SKKN some project based learning techniques to improve speaking skill for grade 11 students

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HÓATRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG NGA SƠN SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM SOME PROJECT-BASED LEARNING TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL FOR GRADE 11 STUDENTS Người th

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HÓA

TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG NGA SƠN

SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM

SOME PROJECT-BASED LEARNING TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL FOR GRADE 11 STUDENTS

Người thực hiện: Tạ Thị Nga

Chức vụ : Giáo viên

SKKN thuộc môn: Tiếng Anh

THANH HÓA NĂM 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page PART I INTRODUCTION :……….………2

1 Reasons for choosing the study……… 2

2 Aims of the study………2

3 Object of the study……… 2

4 Study method……… 2

PART II CONTENTS:……….………… 4

1 Rational basis……….……….……… 4

2 Practical basis:……….……….………… 4

3 The application of project-based learning techniques in teaching speaking for 11 grade students ……… 4

3.1 Speculation……… 5

3.2 Designing the project activities ……… 6

3.3 Conducting the project activities……… 7

3.4 Evaluation……… 8

4 Lesson plan format:……….………… 10

5 The results of the study:……….……… 14

PART III: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:….……… 16

1 Conclusion:……….……… 16

2 Recommendation.:……….…….……… 16

PART IV: REFERENCES:……….17

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 Reasons for choosing the study

Speaking is an essential skill for learning English It is defined as a process

of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal or oral form Nunan (1991) states that the ability to function in another language is generally characterized in terms of being able to speak that language and the success of which is measured in terms of the ability to carry on a conversation in that language Therefore, students are expected to master speaking skills well to use

as a system of communication to obtain and share information with others However, many studies reveal that Vietnamese students who study English for many years cannot apply speaking skill in real life communicative situations effectively They are afraid of making mistakes because they lacked vocabularies they need to say They also felt shy to speak English because sometimes they were uncertain about the pronunciation of certain words These problems were worsened by the teaching and learning speaking process which was monotonous Besides their mother tongue was more dominant in speaking English Therefore, to overcome those difficulties, “Some project-based

learning techniques to improve speaking skill for grade 11 students”, an

instructional approach that contextualizes learning by presenting learners with problems to solve or products to develop and emphasizes learning through student-centered, interdisciplinary, and integrated activities in real world

situations is hoped to improve grade 11 students’ speaking skill as well as foster

the students’ interest in project-based learning

2 Aim of the study.

This study aims at making a meaningful contribution to both for teachers and students For the teachers, the findings from the research are expected to provide

a good alternative way or technique for teaching students to be able to communicate with English as a foreingn language Meanwhile, for the students, they can hope to get a new strategy, a variation in their learning activities that can help them improve their speaking skill

3 Object of the study.

This research focuses on some project-based learning techniques to improve the 11 grade students’ speaking skill and students’ interest in learning speaking The object was the students of three classes: 11 A, 11D, 11I (2020-2021) at Nga Son high shool

4 Study method.

- Classroom action research, a research designed to help the teacher to find out what is happening in his or her classroom, and to use that information to make wise decision for the future

- Read reference books

- Discuss with my colleagues

- Apply project-based learning techniques to improve students’ speaking skill

- Observe and draw out experiences.

- Observe and draw out experiences

PART II CONTENTS

1 Rational basis.

Teaching and learning process of speaking must support the students to do the effective communication, as stated by Kayi (2006: 73), teacher should provide speaking activities where meaningful communication takes place rather than leading the students to pure memorization Additionally from Wallace, Stariha, and Walberg (2004: 10), teachers have to provide students with opportunities for practicing speaking English Project-based learning seems match to this English teaching and learning need This is a student-centered pedagogy in which students learn about a subject through the experience of problem solving Students learn both thinking strategies and domain knowledge The goals of PBL are to help students develop flexible knowledge, effective problem solving skills, self-directed learning, effective collaboration skills and intrinsic motivation Problem-based learning is a form of activity learning (Barrows, 2001)As a result, students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills in the context of doing an authentic, meaningful project This approach unleashes a contagious, creative energy among students and teachers

