USING GAMES TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT NHU THANH HIGH SCHOOL

Whereas, students have limited time to learn English in class, and they still do not have enough encouragement to practice English outside the class in order to get familiar with English

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

I RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

There are many reasons why learning a new language is a good idea It allows people to communicate with the others It helps people to see things from

a different perspective, or get a deeper understanding of another culture It helps citizens to become a better listener It even has health benefits, as studies have shown that people who speak two or more languages have more active minds later in life

400 million people around the world speak English as their first language Not only that, but English is listed as one of the official languages in more than a quarter of the countries in the world That’s a lot of new people you can communicate with just by improving one language!

What’s more, English is the rest of the world’s “second language” While Chinese Mandarin and Spanish are the mother tongues of more people overall, most people in the world choose to learn some English after their native language In fact, one in five people on the planet speak or understand at least a little bit of English

Communication skills are essential for a successful career, satisfying relationships and a personal sense of accomplishment Communication is seen every day through TV commercials, interaction with the person opening a door for people and listening to the CEO of their company speak Effective communication empowers people, provides clear direction and increases productivity Without it, people lose motivation and the inability to make a decision, and they become angry because their messages are not understood

In fact, many Vietnamese students who have good professional knowledge, but can’t use English well don’t get good jobs So, English is the first and the most important standard for workers who want to work not only at foreign companies but also at national ones

Since English is a foreign language in our country, most students especially high school students are not familiar with it (Hetrakul, 1995) Kavin Hetrakul also said that they use English more frequent only inside the class and less frequent outside the class Whereas, students have limited time to learn English in class, and they still do not have enough encouragement to practice English outside the class in order to get familiar with English This case brings a problem that make high school students have difficulties to communicate in English

At Nhu Thanh High school, my students often find it difficult to communicate in English , especially in new curriculum

Therefore, in this study I present some games which I have used successfully with classes of different sizes and levels to improve the students’ speaking skills

II AIMS OF THE STUDY

I do the research to know about the fact of teaching and learning communication skills in Nhu Thanh High School more clearly This study also investigates whether the games can have positive impact on process among

decide the research with title “ some games to improve the students’ English speaking skills at Nhu Thanh High School

III RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study aims at finding answer to the following research question: How can games help the students at Nhu Thanh High School improve their speaking skill?

The question has been addressed to the class B9 that I have been teaching

in Nhu Thanh High School with the aim to examine how games affect the process of speaking here

IV SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study does not aim to teach any skill in a systematic way, because it

is experience not for teaching but for practice The study investigates games to help students practice so that they can improve their speaking skill

V METHODS OF THE STUDY

In this study, I use some research tools to collect and analyze the needed data

Recording is used to record the process of giving some games

The second tool used in this study is interviews with students at the end of the research to study whether games is really suitable for them or not

Surveying through the answer sheets is used to know the practical situation of teaching and learning English speaking skill

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

I The difficulties of the students’ learning English speaking skill

Kavin Hetrakul also said that they use English more frequently only inside the class and less frequently outside the class Whereas, students have limited time to learn English in class, and they still do not have enough encouragement to practice English outside the class in order to get familiar with English This case brings a problem that makes high school students have difficulties to communicate in English

One of the causes that make the students difficult in speaking English is that the environment does not support the students to speak English frequently The environment here means the people outside the class Those people may think that the students just want to show off when they speak English for daily conversation The response that the students get makes them loose their self-confidence to improve their speaking Since the students do not want to be rejected by the people around them, so they use their native language in daily conversation That makes the students unable to communicate in English fluently outside the class

The second cause is problem with grammar English always deals with reference of time while Vietnamese does not have one Moreover, there are

singular and plural forms that the students have to distinguish and still many forms that have to be learned Most students are very easy to get confused with English grammar, while grammar is very needed to form a right sentence If the students do not have grammar mastery, of course they will not be able to produce sentences that grammatically right Realizing that the grammar students have is very weak, so they feel embarrassed when they want to produce English sentences orally

II Games and their impacts on developing students’ speaking skill

Games are used as methods or techniques to involve students in learning Well-chosen and designed games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow learners to practice language skills The benefits of games range from cognitive aspect of language learning to more co-operative group dynamics and as a result games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging Ersoz (2000) states that games can be used to give practice in all language skills and they can be used to practice many types of communication

