Introducing some activities for teaching cultural knowledge to motivate students’ interest in speaking class in high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGHA TRUNG HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE INTRODUCING SOME ACTIVITES FOR TEACHING CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN SPE

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HA TRUNG HIGH SCHOOL

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

INTRODUCING SOME ACTIVITES FOR TEACHING CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN SPEAKING CLASS IN HIGH SCHOOL

The author: NGUYEN THI THANH HUYEN Job position: Teacher

Experience initiative about: English

THANH HOA 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.1 REASON FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC 1

2.1 THEORITICAL BASIC OF THE STUDY 2 2.2 REALITY BEFORE APPLYING THE STUDY 3 2.3 SOME ACTIVITES FOR TEACHING CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE 4

2.4 APPLYING ACTIVITES FOR TEACHING CULTURAL

KNOWLEDGE IN TEACHING UNIT 3, SPEAKING SKILL, OLD

ENGLISH TEXTBOOK 11 AND UNIT 2 READING SKILL ENGLISH

TEXTBOOK 12.

12

2.4.1 Applying activities for teaching cultural knowledge in unit 3, speaking

2.4.2 Applying activities for teaching cultural knowledge in unit 2-ways of

socializing, reading skill (Page 31), English 12 13 2.5 EDUCATIONAL EFFECT OF THE STUDY 14

REFERENCES BOOKS 17

1 INTRODUCTION

English, the most popular foreign language in Vietnam, has been taught from the early age (at the age of six or even younger) in most of schools throughout the country as a compulsory subject Nowadays, in teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam, speaking has received a great deal of attention Nonetheless, English is learnt and taught in a non-native environment, students usually do not have close contact with native speakers of English and have little opportunity to discover how these speakers think, feel, and interact with others Moreover, not many of them have intelligible cultural knowledge That is the reason why they do not feel confident enough to converse with English teachers or native speakers It proves everything clear that culture and language can not be separated and the teaching and learning of a foreign language should always be a culture- based course

Personally, I think that cultural gaps are one of the most important keys lead us to success in communicating genuinely and understanding the real world outside the classroom In order to use the language effectively, language learners should realize that knowledge of the world's language and culture is increasingly important They need to have mastery of not only the language itself but also the culture in which the language is used Therefore, So as to improve student's communicative competence, teacher should teach cultural knowledge into the learning of speaking skills From my teaching experience, cultural challenges in speaking-class have become a great source of inspiration for my study, which deals with the problem:

“Introducing some activities for teaching cultural knowledge to

motivate students’ interest in speaking class in high school”

1.1 REASON FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC

If language is a social practice of meaning-making and interpretation, then

it is not enough for language learners just to know grammar and vocabulary They also need to know how that language is used to create and represent meanings and how to communicate with others and to engage with the communication of others This requires the development of awareness of the nature of language and its impact on the world

Students are taught the culture in foreign language, which means that they begin to understand the relationship between their own languages and the languages of their learning If the teacher can get the students interested in the culture of the Language, then they will hopefully end up with more successful students Thus, Teachers must find out the effective ways of teaching cross-cultural characteristics, which certainly develop students ‘speaking skills

1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

- Contributing in renovation of teaching methods, improving the effectiveness

of teaching and learning, adding knowledge and skills for teachers

- Making and using various and flexible teaching methods to help students learn and exploit knowledge actively

- Creating excitement for students, and deepening knowledge, promoting self-discipline, independence and creativity of students

- Equipping students the knowledge, values, attitudes, behavior and healthy habits, eliminating negative habits, to solve the social issues that are of concern

1.3 OBJECT OF THE STUDY

To develop speaking skill and the communicative competence for students

at HA TRUNG high school, I have made a lot of efforts to motivate the students

to participate in speaking class effectively

The objects of the study are grade11, 12 students of English at HA TRUNG high school in THANH HOA province

1.4 METHOD OF THE STUDY

Three main methods have been applied:

- Reference document Method

- Observation Method

- Experimental Methods

2 PROCEDURE

2.1 THEORITICAL BASIC OF THE STUDY

Understanding the nature of the relationship between language and culture is central to the process of learning another language In actual language use, it is not the case that it is only the forms of language that convey meaning It is language in its cultural context that creates meaning: creating and interpreting meaning is done within a cultural framework In language learning classrooms, learners need to engage with the ways in which context affects what is communicated and how Both the learner’s culture and the culture in which meaning is created or communicated have an influence on the ways in which possible meanings are understood This context is not a single culture as both the target language and culture and the learner’s own language and culture are simultaneously present and can be simultaneously engaged Learning to communicate in an additional language involves developing an awareness of the ways in which culture interrelates with language whenever it is used (Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino, & Kohler, 2003)

When students learn a foreign language, their ultimate aim should be directed towards the understanding of the ways people do things and why they do them

At the same time language teachers also feel that while this goal is the most ideal, it is not very easy to handle, due partly to our imbalanced knowledge of more than one discipline, partly also to time limitation in the classrooms Students also have to face a unique problem of not being able to get themselves exposed to the natural environment while pursuing their language study Therefore, they have to be equipped with cultural knowledge to learn foreign language more effectively

2.2 REALITY BEFORE APPLYING THE STUDY

The study is carried out with the participation of grade 12A, 12B, 11E, 11G students at HA TRUNG high school, most of whom are 17-18 years of age I designed a survey questionnaire as main tool to collect necessary data for study There are 10 questions and all the questions and tests are clear and short to make sure students fully understand them before answering The students were asked

to answer the questionnaires in fifteen minutes The questionnaire concentrates

on students’ understanding about difference some cultural characteristics between American and Vietnamese:

1 How many generations live in

home?

2 Where do old-aged parents often

live?

3 Is it polite or impolite to ask

questions about age, marriage and

income?

4 Who do you greet in the family

first?

5 How often are groceries bought?

6 How is preparation for meals?

7 Where is wedding ceremony held?

8 Which holidays are the most

important?

9 How about kissing each other in

public?

10.Where do children sleep?

This survey was aimed to clarify some information gained from the questionnaire responses We can see the result in the table below.( indentified point depended on the number of questions students answered: 9-10 questions: Good; 6-8 questions: Quite good ; 4-5 questions: normal ; 0-4 questions: weak)

NUMBER CLASS QUANTITY GOOD QUITE GOOD NORMAL WEAK

1 12A 36 3 8.4 8 22.2 18 50 7 19.4

2 12B 31 2 6.5 7 22.5 15 48.5 7 22.5

3 11E 29 4 13.8 8 27.6 12 42.4 5 16.2

4 11G 30 5 16.7 10 33.3 10 33.3 5 16.7

From the table, we can see that most of the students have no cultural knowledge of a language in learning that language, even their own language’s culture It is easily understandable that in English learning process in secondary school, communication and language usage are being ignored and when students

do not care the relationships between culture and communication, they are almost beginners in English speaking because they were only exposed to the language in classroom before They had no chances to learn listening and speaking skills and the only knowledge they have is structures and theories of grammar Therefore, along with their difficulties in acquiring any effective language skills, a majority of the students did not have chances to know about what we call "culture" and how to use culture knowledge into speaking skill The English teachers need to stimulate their curiosity about English -speaking cultures

2.3 SOME ACTIVITES FOR TEACHING CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

In the speaking skill, encouraging all the students in class to speak English and create a competitive atmosphere are very important The teachers should insert interesting cultural activities into lessons to attract students to take

part in Gradually, students will overcome their shyness when speaking English and feel more confident to give their own opinions on any issues

Although nowadays, students play the centered role and the learner have a great role in the management of their learning, it does not mean that the students can decide everything, the teachers have to be good leaders to find out the suitable teaching methods and combine different approaches in a context Furthermore, a teacher who teaches a foreign language well should not only have good knowledge but also the ability to master the teaching method Teaching the foreign language is very difficult, but inserting culture into language to motivate student' interest in learning this language is more difficult Therefore, in order to help teacher to orient the culture teaching, I would like to suggest activities to improve our teaching method

2.3.1 ACTIVITY 1

Name of activity: GREETING

Type of activity: warming up, greeting

Topic: Hi …

Goal: - Getting used to greeting habits - getting to know the fellow students Possible challenges: In the beginning shy students may need help and speak at a

very low voice It may be difficult for them to understand the question – they need a minute or two to collect an answer

Preparation: Think about the question that follows the introduction Procedure:

Note at the blackboard: + Hi … (e.g Anna) How are you? * Hi… (E.g Roman) Fine, thanks And how are you? + Fine, thanks Then throw the ball to a student and start the dialogue He or she will answer, and then ask the follow-up question After the answer the student throws the ball towards another student and the dialogue starts again

Follow up: Ask a question that leads into your item today:

e.g + “When do you go to bed normally?” * “I go to bed at 11 o’clock.”

