(SKKN HAY NHẤT) some motivational techniques for teaching phrasal verbs to 10th grade students at nhu xuan high school

PART I: INTRODUCTION REASONS TO CHOOSE THE THEME Phrasal verbs are considered an integral domain of linguistics in the English language Native English speakers use phrasal verbs all the time They are extremely prevalent in conversations and informal written language Therefore, not only English as a second language learners need to understand the more common phrasal verbs, but they will also need to use them themselves In other words, to be successful in communicating as well as the GCSE examinations, learners should master a considerate number of phrasal verbs However, phrasal verbs are not one of students’ favorite topic because they are so complicate and difficult for them to memorize and use When teaching the students at Nhu Xuan high school, the writer found that most of them are not motivated in learning phrasal verbs in lessons Hence, they are often weak in understanding phrasal verbs and have the tendency to avoid using them, especially in oral communication Those above –mentioned reasons and my career passion motivate me apply some fun and motivative activities to teach students phrasal verbs and get some satisfactory results in student’s target language acquirements Therefore, I myself would like to write this experience initiative, “Some motivational techniques for teaching phrasal verbs to 10th grade students at Nhu Xuan high school”, with the aim to share some of my opinions to make students more engaged and enjoyable in achieving phrasal verbs PURPOSES OF THE RESEARCH The main purposes of the research are to: - Motivate students to learn phrasal verbs in their reading and speaking lessons - Help students get familiar with phrasal verbs and use them sound natural and fluent in communication - Enable students to earn marks from this difficult grammatical point in regular tests and the GCSE - To contribute a small part to the improvement of teaching and learning at Nhu Xuan high school - Provide reference materials for teachers who intend to teach their students phrasal verbs more fun and effective METHOD OF THE RESEARCH - Gathering the information collected from reference books and the Internet - Discussing for experiences from my colleagues LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - Teaching one class using the research techniques and one class using the given tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 10 - Giving tests for assessment - Gathering students’ results and evaluate OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH The objective of the study is to motivate my students learning phrasal verbs and use them correctly in suitable context The activities are adapted from tasks in the textbook “Tieng Anh 10” and some from teaching methodology books The study was carried on students in two classes 10 A1 and 10 A2 at Nhu Xuan High School PART II: CONTENT THEORETIC BASIS OF THE PROBLEM This project is based on three theories: Muti-Modal Teaching, Communicative Language Teaching and “text-context method” First, the theory that supports this project is the multi model teaching theory, which aims to teach a concept through visual, auditory, reading, writing, and kinaesthetic methods It is meant to improve the quality of teaching by matching content delivery with the best mode of learning from the student Since English learners come from different cultural backgrounds, multi-modal teaching can facilitate different platforms to help students comprehend the language The use of multimodal resources has the potential to enhance language and literacy learning, and it could even affect students‘ identities The second theory mentioned above is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) Nunan (1989) points out that language learning does not occur in the linear-additive fashion that a synthetic syllabus presupposes and thus the focus of learning should alternatively be on language use rather than on the language itself Finally, Andrzej Cirocki, a proponent of the ‘text/ context method’, has a useful approach to teach phrasal verbs He states that if we aim at teaching a few Phrasal Verbs to our students, we should present them in many different real contexts so as to enable them to deduce their exact meaning and to see whether they are transitive or intransitive, separable or inseparable All these items can be noticed by the students if Phrasal Verbs are presented in authentic contexts (Cirocki, 2003) PRACTICAL BASIS OF THE PROBLEM I work in Nhu Xuan High school, which is located in a mountainous district of Thanh Hoa province Most of my students are ethnic minority children who are often disadvantaged in many aspects However, they are LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com willing to change their lives by making every effort to acquire knowledge, especially English - the international language However, they mainly learn vocabulary and grammar points mechanically without meaningful understanding They often claim that phrasal verbs present a difficult challenge for them They not know how to deal with memorizing the forms and the meanings of a large number of phrasal verbs In addition, since the most common phrasal verbs teaching method for students in Vietnam is explaination and recitation, the students are not engaged and motivated in the lessons Working as a