How to teach langguage focus in grade 8 effectively

In secondary school programs in general and in grade 8 program inparticular, Language focus period is considered as a grammar period.. In order to teach language focus effectively, for m

A INTRODUCTION.

I.

REASONS OF CHOOSING THE TOPIC.

In the development of a powerful information technology today, English hastruly become an international language It plays an important role in the fields ofdevelopment of society in general,and in particular with education

Nowadays,there are many countries in the world use English in teaching in schools as well as in daily communication English is the most important media

in many countries in the world.Besides, English is the official language of fortyfive countries.Therefore, accessing to and mastering English is very urgent in the industrialization and modernization of the country

Teaching grammar is an essential part of school education Without goodgrammar, spoken or written words lose much of their meaning and most of theirvalue Grammar is a very important thing to get right, and teachers should takeextra care to impart proper grammar to all their students Sadly, grammar is oftenseen as a difficult and boring subject and one popular method of teaching is tojust repeat the correct grammar for a certain situation over and over until it ismemorised and able to be repeated, like a parrot This is dull for both teachersand students, and often only results in the students being able to repeat what theyhave learned, rather than resulting in a complete understanding that can beapplied to all situations.Therefore, students will forget what they have learnedafter a short time

In secondary school programs in general and in grade 8 program inparticular, Language focus period is considered as a grammar period Because ofits difficulty and boredom, more and more students don't want to study it Thatconcerns many teachers And I do, too I wornder how to teach Language focusefectively

In order to teach language focus effectively, for me, teachers shouldchoose the methods and techniques which are suitable for the aims of the lesson

as well as teachers need to explain how important the grammar is to students As

I mentioned above, Language focus is a boring class, so teachers need attractstudents' attention , make joyful atmosphere and promote their active activities

By this way, students can remember deeply and apply easily what theylearned to do exercises

Over the years to apply innovative methods in teaching of English, andlearn by experiences from my colleagues, I want to share my experience on

" How to teach Language focus period in grade 8 effectively".

II RESEARCH PURPOSES:

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I have attended some periods of my colleagues and I saw that someteachers still depend on the content of textbooks so much that some periods arelacking lively and creativity There are so many exercises that psychology ofteachers are often afraid of not having enough time so they teach quickly.Thismakes students understand the lessons ineffectively.

I have presented this article so that it brings out a more positive direction toteach “Language Focus” to be effective lesson and students acquire the lesson abetter way In particular will be useful for teachers to teach dependently onpretty much textbooks, or even severe lesson on methods explained

With this positive approach requires teachers to prepare carefully the nature ofcommunication tips and steps matching subjects taught students If we done wellthese requirements, they will be interested in learning, creating the relaxedatmosphere and intimacy in communication, to help them acquire all effectiveand better mastery

III OBJECT OF RESEARCH

Research project is carried out within the technical program 8th gradeEnglish Research process emphasizes communication in teaching and learning,student- focused The content focuses on the Language Focus and activelysupport tips for this lesson

I myself do not stop researching, find out, applying innovative methodsand measures to help them grasp the ability, skills and access to performexercises effective Language Focus section To assess the ability of students, Ihave conducted research and surveys on subjects mainly graders 8A, 8B and 8C2015-2016 school year I am teaching

Learning of students in grade 8 school year 2015 - 2016 and sharingexperience with the teachers in English Group of Ben Sung town SecondarySchool is to find out the reasons and solution to this problem

IV RESEARCH METHODS

- Meet and tell to students in grade 8

- Exchange experience with the colleagues

- Experiment, compare and contrast between reality and rationale

- Analysis, exchange and discuss

- Practice, teaching some periods

2 Practical basis.

When learning a new language, grammar is very important Grammar isreally the foundation of the language It gives you the rules andregulations.Without good grammar, you could still make yourself understood -obviously you have the vocabulary - but as soon as you start saying morecomplicated things that involve different times, tenses, that's when grammarbecomes very useful Without grammar, you don't know how many people you'retalking about, who you're talking about, and that's why it's important Therefore,besides studying Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing skills, it's necessary

to study grammar and do exercises Without grammar and structures, studentscan't make sentences, do exercises, write or speak

In fact, it is one of the most difficult aspects of a language to teach.However, so as to attract students' attention, teachers must find out suitablemethods and encourage students' inventive activities

II STATES OF THE PROBLEM

1 For students:

The structure of program in grade 8 is much more difficult than in grade 6and 7 In grade 8, students have to study 4 skills : Listening, Speaking, Readingand Writing separately that are different from in grade 6 and 7

Many parents are not concerned about their children's learning and some

of them don't think English is very important, they pay attention to other subjectsbut English

Language focus is an uninteresting class which sometimes bores thestudents to death, so students get a lot of dificulties in studying it

While it is imperative that students learn the rules and forms of grammar, this isnot an effective method of teaching grammar It tends to result in a classroomfull of bored and uninterested students who know how to produce excellentresults in exercises and on tests, but fail badly at using the language in contextualsituations.

