Creating the english spaces for students at cua lo upper secondary school

REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC In the context of teaching and learning foreign languages, especially English in Vietnam today, how to build up and develop the environment in which learn

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO NGHỆ AN

MỤC LỤC

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC 1

II AIM, OBJECTIVE, METHOD, SUBJECT AND RANGE OF THE STUDY 2

1 Aim of the study: 2

2 Objective of the Study: 2

3 Method of the Study 2

4 Range of the Study: 2

5 Novelty of the Study: 2

PART B: CONTENT 3

I THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC: 3

II PRACTICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC 3

III.PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN CREATING THE ENGLISH SPACES FOR STUDENTS 4

1 The news space 4

2 The movies space: 9

3 The conversation space 14

4 The connect space 17

5 Music space: 20

PART C: CONCLUSION 23

I RESULTS OF THE EXPERIENCE APPLICATION 23

II SUMMARY: 25

III PROPOSALS: 25

CUALO UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL 26

ONE-MINUTE SURVEY FOR STUDENTS 26

CUALO UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL 27

ONE-MINUTE SURVEY FOR TEACHERS 27

REFERENCE BOOKS 28

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC

In the context of teaching and learning foreign languages, especially English in Vietnam today, how to build up and develop the environment in which learners can use the language naturally and actively is getting more and more essential and this is also the issue that the leaders, teachers, students and the community have paid a lot of attention to Through real situations created, learners not merely have chances to practice their language skills and apply what they have learnt to the ones in real life but also become more and more self-confident as well as interested in learning and using the language, which plays

an indispensable part in helping learners make good progress In addition, the active learning environment through real situations also improve the quality of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and English in particular Thus, the educational leaders from the Ministry of Education and Training as well as Nghe An Department of Education and Training has brought in a lot of guidelines to encourage the educational organizations and schools to create the environment outside classrooms for students to learn and use English

In an attempt to meet the demand of the leaders and the need of improving the quality of teaching and learning English, my colleagues and I have organized

a great many activities called English spaces in the form of small clubs in which students can gain knowledge of various aspects in English through real situations Through the process of implementing these activities, students at my school are getting more and more interested and active in learning English, which really helps to raise students’ awareness and attitude towards English as a core subject

For the reasons above, I have chosen the topic: “Creating the English Spaces for students at Cua Lo Upper Secondary School” I would like to share

a few experiences of creating English learning environment to engage the students’ passion for English so that it is no longer a difficult and boring subject

in classes

The topic consists of three main parts:

Part A: Introduction which includes the Reasons for Choosing the Topic, the Aim of the Study, the Objective of the Study, the Method of the Study, the Range of the Study, and the Novelty of the Study

Part B: Contents with the Theoretical Basis of the Topic, the Practical Basis of the Topic and the Practical Application in Creating the English Spaces for students

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Part C: Conclusion including the Results of the Experience Application, the Requests and the Proposals

II AIM, OBJECTIVE, METHOD, SUBJECT AND RANGE OF THE STUDY

1 Aim of the study:

The topic was studied and applied with a view to enhancing the competence to use English for students at upper secondary schools It is also served as a source of materials that help teachers of English in their teaching

2 Objective of the Study:

The writer’s experiences shown in this study may provide English teachers with a source of materials to create the English spaces for students In addition, students can also use the activities illustrated in this study for their self-study in practicing English

3 Method of the Study

- Studying the materials about giving the English spaces in reference books

- Analyzing and drawing experiences from the process of carrying out

- Studying the sources of documents relating to the content of the process

of creating the English spaces for students such as news, movies, kinds of music,…

- Applying in the real working to self evaluate

4 Range of the Study:

The teachers from English group and the students who have attended the

English spaces at Cualo upper secondary school

5 Novelty of the Study:

Many studies have mentioned improving the students’ competence for using English up to now However, they have discussed general activities or activities for teaching specific skills inside classrooms

In this study, the writer have tried to show the activities to create the English spaces for students outside their classrooms with the aim to help them

be more active and confident in learning English as well as get used to using English in daily life

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PART B: CONTENT

I THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC:

