(Skkn 2023) methods and techniques to create an english learning environment for efl high school students

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reason for choosing the topic 1.2 New points on the topic 1.3 Scope of the research 1.3.1 Scope of the research 1.3.2 Objects and subjects of the research 1.4 Research purposes 1.5 Research mission 1.6 Methods of the research PART 2: CONTENT 2.1 The actual situation of studying English at Thai Hoa High School 2.2 Theoretical basis 2.2.1 Overview of the high school English program 2.3 Some concepts 2.3.1 English learning environment 2.3.2 ESL high school students 2.4 Practical basis 2.5 The situation of the research problem 2.5.1 Advantages 2.5.2 Difficulty 2.6 Create a communication environment for students outside of the course 2.6.1 extracurricular activities 2.6.2.Create English space in the classroom to develop communication capacity for high school students 2.7 Activities to create English environment at Thai Hoa high school 2.7.1 Class mag 2.7 A day as a journalist 2.7.3 Vocabulary desk labels 14 2.7.4 Poster design 2.8 Work spirit PART III: RESULTS 18 21 26 27 PART IV: INVESTIGATE THE NECESSITY AND FEASIBILITY 29 OF THE PROJECT 4.1 Purpose of the survey 29 4.2 Survey content and methods 29 4.2.1 Survey content 29 4.2.2 Survey and evaluation methods 29 4.3 Subjects of the survey 29 The results of the survey on the necessity and feasibility of the 29 topic 4.1 The necessity 30 4.2 The feasibility 31 PART V: CONCLUSION 32 5.1 Lessons learned 32 5.2 Recommendations 32 5.2.1 For the Department of Education and Training 32 5.2.2 For the school 32 5.2.3 For the expert team 32 REFERRENCE 34 APPENDIX 35 COMMITMENT BEING AN AUTHOR OF INITIATIVE Name of the initiative: " Methods and techniques to create an English learning environment for EFL high school students" Commitment to be the author of the initiative I hereby commit that all content in my teaching innovation is researching, creating, and accumulating experience in my teaching process, not copying or infringing copyright If wrong, I will take full responsibility PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reason for choosing the topic In the current globalization context, the use of English - the international language - in communication is essential, especially for students, and the future owners of the country In fact, learning and communicating in English for Vietnamese students in general, and students in remote and mountainous areas, in particular, is a difficult task There are many reasons for this situation, but the core one is that students are still lazy and not self-disciplined in learning foreign languages They are not aware of the importance of English and are not motivated enough to learn Besides, another fact is that students not have a communication environment as well as the opportunity to practice the language regularly, so it isn't easy to reach the level of proficiency In light of the reality during my teaching process, I am always looking for new, creative, and attractive teaching methods suitable for students to inspire them to learn English The most important thing is to create an English environment for students to practice their language and apply it in real-life situations With the desire to help students have the opportunity to practice the language as much as possible, I have created an English space outside the regular class hours where students "bathe" in the language so that English will become a part of their daily lives The building of a positive learning environment outside of the regular classroom hours for students to use English in real-life situations is really attracting the attention of educational administrators, teachers, students, and the whole community As regards myself, during the teaching process, I find that participating in these project-based learning activities not only helps students develop language competence but also develops the common competencies that the general education curriculum requires These are self-control, self-study, communication and cooperation capability, problem-solving ability, and creativity in the process of teamwork As a result of this, I chose the topic "Methods and techniques to create an English learning environment for EFL high school students" for my innovation experience 1.2 New points on the topic People say that English is taught in the wrong way in Vietnam Students may study English for 12 years but can not produce a sentence when necessary If learning English takes place only during the official classroom hours, students only learn the knowledge in textbooks, there is not much time to practice the language, so the foreign communication space is limited, and students not have the chance to apply the knowledge they have learned in real life, then they find learning a foreign language extremely boring and ineffective, especially the communication ability, will be very poor The establishment of many activities to inspire interest in English in schools has existed for a long time, so students can join and promote their talents and passions But how to make students work effectively and attract a large number of members to participate in these activities, which are really an environment for students to develop their abilities and skills, is really a problem It is necessary to have new, creative solutions to develop and improve the activities in high school The solutions to create an English learning environment at Thai Hoa High School have focused on important factors that determine the effectiveness of the activities that promote students' speaking abilities: management, organization, content