SECTION A. INTRODUCTION I. Rationale of the study. 1.1. Rationale. Today, English has become very important along with the trend of international integration in the field. It is a mean of communication, is the key to the treasures of humanity. On the other hand, the wide application of computer technology has made learning English becomes necessary and indispensable in the education of Vietnam, so learning and teaching English is especially known by students, parents, teachers. Especially in the situation of education today, as well as other subjects, English is taught by the communication method of learnercentered. In this way students have more opportunities to communicate with friends or teachers for language training, they actively participate in reallife situations they not only learn but also practice. Teaching and learning English in secondary schools helps students be able to use English as a mean of communication at a relatively basic level and proficiency in the skills of listening speaking reading writing. This leads to the ability of using English easily and effectively in daily communicating . The fact of new teaching methodology is to promote new teaching positive, creative initiative of students. Students are the subject of active learning, teachers who organize and guide students to receive the knowledge, language training through a variety of communicative activities in the form of individual activities, pairs group works. In the process of teaching, groupwork is some way is dynamic and it can help students present, discuss and express their thought about the information of lessons that they understand, they feel and get feedback from the private glider. The amount of information each student may be right or may be wrong through groupwork. They can give feedback to the instructor. Since then the teacher will catch levels of thinking, and understanding. This process takes place in twoway relationship. In terms of learning theory, this is a dialectical relationship. In addition, Students have chances to discuss, practice skills and habits of thought, expression, and present before a collective problem. Through this their English skills is increasingly enhanced in groupwork Following to the knowledge and skill standard, speaking skill is one of the required teaching skills of foreign language teaching. The teaching is conducted through the organization of learning activities. Students have the cooperation and teamwork to achieve knowledge and kills that the aims of teaching and learning English requires. We are professional and enthusiastic teachers, arent we? Do you often use the groupwork in your lessons? You know the advantages of groupwork, you also know the limitations of this activity? Have you got any solutions to promote the advantages and overcome the limitations of this activity? It is the problem that many secondary school teachers must have been agonizing over, and we are also some of them. 1. 2. Practical background. 16 years of directly teaching English 6, 7, 8, 9 and observating colleagues inside and outside the school, we find that the majority of students perform groupwork ineffectively, not all students enjoy it since they would prefer to be the focus of the teachers attention rather than work with their peers. They are still afraid of speaking English before class, they prefer to discuss in their mother touge. They can do the task repeatively, but they cant do the task on their own language or on their ways. This is because they dont have enough English words, structures to present sentences or dialogue. In speaking lessons, students are often embarrassed to say, most of them only work quite well but some others are shy, they usually avoid their task, a number of naughty children make noise and do other things. This leads to ineffective lessons. Therefore some teachers are afraid to organize groupwork to avoid losing time and the noise for the next class.
SECTION A Tables of contents Page INTRODUCTION I Rationale of the study 1.1 Rationale 2 Practical background II Old awareness and old solution III New awareness SECTION B CONTENTS AND PROCEDURE I Preparation and content knowledge 5 1.1 Knowledge: Content II Solutions Dividing students into groups and management 1.1 Dividing students into suitable groups 8,9 The management of teachers 10 Designing appropriate activities 11 Time for group activities 12 Evaluating students' attitude 13 The task for each group 13 Paying attention to all students 14 Teacher's feedback 14 Preparation of teaching aids 15 Using some games 16 SECTION C CONCLUSION 23 I Achievement 23 II Lessons 24 III Proposals and recommendations 25 REFERENCES 26 THE TEACHING EXPERIENCE Title: "Some solutions to limitations of group work in speaking lessons in English 8" SECTION A INTRODUCTION I Rationale of the study 1.1 Rationale Today, English has become very important along with the trend of international integration in the field It is a mean of communication, is the key to the treasures of humanity On the other hand, the wide application of computer technology has made learning English becomes necessary and indispensable in the education of Vietnam, so learning and teaching English is especially known by students, parents, teachers Especially in the situation of education today, as well as other subjects, English is taught by the communication method of learnercentered In this way students have more opportunities to communicate with friends or teachers for language training, they actively participate in real-life situations they not only learn but also practice Teaching and learning English in secondary schools helps students be able to use English as a mean of communication at a relatively basic level and proficiency in the skills of listening- speaking- reading- writing This leads to the ability of using English easily and effectively in daily communicating The fact of new