Maximising the teaching of listening and speaking skills in large sized classes

Microsoft Word 24 Pham Thi Hong Nhung doc Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN 978 604 82 2981 8 613 MAXIMISING THE TEACHING OF LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS IN LARGE SIZED CLASSES Ph[.]

Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8 MAXIMISING THE TEACHING OF LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS IN LARGE-SIZED CLASSES Pham Thi Hong Nhung Thuyloi University, email: nhungpth@tlu.edu.vn LARGE-SIZED CLASSES INTRODUCTION In a foreign language class, it is probably acknowledged that classes should be small enough for learners to acquire knowledge more easily and for teachers to organize teaching and learning activities effectively in accordance with the level of the learners Accordingly, students mightfeel more excited during the class Although small-sized classesbring significant benefit to the process of teaching English, large-sized classes are still popular at most universities in Vietnam, especially non-specialized, which has been an unavoidable difficulty for language teachers To the best knowledge of the researcher, this situation has still existed due to a number of underlying reasons As a lecturer of English, the researcher personally thinks the difficulties can be shared with the university by finding ways to overcome the difficulties of teaching large sized classes to help students feel more engaged in class This secondary research has been conducted to better understand how a largesized class is, the difficulties faced by English lecturers when teaching large classes, from which the researcher also suggests some activities to carry out listening and speaking skills in large-sized classes effectively and efficiently The steps in organizing those activities will also be clearly described so that these activities are easily applied by language teachers 2.1 Definition of large-sized classes “Large” is a word with neutral meaning; as a result, to define what large-sized classes is not an easy task In some countries, 25 - 30 students per one teacher is considered large, while in other countries this is seen to be normal or even quite small (UNESCO Bangkok 2006, p 1) Shamim F et al state in 2007 that a large class can vary from 22 in US elementary schools to up to 150 in an African classroom A class which is thought to be large or too large depends to a great extent upon the individual teacher’s perception and experiences (Locastro, 2001) Coleman (1989) concluded that “teachers share no universal conception of the size of the ideal, large and small classes” (p.35) Therefore, the researcher concludes that a large-sized class is considered large when the teacher feels the class is too large to teach 2.2 Teachers’ perception of the difficulties Shamim F et al assertthat this part presents the difficultiesin teaching English in large-sized classes which were identified by the Hornby School course participants 2.2.1 Insufficient student involvement/ learning 613  Inability to use a student-centered approach  Limited opportunity for learners to express themselves in English Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8  Difficulty in ensuring everybody’s participation in activities  Distractions in group activities taking responsibility for everything that happens inside (and outside) a language learning class 2.2.2 Large classes management 2.3.2 Specific principles      Discomfort: Let students organize their own learning by asking them to work in pairsor groups This will allow the students to take more responsibility for their learning  Control: Do not try to monitor everything; share ‘control’ of learning by giving some responsibilities to the learners  Evaluation: Do not feel stressed about evaluating everything that the learners produce This principle suggests deciding either to give more responsibility to learners by asking them to evaluate some of their own or peer’s work or deciding that not everything which is produced actually needs to be evaluated  Individual attention: Use activities that allow for increased opportunities for individual interaction between teachers and learners  Learning: Organize activities so that emphasis is placed on promoting learning by learners rather than on teaching by teachers Class management Class control Issues of discipline and noise Managing group work 2.2.3 Learning assessment and feedback provision  Evaluating the work of students? Continuous assessment  Inability to identify problems of learners  Inability to know the progress learners make  Inability to assess students individually  Inability to provide a remedy based on the feedback from the assessment 2.2.4 Limited resources for teaching  Lack of adequate materials to be distributed to each student 2.3 Teaching principles Based on the summary of the difficulties encountered by English lecturers, Shamim F et al (2007) suggestedsome teaching principles in large-sized classes Two general and five specific principles for rethinking teaching and learning in large classes has been summarized in the following part 2.3.1 General principles  Be realistic: There are some things that are either very difficult or simply impossible to in large classes Similarly, there are other things that can be done well in large classes Instead of feeling guilty about what cannot be done, explore and focus on what can be done well in large classes  Give more responsibility to the learners: Consider sharing responsibility for learning with the learners instead of SUGGESTED LISTENING AND SPEAKING ACTIVITIES IN LARGESIZED CLASSES In this last part, the researcher would like to introduce two useful listening and speaking activities in large-sized classes 3.1 Activity 1: English speakers as a teaching and learning resource 614 Aims:  To let students learn from others’ experiences  To get students into the habit of interacting with English speakers  To improve students’ skills in asking questions Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8 Level: All Language Focus: Listening and speaking skills Procedure: Before the session Select an English speaking guest and tell them what you would like them to when they visit the class Explain the aims of the visit Fix the time of visit with the guest and inform the students in advance Ask each student to prepare some questions to ask the guest During the session Introduce the guest to the class Explain clearly the aims of the guest’s visit and the structure of the session When the students are ready, invite the guest to introduce himself/ herself When the guest has finished, thank him/ her and invite students to ask questions After the question and answer section, thank the guest once again After the guest has left, initiate a discussion to find out from the students what they learned from the guest’s visit 3.2 Activity 2: Peer interview Aims:  To encourage students to interact with one another (especially at the beginning of the semester/ term)  To help them practice asking questions  To get students into the habit of interacting in pairs or groups  To help students develop confidence in getting and giving information Level: All Language Focus: Listening and speaking skills Procedure: Explain clearly the aims of the activity and the overall procedure Ask the students to think about what they want to know about their classmates Show them examples of questions for interview e.g What…? When ? Where…? Do you …? Etc Ask two volunteer students to come to the front of the class and role play the interview Discuss the language items to be used Ask students to work in pairs CONCLUSION The researcher believes difficulties of teaching large-sized classes might be solved to some extent with the use of two general and five specific principles in the process of teaching REFERENCES [1] Coleman, H.(1989).The study of large classes (Project Report No 2) Leeds: Lancaster - Leeds language learning in large classes research project [2] Locastro, V (2001).Teaching English to Large Classes.TESOL Quarterly, 35 (3) [3] Shamim F., Negash N., Chiku C & Demewoz N (2007) Maximizing learning in large classes: Issues and options British Council, ELT-16, 12 [4] UNESCO Bangkok (2006) Practical Tips for Teaching Large Classes: A Teacher’s Guide Bangkok 615 ... Focus: Listening and speaking skills Procedure: Before the session Select an English speaking guest and tell them what you would like them to when they visit the class Explain the aims of the visit... specific principles for rethinking teaching and learning in large classes has been summarized in the following part 2.3.1 General principles  Be realistic: There are some things that are either very... of interacting in pairs or groups  To help students develop confidence in getting and giving information Level: All Language Focus: Listening and speaking skills Procedure: Explain clearly the