Skkn motivating the 12th form students in learning grammar by designing song based activities for language focus lessons

SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM MOTIVATING THE 12TH FORM STUDENTS IN LEARNING GRAMMAR BY DESIGNING SONG-BASED ACTIVITIES FOR LANGUAGE FOCUS LESSONS LĨNH VỰC: TIẾNG ANH skkn SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO NGHỆ AN TRƯỜNG THPT NGHI LỘC - - - - -  - - - - - SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM MOTIVATING THE 12TH FORM STUDENTS IN LEARNING GRAMMAR BY DESIGNING SONG-BASED ACTIVITIES FOR LANGUAGE FOCUS LESSONS LĨNH VỰC: TIẾNG ANH Giáo viên: Nguyễn Thị Hà Ân Tổ chuyên môn: Văn-Tiếng Anh Năm thực hiện: 2020 - 2021 Nghi Lộc, tháng năm 2021 skkn LIST OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Reasons for choosing the study Objective of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study PART B: CONTENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW Grammar 1.1 Definition of grammar 1.2 Teaching and learning grammar 1.3 Types of grammar exercises .4 1.4 Difficulties in teaching grammar and solutions Songs 2.1 Benefits of using songs and music in the classroom 2.2 The choice of songs 2.3 Teaching grammar through songs 2.4 Steps of designing song - based activities to practise grammar in the language focus lessons CHAPTER PRACTICAL REVIEW An overview of Nghi Loc High School Current situation of teaching and learning grammar at school CHAPTER SUGGESTED SONG - BASED ACTIVITIES TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS IN LEARNING GRAMMAR 10 Gap – filling 10 Transformation .13 Multiple choices .16 Matching 19 Sentence combination .23 Error correction .25 Word combination 27 skkn Prompt 29 CHAPTER SAMPLE LESSON PLAN IN A REAL LANGUAGE FOCUS LESSON Unit 5: Higher education – Lesson E: Language focus (English 12) 32 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 37 1.Research methodolgy 37 Participants .37 Data collecting procedures .37 3.1 Questionnaire 37 3.2 Data analysis 37 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 38 The analysis of questionnaire 38 Discussion 40 CHAPTER RESULTS GAINED AFTER APPLYING THE RESEARCH IN TEACHING GRAMMAR .41 PART C: CONCLUSION .42 Conclusion 42 Suggestions .42 2.1 The students .42 2.2 The teachers .43 2.3 The next researchers 43 REFERENCES 44 APPENDIX 45 skkn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an C.vT.Bg.Jy.Lj.Tai lieu Luan vT.Bg.Jy.Lj van Luan an.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an LIST OF TABLE Table 1: I often listen to English song .38 Table 2: I read or search for the lyrics during listening to the song .38 Table 3: Learning activity using English song lyric can help to increase my 39 Table 4: In your opinion, how easy to identify grammar in song lyrics? 39 Table 5: How did you recognize the grammar pattern on the song lyrics given? 39 Table 6: Learning grammar pattern through song lyrics is interesting .40 Table 7: What you think if the English teacher/lecturer teach grammar pattern taken from the song lyrics? 40 Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj.dtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn skkn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an C.vT.Bg.Jy.Lj.Tai lieu Luan vT.Bg.Jy.Lj van Luan an.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an PART A: INTRODUCTION Reasons for choosing the study In today’s global world, the importance of English cannot be denied since English is the greatest common language spoken universally It is the language of science, aviation, computers, diplomacy and tourism Knowing English increases the changes of getting a good job in a multinational company within our home country or for finding work abroad It’s also the language of international communication, the medial and the internet Learning English is useful for socialising and entertainment as well as work That is reason why English has been learnt and put under a lot of pressure for learners In Vietnam, English is taught as a foreign language and as compulsory subject in the national curriculum Grammar plays a significant role in language teaching Grammar rules make the learners sharpen their intelligence to produce the sentences with specific content and context The learners will be able to think consciously whether the utterances used are appropriate or not so that they can gain more educated communication However, teaching grammar in foreign language classroom always gets some problems since the language teachers and lecturers not use the effective ways Grammar taught extensively and monotonously that focuses on a great numbers of rules by lecturing methods cause boredom among the learnersand trap them into constraint and stress felling so that grammar become the frightening English subject The teachers should be more creative and innovative to make the learners aware and enjoy studying grammar The teacher can utilize many educational tools or instructional tools to enhance grammar competence by avoiding stress and pressure in learning grammar One of the instructional tools that can be used is song because it can help the students without any strain or constraint in learning process Song is one of the excellent tools to give a positive learning environment to the students that can force them to extend their language creativity because songs make them maintain their stable