teaching methodology is to promote new teaching positive, creative initiative of students Students are the subject of active learning, teachers who organize and guide students to receive the knowledge, language training through a variety of communicative activities in the form of individual activities, pairs - group works In the process of teaching, groupwork is some way is dynamic and it can help students present, discuss and express their thought about the information of lessons that they understand, they feel and get feedback from the private glider The amount of information each student may be right or may be wrong through groupwork They can give feedback to the instructor Since then the teacher will catch levels of thinking, and understanding This process takes place in two-way relationship In terms of learning theory, this is a dialectical relationship In addition, Students have chances to discuss, practice skills and habits of thought, expression, and present before a collective problem Through this their English skills is increasingly enhanced in groupwork Following to the knowledge and skill standard, speaking skill is one of the required teaching skills of foreign language teaching The teaching is conducted through the organization of learning activities Students have the cooperation and teamwork to achieve knowledge and kills that the aims of teaching and learning English requires We are professional and enthusiastic teachers, aren't we? Do you often use the groupwork in your lessons? You know the advantages of groupwork, you also know the limitations of this activity? Have you got any solutions to promote the advantages and overcome the limitations of this activity? It is the problem that many secondary school teachers must have been agonizing over, and we are also some of them Practical background 16 years of directly teaching English 6, 7, 8, and observating colleagues inside and outside the school, we find that the majority of students perform groupwork ineffectively, not all students enjoy it since they would prefer to be the focus of the teacher's attention rather than work with their peers They are still afraid of speaking English before class, they prefer to discuss in their mother touge They can the task repeatively, but they can't the task on their own language or on their ways This is because they don't have enough English words, structures to present sentences or dialogue In speaking lessons, students are often embarrassed to say, most of them only work quite well but some others are shy, they usually avoid their task, a number of naughty children make noise and other things This leads to ineffective lessons Therefore some teachers are afraid to organize groupwork to avoid losing time and the noise for the next class With the real situation, It requires each teacher to have the most suitable method for students in organizing groupwork in language learning lessons Indeed, the teacher must be people-oriented, He must guide students to achieve the aims, students are active, creative, they must discover ability of shelf- study to complete aims in learning English at school English speaking lessons are usually monotonous, tedious, and they are especially easy to go to the old method Teachers often impose knowledge for students, so they always acquire knowledge in a passive way Students often have many difficulties come from many causes We are teachers, so we always try to figure out the appropriate method, harmony and positive to excite, attract the attention and participation of students through groupwork From the above reasons we have pulled out some small experience in the teaching process and research topic " Some solutions to limitations of group work in speaking lessons in English 8" II Old awareness and old solution Most of the teachers who are teaching English in secondary schools are applying new teaching methods, they think of last effective teaching process is shown through progressive tests, final tests and teachers try to help their students understand grammar Therefore, during the lessons in class we have spent a lot of time teaching the grammar deeply, students gain the understanding on the "tenses" in English, they know how to use the right forms of the verbs Beside that teachers don't care of organizing group activities in class Teachers think that groupwork will take lots of time, make noise because students lack of vocabulary, grammar and their bad speaking skill, and it's time for students to talk at once Following to the old teaching method, teachers often refer to the new lesson at once, not stimulate the thinking ability of students so they are very passive, not to promote the initiative from the outset Most students understand quite well now and work effectively, some students are weak or lazy, passive This leads to ineffective lessons Many children are very excited when they are taught with new language, but it's very difficult for them to apply knowledge in practicing the students feel tired and they don't like this subject any more because grammar is complex, English speaking skill, English phonetic is difficult We feel the anxiety of the student, and we also find students' neglect while they are doing group activity, especially in the speaking lessons in the That is caused by several reasons such as: students are lazy, they not like the subject, Most students are afraid of speaking, expressing, and not share their ideas with the partners Strong students are often more active, weaker students not have the opportunities to participate, so they are often passive and gradually lose self- confidence this lead to poor communicative skills III New awareness As we know, groupwork is known simply as a set of two or more individuals working together in the same work, having interactions with each other and bringing the common characteristic of the following: + If everyone is involved in