On the other hand, there are teachers who teach grammar throughosmosis.Teaching methods tend to revolve around the assumption that studentswill absorb grammar rules in communication activities or they believe that thechildren learn their first language without grammar instruction; thereforelearning a second language should be the same way

4 The result of the problem.

Basing on the above problem, when teaching I always find out theinventive ways to help students to get in touch, approach and practice doingexercises in Laguage focus To appreciate students' abilities, before applying themethods, I test

them and have the following result:

Here is the result of students in grade 8 with 90 students at the firstsemester of 2015-2016 school year

- 35 students can apply the knowlege in Laguage focus to do all exercises excellently ( = 39%)

- 30 students can apply the knowlege in Laguage focus to do all exercises

in textbook but sometimes they find dificulty ( = 33,3 %)

- 25 students understand the lesson but they can't apply the theory to do allexercises in the textbook( = 27,7%)

Each teacher has their own way to teach part Language focus, and I want

to mention the methods that I applied to teach this part in grade 8

III SOLUTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION

Grammar instruction helps students acquire the target language moreefficiently, but we should also incorporate as many communicative activities intotheir lesson plan as possible to strengthen what we are teaching Remember:Most people learn from learning, observation, and practice

Break the class time down into manageable sections, and make sure that

we are introducing and explaining the grammar lesson, demonstrate how it isused in contextual situations, put it to practical use in the classroom, and play anengaging game that reinforces your lesson

Teaching grammar is the same as teaching other aspects of English, we need to implement the following steps:

- Write the target grammar rule on the board

- Introduce the target grammar rule/tense and explain when to use the grammar point and why

- Go over the rule again Present the grammar point in written and oralexamples to bring the lesson into context and to address the needs of studentswith different learning styles

- Providing examples is an important part of grammar instruction Plan your examples around two basic principles:

a) Examples must be accurate and appropriate They must present thelanguage appropriately and be culturally appropriate for the setting in whichthey are used

b)Use the examples as teaching tools Focus examples on a particulartheme or topic so that students have more contact with specific information andvocabulary

- Once you’ve run through your examples, ask your students if they can come upwith some simple ideas or sentences that match the rule you are teaching

- Conclude this portion of the lesson by teaching any exceptions to the rule.That means we need carry out three following ways:

1 Presentation

2 Practice doing exercises

3.Techniques to consolidate

1 Introduce forms and meanings of the structures.

Before doing exercises, the teachers introduce forms and meanings of thestructures Each lesson I apply a suitable method, I often use the following ways:

a Study structures in the context.

I find that, with grammar, before I start teaching the exact rules, it's also quite good to put it into context So, for example, if I am teaching present perfect( Unit 7 - page 69, 70) , it's always good to start talking to students about howlong you have studied English, or how long they have lived here That way, itbecomes much more relevant to them

late,early,far,straight

Ex: She is a hard student <=> She studies hard

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+ S3: There is an irregular adv: good => well

Ex: He is a good student <=> He studies well+ S4: It is placed after V: S + V + Adv

Ex: She dances beautifully

+ S5: It is placed after O: S + V + O +Adv

Ex: Mr Minh drives his car carefully

+ S6: It is between S and V: S + Adv + V

Ex: She angrily slammed the door

Unit 14 Section L.F 2 / P 136,137.

When I present Indirect speech (Yes / No questions), I often ask a student to make a yes/ no question and then I report this sentence to students in the class Eg1: S: "Do you like sports?"

T: He asked me if /whether I liked sports

Eg2: S1 asked S2 : " Are you busy now?"

S2 reported this sentence: S1 asked S2 if I was busy then

S + asked+ (O) + If / whether + S + V (lùi 1thì) Compare this structure with structures that they learned in Unit 5

( commands, requests and advice in reported speech)

b Compare and contrast structures:

By using this way, students can contrast the structure they learned in grade 6 or 7with what they are learning The students can review once more time learnedstructure and know new structure more deeply

Eg: Unit 4 - Section L.F 4 / P 45:

Teaching structure Used to, I ask students to compare "be/ get used to " which

they sudied in grade 7

Teacher gives examples : 1 I used to live in the countryside.

2 I am/ get used to living in the countryside.

- Ask Ss to draw the structure and give more example

=>S + used to + V- inf

Eg: I used to cry when I first went to school

Eg: Unit 11 Section L.F 3,4 / P 109, 110 When teaching Requests with

"mind"

- Teacher gives two examples

Eg1: T: Do/ Would you mind opening the window?

S: Yes, of course

Eg 2: T: I'm very hot Would you mind if I opened the window?

S: Please do

=> Structures: - request sb to do st

Would/ Do you mind + Ving ?

- request do st for sb

Would you mind if + S + Ved ?

- Ask Ss to give more example, before doing exercises

Eg: Would you mind if I sat here ?

Eg: Would you mind not smoking?

