Organizing games and using “flipgrid ’’application in teaching speaking lessons of english 10

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRANINING QUANG XUONG II HIGH SCHOOL ---o0o---TEACHING EXPERIENCE ORGANIZING GAMES AND USING APPLICATION IN TEACHING SPEAKING LESSONS OF 10th GRAD

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRANINING

QUANG XUONG II HIGH SCHOOL

-o0o -TEACHING EXPERIENCE

ORGANIZING GAMES AND USING APPLICATION IN TEACHING SPEAKING LESSONS OF 10th GRADE STUDENTS AT QUANG XUONG II HIGH SCHOOL.

Written by: Nguyen Thi Thuy English Group

Quang Xuong II High School

THANH HOA , May 2021

CONTENTS PAGE PART I : INTRODUCTION

1

Rationale

1 1.1.Basic of theory 1

1.2.Basis of practice 3

1.3 The aim of the study 5

1.4.The scope and object of the study 6

1.5 Research methods 6

PART 2: CONTENT 6

2.1 Theoretical background 6

2.1.1 Definition of Game

6 2.1.2 Effectiveness of games in speaking lessons 6

2.2 Practical background 7

2.3 Solutions 7

2.3.1 Game “ Nought and Cross ” 7

2.3.2 Game “ Lucky numbers / stars ” 9

2.3.3 Game “ Shark attack ” 11

2.3.4 Game “ Magical Wheel / Hat ” 12

2.3.5 Role play game 14

2.3.6 Using “ Flipgrid” app 15

2.4 Effective of the teaching experience 18

PART 3 CONCLUSION 19

REFRENCES 20

However, the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning English inmany high schools in Vietnam in general and in Thanh Hoa in particular, are notreally as good and high as expected This is resulted from many objective aswell as subjective factors and one of those is that the present testing andassessment system heavily basing on accountability and not as a learning toolsometimes depress students' motivation in learning English The feeling ofhaving to do a paper-and-pen test usualy scares almost all of the students, that isnot only the case at Quang Xuong II High school but also at other schools inThanh Hoa as well as in Vietnam.

Introduction Speaking is one of the basic language skills that have to bemastered by English foreign learners due to its significant and its use forcommunication It is very important to be able to speak English regarding that it

is the most commonly accepted language in the world so that it will be verybeneficial for those who comprehend it not only to improve their knowledge andskills but also easier for them to get a job More than that, they will not find itdifficult to communicate and interact with people around the world when theytravel (Gard & Gautam, 2015) Besides that, they may also respond in shortphrases because they may not feel confident or because they are too shy to speak

it out In addition, young learners of English may also giggle when they areembarrassed or when they are unable to understand the lesson The researcherhas found that there are many similarities and difficulties faced by the students

in speaking English such as fear of making mistakes, fear of being laughed bytheir friend as they have no idea about pronunciation and grammar that theyuse.Besides, they are also not confident enough to express their idea and feelinghesitant due to the lack of vocabulary that they have Then, they are also bored

in learning English because the teaching-learning activities provided in aconventional way, for instance; the teacher asked the students to perform the textthey have memorized Furthermore, they also cannot speak based on theirwillingness because what they want to speak is structured by the teacher, inother words they just repeat the word that has been produced Afterward, thoseproblems make students get lazy or less ability to speak As a result, studentshave been getting more and more flexible and active in the lectures and so haveappeared the learner centered classes In order to achieve great success in

teaching speaking skill, it is vital that learners should be motivated It is Games that are regarded as efficient motivation and environment of communication Furthermore, I always use modern application when teaching

English, especially speaking skill

Flipgrid is a tool that is used to facilitate online discussions It is a video

discussion platform that allows students to raise their voice Especially for thosethat are too shy to raise their hand.Teachers create grids that can be used bystudents to share their ideas in the form of videos, or writings that can be shared

in the classroom In this blog, we will go into detail on what is Flipgrid? Howcan Flipgrid be used in the classroom?

Moreover, the current situation with schools closing during the COVID-19pandemic is an emergency response to contain the spread of the coronavirus.Therefore,it is not ideal to continue with all learning at school , some onlinelearning may be the safest way for students to go back to school

Flipgrid makes it possible for sudents to practice their speaking skills with alarge group than just their class Especially, students can post videos to getpractice with the vocabulary they are learning, and instead of being limited tocommunicating with the people in their physical classroom , they can engageand build their skills with other students studying the same language or haveconversation with native speakers of the language

It is the reasons mentioned above that have been encouraging me to choose the

theme : “ Organizing Games and using “Flipgrid ’’application in teaching speaking lessons of English 10 ”.

* Basis of practice :

As can be seen, English is a rather difficult subject to students particularlythe rural ones Among four language skills, speaking is considered the mostchallenging task for both teachers and learners

From the matter of fact, during most of speaking lessons, if teachers applythe old teaching method – teachers only read or give illustration and students’work is either copying or imitating, there will be only a small number of

students branstorming and working actively, the rests will passively listenregardless understand the meaning, purposes and usages of structures andcommunicative situations given Hence, this results in low teaching quality andfew students with flying colours To make it worse, students increasingly loseinterest in practising speaking skill and fail to upgrade their communicativeabilities.