the same activity, then we are "in it together" Such experiences give us points of common reference to talk about and can be used as reasons to bond with each other It is much easy for students to share an emotion such as happiness or amusement in a group setting five people laughing is more enjoyable than just one, four people holding their breath in anticipation create a much more engaging atmosphere than just the person sitting next to you Therefore, groupwork will have the support, increase sociability, with each other and help each other to complete the task + It helps to build character In groupwork, students can express their weakness or strength Students can communicate directly and have emotional relationship They can share their ideas Cooperation of group members is the basis of forming groupwork + It is the class style in many educational settings where students and teachers feel secure when the whole class is working in lockstep, and under the direct authority of the teacher As teachers in secondary schools We have found that to have a successful lesson in teaching speaking English is very difficult It requires the efforts and creativity of both teachers and students Teachers help students discover themselves on the basis of self-awareness, freedom of thought and debate to have a lot of useful knowledge Students are central subjects, teacher is acting as a controller and they organize group activities to help students complete their task and understand the general topic Day by day, they can present language in front of their class fluently Developing skills in oral communication will help to support other skills more completely Teachers should mix skills in harmony, creativity, we not use any individual skills to promote students' activeness From that, students will be aware of their duties when teachers give them assignment It also helps them get the emulation and effort Teachers can collect good students and help them to become good students of the subject Beside, students can practice communication skill through groupwork and the weaker children can learn from their groupmate Facing the requirements for the renew of teaching methods How can we to improve the quality of teaching and learning English? What ways can we apply to promote students' activies and creation? Therefore, we are constantly looking for creativity, learning from our colleagues to find out the best teaching methods Students have learning the lessons on skills from grade In English 8, There is quite much knowledge that is basic for students to learn in grade In grade 8, most students are embarrassed to speak because there is too much information and some information is not familiar to students who live in remote areas Teachers should design suitable activities Teacher and students must work together to build a friendly lesson, give students confidence with hearted- guide of teacher Teacher must have a good preparation from the first step of lesson plan that organize group activities suitably in order to improve and develop communicative skills SECTION B CONTENTS AND PROCEDURE I Preparation and content knowledge 1.1 Knowledge: For each class lesson when organizing group activities, pair, group effectiveness; following documents: - Textbook English 8, - Basic English grammar, - Standard knowledge and skills in English secondary schools, - Made Easy English - Techniques in teaching English as a foreign language I, II (Nghe An junior Teacher's training college) - Methodology of foreign language teaching (Nghe An junior Teacher's training college) - Celce-Murcia M (2001) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed) USA: Heinle& Heinle In addition, We also draw or print pictures, realia, visual aids for the teaching process Especially, We design lesson activities clearly, and suitably for students Content Before going into research this topic, we study the procedure for groupwork; Our role in groupwork doesn't end when we have decided which students should work together, of course We have matters to address too, not only before the activity starts but also during and after it Before: When we want students to work together in groupwork we will follow the " engage- instruct- initiate" sequence After: When groups stop working together we need to organise feedback We want to let them discuss what occurs during the groupwork session and, where necessary, add our own assessments and make corrections Where groupwork has formed part of a practice session, our feedback may take the form of having a few groups quickly demonstrate the language they have been using We can then correct it, if and when necessary, and this process will give both those students and the rest of the class good information for future learning and action Where groups have been working on a task with definite right or wrong answers, we need to ensure that they have completed it successfully Where they have been discussing an issue or predicting the content of a reading text, we encourage them to talk about their conclusions with us and the rest of the class By comparing different solutions, ideas, and problems, everyone gets a greater understanding of the topic Finally, it is vital to remember that constructive feedback on the content of student work can greatly enhance students' future motivation The feedback we give on language mistakes is only one part of that process * We also study the advantages and disadvantages of groupwork - Advantages of groupwork: + It dramatically increases the amount of talking for individual students + Because there are more than two people in the groups, personal relationships are usually less problematic; There is also a greater chance of different opinions and varied contributions + It encourages broad skills of cooperation and negotiation Lynne Flowerdrew (1998) found that it was especially appropriate in Hong Kong where its use accorded