2 Practical basis.

The reality showed that the students in Viet Nam in general and at Nga Son shool in particular were not able to communicate well orally, not even to

describe their personalities or their daily activities in English Based on my observations and teaching experiences, there are some problems that can affect the students’ failure in speaking English First, the students do not have enough time to practice speaking because the teacher spends too much time teaching structure and reading Second, students’ lack of vocabulary is also a big factor affecting their failure in speaking English Students need to have a fairly large useful vocabulary since this language aspect is very important in practicing speaking Third, some students are not interested in speaking because the teacher does not teach in an interesting way Fourthly, some students do not find the language meaningful in their real life They are not able to relate the academic content to their real life situation Thus, students learn a language just for a test, not for what they need in their real life These problems were worsened by the

teaching and learning speaking process which was monotonous “Some

project-based learning techniques to improve speaking skills for grade 11 students”,

which offers many advantages and challenges when implemented in the classroom is expected to address theses problems to a certain extent

3 The application of project-based learning techniques in teaching speaking for 11 grade students

The implementation of project-based learning was done in four stages

3.1 Speculation.

At this stage, teachers provide the choice of project topics initially based on the curriculum and discuss them with students Teachers and students speculate possibilities that will lead smoothly to the projects However, for lower level students, teachers can choose the projects themselves but still consider the problems of the students Students at the lower level do not have the language or confidence to develop project themes Thus, teachers need to lead them first before they can decide for themselves

Examples:

Example 1 Unit 7:World Population- Part B: Speaking English 11

Instead of talking about the problems of overpopulation and offer solutions, using suggestion in the text book, the teacher can let students talk about the population in Thanh Hoa province: problems of population and solutions to these problems Traditionally, the teacher gave these suggestions and ask students talk at classroom.By using project-based learning, I provide the choice

of project topic relating to the population

Example 2: Unit 8: Celebrations- Part B: Speaking English 11

The text book suggest talking about the holidays or celebrations given such as

thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day and Mid-Autumn festival, in which students are

not much interested To foster interest in speaking lesson, students can choose one of the popular celebrations/ festivals in their hometown

PUPULATION IN THANH HOA

Population growth

rate

Mai An Tiem festival in Nga Sơn Lam Kinh festival in Tho Xuan

Muong Kho festival in Ba Thuoc Ba Trieu temple festival in Hau Loc

3.2 Designing the project activities.

This stage refers to organizing the structure of a project activity that includes group formation, assigning roles, and methodology decision

Group formation: The teacher must generate classroom activities based off of

understanding students He/ she devides students in each class into four or five groups basing on level, gender and number of members in each group The leader of each group give task to each member and all members have to work under the control of group leader

Assigning roles: The leader takes the responsibility for assigning roles for each

member in the group such as collecting information, taking photos, making the video, presenting the product However, the teacher will interfere with assigning roles if necessary

Methodology decision: The teacher-coach and students negotiate the criteria for

evaluating the projects after introducing regulations and timing the project

3.3 Conducting the project activities.

It is the stage in which the students work out what was planned and designed

in the previous stage (making the video based on the transcripts they made) In this stage, the teacher gave a week for the video making The next meeting each group would present the result of their video project At this stage, the students also gather information, discuss it with the members of their group, consult with the teacher about problems encountered in their work and exhibit their final products that might be in the form of a presentation, a performance, a product, a

Popular festivals in Thanh

Hoa Popular festivals in Thanh

Hoa

publication, etc to the class or even to the wider community such as other classes, teachers, outsiders

Example 1 : Unit 10: Nature in danger- Part B: Speaking English 11

Students talked about environmental pollution in Thanh Hoa province: Causes, consequences and solutions instead of talking about negative impact on the environment and suggesting measures to protect it Some groups chose Nga Son dumping ground Students took photos and made the video and gave the or finding the videos or photos in the Internet

