(SKKN 2022) some solutions to promote efficiency of english club at dao duy tu high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING DAO DUY TU HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE SOME SOLUTIONS TO PROMOTE EFFICIENCY OF ENGLISH CLUB AT DAO DUY TU HIGH SCHOOL Teacher’s full name: Le Thi Yen Job title: Teacher of English The field of the experience initiative: English THANH HOA, 2022 TABLE OF CONTENT Page PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reasons for choosing the study English has long been a global language It is the official language of nearly 60 countries and that of Europe International events, organizations, etc also by default consider English as the language of communication For Vietnam, as a developing country, English has become even more important to open up the door to globalization Yet, the reality of learning English in Vietnam is still a matter of concern for educators During many years of teaching, I have found out objective and subjective causes leading to the fact that teaching English has become quite ineffective in the locality, especially in utility One of the reasons is that students lack the motivation to study English Thus, English teachers should give their students engaging lectures In addition, motivating students to learn English is necessary to improve the quality of education My colleagues and I appreciate organizing activities in English club to motivate students in learning English This is the basis for me to research further on this measure 1.2 Aims of the study The study is carried out: - To give a brief overview about the role of students’motivation in studying English - To show how to organize the activities in English club at Dao Duy Tu high school in order to motivate the Students in learning English - To present the quite good effectiveness of the methods to improve the quality of teaching English at Dao Duy Tu high school 1.3 Scope of the study The study is narrowed to the area of Dao Duy Tu high school Within the scope of the study, I would like to focus on the attitudes of the students to studying English before and after attending the English club during the school year 2019-2020 1.4 Method of the study In order to carry out this study, it is mainly based on the data and information collected from surveys and tests, observation and direct interviews from my colleagues Furthermore, working as an organizer in my school’s English club provides the great practical contribution to the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT 2.1 Theoretical background It is undeniable that motivation plays a key role in second or foreign language learning Extensive research confirms that motivation becomes one of the determining factors of second or foreign language learning success (Bradford, 2007; Dörnyei, 1998; Engin, 2009) However, motivation in learning a second or foreign language is not as simple as we think since motivation is complex and has a ‘multifaceted nature’ (Dörnyei, 1998 p.118) Furthermore, motivation is dynamic, which means that there are ups and downs during the process of language learning, as Dornyei (2001) conceptualized in the three phases of his process-oriented motivational model Moreover, whatever you’re trying to achieve, staying motivated is the key to success Learning English can be tough, so it’s useful to focus on the improvements which learning English will make to your life We asked 6,000 people in twelve countries about the reasons why they’re learning English – here are the top motivating factors: - Learning English makes it easier to communicate while abroad.If you want to explore the world, it pays to have some knowledge of English Did you know that 58 countries list English as one of their official languages? - English is the closest the world comes to having a global language.In five years’ time the total population is likely to be over 7.5 billion By 2020, it’s predicted that two billion people all over the world will be studying English – that’s over a quarter of the world all learning the same language! - Learning English facilitates communication with people from different countries.40% of the entire planet is now connected to the internet – we can interact with people all over the world without even having to set foot outside, but knowledge of a common language is key - Learning English improves career prospects.English is the unofficial global language of business – in fact, some international companies have even made English their official language! Being proficient in more than one language is always attractive to employers, particularly if one of those languages is English - Learning English makes working life easier.Not being able to communicate properly with key stakeholders is a frustrating barrier to success; 42% of our survey respondents said they were motivated to learn English to make life easier for them at work Why else people want to learn English? Take a look at our infographic for the full picture 2.2 The status of problem Located in the center of culture, politics, and education of Thanh Hoa province, Dao Duy Tu High School has certain advantages Most of the students are conditioned in learning quite early and continually, so their English is somewhat higher than that of other schools in the province However, if compared with the other subjects in National High School Examination (now called High School Graduation Exam), the result of English is still limited What are the causes? With many years of experience