Integrating some cultural knowledge of america, england and vietnam to attract 12th graders in post reading activity

TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study Methods of study Research questions Scope of the study Significance of the study PART B: MAIN CONTENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Post-Reading Activity in English Reading lesson 1.1.1 Role of Post-Reading Activity in English Reading lesson 1.1.2 Types of Post-reading Activities 1.1.3 Problems with Post-reading activity in class and Solutions 1.2 The cultural knowledge relating to the topic of units 1.2.1 Some cultural knowledge relating to topic of reading lessons 1.2.2 Benefits of using these cultural knowledge to improve postreading activity 1.2.3 Some forms of practising English activities in class: CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.1 Research Questions 2.2 Data collection 2.2.1 Objects 2.2.2 Data Collection Procedure 2.3 Research Procedure 2.4 Results and Discussion 2.4.1 Results 2.4.2 Discussion CHAPTER 3: INTEGRATING SOME CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE OF AMERICA, ENGLAND AND VIETNAM IN POST-READING ACTIVITY 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 6 6 7 11 3.1 Cultural Knowledge of America, England and Vietnam relating the lessons in the text book English 12 11 3.1.1 Home Life 3.1.2 Marriage 11 11 3.1.3 Education: 3.1.4 Ways of Socialising 3.1.5 Job Interview 3.2 Application of Cultural Knowledge of America, England and Vietnam in teaching and learning 3.2.1 Unit 1: Home Life 3.2.2 Unit Cultural Diversity 3.2.3 Unit 3: Ways of Socialising 3.2.4 Unit 4: School Education System 3.2.5 Unit 6: Future Jobs 3.3 Comparison the results before and after applying the study 3.3.1 Before applying the study 3.3.2 After applying the study 3.4 Some pictures of Post-reading activities in class 3.4.1 Unit 1: Home life 3.4.2 Unit 2: Cultural Diversity 3.4.3 Unit 3: Ways Of Socialising 3.4.4 Unit 4: School Education System 3.4.5 Unit 5: Future Jobs CHAPTER 4: EVALUATION AND DISCUSSION 4.1.The Analysis of Observation 4.2 Discussion PART C: CONCLUSION Recapitulation Suggestions for further Studies 2.1 For teachers 2.2 For students and parents 2.3 For schools and management agencies REFERENCES A Books B Websites APPENDIX Questions of the survey on the students Questions of the survey on the teachers Questions of the online quiz game More pictures of post-reading activities in classes 12 13 13 14 14 16 17 18 19 21 21 21 22 22 23 24 25 25 27 27 29 30 30 30 30 30 31 32 32 32 33 33 34 35 36 PART A : INTRODUCTION Rationale: It cannot be denied that English has nowadays become a common means of communication of human beings all over the world It is the official language in 67 countries and is spoken as a first language by around 400 million people worldwide And in Viet Nam, English is included in the national curriculum as a compulsory subject both in schools and universities Especially, there has been a trend recently that more and more Vietnamese students have chosen to study or work oversea in the hope of a brighter future They believe that it will give them an open door to the world and help them not only communicate with global citizens but also offer them an opportunity to work in large corporations Hence, learning English is particularly significant and that is the reason why most of Vietnamese students are making their great effort to master the language However, it is the fact that many of them can understand English grammar very well, and even score high marks in examinations, but their communicative skills are very poor and they are often not confident enough to strike up a conversation For instance, their conversations are usually initiated by asking the opposite personal questions, such as “How old are you?’, “How many people are there in your family?”, or “Did you get married?”, which can easily make Western visitors annoyed and not eager to continue conversing any more It can be seen from this example that the process of learning a foreign language not only requires an individual to practice linguistic forms but also necessitates to become familiar with the culture of target language In addition, if culture is integrated with the study of language, learners may derive long-term benefits from their language learning experience Thus, culture learning can create motivation for language learning Moreover, learners who gain certain cultural knowledge can come to be more well-informed and develop more positive attitudes towards other cultures They not only acquire the knowledge of other cultures, but also increase their understanding of their own culture Therefore, culture needs to be applied into the teaching of language and skills so that learners can get to know how to speak and write in culturally appropriate ways Besides, Vietnam has a long traditional culture with outstanding and typical customs and practices of a country in the East Many conceptions of life, people, love, happiness, and clothes of Vietnamese people are sometimes a bit traditional and not as liberal and open-minded as people in many Western countries That is why culture shock appears to be a common manifestation when moving to a new country Culture hence needs to be a central focus in language teaching, so that 1/38 students will be able to communicate to the fullest extent in authentic situations The matter of fact we mentioned above inspired us to choose the topic “Integrating some cultural knowledge of America, England and Vietnam to attract 12th graders in Post- Reading activity” This study is conducted to find out some co-relative cultural