Using some activities to help students improve english communication skills in speaking lessons at nhu thanh secondary and high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGNHU THANH SECONDARY & HIGH SCHOOL INNOVATION IN TEACHING USING SOME ACTIVITIES TO HELP STUDENTS IMPROVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN SPEA

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

NHU THANH SECONDARY & HIGH SCHOOL

INNOVATION IN TEACHING

USING SOME ACTIVITIES TO HELP STUDENTS

IMPROVE ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN SPEAKING LESSONS AT NHU THANH SECONDARY &

HIGH SCHOOL

The writer: Phan Anh Dao The post: Teacher of English Innovation of subject: English

THANH HOA 2018

TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE

1.1 Rationale of the study 2

1.2 Aims of the study 3

1.3 Object of the study 3

1.4 Methods of the study 3

2.1 Theoretical and practical basis 3

2.1.1 Theoretical basis: 3

2.1.2 Practical basis: 4

2.2 The status of the research subject: 4

2.2.1 The advantages of teaching speaking skill: 4

2.2.2 The disadvantages of teaching speaking skill: 4

2.3 Some solutions to the research subject: 5

1 : INTRODUCTION

1.1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY:

Knowing English is knowing everything so English has now become one

of the most popular languages in the world In the tendency of integration of theglobal economy, English is one of the most effective communicative tools foreverybody The role of English is considered to be very important in the fields ofeconomics, politics, science, culture and education Being aware of theimportance of English so the society is becoming more and more interested inteaching and learning English at schools, the curriculums and the methods ofteaching English are innovated to better the needs of learners

Therefore, today in Viet nam, everyone from the children to the adulttends to learn English and many English centers are opened to satisfy theleaners They are fully aware that knowing English will allow people to access

an incredible amount of information which may not be otherwise available Socommunication skills are essential for a successful career, satisfying relationshipsand a personal sense of accomplishment Communication is seen every daythrough TV commercials, interaction with the person opening a door for peopleand listening to the manangers of their company speaking Effectivecommunication empowers people, provides clear direction and increasesproductivity Without it, people lose motivation and the inability to make adecision, and they become angry because their messages are not understood

In fact, many students in Viet nam who have good command of English, butcan’t use English well don’t get good jobs So, English is the first and the mostimportant standard for workers who want to work not only at foreign companiesbut also at national ones

To do this better, Teachers at schools especially at high schools andUniversities have to use many skills and activities to promote positive,proactive students and create optimal conditions for students to train, developand enhance skills to use language for purposes of communication So we have

to create the environment for students to communicate in the classroom,especially, in Speaking lessons and this raises for teachers is to organize variousactivities to improve the efficiency of the speaking lessons and make studentsfeel easily with the subject However, students have limited time to learnEnglish in class, and they still do not have enough encouragement to practiceEnglish outside the class in order to get familiar with English This case brings a

problem that make high school students have difficulties to communicate inEnglish and the majority of students are still feeling embarrassed and shy whenspeaking in front of the class.

Therefore, in this study I boldly give the subject “ Using some activities

to help students improve English communication skills in speaking lessons at Nhu Thanh secondary and High School ”

1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

When writing this initiative, I just wish to offer some ideas to find the best teaching methods to generate excitement for students and bring optimal

- guiding students to practise themseves, practise to have skills and

speaking skills in English

1.3 OBJECT OF THE STUDY

This research is carried out in grade 10A1, 11C1, 12B1 and 12B4 at NhuThanh Secondary & High School

1.4 METHODS OF THE STUDY

In this research, I use some research methods to collect and analyze the

needed data Recording is used to record the process of giving some activities andsurveying through the answer sheets is used to know the practical situation ofteaching and learning English communication skills

a Observation method:

Reading reference books, summarizing material research and visitingclasses of colleagues

b Exchange method, discussion:

Discussing with other colleagues after visiting their classes to draw outexperiences

2.1 Theoretical and practical basis

2.1.1 Theoretical basis:

The aim of teaching a foreign language is not only to give students theknowledge of the language, but also the ultimate aim of teaching a foreignlanguage is to teach students to have the ability to communicate in thatlanguage The ability of students to communicate through skills: Listening,Speaking, Reading and Writing Students' speaking skills are formed through aprocess of academic training in English language environment In addition tolearning in the classroom, students have to learn and practice speaking throughdifferent forms and methods

