skkn USING GAMES TO HELP GRADE 10 STUDENTS ENGAGE, ACTIVATE AND STUDY IN LISTENING PERIODS

1 USING GAMES TO HELP GRADE 10 STUDENTS ENGAGE, ACTIVATE AND STUDY IN LISTENING PERIODS PART I.. As a result, teaching and learning language changes dramatically, for most students, th

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USING GAMES TO HELP GRADE 10 STUDENTS ENGAGE,

ACTIVATE AND STUDY IN LISTENING PERIODS

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 Reason for choosing the topic

Teaching is said to be a hard job, especially the teacher of English In order to

be satisfied and successful in teaching, teachers now need much more effort, practice and experience than ever before

Along with the development of cience and technology, English is considered a must to enter the world today It is undeniable that teaching English has centerd upon helping students sharpening their reading and writing skills since these two skills are tested in the exam Now and then, speaking and listening are added to the exam, which makes both teachers and students confused As a result, teaching and learning language changes dramatically, for most students, they find English in general and listening in particular very important yet most difficult one So they want to have an active and effective atmostphere to practise the language This leads to the fact that teachers need to use modern methods and approaches and various equipment to make the education process modern, pleasant and as exciting

as possible And we all know that if students are engaged in the subject, they feel

more comfortable, learn better and can activate in an easier way

However, teaching English and listening at many high schools is still a challenging job Typically, due to time limit in teaching and students‟ low levels of proficiency

in term of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation skills, many teachers approach listening period very simple and uninteresting Teacher introduces the part of the unit, asks students to write some vocabularies and then do the tasks passively while

he plays the tape Therefore, students think that they do not do anything in listening periods but prepare the vocabulary and some even copy the key of the tasks before going to class This is a harmful habit since it can leads to a passive learning Moreover, we learn that those teaching and learning methods are ineffective because they cannot create an interesting atmosphere for students so most of them get bored and tired when they have listening lessons in spite of the fact that they know listening is necessary for them

Considering all the above situations, in this writing, I mention the application

of using games in teaching listening at Tri An high school And this is my reason for choosing "Using games to help grade 10 students engage, activate and study in listening periods” for my research I hope that the result of using games in teaching listening will bring back many practical benefits to both the teachers and the students

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2 Aims of the study

The major aims of the study are:

- To affirm the role of listening in teaching and learning English

- To emphasize the importance of motivation in teaching and learning listening

- To point out the application of games in teaching listening brings back many benefits to students in learning listening

- To contribute a small part to the improvement of teaching and learning at Tri An high school

3 Scope of the study

The benefits of using games to help grade 10 students engage, acivate and study in listening periods create the effectiveness of students‟ motivation in learning listening and the subjects under the study are the 10th form students at Tri A high school (class 10A1)

4 Research questions

The study will help to find the answers to the following questions:

1 What are the role of listening and the importance of motivation in learning listening?

2 What benefits can listening games bring to teachers and students?

3 What types of games should be used to help students engage, activate and study

in listening?

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PART II RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH

1 The role of listening in teaching and learning English

While learning English, learners are faced with a large number of difficulties For example, they find it hard to comprehend recorded texts, direct speech, songs

or even dialogues despite the fact that they have learnt English for many years This is due to many factors such as the accent, the speed of speech, the falling and rising intonation… of the native speakers This leads to other difficulties in language learning That is the reason why students are required to be familiar with

it by listening Therefore, listening is considered to be a basic skill in learning English and is placed at the top of language skills According to Doff‟s viewpoint (1988:198) listening has a great impact on developing speaking because we cannot develop speaking skills unless we develop listening skills If an English language learner enables to understand spoken English, it is easy for him to communicate with foreign visitors, listen to the radio or to study And it is known that listening

to spoken English is a good way of acquiring the language, of picking up structures and vocabularies

2 The importance of motivation in teaching and learning listening

Motivation is the desire to study Strong motivation stimulates students to acquire, transform and use knowledge

As Harmer (1998: 25) says: Most students can remember lessons at school which were uninvolving and where they were „switched off‟ from what was being taught to them Frequently, this was because they were bored, because they were not emotionally engaged with what was going on Such lessons can be contrasted with lessons where they were amused, moved, stimulated or challenged It seems quite clear that those lessons involved not only more „fun‟, but also better learning Motivation is a vital element and strongly related to success in language learning If a learner is motivated, she will probably decide to undertake a particular task with certain amount of energy and time needed for it When students are engaged and motivated, they learn better than they are partly or wholly disengaged Especially, in a listening lesson, as it is often considered as a boring subject, teacher needs to arouse students‟ interest, thus involving their emotions