knowledge, similarities and differences of those knowledge in the two languages Furthermore, the study can achieve some ways to give practical activities effectively, especially for the high school students who need a lot of skills for a job or further studying in integrating era as a real citizen in the near future Hopefully with the suggested techniques and tools, teachers can use them as a source of reference in their teaching process Aims of the study: The aims of this research are stated as follows: To investigate whether the cultural knowledge attract the students in post – reading activity To find out the students’ attitude toward the lessons using the cultural knowledge of America, England and Vietnam Methods of study: - Study of theories - Observation of real lessons - Analysis and Evaluation Research questions The following are the questions that should be answered related to the background of study: Is the cultural knowledge useful and effective to attract the students to well in Post-reading activity? 2.What is the students’attitude toward the lessons using the cultural knowledge? Scope of the study This study focuses on observing and evaluating the effectiveness of using some cultural knowledge in Post-Reading activity, grade 12, carried out at Nghi Loc Upper- secondary School Significance of the study The main goal of the study is how to creat English practising activites to attract students to perform more actively and effectively in Post- Reading activity 2/38 We will focus on how to carry out post –reading stage using the cultural knowledge of America, England and Vietnam, how to organise its activities and how it impacts to students’ practical ability PART B: MAIN CONTENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Post-Reading Activity in English Reading lesson 1.1.1 Role of Post-Reading Activity in English Reading lesson Post-reading activities are defined tasks done after students have finished reading a text These are usually carried out in order to help the learners more deeply understand what they have read The post-reading stage of a reading lesson is often confused with the closing of a period However, having new information from the while-reading stage should bring about a change such as the students would know more, or think or feel differently from before In other words, at this stage, the students are in a temporary change of state or condition, that is, they now know something they did not know before Teachers should help students connect the new information they are now familiar with and their lives Besides, post-reading activities give students the opportunity to review, summarize, and react to a reading passage, and activities such as debates, roleplays, games, and discussions take place in small and large groups, as well as with the entire class Some post-reading exercises also assess how well the students have comprehended the reading material, and they often consist of a text followed by questions that check the comprehension of specific details, main ideas, and inferences The task of the post-reading stage is to integrate or synthesize the material that has just been read into one's knowledge base of the topic Students need to make their own material This can be achieved through a variety of means employing writing, class discussion, visual representations, and physical demonstration 1.1.2 Types of Post-reading Activities It is suggested that Post-reading activities should tend to focus mainly on two skills: Speaking and Listening The following are some suggestions: Main ideas list: Students list the main ideas of the text beginning with the most important to the least - Debate: Students can take specific sides of the topic and debate an issue 3/38 Hot seat: One student becomes the writer of the text or the character in the text, answer the classs’questions Summarizing: This activity enables students to identify writer's main ideas or recognize the purpose of the reading text Role play: Some students act out as the characters in the text, which is one of the best ways to help students memorize the knowledge they have just gained, as well as develop other various skills Discussing: The class can be divided into groups to discuss several sides of the topic; compare and contrast their ideas toward the issue 1.1.3 Problems with Post-reading activity in class and Solutions: In the process of teaching Post-reading stage, we have encountered some certain difficulties The first problem is that the texbook contains a great deal of knowledge from a huge variety of domains, which takes a lot of time to fulfill And normally, the teacher spends most of the time handling pre- and while-reading stages to make sure that students can perceive the main content of the lesson As a result, it is often complained that there is hardly enough time to organize an interesting activity for the Post stage In addition, students are often watching the clock during the last stage of the reading lesson, because there are not so many post activities that can hold students’ attention They commonly find those designed in the syllabus uneasy or not have much practical value in their life life From this situation, we have tried to find out and design some motivating activities that can be easily applied in the Post-reading part as well as to draw students’ attention so that it can help them to inculcate the content of the Reading lesson 1.2 The cultural knowledge relating to the topic of units 1.2.1 Some cultural knowledge relating to topic of reading lessons The textbook English 12 contains many topics which are familiar with students They are about family life, studying, job