in the profession, I believe that the bad result in English is caused by both teachers and students As a teacher, my colleagues and I always constantly improve and selfimprove our professional competence and expertise, actively in-depth research to have good and attractive lectures to attract the students' attention, meeting the quality requirements of subject teaching to improve the general education quality of the school On the part of students, the main reason for their bad results in English in exams is their lack of motivation to study, not being aware of the importance of learning English in high schools and its necessity for their future Therefore, as a teacher, I wish to motivate students to study and accept English more actively and proactively I and my colleagues in the group advised the School’s board of directors and the School’s union to establish an English club to increase students' passion and love for subjects, improve their communication skills for the best quality of life Thus, the English club has set a core goal of educating students to enhance effective communication skills, especially creating a favorable environment for students to participate in experiential activities, helping them to develop effective communication skills As a rerult, they get background knowledge, a passion for understanding, discovery To achieve that goal, they need more opportunities, more time, and an environment to practice English, to meet and interact with teachers and friends more It is the exchanges with friends that will give them confidence and courage in communication Therefore, it is the school's English club that must organize activities outside of class time 2.3 Designing contents and programs of the English Club’s activities - The club's programs of activities must be appropriate to the ability of students in each grade, the theme of the speech must be close to the surrounding life and realistic and stick to the main curriculum - The programs of activities for the whole year must be developed and submitted to the Board of Directors for guidance from the beginning of the year - The programs of periodical activities are divided into semesters (twice for each) They must be developed by the organizers weeks in advance to have a thorough preparation The club's program of activities must have a harmonious combination of practicing English and entertainment The program must engage students - The programs of activities must regularly change, improve or refresh activities to continuously improve the effectiveness of the club - In club activities, the organizers must pay attention to the decoration and music for each program Our English Club obeys the following basic rules of conduct: 2.3.1 Regularity Instead of just organizing one great activity for the whole year, we have planned English Club’s activities for students at the beginning of the school year Regularly, we try to organize successfully from four to five activities themed on holidays each school year It has created a good effect for students to develop social skills, confidence and arouse their passion for learning the subject Typically, in the school year 2019-2020, Dao Duy Tu English Club (DEC) successfully organized extracurricular activities on occasions: 2.3.1.1.“Welcome new members of the Club” This activity of the club helps to connect generations of students to share learning experiences and interesting things in extracurricular experiences Since then, improving foreign language skills for many students of the school, they have the opportunity to practice more confidence to actively communicate in English This is an application playground that directly affects the processes of applying foreign language subjects of students Thereby contributing to early orientation to help them succeed, opening opportunities to develop foreign language subjects 2.3.1.2 “Holidays and Celebrations” Participants must learn in advance about major holidays such as Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day, Vietnamese Teachers' Day, Christmas, Valentine's Day, International Children's Day, etc They have to form their question and answer skills in English This task increases the solidarity of the club members They will be confident in communication, know how to express their understanding in English on these topics, creating a foundation for future games With the organizers’ questions, the children will rely on their understanding to answer in English This activity not only gives them the opportunity to use English words, practice listening - speaking skills, reaction ability, and expand their vocabularies on the topics of Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day, Vietnamese Teachers' Day, Christmas, Valentine's Day, International Children's Day, etc but also help them have more knowledge about the major holidays of the whole year Content and rules of the game: - Number of teams: teams (20 members each, captain per team) - Game mode: Multiple choice questions - Right to answer: the team with the signal to charge first - Winner: The team with the highest total score - Reward: a book about the major holidays of the whole year 2.3.1.3 “Happy Vietnamese Teachers' Day” In order to create motivation and movement for students to learn English more actively, we have also advised the school’s board of administrators to launch contests such as competitions to paste stickers in the classroom, write cards in English based on each topic The first contest to make cards and stickers