3 The application of games in teaching listening

Games are said to help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work Games are very exciting for students, applying games in teaching, teachers may enliven the class, change a little bit the monotonous classroom‟s atmosphere for a pleasant and an enriched environment As a result, students will

in order to express their own ideas or give information

Therefore, games are very useful and effective It makes the learning process

a good deal more interesting And it is teacher‟s duty to set up a system of various and attractive games to get students‟ curiosity, interest and participation

4 Why use games in teaching and learning listening?

Using games in teaching and learning listening brings many benefits

Firstly, they are really good aids for teachers because with them, a tedious and boring class becomes a brilliant setting for students, where skills are developed while they are playing

Secondly, games are highly motivating and entertaining With games, even reluctant and shy students want to participate in the activity to express their opinions and feelings

Thirdly, when students learn the target language with games, they can learn it in the way they acquire their mother tounge without being aware about what they are studying So they are going to learn it without any pressure and stressful activities, which results in a better learning

Students could desire to play games only for fun or enjoyment so teachers need to consider which games to use, when to use and how to link the games with the activities presented in the English textbook grade 10 One suggestion to accomplish an excellent language game should be to present unambiguos rules, define the ultimate objective clearly and have a satisfying focus not to promote tediousness

5 Types of games used to teach grammar

Competitive games: the aim of this type of games is to finish the game as

soon as possible before others

Communication games: They are used to exchange information Students get information and they must react on it

Cooperative games: these games are very important They create the

cooperation among students

Code-control games: students must not make mistakes when playing these

games because they are controlled If not, they will lose points

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UNIT 7- THE MASS MEDIA

Activity: JUMBLED WORD

Aim: to warm- up and elicit the new lesson

Interaction: the whole class

When to use: When teaching Unit 7, part C- Listening- WARM UP

Time: 4 minutes

PART III THE STUDY

1 Tri An high school and current situation of teaching and learning English

at the school

Tri An high school was established 16 years ago In spite of being located in a rural area, it has many good students who gets high prize in the exam of Dong Nai province taken place every year The school is well-equipped with modern technology, which helps to create its success However, most of the students are good at natural subjects and like to learn those subjects so the school is trying to look for new methods which engage students in both natural and social subjects, especially English

2 The 10th form students in class 10A1

The research was carried out at Trị An high school with the participation of students of class 10A1 To these students, English is a compulsory subject in the courses and it is included in the final exam All of the students have studied English for at least four years at lower secondary school, especially some of them have studied English for nine years Most of them can do grammar exercises very well but they have difficulties in mastering four language skills Of the four skills, they find listening especially important yet challenging one That was the reason why most of the students feel bored and unmotivated in listening classes

3 Analyzing results of class observation

The researcher observes 4 different lessons and carry out 4 experimental lessons in class 10A1 ( 36 students), 2 lessons with designing games and 2 lessons without games

* Using games

Activity 1: Warm- up

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Activity: TICK THE WORDS YOU HEAR

Aim: to prepare students for the listening task (listen for the first time) Interaction: pair work

When to use: When teaching Unit 7, part C- Listening

- WHILE- LISTENING

Time: 7 minutes

Procedures:

+ Teacher asks students to work in 2 groups

+ Ask students to rearrange the letters to make the right words

+ The group that has more correct words in a shorter time will be the winner

+ Teacher asks students to work in pairs and delivers each pair a handout

+ Ask students to listen to the two radio news and then tick the words they hear

+ The pair that finishes first and has more correct answers will be the winner

GINEMAZA

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Activity: PERFECT MATCH

Aim: to help students activate in the listening period

Interaction: the whole class

When to use: When teaching Unit 7, part C- Listening

- POST- LISTENING

Time: 7 minutes

Activity 3: Post- Listening

Procedures:

+ Teacher prepares 9 pictures containing the theme of the two radio news and 9

sentences describing the pictures

+ Ask students to work in 4 groups , each group is delivered a set of sentences + Representatives from each group will take turn to choose the picture and describe the picture so that his member will recognise the sentence that best match the picture

+ With a perfect match they receive 10 marks

+ The group with more correct sentences will be the winner

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suggested answers:

 Picture 1: The heavy rain has caused floods all over the country

 Picture 2: Many people have left their home because the rivers have risen

 Picture 3: The rain has stopped, but It's still cloudy

 Picture 4: poeple can't go out to work because of the strong wind and bad weather

 Picture 5: A 90-year-old woman is still healthy

 Picture 6: She has climbed Mount Whitney in California 23 times

 Picture 7: At 4418 metres,Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in

California

 Picture 8: She says the view from the top is wonderful

 Picture 9: She says the mountain keeps her young and healthy

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Activity: CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Aim: to warm- up and elicit the new lesson

Interaction: the whole class

When to use: When teaching Unit 12, part C- Listening- WARM UP

Time: 4 minutes

UNIT 12- MUSIC

Activity 1: Warm- up

Procedures:

+ Teacher asks students to work in 4 groups and do the crossword puzzle with

6 horizontals and one vertical

+ Teacher prepares a crossword puzzle with 6 pictures, each picture is covered

by a white paper contained a number according to the number of the sentence below

+ Each group takes turns to choose the number and fill in the blank in the sentence which they have chosen

+ With each correct answer, they will receive 10 marks and with the correct guess about the theme ( the vertical letter), they will have 20 marks

+ The group with the highest mark will be the winner

Horizontal words illustrated with pictures:

1 Music sets the tone for important _s and special occasions

2 Beethoven was a famous _ musician

3 My Tam is a _

4 They are _ music singers (The Beatles)

5 They are playing _ music

6 Michael Jacson is called the King of _ music

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Activity: Kim‟s Game

Aim: to introduce to students some songs written by Van Cao

and make them interested in the topic

Interaction: Group work

When to use: When teaching Unit 12, part C- Listening

- PRE- LISTENING

Time: 5 minutes

The vertical word: Van Cao, a famous Vietnamese musicican

Teacher’ crossword and pictures

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Activity: Rearrange the sentences in the correct order

Aim: to prepare students for the listening task (listen for the first time) Interaction: pair work

When to use: When teaching Unit 12, part C- Listening

- WHILE- LISTENING

Time: 7 minutes

Procedures:

+ Teacher explain the rule of the game

+ Teacher posts the poster on the board containing some songs written by Van

Cao: Ngay Mua, Suoi Mo, Buon Tan Thu, Tien Ve Ha Noi, Thu Co Lieu, Ca Ngoi

Ho Chu Tich, Ben Xuan, LangToi, Truong Ca Song Lo, Song Lo, Truong Chi, Thien Thai, Cung Dan Xua

+ Students look at the poster and try to remember

+ Then teacher puts the poster down the table and gives students 1 minute to

discuss the answers

+ Teacher calls on 4 representatives from 4 groups to go to the board and write down their answers

+ Teacher reposts the poster to check the answers

+ The group with many correct songs will be the winner

Activity 3: While- listening

Procedures:

+ Teacher asks students to work with a partner

+ Teacher deliver each pair a set of sentenses and asks them to number the sentences in the order they hear

+ The fastest pair with correct orders will be the winner

Teacher’ sentences

a - Let me see if we can play one of the songs for you

b - But I think the best Vietnamese musician of all times is Van Cao

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Activity: LUCKY SONG GAME

Aim: to help students activate in listening periods

Interaction: group work

When to use: When teaching Unit 12, part C- Listening

- POST- LISTENING

Time: 5 minutes

c - Our programme tonight is “ My favorite musician”

d - Can you tell us about the Vietnamese musician you like best, please?

Activity 4: Post- listening

Procedures:

+ Teacher asks students to work in 4 groups

+ Teacher introduces the game: There are 8 songs written by Van Cao In these 6 songs, there are 3 lucky songs If students choose the lucky song, they do not have

to answer the question but still get 10 marks If they choose other songs, they must give answer to teacher‟ questions Each correct answer will receive 8 marks

+ The group with highest marks will be the winner

Teacher’ poster

TRUONG CA

SONG LO

CUNG DAN XUA SUOI MO LANG TOI

NGAY MUA BEN XUAN THIEN THAI CA NGOI HO

CHU TICH

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Truong Ca Song Lo: When was “ Tien Quan Ca” written?

Cung Dan Xua: Lucky song

Suoi Mo: What is the guest of the show?

Lang Toi: Who wrote “ Tien Quan Ca”?

Ngay Mua: Lucky song

Ben Xuan: Why does Quang Hung like “ Tien Quan Ca”?

Thien Thai: Quang Hung just like Van Cao, not other musicians True or false?

Ca Ngoi Ho Chu Tich: Lucky song

* Findings

Students’ English speaking time

Most of the students in class work during the games From the beginning until the end of the games, they try to complete the task given as soon as possible by answering and discussing with their peers As a result, the time for them to speak English, engage, activate and study in class is much (60%-70%)

Class atmosphere

When the teacher gives signals to stop, some students still try to answer the questions so the class atmosphere is very lively and noisy The cooperation and competition is very high ( 75%- 80%) And they always eager to do more activities

in class

* Not using games

Like an ordinary day of teaching, teacher introduces the new lesson and asks students to answer some questions in the book, then students are asked to do the listening activities This process is like a listening test Most of the time, students just listen and write down in their notebook When the listening tapescript is finished, teacher calls on some students to write down the answers to the questions

on the board and then teacher checks and gives feedback

* Findings

Students’ English speaking time

Compared with lessons with games, here students have less chance to speak English, only about 20%- 30% because they spent more time on doing and rewriting the correct answers