with Confucian principles which her Cantonese- speaking students were comfortable with Furthermore her students were prepared to evaluate each other's performance both positively and negatively whereas in a bigger group a natural tendency for self- effacement made this less likely + It promotes learners autonomy by allowing students to make their own decisions in the group without being told what to by the teacher + It creates opportunities for strong students to help weaker students + Many problems can be solved at the same time However, we can not deny that there are some disadvantages: + It is likely to be noisy + Some teachers feel that they lose control, and the whole- class feeling which has been painstakingly built up may dissipate when the class is split into smaller entities + Not all students enjoy it since they prefer being the focus of the teacher's attention rather than working with their peers Sometimes students find themselves in uncongenial groups and wish they could be somewhere else + Many lazy students nothing and have no idea + Individuals may fall into group roles that become fossilised, so that some are passive where as others may dominate * Cause There are many students in each group In the class, teachers usually divide students in three groups When they work in groups, they have to move from table to table that takes time and some of them have no room to talk This helps lazy children nothing Dividing the group or group assignment isn't good enough, students not know what to and how to their tasks, they just stand outside to "look " One reason why students are often silent during the lesson is because the classroom activities are boring or unsuitable These often bring the exciting interface of us not interesting or nature of communication as we thought and that all students are required to just answer 'yes' or' no 'and they can so fast then just sit in silence.Others may talk loudly in their mother tongue According to the rules in the classroom, students are not allowed to make noise in the class, or they feel afraid of talking in front of other students Time for discussion groups is often little The weaker students, on average not have any answers, the strong students have pretty good answers This action will create bad habits and inertia for students when they participate in group Teacher does not divide students into groups suitably In the class, some students don't work well together and sometimes there are students who don't work together positively, so when they work in groups, it's difficult to classify students Many teachers often give each question or each task for each group This habit will create students a bad habit They only pay attention to the question or task of their group and almost pay no attention to the opinion, the answer of the other groups Teacher hardly keeps an eye open to see all the students in the class When Teacher gets feedback from her students, she often asks the strong students to answer or present result because she doesn't want to lose time This will also lead to bad habits for students such as: having a few opportunities to present, mispronounced words, Teacher does not spend much time correcting the answers of all groups There are no members who are actively trained to become a positive leader for the group II Solutions: Dividing students into groups and management When all the students talking to each other it will be very noisy, It is difficult for teacher to control and manage the class First, we needs two separate views of a noise class and a class with good noise In a class the students talk to each other and interact in English Although It is very noisy, it is true that we want Maybe you feel you can not manage it because suddenly the class turns into studentcentered rather than teacher-centered This is an important problem to consider 1.1 Dividing students into suitable groups The above limitations from some of the reasons that group causes overcrowding, So we should divide students into groups as small as possible We should put the two desks face to face, and two students will be in the same group with two students sitting the opposite desk So there are groups of four It is ideal conditions for an effective discussion From the groups teacher should pay attention to the students' levels: Excellent, Good, pretty, average, poor Teacher should ask them to help each other, so they will support each other in the process of practice (The progressive pair-group friends) Example 1: English Unit – Speak 2/ Page 29 - Teacher asks students to name the objects in the picture (from inside the box to help them) Make sure that each group has at least one can know some names of the objects in the drawing that not the same as his/ her friends have just told rug armchair pictures stereo cushions coffee table shelf magazines TV clock - Teacher asks students to take out some prepositions of location such as: in, on, above, under, next to, near, between, - Teacher reminds students some structures of suggestions: + Let's + V-inf, + Why don't we +V- inf ? + What about + V-ing ? + I think we should + I suggest + V-ing…/ we should…… - Students work in groups of four and arrange the furniture in the living - room Example: St1: Let's put the armchair opposite the couch ST2: Ok, And I think we ought to put the rug between the armchair and the couch St3: Why not we put the magazines on the shelf above the books ST4: I think we should hang the picture above the couch - Teacher encourages students to draw a picture of the living room following their arrangement Example 2: English Unit – Speak - Asks students to look at the picture / Page 40 of the textbooks to retell the use of the structure "used to V-inf" for past habits - Ask students to work in groups of four to discuss At least in each group There are four sentences to be said Eg: Group 1: St1: People used to live in small houses