The leaders are really concerned about teaching and learning English and have enacted a lot of regulations as well as suggested methods that helps to improve the quality of teaching and learning English On the 30th September,

2008, the Prime Minister signed a decision No 1400/ QĐ-TTg, approving of the Scheme “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system” (also known as Foreign Languages Scheme 2020) The objective of the Scheme is carrying out the overall renovation of teaching and learning foreign languages in the education system Besides, On the 8th April, 2011, the head of the Ministry of Education and Training signed a decision No 1400/ QĐ-BGD&ĐT establishing a committee to manage the Scheme “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system for the period of 2008-2020” These policies have laid the foundation for the overall changes in teaching and learning English in the education system Additionally, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a statement No 4536/ BGDĐT-GDCTHSSV dated October 4th, 2019 to guide the implementation of the English learning movement and the development of the environment for learning and using English Thus, Nghe An Department of Education and Training released a statement that required the schools to accelerate the development of the environment for learning and using English since the academic year 2019-2020 Obviously, this has become one of the main duties of English teachers at schools

II PRACTICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC

Although students are taught the language skills including listening, speaking, reading and writing and grammar lessons at school, they don’t have chance to practice the language because the time is limited Moreover, the final examination just focus on the written test with a view to checking students’ knowledge of English grammar Most students try to learn the grammar rules to get high marks in the tests They have no opportunity to use English In classes, they sometimes hesitate to communicate in English because the structures and situations given in the textbooks are somehow inflexible and not natural enough like in daily communication Creating the environment for students to use English with real situations helps to solve these problems and makes students nurture their passion for English They also have chance to express their English competence On the other hand, nowadays, English as a means of communication and entertainment is no longer strange to students, especially to

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those who live in big cities Children are sent to English centres to learn with native teachers at a very young age Besides, good living conditions provide students with lots of modern facilities that help them get familiar with English day by day through electronic equipment connected to the Internet The sources

of news, entertainment, academic knowledge or requirements from work in English have made it become a crucial part of a modern life Students, hence, are eager to learn English in a different way outside classrooms Simultaneously, they have also shown their excellence and good competence in understanding the Western culture and related knowledge in English

III.PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN CREATING THE ENGLISH SPACES FOR STUDENTS

The plan had been made and discussed by the English teachers at school even before the start of the school year to make sure that everything was well prepared First of all, we chose a group of the organizers for each space The organizers were responsible for collecting information, prepared the contents and called for the participants as well as arranged the timetable Below are the way each space proceeds

1 The news space

1.1 Goal: - To help the participants ( students) to practice skills of reading newspapers, getting information and discussing in English

1.2 Language level needed: Elementary at least ( it’s up to knowledge and personal ability of language as well as documents selected)

1.3 Prepared materials: English newspapers and cards of suggested questions 1.4 The content and method of organizing:

Some English newspapers are given in the school English room so that participants can choose, read and discuss

The organizers should fix the theme for each time of performing All participants will be given newspapers or pieces of news prepared by organizers The participants will also be given a card with suggested questions on, which direct the information they must focus on At the end of the period the organizers ask all the participants to gather so that they can present the news they have read which have been discussed in groups

1.5 The rules of discussing: No discussed ideas are true or false The most important thing is just sharing the ideas and opinions

1.6 A sample of the news space: Theme: Celebrity

+ Introduction: The organizers show some famous people such as “ Tom Hanks, David Beckham, Bill Gates, etc…with a clear explanation : “ These

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people are very famous all over the world They are called celebrities” This

makes the participants clearer about the theme

+ Procedure:

After introducing, the organizers may ask the participants to name some other celebrities that they know to make sure that all the participants understand the theme clearly

● Group work arrangement:

The organizers then divide the participants into groups Five articles with different contents related to the theme are given out Each article is printed on 4 sheets of paper put in a box Therefore we need 5 boxes with orders from 1 to 5 Remember that the content of the article is on one side of the sheet of paper and the suggested questions are given on the other side

Next, the organizers have participants choose articles from 5 boxes Thus, the participants are divided into 5 groups of four It mean that those who have chosen the same article from one box will be in the same group

● Discussion:

Members of groups read articles within 10 or 15 minutes Having read articles they discuss and share the contents of the articles with the others in groups