teacher for several years, I myself understand the nature of the problem and the research to find out some effective teaching techniques to apply in my classes to solve those problems SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM Helping students recognize what a phrasal verb is * Definition “A phrasal verb is a verb that is made up of a main verb together with an adverb or a preposition, or both Typically, their meaning is not obvious from the meanings of the individual words themselves” (Oxford Dictionary) For example: - She has always looked down on me - Don’t put me off I’m trying to concentrate * Classifying PHRASAL VERBS Intransitive (no direct object) Ex: I get up at o’clock Transitive (have a direct object) Inseparable Object Ex: I’ll look after him Separable Object Ex: Turn off the TV (or: Turn it off) Using some techniques for teaching phrasal verbs 3.2.1 Teaching phrasal verbs by topic One of good ways to learn phrasal verbs is to organize them by subjects When teacher group them in topics, students can see a link between the different verbs They find phrasal verbs more relatable and interesting to learn For example: when students learn “get up” and “get dressed”, they should learn LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com them together with other verb phrases in the topic “daily activities” such as go to work, get home, have a shower, put on,…By this way, students find phrasal verbs easier to remember For this reason, when teacher covers a topic in a textbook, they are recommended to teach some phrasal verbs with related vocabulary Teacher can use one of the four skills such as reading, listening, speaking, and writing to teach new phrasal verbs In English 10 text book, I chose some units that can be easily applied useful phrasal verbs to demonstrate how to use this technique to teach them Here are some demonstration: Example Units Name unit of the Equivalent Topic Activities/ exercises Example Unit A day in the life Morning of… activities Reading, quizzes Example Unit School talks Reading, listening, quizzes School activities Example 1: When finishing Unit A day in the life of…(English 10), teacher can design some exercises for students to practice the phrasal verbs they have just learnt Firstly, teacher indicates the topic to learn: “Morning activities” Teacher may use some techniques to introduce some phrasal verbs whose meaning is about the same topic Morning activities List of phrasal verbs to learn in this topic Phrasal verbs Meaning Examples go off stop working (a light), start It makes a sudden loud noise when to ring (an alarm), explode the alarm goes off.  (a bomb) wake up no longer sleeping I am having an important meeting LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com tomorrow Will you wake me up at am? turn off stop from operating We turned off the light before anyone could see us  get up be out of bed What time you often get up in the morning?  put on Wear I put on a sweater and a jacket.  get on enter (a bus, train) Passengers are not allowed to get on the bus with lots of luggage.  get off leave (a bus, train) Every passenger must be careful when getting off the train.  go into to start to sth He went into a long explanation of the affair After teaching these phrasal verbs above, teacher checks students’ understanding of the meaning of the phrases they have learned by giving them a piece of text (like the paragraph below: I’m a morning person) Students are required to read it and try to remember the bold phrases’ meaning This activity is very important because it helps students memorize phrasal verbs in context I’m a “morning person” The alarm goes off at 7.00 I wake up and turn it off I get up quickly and go downstairs to have a shower I sing a song in the shower I love putting on my jacket every Tuesday While listening to my favorite English Time, I take a cup of coffee Mmm Then I have some toast for breakfast I take my bag and run to catch the bus I get on the bus and go for three or four stops, and get off I go into work and say “GOOD MORNING” to my first class It’s 8.30 The final stage should include some multiple choice exercises This helps student to get familiar to those in the International examination Teacher score students’ paper to evaluate their progress Exercise: Choose the best option Yesterday I _ at but I stayed in bed until my mom called me A got up B woke up C went off LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com You take the bus number 26 and _ at the last stop I live near there A get off B get on C go off Please _ the light before you leave the office A go off B turn off C get off The bus was full We couldn’t _ A get off B go into C get on Grandmother tried to _, but the couch was too low, and she couldn’t make it on her own A get up B wake up C get on Grandmother tried to _, but the couch was too low, and she couldn’t make it on her own A get up B wake up C get on It’s very cold outside I quickly _ a coat and went out A get on B put on C get up I stop sleeping very early in the morning A wake up B get up C put on I stop sleeping and get out of bed at on weekday A get on B wake up C get up 10 She starts wearing her jacket as she goes out for a walk A goes into B gets on C puts on Answer key: B A B C A A B A C 10 C Example 2: Unit 2: School talks (English 10) Equivalent topic: School activities List of phrasal verbs: Phrasal verbs Meaning Examples