Now They live in bigger houses or buildings St2: The houses used to be small Now, they are bigger St3: children used to stay at home/ didn’t use to go to school Now, They all go to school St4: People used to walk to travel Now, they can go by car or motorbike - Teacher can ask a group (each student of group can present a sentence or a representative of each group can present four sentences It depends on the time of the period) - Therefore, when students work in small groups, all students take part in discussing and take responsibility for their group's tasks However, teacher also organizes bigger groups depend on speaking lesson The management of teachers The movement of teacher around the classroom to observe students can bring effectiveness when they are working in groups We just go to the noise and ask naughty students to concentrate on their task If a student really makes loudness disorderly, just change the form of activities that have more control, for example: Giving a writing exercise that students need to work alone in silence When students are more concentrated, teacher can return to the original activity or to give students a chance to practice in an other interactive activity Example 1: English Unit – Speak/ Page 73 - 74 - Teacher asks students to look at the picture / Page 73 of the textbooks 10 - Teachers redesign the dialogue shorter to fit the students and students are with requirements of the exercise Teacher asks students to work in pairs to practice after the sample dialogue Clerk: Can I help you? Mrs Kim: I want to send this parcel to Quy Nhon Clerk: Do you want to send it Airmail or surface mail? Mrs Kim: How much is surface mail? Clerk: I'll have to weigh the parcel first That'll be 19,200 dong Mrs Kim: Ok, I'll send it Clerk: All right - Ask students to make a similar dialogue Use the information in the box Letter / Kon Tum / surface mail / 20g / 800 line Postcard / Ho Chi Minh City / Airmail / 15g / 1,200 dong Parcel / Ca mau / Airmail / kg / 13,000 dong Parcel / Buon Ma Thuot / surface / kg / 19,200 dong Time for group activities Is time for activities suitable or unsuitable? Time for the speaking activities sometimes can be decisive for a successful lesson Students' preparation at home is very important so that teachers should guide her students to prepare the lesson Example: English Unit – Speak/ Page 73 Plan Teacher asks students to review the comparative of short adjectives and long adjectives, some vocabulary related to the city and the countryside * Adjectives: * Short adjectives- er - tall - big - noisy,… * More + long adjectives - modern - beautiful - expensive,… * vocabulary: life, town, building, house, children, transportation/ traffic, road, good,…… 12 Plan Teacher gives some homework about transferring the comparative form related to the topic: "Countrylife and Citylife" Adjectives Comparative busy busier noisy …………… - Or ask them to make sentences using the structure: S + be + getting / becoming + comparative of adjectives Example: Nam is getting taller My sister is becoming more beautiful - Teacher should tell students how long they can their task (three minutes, four minutes, … ) This helps them to have the positive preparation and try to complete their assigned tasks in time Evaluating students' attitude In the age of the children in the class giving them marks has a positive impact for their learning, so teachers can not be overlooked when assessing the performance of each team member as well as the group about the accuracy, fluency, and effort in learning progress Based on the cards of the students when they work in groups in about per month, Teacher can get a point into point’s book or award points for good and active students It helps to encourage students and prevent the lazy students it also helps teachers to control students of these activitives and have a good motivation for the following lessons Students' attitude in group can be sent to the homeroom teacher Therefore, homeroom teacher can timely reminder lazy students, praise hard – working students This way will form good habits to help students gradually form skills and more excited as assigned The task for each group Many teachers often choose a different question for each group to discuss This will create bad habits for students Students only pay attention to the question of their group and almost pay no attention to the other opinion, or other groups So, teacher should not only give each group a different task or question Students will have some difficulties when correcting mistakes or giving comments for their friends Teachers should share the same questions or a the same tasks for at least two groups of class Example 1: English Unit – Speak/ page 55 13 After guiding the students about asking for favors / offering assistance and responding to favors/ assistance, teacher should divide the class into small groups, the first situation may be done by teacher and strong students in the class Tourist/ needs to find a police station/ lost money a You Tourist: Can you help me, please? : certainly, how can I help you? Tourist: I need to find a police station I’ ve lost money You : No problem I’ll help you Tourist: Thank you very much That is very kind of you b You: May I help you? Tourist: Yes Could you show me the way to the nearest police station? I’ve lost money You: Sure Turn left when you get out of the hotel Turn right at the first corner It's on your right Tourist: Thank you very much - Then Teacher asks students from the groups to make similar dialogues, When correcting mistakes, students can easily see the error of their friends and they can give comment and correct the mistakes This way also helps to make the class more competitive Group 1, 4: neighbor/ needs help tidying yard / has a broken leg Group 2, 5: friend/ needs help fixing her bike/ has a flat tire Group 3, 6: aunt/ needs to buy some vegetables Paying