development, and regularity of activities This method includes: - Various organized learning activities not cause boredom - These activities are alternately and regularly conducted to maintain students' interest in learning English - Students have the opportunity to discuss the topics they work on both offline and online - Students are extremely excited when they are not confined or limited in their own products because they have the opportunity to explore and be creative - Their products are exhibited in the classroom and on the fan page created by the teacher - Students have the opportunity to maximize their strengths - The children not only develop their language ability, especially the ability to communicate in English, but they also have the opportunity to comprehensively develop other qualities and competencies - Student performance results can be used to assess regular grades or to add incentive points to students' grades in midterm or final exams With the above advantages of the solution, students' English learning in the classes I have taken has made great progress in their English communication ability, resulting in markedly improved quality They become extremely confident and are no longer afraid to use English 1.3 Scope of the research 1.3.1 Scope of the research Regarding research content: research on learning activities, appropriate content, and knowledge range to create a realistic English communication environment will help students increase time to contact and exchange knowledge with each other to develop competence and quality, according to the objectives set out by the new general program for English Regarding space: The subject is covered at the high school where I teach About time: The topic has been studied from September 2022 to April, 2023 1.3.2 Objects and subjects of the research Subjects of research: Activities to create an English learning environment in the classroom space will increase the opportunity to interact and use English in real-life situations, creating interest in learning English among students How to conduct activities and how to evaluate students' performance in activities Objects of research: high school students 1.4 Research purposes With the purpose of helping students interact and experience more with English, create a foreign language practice environment built on criteria to ensure that learning and using English can take place at any time, anywhere, and suitable for Vietnamese culture, customs, and habits, making it easier for teachers and students to implement to develop communicative competence With simple activities and the simplest space - the classroom- students have the opportunity to experience, use foreign languages in real situations, and actively support the regular class time With different areas of knowledge, 12th graders can apply to solve the National High School exam very effectively In particular, according to the theory of multiple intelligences (Theory of Multiple Intelligences), each student has a different type of intelligence, with different strengths such as linguistic intelligence, mathematical logic intelligence, intelligence spatial image, musical intelligence, physical intelligence, personal interaction intelligence, inner intelligence, natural intelligence So when the children participate in other activities Each other, working on different projects, students have the opportunity to show their strengths, helping teachers assess students' abilities more accurately and fairly In addition, I personally want to share this teaching experience with my colleagues so that I can make appropriate adjustments in the teaching process to bring the highest efficiency 1.5 Research mission In order to achieve the purpose of the study, the following tasks need to be performed: - Research the requirements in the new high school program for English subjects - Learn and research the focus of knowledge and teaching topics in high school English - Research and design activities outside of regular school hours in an attractive and interesting way for students to have an environment to use English - Read documents related to the method of creating English space in the classroom, discuss with colleagues - Check and evaluate the results of students' acquisition of knowledge so that there can be reasonable additional adjustments 1.6 Methods of the research The research methods used in the study are: Method of observation: I conduct research, collect, process, analyze, select, and organize documents related to the topic Method of exchange and discussion: From the moment I formed the idea, I and my colleagues conducted an exchange and discussion to draw up effective implementation plans Experimental Method: I have carried out plans to create space and create an English environment for students in two experimental classes and two control classes outside of the regular classes Method of investigation: I have examined and evaluated the results of the process of participating in activities in the English space Method of collecting information: I have made questionnaires for students to comment on and evaluate their satisfaction with the activities so that appropriate adjustments can be made PART 2: CONTENT 2.1 The actual situation of studying English at Thai Hoa High School Thai Hoa High School is a school with a long history It was established in 1962, and up to now it has been 60 years of operation Last November 2022, teachers and students of Thai Hoa School celebrated the 60 th anniversary of the establishment of the school Many generations of students have studied and grown up here It is the most prestigious school in Thai Hoa town Most parents want their