and society such as: Home life, marriage, education, ways of socialising, job interview, ect Among those, there are a lot of similarities and differences about cultural knowledge that can be put in comparison between Vietnam and other countries to highlight the content that teachers want to emphasize and widen the student’s practical knowledge as well 4/38 1.2.2 Benefits of using these cultural knowledge to improve post-reading activity It is the fact that many of the post-reading activities in the textbook are designed in discussing and giving their opinions about a certain topic Those can hardly create much motivation for students to get involved in, as they are normally quite difficult for them to raise their voice Otherwise, integrating cultural knowledge can be considered an innovative way in teaching the post part It helps learners not only consolidate and memmorize the lesson better when comparing and contrasting the same values in different cultures, but it also elicits or provides them with practical knowledge of life, which must be very beneficial for those who have intention of studying or working abroad In addition, when using these cultural knowledge, the teacher has a wide range of choice in designing and organizing the activities that can make students more eager to learn English such as: games, presentations, quizzes At the same time, taking part in these activities, they also have a good chance to improve other essential skills like using technology or presenting, etc It also helps to improve students’ motivation to practise English in class 1.2.3 Some forms of practising English activities in class: Depending on the topic of the unit, teachers can organize different activities The following are some suggestions: - drawing pictures and storytelling - drawing mindmap to summarize the content of the lesson - collecting pictures and presenting - quiz show - games - designing slides and presentation - using online applications: padlet, quizlet, quizizz - creating or collecting videos 5/38 3.1.5 Job Interview Both the two cultures have the similar advice on how to create a good impression on your interview Firstly, before the interview, you should find out as much as possible about the job and the vacancy you are applying for; and prepare for the questions that the interviewers often ask Next, you ought to bring important items to the interview such as notebook and pens, your resume, a list of references and your school certificates On the day of the interview, it is suggested to plan your schedule so you should arrive 10 to 15 minutes early and dress in a manner appropriate to the job During the interview, it is better to display your confidence but let the interviewer start the dialogue The interviewees should concentrate on what the interviewer is asking and make a real effort to answer all the questions honestly and directly At the end of the interview, you should conclude with a good impression because a positive end to the interview is another good way to ensure your success 3.2 Application of Cultural Knowledge of America, England and Vietnam in teaching and learning 3.2.1 Unit 1: Home Life * Topic: Sharing housework in Vietnam and in America * Aim: Help students get to know more about how Vietnamese people share household chores in comparison with the corresponding cultural feature in America * Suggested activity 1: Watching a video and make a comparison * Time limit: 10-13 minutes, in the Post-reading stage of Unit 1- English 12 * Preparation: Teacher prepares a video about splitting household chores in Vietnam and in America, computer or laptop connected with TV or the projector - * Teacher asks students to prepare the lesson at home Procedure: Activity 1: Watching a video of doing housework in Vietnam and in America Teacher shows the video on the screen and tells students to observe and take notes what they have seen 16/38 Activity 2: Group discussion: Students work in groups to discuss the similarities and differences between the two countries in term of sharing housework - One representative for each group will make a presentation to - The others pay atttention and give comments - Teacher and the whole class listen to some comments - Teacher provides the final feedback - Teacher sums up some main points of similarities and class differences * Sample works: Sample videos of sharing household chores in America and in Vietnam * Suggested activity 2: Make a list of family rules in Vietnam and make a presentation * Time limit: 10 minutes, in the Post-reading stage of Unit 1- English 12 17/38 * Preparation: Teacher tells students to prepare the lesson at home, search for the information about Vietnamese family rules Students prepare at home, discuss in groups and draw pictures, mindmaps or design slides on Powerpoint to make a presentation * Procedure: - Teacher introduces the task at the Post-reading stage of Unit - One representative for each group will make a presentation to - Teacher elicits the remarks from the rest students - Teacher checks the students’ understanding by some questions class - Teacher provides the final feedback * Sample works: 18/38 Sample works of students in Class 12A2- Nghi Loc High School 3.2.2 Unit Cultural Diversity * Topic: Weddings and marriage * Aim: Help students improve their knowledge of weddings and marriage in Vietnam and widen their understanding of those in other cultures * Suggested activity: Quiz game * Time limit: 10 minutes, in the Post-reading stage of Unit 2- English 12 * Preparation: Teacher design a quiz game about interesting facts of weddings and marriage in Vietnam and in America on Kahoot.com 19/38