attention to all students Many teachers are afraid of losing time so they often call up the strong students to present before class, and ignore weaker ones This will lead to bad habits for students: shy away from presenting to the group, mispronounced words, Because they have few opportunities to present to the group So in our lessons we often pay attention to poor students with easy questions, and shorter or simple dialogues Example 1: English Unit – Speak/ Page 73 - Teacher asks weak students to say sentences about the changes of the town after some strong students said their sentences St A: The town is getting busier St B: The houses are becoming more modern Example 2: English8 Unit – Speak/Page 11 14 - Teachers can make sample dialogue: St A: This person is short and thin She has long blond hair St B: Is this Mary ? St A: Yes / No - Teacher asks one to two good pairs to ask questions and answer about the painting/ page 11 and page 12 then asks pair by pair to make similar dialogues using the people in the painting page 11 and 12 Teacher's feedback While students are speaking, they may get some errors in grammar, structure, pronunciation Teachers should not interrupt them, we ought to accept some mistakes, teachers should give students comment after speaking The summary knowledge of the teacher is necessary and important, so teachers should remark or comment clearly It is essential for children to learn from experience and get better after every school lesson Preparation of teaching aids This is an important stage before a teacher's lesson To save time in the classroom and get students’ attention, help students understand easily through tables or pictures, teachers need to prepare carefully A careful preparation of teachers before class is very important Lesson is successful or not, the students acquire all good or not? it depends totally on the preparation and processing steps of the teacher in the classroom before the lesson Example 1: English Unit - Speak - With this speaking lesson, teachers should prepare two large paintings like this, they help to attract students and help them to see the information presented easily Example 2: English Unit 12 - Speak - Teachers prepare a roadmap for the content of the comments and questions in the extra table 15 - Guide students how to create a route - Ask them based on the roadmap for example, questions and answers about travel plans they have prepared A: Where Shall we stay? B: The Revere Hotel is expensive but it has a gym A: What time should we leave Los Angeles? B: There's a daily flight at 10 am Would that be OK? Itinerary: Depart Los Angeles: Flight 835 at 10.00 on Mon Arrive Boston: At 4:00 Accommodation: Atlantic Hotel Sightseeing: Boston University, Museum & Art Galleries Depart Boston: Flight 710 at 10.00 on Thursday, 22 Using some games To avoid boredom and change the atmosphere in the form of speaking in class teachers should organize some games As we know, most of the students love to play games in class because they are both comfortable and relax The purposes are "learning as playing, playing as learning" - Some games will help students work in group effectively through speaking lessons: Lucky numbers, Chain games, Net words/ brain storming, kim’s game Example : English Unit – Speak 2/ Page 29 - Asks students to work in pairs then we can divide class in to two teams answer the questions: - There are twelve numbers with eight questions and there are four lucky numbers - Lucky numbers : 2, 7, 10, 11 Example 1: English Unit – Speak * Questions for unlucky numbers 16 Where should we put the coffee tables? (we should put it to the right corner of the room next to the couch) Where should we put the telephone? (let’s/ I think we should put it on the coffee table) Where can you put the television? (we should put it on the shelf above the folders) Can we put the clock on the shelf? (No let’s put it on the wall on the left/ right of the picture) Where can you put the lamp? (we ought to put it on the coffee table next to the telephone) Should we put the stereo above the books on the shelf?(Ok ) Where can we put the shelf? (on the corner of the room on the left of the picture) 12 Tell me where to put the cushions ( let’s put them on the couch) Besides the game above, in the lesson we also use other games for students to practice speaking Demonstration of teaching plans English Unit 3- Speak Lesson aims: - To review and introduce vocabulary about things in the house - To use prepositions of place while speaking to describe locations - To practice using the language of making and responding to suggestions, agreement and disagreement Note: There are two possible lessons provided here Both activities in the book are excellent, but if a teacher tries to teach both in one class, there won't be enough time for students to practice carefully Choose plan for weaker students and plan for stronger students, or both on different days Stage Warm - Up (5 mins) Vocabulary (10 mins) Learning Activities – plan Ask students "What chores you have to at home?" Chat about their answers ( review from last lesson) - Look at the picture on page 28 Modes T- students Individual T - students - Get students to tell what things they see in the picture - Write down the words students call out 17 Underline active words and ask for Vietnamese * Vocabulary - Cupboard(n) - Knife(n) - Rice cooker(n) - Dish rack(n) - Sauce pan(n) - Use "point to" to check new and old vocabulary Pre- speaking (7 mins) - Brainstorm the prepositions you need to describe the things in the pictures T- students between in on Preposition beside under above Give model sentences: Where is/ are the X? The X is/ are + prepositional phrase - Ask and answer some examples with students in the class Whilespeaking - Students work in pairs They will ask and answer about where things are in the picture Pairwork (7 mins) Post- speaking (10 mins) Game: " Add a line" - Teacher divides class into two teams Group work - A student from team A says something about the picture using one of the prepositions on the board: (The knife is on the wall) If the sentence is correct and true, team A gets one point - Teacher crosses the preposition Team A 18 used off the brainstorm on the board Then Team B says something about the picture Team B has to use a different preposition If Team B uses the same one, they lose a chance to get one point and Team A can take another turn Continue until all the prepositions are used up ( Note: part of the goal is to get students to listen to each other Don't stop them if they begin to use a preposition twice Let them say the sentence and then say, " I'm sorry, that preposition is already used You lose your turn." Students will learn to listen while the other team is speaking) Post-speaking (6 mins) Picture dictation T- students - Dictate the following sentences and get students to draw what you say Possible dictation: " 1- there is a cupboard 2there is a rice cooker on the cupboard 3- there is a cat on the left of the rice cooker 4- there is a calender on the wall above the rice cooker." Stage Learning Activities – plan Modes ( more advanced class) Warm – up (5 mins) Brainstorm Ask students "What chores you have to at home?" Chat about their answers ( review from last lesson) Prepositions to describe location (5 mins) T- students Individual T- students between in on Prepositions beside Pre- speaking (4 mins) above under Look at page 29/ Book T - students - Tell students this is Mrs Vui's living-room ( Pick someone in the class to be Mrs Vui and 19 (4 mins) ask a couple of silly questions about the living – room just for fun: " Does it have any windows?, Is it large? ect) Vocabulary: - Look at the words in the box Tell students to point to different iteams in the room Walk around to check Write active words on the board and help students pronounce the words Get – students to come to the front of the room and ask others to point to different things in the room (5 mins) Target language: - Tell the class that Mrs Vui needs help deciding where to put things Get students to help create a simple dialogue map using suggestions and agreement or dis agreement: - I think we should/ ought to - Let's - What about ? - Why don't we ? + Ok / That's a good idea/ Great/ - No I don't think so/ I disagree While speaking (10 mins) - Ask students to work in groups of four to arrange the furniture in the living – room Groupwork Model Eg: A: We should put the clock above the picture B: That's a good idea C: Ok I think we ought to put the rug between the armchair and the couch D Ok, What about putting the telephone on the table? Post- speaking (12 mins) Get some groups to make suggestions to arrange the furniture in the living – room and draw their arranged room T- students Groupwork Ask some groups to show their drawings and 20 present their suggestions English 8: Unit 14 – Speak & (language focus 3,4) Lesson aims: - To practice making yes/ no questions in order to guess a place - To introduce reported yes/ no questions; verb to – infinitive; Question words before to - infinitive - To practice constructing and saying reported yes/ no questions 21 Stage Pre- speaking (5 mins) Teaching Activities - Teacher plays the game "20 questions" with students Think of a famous place in the world and give students minutes to think of yes/ no questions in pairs Modes Pairwork - Students ask teacher questions to try and guess the place Whilespeaking (10 mins) - Students work in groups of four Groupwork - Teacher gives each group pieces of paper with the names of famous places, E.g: Big Ben, the Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower, Ha Long Bay - One pair of students ask yes/ no questions and try to guess the place and the other pair answer "yes or no" The pairs take turn to ask and answer the questions Postspeaking (10 mins) Grammar presentation T- Students - Teacher asks students to look at the dialogue in "Getting started and listen and Read" and find questions that Hoa and Nhi ask Nga Is it in Asia? Is it in Amrica? Is it in New York? - Teacher writes the questions on the board, then write the first question in reported speech: Hoa asked Nga if it was in Asia - Teacher asks students to give Nga's answer then write it in reported speech: Nga said that it wasn't - Teacher presents the form of reported speech - Students work in groups and transform the questions and answers into reported speech following the model: Hoa asked Nga if it was in Asia Groupwork Nga said that it wasn't Postspeaking (10 mins) Grammar practice - Teacher thinks of a famous place and ask students to work in pairs and think of as many yes/ no questions as possible in minutes Pairwork 22 Groupwork Materials: Small pieces of paper with names of famous places SECTION C: CONCLUSION I Achievement After studying and applying the research to the lessons we found that students' English speaking skill in class is getting better Students got better results in written tests They can communicate with each other in English, the weak students can use simple sentences and be able to understand what teacher or their friends say Comparing with the first semester and year There is a large number of students who can read fluently and communicate in English, Most of the exercises are done well by all students at home and at school, Speaking English fluently also helps students to understand and remember grammar or structure more exactly and better The following tables illustrated results : School year 2021-2022: (The first Semester) Before teaching Class 8A (35) % After teaching evaluation criterion good fair average weak 10 23 5.7 28.5 65.7 class evaluation criterion good fair average weak 8A 19 10 % 2,9 14.3 54.3 28.5 Before teaching Class 8B (34) % After teaching evaluation criterion good fair average weak 