children to study here Previously, there were two foreign languages taught at school, English and French But according to the general trend of society, today only English is included in the curriculum Students here have a foreign language proficiency that is not as good as students in the big city but is superior to neighboring schools in the town Along with the efforts of the teachers, students here can learn foreign languages creatively Teachers have guided and oriented students to experience many activities to create excitement and encourage students to learn passionately and actively Teachers focus on developing students' skills, especially speaking skills, through creating and editing lessons To evaluate students’ knowledge before applying the program, with the help of teachers in the English group, I conducted a survey test at both control and experimental classes (Appendix 08,09,12) Along with the information via survey questionnaires and information gained through some small talks, observations were added to these main parts to assist the results And the results are as follows: Class N Good Rather good medium weak Q P Q P Q P Q P 11C 45 13 33,33% 18 40% 10 22,22% 8,88 % 10H 43 6,97% 10 23,25% 23 53,44% 16,270% 11A 48 16 33,33% 20 41,66% 12 25% 0% 10I 37 10,8% 10 27,08% 20 54,05% 8,1% Table 1: Results of the English quality survey of students at the beginning of the school year 2022 - 2023 (173 members) Through the above table, we see that on average, the number of students with good capacity account for a low percentage (from % to 16 %) A quite large number of students study rather well (from 23% to 41,66%) Weak and medium students also make up a very high rate (from 7% to 53%) 2.2 Theoretical basis 2.2.1 Overview of the high school English program English is one of the instrumental subjects in high school, it not only helps students to form and develop their ability to communicate in English but also contributes to the formation and development of common competencies, to live and work more effectively, to well in other subjects as well as for lifelong learning The subject of English provides students with an important international communication tool, helping them to exchange information, advance scientific and technical knowledge, and learn about cultures, thereby contributing to building an understanding between peoples, forming a sense of global citizenship, contributing to the development of personal qualities and capacities Through learning English and learning about different cultures, students can better understand and love their own language and culture The basic objective of the General Education Program in English is to help students form and develop their communication skills through training in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and language knowledge (phonics and phonology), vocabulary, and grammar) Communication skills and language literacy are built on the basis of specific communicative competence units, in themes and topics relevant to the needs and abilities of high school students to help them meet the requirements specified in the 6-level Foreign Language Competency Framework for Vietnam (issued according to the Circular No 01/2014/TT-BGDĐT dated January 24, 2014, of the Minister of Education and Training), students who finish high school achieve level The general education program in English ensures flexibility, flexibility, and openness to meet the needs and suit the diverse conditions of English teaching in localities with the following topics: Our lives, Our Society, Our Environment, and Our Future Referring to speaking skills, author Ying Ying Chang (2009) assessed: Speaking is one of the four important skills when learning English At the same time, she pointed out that the best way to practice Speaking is to practice communication, which will bring positive effects to students From there, it shows that the communication practice environment plays an important role in students' learning activities First, studying in a positive language practice environment will help students communicate confidently and maintain a focused attitude Creating a positive English practice environment will help students be confident and active in practicing and using foreign languages fluently This is a very important issue because it is a premise for improving the quality of foreign language teaching and learning The ideal language practice environment will help students develop all-around skills, especially speaking skills Having good speaking skills will help students gain confidence to learn the remaining skills effectively Makarenco– the famous Russian pedagogist of the early twentieth century, also said: “I insist that educational issues, educational methods can not be limited to teaching problems, for the educational process not only takes place only in the classroom, but rather per square meter” In "Letter to the National Conference of Children's Officers", Uncle Ho asked: "While studying, it is necessary to make the children happy, while having fun, it is also necessary to make the children study In the school, in the society, the children are happy, they all learn.” 