Pullution from Nga Son dumping ground

Example 2 : Unit 16: The wonders of the world - Part B: Speaking English

11

Students chose Ho dynasty citadel in Vinh Loc, Thanh Hoa, instead of the great Pyramid in Egypt They gave photos, historic facts and video of this wonder

Ho dynasty citadel in Vinh Loc

Brief synthesis

The Citadel of Ho Dynasty built in 1397, composed of the Inner Citadel, La Thanh Outer Wall and the Nam Giao Altar covers 155.5 ha, surrounded by a buffer zone of 5078.5 ha It is located in accordance with geomantic principles

in a landscape of great scenic beauty between the Ma and Buoi rivers in Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province of Viet Nam The Inner Citadel constructed of large limestone blocks represents a new development of architectural technology and adaptation of geomantic city planning in an East Asian and South-east Asian context It demonstrates the use of architectural elements in terms of space management and decoration designed for a centralized imperial city in order to show a concept of royal power, based on the adoption of the Confucian philosophy within a predominantly Buddhist culture Being the capital of Viet Nam from 1398 to 1407 and also the political, economic and cultural centre of North Central Viet Nam from the 16th to the 18th century, it bears exceptional testimony to a critical period in Vietnamese and South-east Asian history when traditional kingship and Buddhist values were giving way to new trends in technology, commerce and centralized administration

3.4 Evaluation

The last stage is when the students perform in front of the class According to

Fragoulis (2009), this stage also includes the assessment of the activities by the participants themselves and discussions about whether the initial aims and goals have been achieved and implemented in the process and the final products Feedback giving is done for the students, covering comments on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency Students from other groups also give comment and appreciation towards the presentation and the project Reflection by the groups is also elicited in terms of the difficulties that the students has experienced during the project doing and the positive impact the project-based learning give to them

The teacher can use this below evaluationspeaking sheet to assess students

Evaluation speaking sheet

Student name: ………Class:………

Total score

1.1 Use a range of appreciate vocabulary when speaking 2.5

2.1 Show a good degree of control of simple grammatical forms 2.5 2.2 Show sufficient control of simple grammatical forms 2 2.3 Show only limited control of simple grammatical forms 1

3.1 Mostly intelligible, and has some control of phonological

features at both utterance and world level

2.5

3.2 Mostly intelligible, despite limited control of phonological

features

2

3.3 limited control of phonological features and often unintelligible 1

4.1 Maintain simple exchanges Require little prompting and

support

2.5

4.2 Maintain simple exchanges, despite some difficulty Require

prompting and support

2

4.3 Has considerable difficulty maintaining simple exchanges

Require additional prompting and support

1

4 Lesson plan format.

Unit 10: Nature in danger- Part B: Speaking English 11

Topic: Pollution from dumping grounds in Nga Son district: causes, consequences and solutions

1 Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, Students will gain …

a) Knowledge:

- Causes, consequences and solutions of pollution from dumping grounds in Nga Son district

- Combination of knowledge of many different subjects on the topic b) Skills:

- Group working

- surveying

- interviewing

- presenting c) Attitude: aware of consequences of environmental pollution and their responsibility for controlling the pollution and solving current problems

2 Preparations:

a) Teacher’s: computer, project records, projector Evaluation speaking test… b) Students’: computers, cameras, posters, photos, videos, …

3 Procedure:

Step 1: Plan (45 minutes)

5 minutes

Introduction Introduce

- the topic: Pollution from dumping grounds

in Nga Son district

- Learning method:

Project work

- see the pictures - give comments

- listen and take notes

12 minutes

Development

of sub-topics

- Give a question and ask Ss to draw mind

maps: What are the

relating factors to environmetal pollution?

- discuss with Ss to focus on the main

- work in groups

of 10 to complete the mind maps

- present group’s ideas

- discuss with the teacher