was held in November 2019 on the occasion of Vietnamese Teachers' Day This is a contest that not only encourages children to use English and practice reading and writing skills by writing greeting cards, nice small stickers, and writing congratulatory messages for teachers in English but also educates and develops other skills for students such as expressing gratitude to their teachers as well as develop students' creative skills, designing skills, painting, drawing flowers, The Group of Foreign Language has coordinated with the School Union to mark and award prizes to classes One hundred percent of classes have participated in the competition 2.3.1.4 “Regular activities at the end of the year” Year-end offline session of DEC members and guests who are high school students across the city and representatives of Dao Duy Tu High School clubs During the offline session, you can experience many interesting activities through the use of English At the end of the offline session, each group will appoint a representative to present their thoughts about the event in English To make the event meaningful and useful, we have made a detailed plan, specifically as follows: Year-End Party Offline event Date: 31/12 Attendees: DEC members (80) + high school students in Thanh Hoa city (40) + representatives of clubs at Dao Duy Tu high school (30) Purpose: - Celebrate Christmas + New Year - Recapture the whole year which is about to end - Create an event for students to make new friends, gain experience and practice soft skills Activities: - Introduce the events: name, purposes, organizers… - Dance and musical performance - Some warm-up games to energize the attendees - Guessing game: Attendees will be divide into teams to play this game One person will be chosen to guess and the others will have to use body language to demonstrate the given words Through this game, attendees can learn new vocabulary about Christmas - Tea break: Attendees all have 10 minutes break to enjoy the dessert prepared by organizers - Final recap: Each team will be given paper and color pens to draw or write about their one-year experience and their feelings about this event in 10 minutes Then, teams will select one person to present their work These activities will help them improve their public speaking and presentation skills - Closing speech and send gifts to all the attendees 2.3.2 Variety of Contents To create more excitement for students to join the club and help students realize that English Club is the most ideal place for improving subject knowledge, sharing experiences in learning English, practicing listening and speaking skills, and participate in other useful literary activities, Dao Duy Tu English Club always focuses on being selective in generating contents that suit all students The board of directors is English teachers who are responsible for making specific plans for each activity (notifying students of the content of the activity at least one week in advance) The following example is a sample plan: PLAN FOR DECEMBER Offline event Date: 30/11/2019 Attendees: DEC members: 80 Purpose: - Knit the relationship among members - Set plan for the upcoming month Activities: - All members discuss the posts on social media and offline events - Research topics about Christmas + other International days + Vocabulary + Interesting features about that day - Decide the content for the Regular column + IELTS PREP: Most used idioms in IELTS Speaking part - Plan for Year-End event In the early days of the establishment of the English Club, the members who signed up to join the Club were mainly good students However, our target audience is mass students To encourage student participation more and more, and create opportunities for students to participate and develop social skills and language skills, we always keep the principle that the content is not too difficult, ensuring make all students involved feel understood, engaged, and undeterred At the same time, the activity programs also have a rhythmic combination of English skills training with useful fun activities such as art, games, plays, presentations, etc By participating in activities, students have the opportunity to improve all four skills in learning English (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) This learning-and-play environment creates an opportunity for children to exchange, make friends and learn more useful knowledge This is also a healthy playground to help them make the most of their English in communication The contents and activities are always improved, refreshed, without duplication to avoid creating boredom for participants Here are some suggestions for club activities: - Present opinions on topics, answer questions - Present learning experiences, answer questions to share experiences with other students - Exam to detect words and phrases in any lesson (in the form of "Music game") - Quick quiz in groups, each member gives a word - Practice singing in English - Descriptive contest, guess who you are, what you (like the game "Who is who") - English speaking competition on suggested topics in advance - Crossword competition Here are some of the club's activities 2.3.2.1.Writing greeting cards on the occasion of major holidays, writing contest to send wishes to Santa Claus at Christmas, The club often encourages the children to design and write in English with their wishes and messages of love, to send to friends and relatives on the occasion of holidays such as Tet, Christmas, Vietnamese