Huyen (2003) identifies the advantages of using games to learn English in the classroom: a) Games add relaxation and fun, so the learners retain words more easily b) Games involve friendly competition, so it keeps learners interested and motivated c) Vocabulary games bring real world context to the classroom Mei (2000) emphasizes similar points by saying that it encourages active learning, as well as collaboration and interactivity Interactive learning techniques also hold memory, performance and social benefits According to I-Jung (2005) the benefits of using games in language-learning include that games are learner centered, encourages creative and spontaneous use of language and foster participatory attitudes of the learners Kim (1995) states more general advantages of using games in the classroom and they include: Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class They are motivating and challenging Learning a language requires a great deal of effort Games help students to make and sustain the effort of learning Games provide language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing, listening and reading They encourage students to interact and communicate They create a meaningful context for language use Students learn through experimenting, discovering and interacting with their environment Students need variation to increase their motivation By using games students already have a context in which the use of the target language is immediately useful

Lastly, but not least, games of any kind are usually fun Students who are having fun are always motivated, so they will find speaking made more interesting and more enjoyable, and will begin to improve as a result

CHAPTER 2: PRACTICAL SITUATIONS

I METHODS OF THE STUDY

The research is done qualitatively in the context of English class B2 In this survey, I use the survey questionnaire for students This survey is designed

to collect information for the study on “An investigation into the Reality of teaching and learning English speaking skill at Nhu Thanh High School

II THE REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS AT NHU THANH HIGH SCHOOL

The whole procedure of teaching and learning is implemented similarly to all students of the class after all of them give consent to be part of the research However, due to the limit of the study, I only focus to collect information from the learning engagement of class B9during this process as the data for analysis Below is the survey of the practical situation of learning English speaking skill

Survey no.1

Practical Situation of learning English speaking Skill at Nhu Thanh High School.

Questions for

1 How difficult is

Speaking skill ?

Too easy 6%

Not difficult 9%

Difficult 32% difficult Really

53%

2 What is your

improving English

speaking skill at

your school?

Very essential 12%

Essential 16%

Not really essential 47%

Not essential at all 25%

3 What do you

think of your skill

classes at Nhu

School?

Really interesting 3%

Interestin g 7%

Boring 41%

Really boring 49%

4 What do you

think of the

materials used for

teaching skills at

Nhu Thanh High

School?

Difficult and boring 51%

Difficult but interesting 8%

C Interesting and stimulating 9%

Easy and boring 32%

5 Does your

teacher give you

guides to improve

skills?

Always 2%

Sometime s 4%

Rarely 22%

Never 72%

From the survey number 1, we can see that

For students:

- There are so many different students in class and the quality of each student is uneven

- Many students haven’t determined the importance of English in the current period, so they aren’t aware of their own learning

- Some students have a limited vocabulary so they can’t know how to speak a correct sentence

- Classrooms are crowded, and the activities of speaking lesson often practise in pairs or in groups so the classrooms are easily noise

For teachers:

-There are still some teachers who have difficulty in teaching speaking skills and choosing suitable activities for each lesson

-Teachers don’t assign the tasks to students clearly

-Teachers don’t create the environment to encourage students to speak English effectively

CHAPTER 3:

RECOMMENDATIONS

TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’ ENGISH SPEAKING SKILLS

I RECOMMENDATIONS

According to the data analysis from the survey, it can be personally concluded that the most important feature that makes my students to engage more in the lesson is the kind of assessment which forces them to learn although the meaningfulness of tasks also more or less affect the level of engagement the most meaningful tasks to my students are tasks that can help them to pass the tests at the end of the semester not tasks that give them reasons to communicate

as I expected

Therefore, I have given them some games to improve my students’ speaking skill.

The ability to communicate effectively is important in relationships, education and work Here are some games to help students develop good speaking skills

II PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS

Learning English should be fun We learn faster and more effectively when we are engaged in learning and using games is a great way to make learning more interesting

1 Who's Telling the Truth?

Have each student write three facts about themselves that nobody in the class knows on a piece of paper Make sure each student includes his/her name

on the top of the paper Collect the sheets of paper and bring three students to the front of the room Read aloud one of the facts that is true for one of the students in the front of the room The class then proceeds to question the students in an attempt to determine who is telling the truth, and who is lying Each student is allowed to ask one question to one of the three students After a round of questioning, the students predict who is telling the truth

2 Descriptive Drawing Activity

Pair up the students and give them each a picture face down They must describe the picture for their partner to draw

3 Comic Strip Descriptions

Give each student a portion of a comic strip Without showing their pictures to one another, the students should attempt to describe their image, and put the comic strip into the correct order After about ten minutes, the students can predict the order, show one another their portion, and see if they were correct!