emotion in learning This condition can stimulate the students’desire and motivation to develop their grammar ability for the better accomplishment Songs can influence the class environment especially in grammar class because it provides the easiness in studying and they enjoy learning and practicing some language structures At my school, NghiLoc High School, many students find it difficult to learn grammar That is why I choose the topic “Motivating the 12th formstudents in learning grammar by designing song based activities for languagefocus lessons” to help the students feel relax so that the negative attitude in studying grammar can be avoided Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj.dtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn skkn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an C.vT.Bg.Jy.Lj.Tai lieu Luan vT.Bg.Jy.Lj van Luan an.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an Objective of the study Utilizing song based activities in language focus lessons to enhance grammar competence by avoiding stress and pressure in learning grammar Significance of the study Using English songs enables to help the learners to increase their interest, motivation and build the harmonious classroom atmosphere in learning English as the foreign language Song is an effective instructional tool to give the learners good energy and motivation in learning grammar It is not such a difficult subject to teach and to learn as long as the teachers or lecturers know how to teach it and the students can feel safe to get it in their English classroom In the grammar teaching, the teachers can try a wide range of songs that contain the appropriate lyrics to perform the language pattern or structure that are going to be taught Scope of the study Focusing on the effectiveness of using song - based activities to motivate the 12 form students in learning grammar at NghiLoc High School th Methods of the study - Study of theories - Observation of real situation - Analysis and evaluation Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj.dtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn skkn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an C.vT.Bg.Jy.Lj.Tai lieu Luan vT.Bg.Jy.Lj van Luan an.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an PART B: CONTENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW Grammar 1.1 Definition of grammar Grammar plays an important role in language learning process The role of grammar cannot be separated in language skills either speaking or writing Every language skill needs grammar to make the sentences of the language becomes structural Linguists define the grammar slightly differently but finally they come to the same conclusion Grammar usually refers to studying about sentence structure According to Brown (2007), grammar is “the system of rules governing the conventional arrangement and relationship of words in a sentence” Technically, grammar refers to sentence-level rules only and not to rules governing the relationship among sentences, which we commonly refer to as discourse While Chomsky (1959) argues that a grammar can be regarded as a device that enumerates the sentences of a language Ur (2007) states that Grammar may be roughly defined as “the way language manipulates and combines words (or bits of words) in order to form longer units of meaning” It means that grammar is study of how to combine words in a sentence to make the sentence meaningful According to Richards and Schmidt (2010) grammar is a description of the structure of a language and how language units such as words and phrases are formed into sentences Meanwhile, Larsen-Freeman (2009) states that the definition of grammar when associates with language learning has some meanings They are: - A set of prescription and proscription about language forms and their use for a particular language - Description of language behavior by proficient users of a language - A work that treats a major structures of a language - Structures and rules that are compiled for instructional and assessment purposes - Structures and rules that are compiled for instructional purposes of the teacher Based on those experts’ statements about the definition of grammar above, definition of grammar can be drawn as the elements of a language and the rules of how to arrange these elements into a meaningful unit From many definitions that have been mentioned, the closest definition about grammar which is related to this research is stated by Richards and Schmidt (2010) “grammar is the rule of language that makes the unit of words become sentences” Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj.dtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn skkn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an C.vT.Bg.Jy.Lj.Tai lieu Luan vT.Bg.Jy.Lj van Luan an.