2.1.2 Practical basis:

After many years teaching English in high school , I have noticed the factthat the majority of students in high school are afraid of learning English, andthey often have a heavy feeling in the English lessons and especially inspeaking lessons So what must we do to make students have a real enthusiasmabout learning a foreign language, namely English subject and make studentslook forward to and hope for this subject without feeling bored ? How can theyhear and speak simple English sentences in a natural way ? Those are some of

my concerns in the teaching process, so I'm always trying to find out the mosteffective solutions to make my lectures attractive to students, and is also aimed

at improving the quality of this subject on the purpose of renovating teachingmethods is that : “learner –centered”.So I decide to choose this research subject

2.2 The status of the research subject:

2.2.1 The advantages of teaching speaking lessons:

Most students are obedient and aware of studying

Students themselves and their parents have realized the importance oflearning English so they have had the interest and considerable investment inmany aspects to this subject , and it is no longer considered a subordinatesubject

Schools have been equipped with full conditions about facilities for studylike language laboratory, books, tapes, and radios

- For teachers:

Teachers have satisfied with the school’s demand as well as education andapplied the new teaching methods.

The facilities of the school like language laboratory , books , tapes , andradios are full and Administrator is interested and facilitates the teaching of theteachers so that they can prove their abilities in the best way

2.2.2.The disadvantages of teaching speaking lesson:

Teachers don’t assign the tasks to students clearly

Teachers don’t create the environment to encourage students to speakEnglish effectively

2.2.3 Specific survey in classes 10A1, 11C1, 12B1 and 12B4

Class Students Excellent-good Average Weak (bad)

as possible because the needs of learners are very diverse Besides, teachersshouldn’t create unfortunate misunderstanding in the communication process

Speaking skills of students are practised with other skills through a learningprocess in English language environment In addition to learning in classroom,students must learn themselves and practise speaking exercises through differentforms and methods because the aim of speaking exercises is to help learnersspeak exactly and fluently.

The selection of teaching speaking techniques must be determined on thebasis of the lesson content to build the activities for study

Through research process and practice in different classrooms I offer somesolutions to guide students to develop communication skills

2.3.2 The main solutions:

Students often think that the ability to speak a language is the product oflanguage learning, but speaking is also a crucial part of the language learningprocess To guide students to develop communication skills in English, teacherscan teach students speaking strategies such as providing a dialogue, spoken wordactions, using minimal respones, practising grammar structures and applyinggroupwork or pairwork in speaking skills and games

2.3.2.1: Providing a dialogue:

Thanks to the guidance of teachers, students themselves can create thedialogues and then practice, practice instead This activity is quite simple andwill be familiar so students are interested in learning

The main purpose of this activity is to help students use Wh- questions orYes-no questions fluently

2.3.2.2: Spoken word actions:

In these actions teachers should let students speak simple sentences ordialogues so that students have communicative opportunities

In classroom, teachers can give some exercises to students to explain or talk onthe themes and afterwards, teachers and the whole class will remark by askingquestions or assessing and this will help students make faster progress because:

- Assessment helps learners become more confident about assessing languageability used by others

- Teachers must create a routine for your own classroom - where speakingEnglish in the classroom can turn into daily conversation, even compulsory forstudents

- Teachers can use this activity to help students retell the stories orconversations in front of the whole classroom

- Teachers should create situations, contexts, themes for students to practisespeaking in pairs or groups In this section teachers can use pictures, photos in

and out of a textbook or topics close to them as their school, their home, andtheir friends, and so on

2.3.2.3: Using minimal responses:

Language learners who lack confidence in their ability to participatesuccessfully in oral interaction often listen in silence while others do the talking.One way to encourage such learners to begin to participate is to help them build

up a stock of minimal responses that they can use in different types of exchanges.Such responses can be especially useful for beginners

Minimal responses are predictable, often idiomatic phrases thatconversation participants use to indicate understanding, agreement, doubt, andother responses to what another speaker is saying Having a stock of suchresponses enables a learner to focus on what the other participant is saying,

without having to simultaneously plan a response

2.3.2.4: Practising grammar structures:

Unlike other languages , English has a word order and grammar rules to befollowed The implementation of the structures and grammar principles inpractising speaking English is not simple Therefore, when communicating inEnglish, try to use the grammar structures that you have been learned andmastered If you just master the structures and simple sentences , you shouldonly use them until you can be sure of the correct use of more complexstructures

2.3.2.5: Applying groupwork or pairwork in speaking skills:

This is the basic and efficiency activity to practise speaking Teachersneed to give careful instructions and know exactly how to divide the class Pairwork and group work can become a routine Once students are used to it andhave regular working partners, it can be organized quickly and easily After thatgroup chief may give topic to say and members discuss Some activities such aspaintings, plays, telling story should be applied

2.3.2.6: Games:

Games is a very popular activity that teachers frequently used anyactivity is also considered games when we want students to do and want to findout the winner It is clear that Games are very positive and have a high

motivation Teachers can design the games such as “chain games”, “lucky

number”, “find someone who” and so on to suit each specific class, each

specific object to encourage more students to participate

2.3.3 Organization steps:

For a speaking period, there are often three stages which are: Preparingfor speaking – Controlled practice – Free practice/Production This learningprocess not only helps students understand the material but also understand theirspeaking skills used in practical communication But the prerequisite problem isthat teachers need to clearly define the purpose of each speaking lesson toorient for the students perform the tasks in the next steps

2.3.3.1:Preparing for speaking:

- The instructions that are given at the beginning are crucial If the students donot understand exactly what they have to do, there will be time-wasting,confusion, lack of effective practice, possible loss of control

- Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily; and in monolingualclasses, you may find it cost-effective to explain some or all in thestudents’mother tongue

- Teachers encourage students to contribute to the general ideas for speakinglessons ( Brainstorming activity)

- Teachers can ask students some questions to check their understanding

2.3.3.2 Controlled practice:

- Need to comply with the guideline from easy to difficult Teachers should givedifferent types of exercises such as Substitution drills, using Prompts or picturecues or language games for students to form structure they have just studied

- Teacher goes from group to group, pair to pair, monitor, and either contribute

or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful

- Providing general approval and support;

- Helping students who are having difficultly;

- Keeping the students using the target language(in many cases your merepresence will ensure this!)

- Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some studentsare over dominant and others silent

- Correcting mistakes and language problems that students have such aspronunciation or grammar Teachers should provide some new words that relate

to the subject However, teachers shouldn’t correct unimportant mistakes andshould encourage other students to find out the mistakes and correct them

2.3.3.3:Free practice/production:

This is the last activity of the lesson so teachers should give the generalrequirement and shouldn’t limit students’ideas as well as language so thatstudents can speak freely

Teachers can create the situation, the context and the topic for students topractise speaking in pairs or group

Teachers can use pictures and photos in textbook and outside it or thetopics that is close to students such as describe their school, house or theirfriends how to ensure the requirements of the lesson effectively, and how tostimulate student’s enthusiasm

2.3.4 Demonstration:

Example of providing a dialogue

Task 2 ( Unit 9 Part B: Speaking English 11)

From the information provided in the textbook, students will combineinto a dialogue and then make many other dialogues by substituting and thenpracrise

A: Good morning What can I do for you?

B: Yes I would like to send a greetings card and some flowers to my friend onher birthday

A: Right When is your friend’s birthday?

B: It’s May 16th

A: What kind of flowers would you like to send?

B: Roses A bunch of red roses please

A: Would you like to have the card and the flowers delivered on May 16th or aday before?

B: On May 16th It’s best to deliver in the early morning

A: OK I make a note for that Could you please fill in this form? And don’tforget to write the recipient’s address clearly

Example of group work.

Task 3 (Unit 3 – Part B: Speaking - English 11)

This is a free activity and aims to develop fluency in speaking Theprocedure may be:

Divide students into groups of four or five

Read through the instrutions and make sure that each group understands what to

do Choose one “secretary” in each group to write the list but emphasis thateveryone in the groups should agree on what to write

While the activity is going on, move from groups, but do not interruptmore than is necessary

When some groups have finished their discussion, stop the activity, askone person from each group to report on what they decided

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