4 "Secret" Word

Students are given a random topic, and a random word completely unrelated to the topic The student must hide the word in their speech, without the other students in the class guessing their "secret" word The other students in the class must listen carefully to the speech, in an attempt to discover the secret word

5 Storytelling Activity

Bring four students to the front of the classroom Three students should sit down in a row, and one of the students should stand behind them acting as a controller The controller should have a stack of cards in his hand containing nouns The controller will hand a noun to one of the three students who will start

to tell a story The student will continue telling the story until the controller decides to hand another noun to another student who will then take over the story

6 Two Truths, One Lie

Each student should write three facts about themselves on a piece of paper Two of the facts should be the truth, and one should be a lie Students read aloud the facts, and give the other students a chance to question them and decide which statement is a lie

7 Circle action game

Preparation: (Optional)One soft object (like the stuffed animals above) for each

grop of 8-12

What to do:

- On the board, write “I’m (name) I like ”

“You’re (name) You like ”

- Students work in groups of 8-12 Give the animal to one person He

introduces himself and says something he likes (“I’m Young Jae I like skiing.”)

As he says what he likes, he makes a gesture demonstrating it For example, he moves his body as if he was skiing or uses two fingers flying down a mountain

to represent a skier Then he throws the object to the next speaker (If there is no object, he just points to the next speaker.)

-The next speaker must repeat the first speaker’s information and do the

gesture before adding her own information and gesture (“You’re Young Jae You like skiing I’m Hee Soon I like listening to hip-hop.”) She adds a gesture

such as a hip-hop dance movement or something to show listening to music She throws the object to the next person who has to remember and repeat both Young Jae’s information and Hee Soon’s

-The game continues Everyone has to remember each person’s

information and do each gesture: #2 remembers #1 #3 remembers #1 and #2 #4 knows #1, #2 and #3 #4 knows 1-2-3-4, etc If someone forgets, the person gives a hint by showing the gesture That is often enough to help the speaker remember the name as well as the thing he likes If not, the person can give the information, either by speaking aloud or by mouthing the information silently (like lip-reading)

8 That’s true/ that’s a lie

Preparation: None

What to do:

- Each student thinks of two sentences about himself One is true and one

is false Both sentences should be believable but not information that other

people know Of course, interesting information (I rode an elephant once.) is more fun than everyday stuff (I don’t like spinach.)

- On the board write, “I don’t believe…” “You’re right.” “Sorry, you’re

wrong.”

- Introduce two gestures for the game Crossing one’s arms in front of

your chest to make a big X means “wrong” or “not true.” Joining your arms above your head to make a big circle that goes around your head means “That’s right.”

- Everyone stands and walks around at random Everyone finds a partner.

In each pair, one person says both of his sentences The partner decides which

she thinks is a lie, and says, “I don’t believe…” (e.g., “I don’t believe you rode

an elephant.” making the “X” gesture If she was correct, the speaker makes the

“O” gesture and says., “You’re right I didn’t…(ride an elephant).” If she was incorrect, the speaker makes the “X” gesture and says, “Sorry, your wrong.”

- Then the other person says her sentences and the partner guesses

- When they have finished, they find new partners and continue

III SOME PRACTICAL EXAMPLES AFTER USING GAMES AT NHU THANH HIGH SCHOOL.

Example 1 : CIRCLE ACTION GAME

English 11- the experimental curriculum

Unit 8- Our world heritage sites

Period: reading

Exercise 5: Would you like to spend your holiday in Ha Long Bay? Why? Why not?.

Preparation: (Optional)One soft object

( the 11the graders are discussing)

1 On the board, write

“I’m (name).

I like

Because ”

“You’re (name).

You like

Because ”

2 Students work in groups of 4-5 Give the animal to one person He introduces

himself and says types of futher education he likes

“I’m Lan.

I like to spend my holiday in Ha Long Bay.

Because I want to visit many different caves

Then she throws the object to the next speaker

3 The next speaker must repeat the first speaker’s information and add her own

information

“You are Lan.

You like to spend my holiday in Ha Long Bay.

Because You want to visit many different caves

“I’m Nga.

I like to spend my holiday in Ha Long Bay.

Because I want to experience the local culture and life on water

4 The game continues Everyone has to remember each person’s information

Unit 6- GLOBAL WARMING- REAKING

Exercise 5: Discuss “ Which of the effects of global warming do you think is the most serious?”

Using “ I think the rise in sea levels the most serious effect of global warming”

Give each student a piece of paper with “agree” written on one side, and

“disagree” on the other side Read aloud a controversial statement and have each students hold up his/her paper stating whether they agree or disagree Choose one student from each side to explain his/her position and participate in a short debate

( the 11 th graders are discussing)