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an 1.2 Teaching and learning grammar Grammar is not a new term for language learners In the country which English is learned as second or foreign language, grammar, as the aspect of English, has been so familiar for the learners Many studies on grammar teaching have been done to reveal the effectiveness in teaching grammar and how to increase students’ interest and understanding on grammar and also the approaches used in teaching grammar According to the study of language learning which includes a focus on learning grammar (form-focused instruction), grammar teaching convincingly shows more effective results than teaching focusing only on the meaning Learning focuses on grammar, according to Long can be divided in two The first FOFs (focus on forms) and FOF (focus on form) The first model of learning focused on studying grammar In this model, the grammar is taught separately from the context The second model of learning is focused on the meaning and on the grammar that appears on the material being studied 1.3 Types of grammar exercises 1.3.1 Gap-fill The easiest and most common way to exploit grammar with the help of songs is to design gap-fill exercises A gap-fill exercise is an exercise in which words are removed from a text and replaced with spaces The learner has to fill each space with the missing word or a suitable word In order to focus the activity on a particular area of grammatical structures, parts of the lyrics can be eliminated The lyrics of the song can be edited and the blanks can be added for making a cloze exercise for the learners to complete Doing the cloze the student is required to supply elements that have been deleted from a text One possibility is to blank the verbs and ask the students to listen to the song and fill in the blanks The other way is to ask the students to complete the blanks before listening with giving the base form of the verbs in the brackets 1.3.2 Prompts Learners are asked to create complete sentences from given prompt words Different grammar structures, prepositional phrases are supposed to be kept in mind 1.3.3 Multiple choices In a multiple choice test or question, one has to choose the answer that one thinks is right from several possible answers that are listed on the question paper As the variety of tense forms and grammar structures in songs is vast, the exercises can be designed on different tenses - single or mixed types, the use of infinitives after modal verbs to name just few options 1.3.4 Matching Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj.dtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn skkn C.33.44.55.54.78.65.5.43.22.2.4 22.Tai lieu Luan 66.55.77.99 van Luan an.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.33.44.55.54.78.655.43.22.2.4.55.22 Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an C.vT.Bg.Jy.Lj.Tai lieu Luan vT.Bg.Jy.Lj van Luan an.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an.Tai lieu Luan van Luan an Do an Learners are asked to match two halves of a sentence correctly Connectors and conjunctions can be left out to make exercise more challenging 1.3.5 Sentence combination Learners are asked to combine two sentences, using certain structure.The teacher can use this type of exercise to help learners practise many grammar structures 1.3.6 Transformation Learners are given a synonymous sentence in a song and asked to transform the sentence using a specific word, which produces the lyrics of the song Changes of person, time and tenses from reported to direct speech can be practiced with such kind of exercises 1.3.7 Error correction In order to highlight a particular grammatical form, learners are given certain changed grammatical forms that they are supposed to correct 1.3.8 Word combination The teacher can use this type of exercise to have learners combine verbs and prepositions to make phrasal verbs 1.4 Difficulties in teaching grammar and solutions Grammar is a main component of any language in the world Without grammar, we can't understand, for example, the time of action whether it happened in the past or in the present We can say that grammar is abstract in the mind and it becomes concrete in the use Teaching grammar is serious and has a lot of challenges that teachers face One of the problems generally faced by most of the teachers of English is the poor standard of the students Students are even ignorant of the basic rules and structural patterns which they are supposed to have learnt at the lower level If a teacher directly starts his teaching at the graduate level without trying to know the level of the students, his efforts will not bear any fruits as he will not be able to raise a structure over a feeble foundation The teacher should begin from the simple grammatical items and proceed towards the complex ones Each succeeding grammatical item has to be based on the previous ones taught earlier in the class Thus, by carefully selecting the frequently recurring grammatical items and by grading them as per the background of the learners, the teacher should provide constant practice to the students in creating and using sentences based on the grammatical forms and structures in various day-today situations of their lives Another problem is that students find the grammatical lesson so difficult and boring The teachers should be more creative and innovative to find out the best way to make the learners aware and enjoy studying grammar.The teacher can Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd.vT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.LjvT.Bg.Jy.Lj.dtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhd 77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.77.99.44.45.67.22.55.77.C.37.99.44.45.67.22.55.77t@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn.Stt.010.Mssv.BKD002ac.email.ninhddtt@edu.gmail.com.vn.bkc19134.hmu.edu.vn skkn