● Exchanging information among the groups

After each group have finished discussing, the organizers ask the groups

to gather according the former positions Next, the representatives from groups present the content of the articles they have read as well as their ideas, opinions about the articles

Having heard the preparation of each group, the members from other group ask questions about the articles These questions should be answered or explained clearly by members who have read and understood the articles May be organizers help them if necessary with the aim to make everyone gain as much information as possible

● Wrapping the program

The participants express their feelings, experiences they have obtained from the program The organizers make some remarks on the performance and encourage the participants with compliments or some presents

1.7 Some pictures of the prepared materials and the activities oganized:

Here you could describe

the topic of the section

Enrollment Process

Here you could describe the topic of the section

Our Teaching

Method

Here you could describe

the topic of the section

Our Academic Areas

Here you could describe the topic of the section

You will read the newspaper and fill in the form

in 5 minutes.

The representative of each team will show everyone the main content of the newspaper based on the Summary form.

The leader of each team will pick a random newspaper.

Comments from the teachers

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2 The movies space:

2.1 Goal: To help the participants to practice skill of listening and discussing through watching movies

2.2 Prepared materials: English films, cards of vocabulary and suggested questions

2.3 The content and method of organizing:

Before showing films the organizers have the participants discuss the words/ idioms which will appear in the films Next, the organizers guide the participants the way to understand these words especially the idioms which are particular in native culture During watching the films, participants can use guiding questions to focus on the main content of the film This also helps them

to discuss easily and effectively

2.4 A sample of movies space

The film Harry Potter

* Warm-up: The participants exchange some information in English so that they can know each other more clearly As a result, the English atmosphere becomes warmer and more active

* Introduction:

One member of the organizers asks the participants some questions such as:

- “ Have you ever watch the Harry Potter?”

- “ When did you see it?”

- “ What was it about?”

- “Do you like it ? Why? Why not?”

* Getting the meaning of the words/ idioms in the film

The organizers should focus on how important it is to grasp some vocabulary, especially the vocabulary of cultural factors or communicative situations This makes the participants understand the content of the film easily

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The organizers have prepared some cards with about 10 words/ idioms/ phrases which will appear in the shown part of the film Each word or phrase should be printed on two cards

Each of the participants has to choose a card and read the content of the card within a minute Next, the participants talk to each other about the words/ phrases/ idioms they have got from the cards Surely that they shouldn’t exchange their cards in any way

When the time is up, the organizers ask the participants back to their seats to hear the meaning of the words given on their cards The organizers should introduce word by word ( or phrase/ idiom) so that all the participants can understand them clearly

Example: “ everywhere else is full?” ; “ scar”; “ spell” ; “ oculus”

“ we’ll take the lot”……… etc…

* Watching the main part of the film

The organizers show the main content of the film which relates to the questions given on the cards and the participants write down the main ideas of the film

* Discussing the shown part of the film

After the film finishes, the organizers divide the participants into 4 groups

The questions given on the cards will be on the screen so that the participants can see and discuss in groups within 4 minutes At this time the organizers observe and help the groups if necessary

Next, the representatives from 4 groups present their ideas basing on the questions within 5 minutes

Having observed and heard the presentation of 4 groups, the organizers give fed back

* Wrapping the program

The organizers deliver each of the participants a piece of paper and ask them to write down their feelings, ideas, opinions about the film or the program within 5 minutes The participants should be encouraged to write as much as possible without limit of words or content

Finally, the representative of the organizers gives some remarks on the activities have been done during the program

2.5 Some pictures of the prepared materials and the activities oganized:

OUR TEACHING METHOD

Saturn is a gas giant, composed of hydrogen and helium

Jupiter is a gas giant and the biggest planet in our Solar System

Despite being red,

Mars is actually a

cold place

Feedback and Evaluation

Activities

Goals

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0203

It’s time for you to

receive your flashcards

and learn by heart

all of them

Now, it’s time for you

to enjoy the movie!

THE CURRICULUM

Saturn is composed of hydrogen and helium

Theatre

Venus has a beautiful name, but it’s terribly hot

Music

Despite being red, Mars

is actually a cold place

Dance

03 02 01

FIND THESE WORDS

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