Come in enter Always be sure to show a friendly smile when a customer comes in Stand up be in an upright He was sitting on a bench then position on your LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com feet suddenly stood up Sit down to place on surface We sat down with George to discuss a of sth (ground, new extended contract chair) Take out bring, get sth Write down take a note, jot Sorry, why I have to write down down my name on every page of this registration form? Pick up collect Make up tell lie, invent a Judy’s story is hard to believe I’m story sure she made it up Look up discover, search I didn’t know the correct spelling so I had to look it up in the dictionary? Miss out skip, omit sth Buy some now or we will miss out on the best deal of the year Turn over transfer, turn to He didn’t wait to turn the page over; another side of sth he started to read it attentively The thief who broke into the museum last night took out a lot of precious paintings If you see a note on your way, you pick it up? Teacher lets students read the text to memorize the phrasal verbs they have learned Our classroom “FaceSnaps” I still remember my first day at school When my teacher, Mrs Smith, came in, everybody stood up to bow We were allowed to sit down but she immediately asked us to take out a pen, and then write down our names, birthdays, phone numbers, home addresses and hobbies on a piece of paper Then she picked up all of the paper to make up a book that we called “FaceSnaps” From then on, by looking up our friends’ personal information in that book frequently, we never missed out on a birthday party You wanna see my FaceSnap? Turn over the first page and I’m still there! LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Teacher plays the audio from the above text and asks students to the tasks in handout papers Task 1: Listen and fill in with the missing phrasal verbs Conversation 1: W: In our culture, we always …(1)…. to bow to the teacher when she…(2) …… M: It sounds great But if you’re busy making something, you have to stand up anyway? W: Yes, sure Conversation 2: M: Have you ….(1)…  their phone number for me? W: Yah And I remember …(2)…… somewhere in my notepad Conversation 3: W: Sorry I can’t find the list of the attendees anywhere.  M: …(1)…. my notepad and …(2)… the first pages …(2), then you will see the list on the left column. But be sure not to add any more names to that list W: OK I just want to …(3)…. some names for my report Conversation 4: W: How did you spend your time when you were young? M: I just loved …(1)…… on the sofa and watching TV W: Well, I didn’t have a TV when I was young, so I think I ….(2)… on a lot of fun After reading and listening exercise, teacher gives one more exercise so that students can consolidate the lesson Task 2: Circle the correct answer for each blank Fall clothes will be _ soon A taking out B coming in C writing down How many teeth did the dentist _ out? A miss B go C take If you want to get the correct spelling, please _ them up in the dictionary A get B pick C look Please color one side blue, then _ the page to color the back side orange A turn over B miss out C write down LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com If you see a toy on the floor, please _ and put in the toy box A pick up it B pick it up C pick them up Alex was very furious He _ and got out of the room A sat down B came in C stood up Task 3: Matching: Which object does each phrasal verb go with? Phrasal verb Object Take out a party Write down a pen Miss out a name Pick up a number Turn over an English word Make up a page Look up an unreal story Answer key: Exercise 1: Conversation 1: Stand up Comes in Conversation 2: Looked up Writing it down Conversation 3: Take out Turn …over Conversation 4: Sitting down Missed out Pick up Exercise 2: B C C A B C Exercise 3: Take out a name Write down a number Miss out a party Pick up a pen Turn over a page Make up an unreal story Look up an English word 3.2.2 Teaching phrasal verbs using flashcards LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com There are many media in teaching vocabulary; one of them is by using flashcard Flashcard is one of media which can help the teacher to teach phrasal verbs easily Flash cards in teaching the vocabulary are very simple visual aids and the teacher can make the students more active during the teaching learning process Teacher can also motivate students by holding some art competitions among groups in a class Teacher gives the tasks of drawing some Flashcards to demonstrate the meaning of some phrasal verbs These activities keep students more engaged in the lesson and also fun Here are some examples of Flashcards to teach Get out Get in Throw away Hang out Hand in Break up 10 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3.2.3 Teaching phrasal verbs in groups This way seems to be appropriate for logical students The only shortcoming is that it can be boring and quite hard to remember Teacher can design more activities to help students memorize logically For example, teacher can collect those cards and classify them into groups based on verbs or particles: + Group 1: verbs ( get, fall, make,…) + Group 2: particles (off, up, against…) 11 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3.2.4 Teaching phrasal verbs by using movies, cartoons and English songs 3.2.4.1 Using cartoons and movies Teacher collects an