Teachers' Day men's day, Vietnamese women's day, etc This activity helps to strengthen the children's English writing ability When writing, they are required to use a rich vocabulary, appropriate, accurate expression A contest to write cards and greetings in English was launched by the club’s members to all classes so that all students had the opportunity to express their feelings in English 2.3.2.2 Guessing game: “ who you are, what you do” (like the game "Who is who") The committee of the club gives situations, organizes the competition between groups in the same grades This activity is made interesting, close to the topics in the textbooks, and very practical for students, however, the implementation of speech units must be suitable for students in each grade The organizers should not focus on language skills but should focus on and promote the children's confidence and flexible thinking 2.3.2.3 Exams to find out words and phrases in any lesson (in the form of "music game") Here is an example Question: Which lessons is there the word "endangered" in? Answer: - In Unit 10 “Conservation” in English 10 - Or: In Unit 10 “Nature in danger” in English 11 - Or: In Unit 10 “Endangered species” in English 12 - Or: In Unit 10 “Conservation” in English 10, in Unit 10 “Nature in danger” in English 11, and Unit 10 “ Endangered species” in English 12 2.3.2.4 English singing contest: Learning to sing English songs is the forte and passion of many club members They like to compose English lyrics on Vietnamese folk music Many songs have been carefully rehearsed in the club’s activities After that, these English-language musical compositions are performed at major events organized by the school 10 Singing folk songs in English Performing Rap in English 2.3.2.5 English Speaking Contest: The selected topics to write and present in English should be focused, not general The speech limits the content presented and doesn’t exceed 150 words The maximum presentation time is minutes including the illustration Candidates are not allowed to hold papers to present Scoring Criteria include the followings: - Content: points - Ability of language use: points - Fluency: points - Accuracy: points - Confidence and performance: points - Answer the examiner's questions (questions): points 2.3.2.6 Dramas in English: Students as actors have played a drama in English in the after-school activity with the theme of greeting the New year Preparation : - I assign tasks to each student: write scripts, find suitable characters to play the roles, choose appropriate costumes, make props for the play, etc - I schedule specific exercises for each week and regularly urge and check the children, correct pronunciation and intonation for each dialogue 11 While performing: While the children perform, the English teachers act as judges and always pay attention to the expressions, especially the pronunciation, the up and down intonation in each line Evaluation: After the performance, I showed them the strengths to promote and the limitations to overcome With each member of the club, I pointed out the mistakes of pronunciation, intonation and instructed how to overcome them I also ask the students to listen and repeat the pronunciation of the Cambridge dictionary on the Internet Through this activity, the children learned how to work in groups, increased their vocabulary, and knew how to use sentence patterns in English communication In addition, they also trained their listening and speaking skills through the activities Acting in English has allowed them to show their talent and ability to use English This activity is new, creating excitement for children to study English actively "Kitchen Guardians" in English 2.3.3 Encouragements The third rule of conduct that our Club always follows is encouragement Students have the right to register to participate in Club activities or refuse to participate and have the right to withdraw from Club membership if they feel that the Club is not operating effectively In addition, bonus points are also one of the ways to encourage students to develop English skills and social skills In addition to assessing students through tests, the Club is also a channel for assessing students’ abilities It also encourages students to join the Club more and more actively We are ready to recommend the subject teacher (also a member of the Board of Directors) to give students who actively participate in the Club effectively mark 9, mark 10 in oral feedback to encourage and motivate them to have a better learning spirit Members who actively participate in club activities are also rewarded and encouraged in a timely manner These activities are easy to but bring great results, the children are more excited and motivated in activities 12 Ho Thuy Quynh • Students in Grade A11(2018-2021.) • IELTS 7.5 • Chairman of DEC (term of 2019-2020) • New student at Diplomatic Academy Rewarding and giving souvenirs in activities are very necessary After each activity, the organizing committee should review the members’ responsibilities, work and draw lessons learned 2.3.4 Exchanging with foreign experts In the school year 2019-2020, at Christmas, with the consent and facilitation of the school’s administration, we contacted the Oxford English center in Thanh Hoa city to invite foreign teachers to exchange with members of the English club in particular and students of Dao Duy Tu High School in general A few days before the exchange, we sent some questions used in daily communication to the students so