Eg: Unit 7 - Language focus page 69, 70

Now, a lot of my English language students get the past simple and the presentperfect confused So it's good to put them in context, perhaps in the same

paragraph, so students can see how they are different

Eg1: She lived in Ha Noi for five years, then she moved to Thanh hoa city

Eg2: She has lived in Ha Noi for five years now

c Explanations:

Unit 10 page 95 Language focus, when teaching passive forms and

adjectives followed by: an infinitive or a noun clause, I have to explain newstructures as they are a bit difficult for some students to understand

Teacher writes example on the board and ask students to identify subject, verband object in this sentence

Eg1 : We are learning English now

Eg2: Break the glass into small pieces

=>Eg1: English is being learned by us

Eg2: the glass is broken into small pieces

- Ask Students to draw the structure

However, some assignments in the textbook aren't suitable for thestudents, so the teachers can raplace by other

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For example Unit 10 : Section L.F 2 / P 96 : instead of completing the

dialogue between Hai and Dr Lam in the textbook, I ask students to practice in pairs by making sentences using passive forms Eg1: S1: My father drinks coffee every morning

S2: Coffee is drunk by my father ever morning

Eg2: S1: They visited us last week

S2: We were visited last week

Eg3: S1: He will buy a new house next year

S2: A new house will be bought by him next year

Obviously, teaching the present simple is quite straightforward, and most

of my students already know the basic rules But I find that, with more

complicated grammar, such as passive forms, the past perfect, reported speech ,that's when I really need to reinforce it and think of more inventive ways of teaching it

The aim after the lesson is how to help all the students finish exercises inthe textbook

3 Techniques to consolidate

Most exercises in the part LANGUAGE FOCUS aims to strengthen andtest the students' knowledge of grammar that they have learned To help studentsacquire good knowledge and train skills, in addition to assisting them withhomework , I think also need to give children the feeling of excitement andinterest them to encourage them taking part actively in lessons

The normal procedure is applicable for the purposes of this lesson are: Dialogue build, Dictation, Gap fill, Matching, Network, Finding friends, Find

someone who, Ordering words, Language games Tôi quan tâm đến việc sử

dụng hiệu quả và hợp lí thủ thuật Language games Thủ thuật này bao gồm các trò chơi như : Chain game, Noughts & crosses, Pelmanism, Guessing game, Lucky numbers/stars ,

Unit 1 : section L.F 3 / P.17: Lucky stars

Teaching aids: pictures ( p.17 ) Divide the class into 2 groups, for a luckynumber, Ss will get 2 points without answering any questions For othernumbers, Ss have to answer the question, 2 points for a correct sentence

1 How many people are there in the picture?

2 What does the woman look like?

3 Lucky star

4 What does the boy look laike?

5 Lucky star

6 What is the woman wearing?

7 What does the manstanding at the bus stop look like?

8 What is he wearing?

9 Lucky star

10.What is the boy wearing?

Unit 2 : section L.F 2/ P 25 :

Survey (pair work) :

Eg : S1: Are you going to see a movie?

S2: Yes, I am.What about you?

- Ask Ss to think of prepositions that they have learnt

- Have Ss write down the prepositions

- Give feedback

- Ask Ss to give Vietnamese meaning

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- Ask Ss have to complete the sentences by using correct prepositions.

Or ask Ss to match prepositions

Unit 6 : section L.F 2 / P 61: Survey ( work group)

- Asks Ss to look at the table.talk about friend's hobbies

- Have ss work in group Group leader asks her friends

- Present before class one by one

Eg: Group leader: Do you like playing sports?

Noughts and Crosses ( Group work )

- Teaching aids : the chart :(1) easy /understand (2) dangerous/go

(4)important/wait ( 3) hard / believe

- Divide the class into teams : O & X

- Model sentence : difficult / follow

=> It's difficul to follow your direction

The above are just some examples as exercises were conducted in the form of the game to spark interest in learning for pupils and students and to ensure the principle of central role with appropriate methods which students arecenter.

4 Making lesson plan Unit 4: Our past

- Period: 23 rd

Lesson 5: language focus ( page 44 - 45)

I, Objectives:

By the end of the lesson, sts will be able to further practice with past

simple, prepositions of time: in, on, at, after, before, between and used to

II, Language content:

1.Vocab: Lay eggs amazement, foolishman …

2.Gram : Past simple

III, Teaching aids : tape, cassetle, book …

IV,Procedures:

1 Old lesson: Tell again the story in part write

2 New lesson:

- Have Ss match each prepositions with In January

Between July 2ndAfter / Before 7 a.m and 9 a.m

In January 6 a.m

In November 1997

On July 2nd

At 6 a.mBetween 7 a.m and 9 a.m-Give feedback and corrects Ss’ After / Before 3 p.m

mistakes

1 Activity 1 : Past simple tense (+) S +WAS /WERE +….

- Ask sts to tell form of this tense V2/Ved

(-) S +WASN’T/ WEREN’T +….

DIDN’T + V (?) WAS/WERE +S +… ? DID +S +V ?

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