10 23 2.9 29.4 67.6 class evaluation criterion good fair average weak 8B 19 % 2.9 14.7 55.8 26.4 Before teaching Class 8C (36) After teaching evaluation criterion good fair average weak 12 23 class 8C evaluation criterion good fair average weak 21 10 23 % 2.7 33.3 68.8 % 2.7 Before teaching Class 8D (33) % 11.1 58.3 27.7 After teaching evaluation criterion good fair average weak 24 6.0 21.2 72.7 class evaluation criterion good fair average weak 8D 18 % 6.0 15.2 54.5 24.2 II Lessons + After studying this teaching method we know that the enthusiasm of both teachers and students plays an important role to build a successful lesson + The teacher should prepare very carefully before teaching She should design suitable activities with her students She should ask her students to review at home + Teachers should be friendly and enthusiastic If she encourages her students on time, they will more active and more confident It is very great if teacher is humorous, she can helps her students avoid boring atmosphere during a difficult lesson + Lessons must be conducted in a systematic way Teacher must apply positive teaching and learning skills in lessons to promote students' creativeness Teachers need to correct students' pronunciation, using word, setting sentences However, Teachers should accept some of errors in spelling during their lesson, teachers should correct, comment after students finished their presentation + Teacher must have the best basic of knowledge to teach students Because students love teacher only when they believe her + Teacher knows how to apply computer technology for each lesson suitably When using pictures, video clips, it is to match the content being taught There are enough pictures, video clips Moreover, they are clear, beautiful and they have sufficient quantity + Teacher needs to create conditions for students to take basic knowledge through each lesson Teacher should avoid teaching too much knowledge, only focus on standard knowledge and skills + Teacher should speak English regularly in class and she should give principles that make students have to use English in English lessons regularly Teacher also encourages and motivates them to speak English in daily situations 24 + Teacher may organize English – speaking club to help students have chance to communicate in English with friends and teachers + Teacher needs to make and use visual teaching aids such as: radios, tapes, pictures, Teacher needs to have good pronunciation, pay attention to body language and play the role of the character of the conversation or dialogue + Teacher designs some game- related lessons Teacher can change the contents of sentences, paragraphs to fit the level of students in each class Those are some problems that teachers face when teaching foreign language at school Although the problems with solutions are no new, It is very important for to solve flexibly in the lessons Nowadays, teachers around the world continue to face the same difficulties, but any teachers who have overcome the current difficulties will assert that all the hardships, and initial efforts are not left with the enthusiasm of a dedicated teachers who know how to use the dynamic method in their teaching process III Proposals and recommendations In the trend of integration with the world There are many opportunities as well as many challenges The young generation who brings Vietnam to international friends, They are messenger of the country with friends on the Earth Therefore, they have to learn much more, devote their best for prosperity and peace of the country and socialize with friends around the world Along with the current situations I strongly suggest some recommendations as follows: a We should give students an English speaking environment such as: English speaking club at school There are exchanges between English speaking club of schools in the local Teacher encourages all students to participate regularly b Teachers should spend more time to observe colleagues' lessons They must have the evaluation after observing the lessons We strongly share our subjective experience We sure that there are still some mistakes in our research We look forward to receiving the sincere comments from colleagues REFERENCES Textbook English – Education Publishing House 2012 Teacher’s book - English - Education Publishing House 2011 Lesson plan designing book- English - Teacher Training University Publishing House 2012 Techniques in teaching English as a foreign language I, II-Nguyen Thi Xuan Dao, Hoang Tang Duc – 2001 25 Introduction to linguistics and the English language-Nguyen Thanh Binh Some issues about innovation in teaching methods at Secondary School – The Minister of Training and Education (2002+2004) Regular refresher material for secondary school teachers – Education Publishing House 2011 Methods of teaching English at secondary school - Education Publishing House 2011 The book of skills and knowledge standards - Education Publishing House 2011 10 Techniques in teaching English as a foreign language I, II (junior safety of Hearing Teacher's training college) 11 Methodology of foreign language teaching (junior safety of Hearing Teacher's training college) 12 Celce-Murcia M (2001) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd ed) USA: Heinle& Heinle 26 ... 26 THE TEACHING EXPERIENCE Title: "Some solutions to limitations of group work in speaking lessons in English 8" SECTION A INTRODUCTION I Rationale of the study 1.1 Rationale Today, English has... participation of students through groupwork From the above reasons we have pulled out some small experience in the teaching process and research topic " Some solutions to limitations of group work in speaking. .. students minutes to think of yes/ no questions in pairs Modes Pairwork - Students ask teacher questions to try and guess the place Whilespeaking (10 mins) - Students work in groups of four Groupwork