appropriate movie or cartoon, and then shows it in the class Teacher asks students to get the meaning of the phrasal verbs appearing in the movie Example: A short cartoon: “The greatest treasure” 12 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com After students watch the cartoon, teacher can elicit some phrasal verbs from it: - Set off : to start a journey - Make it through (idiom): manage sth - Look for: search for, find out - Pull s.o up: raise, lift sb The next task, Teacher asks students to retell the story in the cartoon they have just watched This can help students to improve their speaking skill as well Here is the list of cartoons that can be useful to teach phrasal verbs The greatest treasure The ginger bread man Beauty and the Beast The Frog Prince story Alibaba and the forty thieves The little Mermaid The wolf and the seven kids Cinderella The three little pigs 10 Little Red Riding Hood 3.2.4.2 Using songs Music plays an integral part in our life Most students love listening to English songs  Hence, they are a great way to teach students to learn phrasal verbs in a fun Let take an example of the song “breakaway” (Kelly Clarkson) “Grew up in a small town And when the rain would fall down I'd just stare out my window Dreaming of what could be And if I'd end up happy I would pray Trying hard to reach out But when I tried to speak out Felt like no one could hear me Wanted to belong here But something felt so wrong here So I prayed (I would pray) I could breakaway I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly I'll what it takes 'til I touch the sky And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change And breakaway 13 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Out of the darkness and into the sun But I won't forget all the ones that I love I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change And breakaway” Teacher plays the song, and then elicits some phrasal verbs: “break away/ out of sth/ move on/ reach out/ speak out: Here is the list of cartoons that can be useful to teach phrasal verbs Don’t bring me down Brought up that way- Taylor Swift You go your way, I’ll go mine- Ainslie Wills Carry on (Love is coming to us all)- Crosby Stills and Nash Somewhere only we know- Lily Allen Haven’t met you yet? – Michael Buble Extreme Ways- Moby I get along- The Libertines Get over it- Avril Lavigne 10 The show must go on- Queen 3.2.5 Teaching phrasal verbs using games Not only kids but teenagers like games Choosing games for teaching and learning activities means teachers have to spend time designing tasks However, it brings fabulous effects Students are more excited and motivated in learning lessons As a result, they definitely memorize the language target quickly and deeply Some common useful games for example: BINGO, TIC TAC TOE, CROSS WORD, WHO WANTS TO BECOME A MILLIONAIRE, ROAD TO MOUNT OLYMPIA,… Example 1: Game: MIMING In this game, teacher requires students to use gesture and movement without words Teacher divides the class into groups Each group will select one representative to mime; others guess the actions (phrasal verbs) Unit 1: A day in the life of… Get up Wake up Go off Turn off ( the TV) Turn on (the TV) 14 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Put on (clothes Put off (clothes Eat up Eat out 10 Dress up Unit 2: School talks Sit down Come in Come out Look up (a word) Look for Hand in Cross out Fill in (a form) Run into 10 Rub out 11 Rip up 12 Write down Example 2: Game: CROSS WORD As we all know, crosswords have been used successfully in many different disciplines, showing their versatility and flexibility They are also a useful tool as most people are already familiar with them, which reduces the need to explain directions, saving class time Additionally, these puzzles are often perceived as being a recreational activity, therefore making them more enjoyable and less threatening than traditional teaching techniques Teacher designs a worksheet given some questions or hints… so that students can guess the phrasal verbs and complete the crossword 15 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com B R E A K D O A S K F O R H A N G E A M O F L E T D C L U P D O W N G O O U T W I L I S T E N T O U P A L L O V E R S M I L E A T 10 S H O U T A T G E T U P 12 P A Y F O R 13 H O L D O N 14 R U N O U T A L L B A C K 16 C A T C H 17 W I N K A T F I N D O U T 19 L O O K F O R 20 P I C K U P A F T E R 18 Answer21 key: N F 11 15 R W O O K T H 16 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com The assessment of experimental results of the research In general, data from observation and test results show that the techniques used by the lecturer in teaching phrasal verbs enhance the students’ acquirement of phrasal verbs The problem faced by the students in memorising the language 17 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com target can be solved In term of phrasal verb achievement, the students of class 10A2 and class 10A1 are at different level after the research After a school year, taught with the mentioned techniques, the students 10A2 are more eager in learning phrasal verbs and get a large number of phrasal verbs Especially, they are able to use them naturally in appropriate context, which the other students taught by the method of explaination and recitation as normally cannot master Following is the result of my research on class 10A1 (Not applied