To get a better view of the fact of teaching and learning English speakingskill, I have carried out a survey on Grade 10 students of the class 10C3 and

10 C4 of my school by 5 questions relating to learning speaking skill and usinggames in teaching it The questionnaire is as follow :

Here is the result of the suyvey :

(%)

2 Consider speaking skill the most important 75

4 Enjoy playing games in speaking lessons 90

5 Get excited when playing games in speaking lessons 92

The result of the survey indicates that over 60% of students are interested inlearning English Although over 80% of students appreciate the importance ofspeaking skill, only 22% are fond of it On the other hand, most of them (90%)enjoy playing games in speaking lessons and the number of students that getexcited and stimulated by games organized in speaking lessons is up to 95%

It can be concluded that organizing games in speaking lessons is certainlyeffective in teaching speaking skill

QUESTIONNAIRE

Put a tick (  ) in your option

Question 1 : Do you enjoy learning English ?  Very much

 Not much  Not at all

Question 2 : Which skill do you consider the most important ?  Reading

 Speaking  Listening  Writing

 Not much  Not at all

 Not much  Not at all

Question 5 : How do you feel when playing games in speaking lessons ?

 Very excited

 No special feeling

It is known that applying games in teaching brings about a great number

of benefits Not only do they creat excitement and relaxation after stressfulhours of studying but they also change the atmosphere of the class and make thelessons more attractive

The aims of the study are to know whether communicative games have animpact on teaching speaking skill and describe how communicative games give

an influence on speaking skills of students at junior high schools in QuangXuong II , Thanh Hoa The procedures used were planning, acting, observing,and reflecting It was done into two cycles in each cycle consisted of threemeetings The researcher used collaborative action research with some of theEnglish teachers In collecting the data, the instruments were interview,observation, questionnaire and test The test only given to students The rest ofthe instruments administered for both teachers and students Therefore, thecriteria of success had been determined It is crucial to note that communicativegames have contributed a positive impact on teaching learning process This alsoimplies the communicative games expected to enhance students’ enthusiasm andmotivation Clearly, It gives positive improvement on students’ activeparticipation, confidence and their fluency in speaking skill In short it can bedescribed that the strategy of teaching and learning creates good, enjoyablecircumstances and reduces the boredom and stress of learning process

1.3 Aims of the study

As an English teacher with twenty years’ experience, I have continuously beenwondering and researching for the techniques to better the quality of teachingEnglish Knowing that the students’ psychophysiology is doing what they fancy,enjoying new things, putting their noses on pleasures rather than studying, I

have been trying my best to offer them lectures in which they can work for both study and relaxation This method brings them the sense of joy and

easiness when they learn English lessons in general and speaking lessons inparticular through several games In order to creat motivation and situations inwhich students are encouraged to speak, I have been getting the best out of thepopular games not only to draw students’ attention but also enable them toactively take part in speaking activities

Through my years’ time of teaching English as well as exchanging,referring to related materials and drawing experiences after each lecture, Imyself have found a suitable technique of teaching speaking skill for students inGrade 10 ( the first year of secondary level as well as the background fordeveloping speaking skill in the next grades ) This technique has not onlyenabled me to lull most of students to take part in speaking lessons actively,enthusiatically and creatively but also creat an exciting atmosphere, raisestudents’s love for speaking English and help them increasingly upgrade their

speaking skill by “ Organizing games and using application in English

speaking lessons of English 10 ” This technique has been applied in quite a long

time of my teaching English 10 and I have got considerably hopeful result.Therefore, I decisively exchange my initiative experience with my collagues This subject is concerned with ways of the aims of the study are as the follows:

- to organize games in speaking lessons of Grade 10 English

- to improve students’ speaking skills

- to examine students’ attitudes towards speaching methods

- to investigate the benefits of “Flipgrid” app in teaching Tieng Anh 10

- to suggest applying technology in teaching English at high school

1.4 The scope and object of the study

The study was going to be investigated at Quang Xuong II High school foraverage students Due to the limitation of time, only classes 10 C3 and 10 C4were asked to participate in the study

1.5 Research methods

- Using the text - book English 10 to apply to each speaking lesson

- Reading reference books to improve

- Using the soft ware POWERPOINT, pictures and other materials

- Discussing with other teachers

- Using “ Flipgrid ’’app

- Observing and drawing out experiences

or psychological role In teaching a language, the focus of the games is on successful communication rather than on accuracy of target language.