that they could prepare in advance and go online to find out the answer, how to raise and lower their voice with such questions Through this exchange, the students found out that their ability to communicate with native speakers was still very poor At first, some children were still shy, spoke softly, but the more they communicated, the more comfortable they became They also knew how to make questions with the teachers to exchange important information When interacting with foreign teachers, most of the children feel interested, excited, and new It was a great success of the exchange We hope that there will be many opportunities for students to talk and exchange with foreign experts in the future 13 2.4 The effectiveness of the methods to improve the quality of teaching English at Dao Duy Tu High School Through the activities of the school's English club, I have discovered that many children are very capable of communicating in English They can present, exchange, make questions and answer, introduce themselves in English naturally They also have the opportunity to be singers, actors They can sing English songs and act in English They need to develop their abilities, so we try to give them more opportunities to develop to replicate examples of their passion for learning English, and at the same time attract many promising children in terms of English communication ability Thanks to the effective operation of the English Club, the English learning movement was widely launched to all students in the whole school, the learning atmosphere was stirred The students were excited, positive, and proactive to approach knowledge in English Therefore, most of the students have well developed the four skills of English practice (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), the general quality has improved markedly To demonstrate the results I have achieved, I have conducted surveys for students’ attitudes towards learning English I conducted two surveys of the school's English club members to see that their interest in English has changed markedly A survey was conducted at the beginning of the school year 2019-2020 with 80 members and the other survey was conducted at the end of this school year The results obtained are as follows: Table 1: Reasons for enjoying English (in September 2019, 80 students) Reasons why you want to learn English It is useful and interesting It is fun There are interesting English lessons It is easy to understand You like it when you are happy, you don't like it when you are sad It helps you to get more knowledge You can speak and understand simple sentences English songs are very interesting It is learning while playing Each teacher has his own teaching method Number of choices 16 18 28 31 32 38 14 52 24 14 Table shows that 20% want to study English because they think it is a useful and interesting subject, 23% think that English is fun, 35% love it because there are many good lessons, 38% study it because they find it easy to understand the lessons, 40% of students are hesitant to like learning English and think that they like it when they are happy and don't like it when they are sad, 48% think they will get more knowledge through English lessons Only 18% can speak English and understand simple sentences, this shows that students' listening and speaking skills are still limited, 65% think English songs are very 14 interesting, 30% like to learn while playing and 17% like the teachers’ teaching methods Table 2: Reasons for enjoying English (in May 2020, 80 students) Reasons why you want to learn English Number of choices It is useful and interesting 78 It is fun 78 There are interesting English lessons 46 It is easy to understand 50 You like it when you are happy, you don't like it when 57 you are sad It helps you to get more knowledge 62 You can speak and understand simple sentences 78 English songs are very interesting 75 It is learning while playing 79 Each teacher has his own teaching method 48 Looking at Table 2, we can see that students has become more interested in learning English after a year of performing at the English club They were active, having fun, and learning while playing As a result, they would learn English more and more actively and effectively The number of students enjoying English for various reasons increased sharply from 22% to 79% Chart A: Reasons why you want to learn English Table 3: : Reasons for not enjoying English (in September 2019, 80 students) Reasons why you don’t want to learn English Number of choices The lesson is long and difficult to listen 58 You like easy lessons but difficult ones 70 You don’t understand lessons 36 Teachers mispronounce 29 There is little practice of speaking English every period 68 English textbooks are boring 52 There are too many grammar rules 64 There is a lot of homework 50 The results from Table show that most students not want to learn English because of its boredom and they have no interest in learning Table 4: Reasons for not enjoying English (in May 2020, 80 students) Reasons why you don’t want to learn English Number of choices The lesson is long and difficult to listen 16 15 You like easy lessons but difficult ones You don’t understand lessons Teachers mispronounce There is little practice of speaking English every period English textbooks are boring There are too many grammar rules There is a lot of homework 40 18 30 14 Looking at table and table 4, the number of students who not want to learn English has decreased significantly (from 16% to 