the techniques) and 10A2 (applied the techniques) Class 8-10 points 6.5-7.9 points 5-6.5 points Total % Total % Total % 0-5 Average point Points Total % 10A1 (38 students) 2.6 13.2 17 44.8 15 39.4 14.2 14 40 15 42.9 2.9 4.39 10A2 (35 students) 6.62 Statistically speaking, the main information to consider is that the average mark obtained by the experimental students in class 10A2 was 6.62 This reflects that most students were able to master a large number of different phrasal verbs taught by the lecture Only few students were above the average (only one in fact) In contrast, the average mark obtained by the students in class 10A1 is much lower, only was 4.39 This has proved that the techniques used for teaching phrasal verbs take effects on the students’ learning process It can be seen more clearly through the below chart: 18 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 50 45 40 35 30 10A1 Class 25 10A2 Class 20 15 10 _10 6.5-7.9 - 6.5 0- PART III – CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS In this research, I have applied some techniques which help my students memorize phrasal verbs in a motivative and fun way According to the data collected from the written test results, classroom observation and oral tests, I have come to the conclusion that the experimental students in class 10A2 are now more confident in using phrasal verbs in daily context and they are more likely to succeed in answering questions which belong to this part in the GCSE In addition, as I noticed, the classroom atmosphere when the teacher using the techniques was positive, and more students were engaged in classroom activities Furthermore, the students are no longer afraid of memorizing complicated phrasal verbs In fact, they are eager to find out more about this language target from other authentic materials IMPLICATIONS FOR MORE EFFECTIVE Through practical teaching and implementation of this topic, I would like to propose some things as follow: To the school side - Supply students with online and digital material resources - Give English teachers opportunities to take part in training courses, teaching method workshops and education seminars to improve their professional development - Provide financial support to organize extracurricular activities, English – speaking clubs 2.2 To the Department of Education side 19 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com - Organize training courses, teaching method workshops and education seminars for teachers to learn and share career-related experiences 2.3 LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH There may be some possible limitations in this study The first is the small – scale of the research since it focuses on only the way to teach students how to know and use phrasal verbs The second limitation concerns the self-reported data The researcher has conducted a qualitative research study and gathering the data myself, which is limited by the fact that it rarely can be independently verified CONCLUSION With my own experience and the contribution of my colleagues, I have done this rearch to find the most effective and motivative ways to teach phrasal verbs I hope to contribute my ideas to teachers who are finding ways to help students master this part of language In process of implementation, there should certainly be unavoidable shortcomings Therefore, I look forward to receiving valuable comments on my topic to make it better CERTIFIED BY THE HEAD OF THE OFFICE Nhu Xuan, May 10, 2021 I assure that this is my experience innovation and not copy the content of others DO THI PHUONG NGUYEN THI THANH 20 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com REFERENCES Candling, C — D F Murphy (1987) Language learning tasks Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Murphy, J (2003) Task-based learning: the interaction between tasks and learners ELT Journal, 57(4), 352-360 Nunan, D (1989) Designing tasks for the communicative classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (2004) Task-based language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cirocki, A (2003) Teaching Phrasal Verbs my Means of Constructing Texts ELT Newsletter Retrieved 2nd February 2011 from http://www.eltnewsletter.com/column/shtm Tiếng Anh 10, students’ book, Vietnamese Education Publish House Tiếng Anh 10, teacher’s book, Vietnamese Education Publish House Oxford advanced learner's dictionary, Oxford University Press https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/phrasal-verbs https://www.tienganh123.com/phrasal-verbs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iOlM9XdOYo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-3vPxKdj6o https://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/phrasal-verb.html 21 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... Using some techniques for teaching phrasal verbs 3.2.1 Teaching phrasal verbs by topic One of good ways to learn phrasal verbs is to organize them by subjects When teacher group them in topics, students. .. indicates the topic to learn: “Morning activities” Teacher may use some techniques to introduce some phrasal verbs whose meaning is about the same topic Morning activities List of phrasal verbs to. .. writing to teach new phrasal verbs In English 10 text book, I chose some units that can be easily applied useful phrasal verbs to demonstrate how to use this technique to teach them Here are some