2.1.2.Effectiveness of Games in speaking lessons :

Learning speaking skill is a difficult task which can sometimes be irritating It isnecessary that learners should make constant effort to understand, produce andmanipulate the target language Games are highly stimulating thanks to theirboth amusement and challenges In addition, they employ meaningful anduseful language in real contexts They also encourage and increase cooperation

- Games are full of fun and children are excited about playing them

- Not only do Games offer students good chances to learn and practise speaking

but they are also great stimulus of speaking by providing a plausible incentive to

use the target language Therefore, they encourage students to interact and

communicate in the target language

- Games create a meaningful situations for language use The Game contexts

make the foreign language immediately useful to the students It brings thetarget language to life

- By playing Games can students speak English as naturally as they learn their

mother tongue without being aware they are studying even to the hesitant andshy students

2.2 Practical background

Quang Xuong II High school is situated in Quang Xuong district Althoughthere is a lot of difficulty in life, most of the parents and children have beenaware of the importance of learning English, which is a big advantage forEnglish teachers here However, both teachers and students at Quang Xuong 2High school still face a number of dificulties and challenges in being familiarwith speaking skill.Speaking is one of the important skills in English as aForeign Language (EFL) It shows the best influence when seeing goal ofspeaking learning process, especially in EFL The goal of English teaching is tomake students able to communicate well

All of the obstacles have to be observed in order to reach the success ofteaching speaking The result also can be a source in developing approaches ormethods in EFL Teaching speaking needs to know about obstacles that may beoccur in the learning process Some problems come from the internal of studentsand others come from outside students So, the study will discuss about theproblems found in teaching speaking at Quang Xuong II High school

2.3 Solutions:

It is unquestionable that games play an important role in teaching aforeign languages in general and English in particular, especially in practisingspeaking skill There is a wide range of games which teachers probably take fulladvantages of to stimulate students in speaking lessons The games that I my selfhave been effectively applying in my speaking lessons of English 10 are :

Nought (O) and Cross (X), Lucky numbers / stars , Shark attack, Magical Wheel / Hat and Role play game.

Below are some appropriate games I have set to my students tpracticespeaking English inside the classroom

2.3.1 Game “ Nought (O) and Cross (X) ”:

This game is drammatically useful in practising saying sentences or shortdialogues

To organize it, it is necessary to prepare a table of 9 squares numberedfrom 1 to 9 as the following one ( teacher can replace 9 squares by 9 pictures orimages relating to the content of the practice to make the game more vivid ) Therequirements of practice are hiden behind the numbers / pictures

would like to practise Each correct answer ( good presentation ) will bring the

team a mark of a nought (O) or a cross (X) Which team earns a line of 3 marks

arranged vertically ( horizontally or diagorally ) will become the winner

* Note : Teacher can design this game by using the software POWER POINT.

*For example : When teaching part B Speaking of Unit 5 : Technology and You, teacher can organize the game “ Nought (O) and Cross (X) ” in Task

1 – Ask and answer about the use of modern inventions

* Steps : - Before playing the game, teacher has to make sure that studentshave mastered the vocabulary relating to the uses of the modern devices, thenteacher presents the structures used to talk about them

- Teacher gives an example :

A : Can / Could you tell me what a cell phone is used for ?

B : It is used to + talk to people when you are away from home

- Teacher conducts a dialogue as the model :

A : Can / Could you tell me what a / an ……… is used for ?

B : It is used to + V ( infinitive ) + ………

- Teacher asks students to practise speaking about the uses of the modern

devices by playing the game “ Nought (O) and Cross (X) ” as follow :

- Teacher shows a table of 9 pictures of 9 modern devives

- Teacher divides the class into 2 teams named Nought (O) and Cross (X)

each team takes turn to choose the devices they would like to talk about Each

completed and good presentation will bring them a mark of (O) or (X)

responding to the name of the team At the end of the game, which team gets

3X or 3O in vertical / horizontal or diagoral line will become the winner.

Not only does this game stimulate students to try their best to present aperfect dialogue with correct vocabulary and structures but it also requiresstudents’ strategy to win the game

* Note : We can do the same in Task 2 of Part B Speaking of Unit 1 : A day

in the life of ….( talk about Quan’s activities ).

2.3.2 Game “ Lucky numbers / stars ” :

This game is possibly used in practising short structures or small talks Toconduct it, teacher has to divide the information or linguistic data into itemshiden behind the numbers / stars Each number / star refers to a requirement ofpractice ( Note : the quantity of the numbers / stars must be even to make thegame equal to the teams ) Teacher probably creats this game with the help of thesoft ware POWER POINT as the following illustrations

* Lucky stars : * Lucky numbers :

- To carry out this game, teacher divides the class into 2 teams / groups Therepresentative of each team/ group takes turns to choose the numbers or the starsthey would like to practise The team / group with good presentation will get 1point If a team/ group chooses a lucky number/ star, their point will be doubled

At the end of the game, the winner will be the one with higher score

* For example : When teaching part B Speaking of Unit 6 : An excursion, teacher can organize the game “ lucky numbers / stars ” in Task 2 ( talk about the best seats for each person on a boat trip ).

* Steps : - Before the game, teacher must make sure that students have

understood the information relating to each person’s hobby and requirements

- Teacher presents the model used to suggest the best seats for thepassengers on the boat trip :

I think ……… should sit in section ……… in seat………because

………( reason 1) and ………( reason 2)

- Teacher shows 8 stars, 6 of them hide the names of 6 passengers ( Mary/ Mrs Andrew/ Susan/ Tim/ John/ Sam ) and the rests are 2 lucky stars.