2.3.2 ACTIVITY 2

Name of activity: LET’S CELEBRATE … (my birthday, a wedding, New

Year…)

Type of activity: presentation

Topic: How I celebrate in my country

Goal:

- At the end of the activity, the learners will be able to talk about the organization and aim of the various festivities,

- Know the necessary vocabulary,

- Train talking in front of groups

- Show appreciated parts of their own culture and increase knowledge and understanding of the other cultures

- The group will draw profit from this exercise

Possible challenges: In case the occasion talked about is celebrated rather

differently in various cultures (like weddings) there might arouse fierce discussions that confront the students with stereotypes and prejudices concerning the own culture

Preparation: Worksheet for each student with the exact task I prefer a

mind-map, asking:

- ‘Who is invited?’

- ‘Who talks to whom?’

- ‘Where will the party take place?’

- ‘When and how long?’

- ‘Food’, ‘Drinks’, ‘Preparations’

- ‘What to wear’?

Procedure: As a starter we talk about the students’ favorite dishes and note them

on the blackboard This way we gather the vocabulary Then I give out the worksheet that serves as an example – students can copy it and get their work done that way Then each student presents her/his flipchart-paper, fastens it on the wall and explains There may be questions / short discussions

Follow up: Role play:

- Invitation to a festivity in another culture

- Using role cards: you are invited and turn up dramatically underdressed

2.3.3 ACTIVITY 3

Name of activity: HOW DO YOU SAY ?

Type of activity: role playing

Topic: intercultural communication

Goal: At the end of the activity, the students will be able to know the typical

coffee, slice of fried dough “tapa”, etc

Possible challenges: The students don’t know how to ask what they want to

have

Preparation: Cards with sentences where it is written several situations such as

“waiter, please”, “thank you, very much”…

Procedure: The students represent a scene in a bar, restaurant…in groups of two

or three persons The other students have to look for a card with a sentence that actors had to say or write themselves a sentence

Follow up: Go to a bar, restaurant … and observe the behavior of the people in

the local

2.3.4 ACTIVITY 4

Name of activity: CALL OUT-QUESTION

Type of activity: Warming up, checking knowledge about the topic, (revision of

vocabulary)

Topic: “Daily life”, habitudes, jobs, how often we do things, compared to

English or American habitudes

Goal: At the end of the activity, the students will have a collection of relevant

Vocabularies to talk about daily life and a survey about daily habitudes or typical daily life

Possible challenges: Students might not have much information about life or

might not be as communicative as they should be (for ensuring that this activity works well)

Preparation: The call out question, white cards, tape

Procedure:

- Introduce the new topic (Daily life, habitudes, jobs, how often we do things) by writing the question on the black- or whiteboard: “What do you know about daily life in England and The USA?”

- Explain the procedure: students should tell their associations, their experiences, their knowledge, everything this question evokes one after another and that you’re going to write everything on the cards and that every answer will be fixed onto the black- or whiteboard

- Brainstorming, writing down, fixing Help eventually with some vocabulary if students sometimes don’t know a word for telling their associations

- Check all the answers together with the learner-group: Is anything missing?

- Do a clustering: students tell the headlines and you cluster

- Check headlines and clustering as a whole (together with students): Is anything missing? Is a re-clustering necessary?

Follow up: As this topic is the one of a whole lesson in our textbook, we are

going to need the vocabulary found for the call out-question throughout this unit

2.3.5 ACTIVITY 5

Name of activity: CAN YOU CALL ANY WORD WHAT I MEAN?

Type of activity: roll play