2.3 Some concepts 2.3.1 English learning environment The English learning environment is a place where teachers and students use English as much as possible to communicate in an optimal learning environment At the same time, students learn actively and effectively More than that, teachers and students apply practices to dealing with communication situations Especially optimizing the use value of the classroom 2.3.2 ESL high school students ESL stands for English as a Second Language This refers to students who have non-native English as their primary language 2.4 Practical basis According to the current program distribution, English is taught three periods per week, which is too little for foreign language learning To learn a foreign language in general and English in particular, learners need to practice English every day, and there must be an environment where learners have the opportunity to use the language So, with a duration of three regular periods per week without an environment for students to study daily, the effectiveness of foreign language learning will be very low Most students not have the selfdiscipline to study, but they only perform the learning tasks as required by the teacher Although with the effective help of materials from different sources from the Internet, most of them not know how to take advantage of it and have not yet promoted the spirit of self-study With such reality, in the process of teaching, I myself always wonder how to create an English environment so that students have the opportunity to contact English anytime, anywhere, so that they can "bath" in the language, being able to use the foreign language in real situations, not just the knowledge in the main lessons in the textbook So in addition to school extracurricular activities, websites and fan pages to exchange learning with students, I personally find the classroom a great space to help students contact and use English every day This idea is presented in detail in the experience initiative “ Methods and techniques to create an English learning environment for EFL high school students" 2.5 The situation of the research problem 2.5.1 Advantages Today, with the development of technology and the advent of the Internet, we can create many spaces for communication and exchange about learning foreign languages in general and English in particular Students only need a smartphone or a computer with an internet connection to be able to participate in online forums and classes When students project learning activities, students easily find information, form ideas, and create perfect products with the help of technology Along with that, students can easily look up vocabulary, word usage, and standard pronunciation of English words with standard dictionaries such as "The Oxford learner's dictionary", and "And Cambridge English Dictionary" online, so they don't have to worry about vocabulary pronunciation Besides, Technology help students become very agile and grasp timely information, background knowledge in different fields is constantly being added, and along with that, they have the opportunity to discover and develop their potential All these help them to coordinate very smoothly and effectively in group work REFERENCE Hoàng Văn Vân (2022) Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 10 Global success, NXB giáo dục Việt Nam Hoàng Văn Vân (2006) Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 11 bản, NXB giáo dục Việt Nam Phan Xuân Thành (2020) Sổ tay hướng dẫn xây dựng, phát triển môi trường học sử dụng ngoại trường phổ thông, NXB Giáo Dục Việt Nam https://www.learnalberta.ca/content/eslapb/about_communicative_competen ce.html https://egov.hufi.edu.vn/phuong-phap-day-hoc/project-based-learningphuong-phap-hoc-tap-cua-the-ky-21-182.html https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/a-class-magazine 35 APPENDIX APPENDIX 01: ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES “CLASS MAG” SCORE SHEET FOR “CLASS MAG” Category Points possible The “class mag” is entirely presented in 10 English The “class mag” has at least different 10 sections Each section has at least items The “class mag” is decorated beautifully and creatively The “class mag” shows the group’s unique identity The material of the “class mag” is available, environmentally friendly There are no mistakes or a few small ones in vocabulary, grammar The presentation on the “class mag” in English is fluent, coherent TOTAL Points earned 10 10 20 10 20 10 100 APPENDIX 02: FEEDBACK ON “ CLASS MAG” 36 APPENDIX 03: FEEDBACK ON “VOCABULARY DESK LABELS” APPENDIX 04: SCORE SHEET FOR “ A DAY AS A JOURNALIST” SCORE SHEET FOR “ A DAY AS A JOURNALIST” Category Criteria 1.The clip is informative, authentic and relevant to the given topic The content 2.The content of the clip is meaningful with a of the video profound message clip 3.The clip conveys the massage to viewers and inspire them with it 1.The clip is outstanding with impressive images and clear sound The 2.The report is easy to follow with clearn layout presentation (the introduction, the body and the conclusion) of the video 3.English used in the clip is clear, accurate and clip understandable 4.It is a creative clip Points Points possible earned 10 10 10 10 20 10 10 37 5.The images used in the clip are relevant to the content of the report 10 The length The video clip is not too short or long with of the video maximum time- 10 minutes clip 10 APPENDIX 05: FEEDBACK ON “A DAY AS A JOURNALIST” APPENDIX 06: SCORE SHEET FOR “POSTER DESIGN” SCORE SHEET FOR “POSTER DESIGN” Points possible Category Layout and decorations Variety of information 15 Presentation 40 Creativity 15 Answering audience’s questions 15 TOTAL 100 Points earned 15 38 APPENDIX 07: FEEDBACK ON “POSTER DESIGN” Thank you very much! APPENDIX FOR PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST APPENDIX 08- PRE TEST 39 APPENDIX 09- PRE TEST FOR SPEAKING 40 APPENDIX 10- POST TEST APPENDIX 11- POST TEST FOR SPEAKING 41 APPENDIX 12- PRE TEST FOR GRADE 10 APPENDIX 13- POST TEST FOR GRADE 10 42 SOME PICTURES OF STUDENTS’ PRODUCTS APPENDIX 14- PICTURES FOR CLASS MAG 43 44 45 46 47 APPENDIX 15- PICTURES FOR POSTERS 48 49