong district has built and developed 4 community tourism sites with signs: Ban Nua, Yen Khe commune; Khe Ran village, Bong Khe commune; Xieng village, Mon Son commune and Bai Gao village, Chau Khe commune Thanks to good communication work, tourism promotion and association with domestic and foreign travel companies, Con Cuong district has gradually brought community tourism closer to tourists from all over, attracting many domestic and foreign tourists come to visit and experience the homestay models In 2022, it will attract 22,693 visitors, and by 2023 it will increase to 28,397 domestic and foreign visitors to visit and experience Revenue from accommodation, dining, entertainment, and shopping services increased from 3,974 million VND to 6,289 million VND These are not very large numbers, but they are good results for a district that is new to community tourism and is still facing many difficulties like Con Cuong district This will be the motivation for the locality to continue striving to build and improve facilities and other tourism services to meet the increasing needs of tourists

+ Community tourism is facing many difficulties and challenges:

Despite such potential and advantages, the development of local community tourism still faces many difficulties and challenges The district has not yet fully exploited the potential to develop adequate tourism, the creation of jobs, and stable income for local people; Community tourism development in the district still has many shortcomings such as:

Firstly, tourism is still spontaneous, based on available resources, without much investment in facilities; lack of high quality accommodation facilities; The landscape around community tourism destinations is still simple and not really attractive and attracts tourists

Second, tourism products lack attractiveness and are not diverse and rich enough to satisfy the needs of tourists; Visitors mainly come to visit and use accommodation, culinary and cultural and artistic services; There are no areas or stalls selling souvenirs for tourists to visit and shop

One of the most important factor is a lack of truly professional and trained community tourism human resources; Most tourism workers here still have difficulty communicating with foreign tourists

well-+ Solutions for sustainable community tourism development:

In order for the district's tourism industry in general and community tourism

in particular to develop sustainably, becoming a key economic sector, making an important contribution to both creating jobs, eliminating hunger and reducing poverty, and attracting investment Investment, economic restructuring, while preserving and promoting the good traditional values of ethnic minorities in Con Cuong district need to carry out the following solutions:

Firstly, there needs to be planning and priority policies for tourism development, creating a healthy legal environment, helping the tourism industry develop in the right direction and effectively, truly considering tourism as an industry integrated economy, interdisciplinary, inter-regional, socialization and international integration

Second, it is necessary to invest in facilities and technical equipment that ensure requirements, quality and are suitable for the type of community tourism One of the most important concerns is paying attention to training human resources for community tourism, popularizing the English language for local people Most students live in ecotourism areas, they need to learn English and know how to speak English with foreign visitors coming to Mon Son in particular and Con Cuong in general

3.2 Asign teachers of English at Muong Qua high school to write the contents of the book:

In order to help students to improve communication skill to develop ecotourism in Mon Son, Con Cuong, we decide to write and publish a booklet about traditional cuture, including vocabularies and sample sentences about topics

to communicate with foreigners when they visit Con Cuong like: cusine, historical sites, landscapes and intangible cultures

We divide the task of finding information by topic for teachers as follows:

+ Mrs Lien: Topic Cusine

+ Mr Tang: Topic historical sites

+ Mrs Thuy: Topic Scenic landscapes and intangible cultures

3.3 Publish the book

After finding all the necessary information and images, we decided to publish the book with the hope of helping students and even local people use it to ask questions and talk to foreigners about the cultural traditions of his homeland Mon Son, Luc Da

There are two main parts in the book: the first part is vocabulary system on cultural topics, pronunciation and Vietnamese meanings equivalent, the second part is the

system of basic communication patterns when meeting foreigners traveling to Mon Son, how to ask and answer questions about familiar topics: direction, cusines, homestays, landscapes, historical sites and intangible cutures

3.4 Organize activities for students to use content of the book and practice speaking skills

+ Activity 1: Talking to each other:

Talking to each other helps students to practise their diligence, carefulness, and develop observation and communication reflexes

We prepare pictures according to the content of the book, ask students to observe the pictures and work in pairs to talk about what happening in each picture

+ Activity 2:Role-playing:

After understanding the content of the book, we asked the students to practise the role play to ask and answer questions about the real situations when they are the tour guides and the foreign visitors

+ Activity 3 :Storytelling in groups and individually in front of the class:

We divided the class into small groups to practise If the situations has 2 characters, we let students work in pairs, if the situations has 3 or 4 characters, work in groups of 3 and 4 For each situation, we break down the content into short paragraphs, and each student will read one After the group members mastered the words and understood the content, we asked them to tell the whole content in the group and in front of the class

+ Activity 4: Encouraging students to read book at home every day:

Because the time to study at school is short, after reading or telling a situation

in class, we encourage students to practise reading and telling other situartions at home we instruct my students to spend about 10 to 15 minutes each day practising reading

PART 5 THE SURVEY OF EVALUATING THE URGENCY AND FEASIBILITY OF THE SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

1 Aim of the survey

To evaluate the urgency and feasibility of the suggested activities to improve communication skill for students

2 Content and method of the survey

2.1 Contents of the survey

The content of the survey focused on the following two main issues:

- Are the suggested activities really urgent for the current problem of students’ communication skill?

- Are the suggested activities really feasible for the real teaching practice?

2.2 Method of the survey

The survey was conducted by delivering the survey handouts containing multiple choice questions for the teachers of English from some high schools of Nghe An province

3 Survey participants

Summary of the survey participants

1 Teachers from Anh Son 3 high school 5

2 Teachers from Con Cuong high school 5

3 Teachers from Muong Qua high school 3

4 Teachers from Phan Boi Chau high school 2

5 Teachers from Quynh Luu 4 high school 1

6 Teachers from Phan Dang Luu high school 2

7 Teachers from Quy Hợp 2 high school 1

8 Teachers from Noi Tru 2 high school 1

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Results from the survey have shown that most of the participants taking part

in the survey agree that using some project activities about local cuture to enhance the students' communication skill is very urgent Of all the activities suggested, activities of designing activities with Stem projects to enhance students’ speaking skill, designing English test presentations help students feel confident to speak English and organize activities for students to use content of the book about traditional cultures and common exchanges at ecotourisms with foreigners and practice speaking skills are considered very urgent Besides, activities of Organizing project activities about local cuture in classes to improve communication skill and writing book about traditional cultures and common exchanges at ecotourisms with foreigners are also urgent No respondent evaluated all the activities a little or not urgent We can conclude that, our suggested solutions in the teaching experience are urgent in real life teaching practice

4.2 Evaluating the feasibility of the suggested solutions

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