63%) The results of the surveys show that the English club has operated effectively It has motivated and excited its members, so they love English more and learn English more effectively Chart B: Reasons why you don’t want to learn English In the school year 2019-2020, the club has attracted many members to participate in its activities On the first days when the club was established, there were only 25 members, mainly students who studied well and were passionate about this subject Since the beginning of the school year 20192020, Dao Duy Tu English club has had the participation of teachers in the organization, supervision, and companionship, so the number of members participating in the club at the beginning of the school year is 80 students Surprisingly, by the end of this school year, the number of official members has increased dramatically (120 children) thanks to the effectiveness of activities in the English club When participating in the club, the students have been trained and have developed their communication skills, English listening, and speaking skills, and, they have been educated in life skills The club has been highly appreciated by the School Board, Youth Union, and Parents' Association who facilitated to help the club with the fund to operate Although these results are still quite modest, compared to the time before the application of the measure, this is also an encouraging result, demonstrating the effectiveness of the measures that my colleagues and I applied in the group to improve mass quality PART III: CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL 3.1 Conclusion From the students’ attitude to learning English, from the test results, and the positive feedback of the students, their parents and the English teachers, and the school's Board of Directors, I believe that the activities and projects I am working on have their certain positive effects on teaching English at Dao Duy Tu High School where I am working This is an activity outside of class time, contributing to innovating current teaching methods, stimulating students' creativity and initiative in learning English The results of the tests show that Dao Duy Tu English club has been very effective thanks to the assistance of the school's Board of Directors, the 16 enthusiastic encouragement of the Youth Union, the Parents' Association, the teachers in the school, the efforts in planning and organizing the implementation organization of English teachers The number of students voluntarily participating in the club has increased significantly Most of the students in the club have made great progress in all skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) Many students have been more confident, and they want to use English more in daily communication with their friends and teachers However, there are still some members who have not enthusiastically participated in the club's activities at some times The solutions I mentioned above have been applied by us at Dao Duy Tu high school in recent years, and we hope that these forms of activities are replicated throughout the province, contributing to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning of the subject 3.2 Proposal After applying measures to improve the quality of education in my school, the results achieved are only initial successes, I will continue to research and learn more methods to improve the quality of teaching English Due to many different reasons, objective and subjective, the measures I have taken cannot avoid certain errors and limitations I am looking forward to receiving suggestions from my colleagues to help the process of teaching English be more effective I sincerely thank you! Thanh Hoa City, May 20th ,2022 The confirmation of the headmaster I assure this is my own experience initiative, not copying the contents of other people The writer Le Thi Yenị 17 REFERENCES  Bradford, A (2007) Motivational orientations in under-researched FLL contexts: Findings from Indonesia RELC Journal, 38(3), 302-323  Dornyei, Z (2001) Motivational strategies in the language classroom: Cambridge University Press Cambridge  Dörnyei, Z (1998) Motivation in second and foreign language learning Language Teaching, 31(3), 117-135  Engin, A O (2009) Second language learning success and motivation Social Behavior and Personality, 37(8), 1035-1041  Nuridin Waliyadin (2019) The importance of motivation in language learning EFL magazine  Steffanie Zazulak (2015).Top five motivations for learning English Pearson 18 LIST OF EXPERIENCE INITIATIVES AWARDED Number Name of experience initiatives Ranked School year How to present vocabulary to increase motivation for grade 11 students with the B 2013-2014 english textbook (basic stream) Using writing process-oriented approach to improve 12th graders’writing skill at C 2016-2017 Quang Xuong I high school How to use the simple infinitive in C 2019-2020 complex sentences 19 ... 1.3 Scope of the study The study is narrowed to the area of Dao Duy Tu high school Within the scope of the study, I would like to focus on the attitudes of the students to studying English before... Duy Tu high school in order to motivate the Students in learning English - To present the quite good effectiveness of the methods to improve the quality of teaching English at Dao Duy Tu high school. .. Aims of the study The study is carried out: - To give a brief overview about the role of students’motivation in studying English - To show how to organize the activities in English club at Dao Duy