skkn MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE MEANINGFUL

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI Đơn vị TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN LƯƠNG THẾ VINH Mã số: SƠ LƯỢC LÝ LỊCH KHOA HỌC –––––––––––––––––– THÔNG TIN CHUNG VỀ CÁ NHÂN I Họ tên: CHÂU HỒNG LAM KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM Ngày tháng nămSÁNG sinh: 18/08/1983 Nam, nữ: Nữ MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE Địa chỉ: 468/19/5, P Tân Hiệp, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai MEANINGFUL Điện thoại: (NR); ĐTDĐ: 01223953854 Fax: Chức vụ: Nhiệm vụ giao: Giảng dạy chủ nhiệm lớp chuyên Anh Đơn vị công tác: Trườ ng THPT Lương Thế Vinh Người thực Chuyên hiện: CHÂU HỒNG LAM • TRÌNH ĐỘ ĐÀO Lĩnh TẠO vực nghiên cứu: - Phương pháp dạy học môn: TIẾNG ANH Học vị cao nhất: Thạc sỹ • Năm nhận bằng: 2007 II • E-mail: hl18_8@yahoo.com Có đính kèm: Chuyên ngành đào tạo: Phương pháp giảng dạy Mô hình Phần mềm Phim ảnh KINH NGHIỆM KHOA HỌC III • Hiện vật khác Lĩnh vực chuyên môn có kinh nghiệm: giảng dạy Tiếng Anh Số năm có kinh nghiệm: 12 năm Năm học: 2016 - 2017 • Các sáng kiến kinh nghiệm có năm gần đây: √ CONTENTS I RATIONALE II IMPLEMENTATION A LITERATURE REVIEW B METHODOLOGY Students’ preferences for speaking activities Sample lesson plans UNIT UNIT UNIT UNIT UNIT 12 UNIT 13 III CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS IV REFERENCES MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE MEANINGFUL I RATIONALE It is undeniable that Vietnamese high school students often get bored and distracted during speaking lessons Having speaking skill integrated into high school English textbooks is really a great innovation, showing the awareness of the importance of being able to communicate when learning a foreign language However, speaking task designers have not done a good jod in encouraging students to open their mouths because they see no point in doing so, or in other words, they have not been given the motivation to speak Motivation plays a significant role in the process of learning a language However, the authors of the textbooks did not seem to recognise this when designing speaking tasks, which are not meaningful enough to get learners involved in the lessons Learners need quality instruction, input, interaction, and opportunities for meaningful output, not only to make progress, but also to maintain motivation for language learning A good teacher, then, must tap into the sources of intrinsic motivation and find ways to connect them with external motivational factors that can be brought to a classroom setting In the scope of this paper, the author attemps to adapt speaking lessons in English textbook 10 to make the tasks more relevant to learners II IMPLEMENTATION A LITERATURE REVIEW According to the result of an ESL workshop about scaffolding, ‘an ESL student who is nervous or bored in class will learn neither subject content nor new language, even if the input is comprehensible’ and ‘the purely oral scaffolding undertaken by the teacher is not enough’; therefore, ‘visual scaffolding is an excellent way to provide comprehensible input to ESL students so that not only will they learn the essential subject content but also they will make progress in their acquisition of English.’ Besides, Jeremy (1998, p 88) states that ‘good speaking activities can and should be highly motivating If all the students are participating fully – and if the teacher has set up the activity properly and can then give sympathetic and useful feedback – they will get trememdous satisfaction from it.’ Therefore, at the beginning of any speaking lesson, teachers should expose students to inspiring, motivating, and above all, authentic materials like the videos I use in most of my speaking lessons and get students engaged in real life situations Besides, scaffoding is also of utmost importance in language acquisition, and videos serve this purpose best as they can provide the students with both inspiration and the target language that can boost the students’ confidence in speaking Jack and Will (2002, p 364) states, a teacher ‘selects the video, relates the video to students’ needs, promite active viewing, and integrates the video with other areas of the language curriculum’ to increase the ‘chances of achieving the important goals of motivating students’ interest, providing realistic listening practice, stimulating language use, and heightening stuents’ awreness of particular language points or other aspects of communication’ because ‘scenes with a high degree of visual support are more useful for presenting language.’ It is also emphasised that teachers can bring in the video to introduce or to expand on a theme or topic that is already part of the curriculum or that is dealt with in the students’ textbook (Jack and Will, 2002) They aso add that ‘teachers can promote active viewing and increase student comprehension and recall by planning videorelated lessons for three stages of activity: previewing, viewing, and postviewing’ because ‘these prepare the students to watch the video by tapping their background knowledge, stimulating interest in the topic, and lessening their fear of unfamiliar vocabulary.’ Jack and Will (2002, p 366) B METHODOLOGY  Subjects The subjects of the study are 27 students from class 10 English and 25 students from class 10 Mathematics, Luong The Vinh Specialised High School in the school year 2016-2017 Generally speaking, all the 30 students are rather good at English However, most of them seem reluctant to speak English  Research instruments: questionnaire, experimental teaching, observation  Procedures Students’ preferences for speaking activities Order these activities from most motivating to least motivating to you in speaking lessons No Activites Orde r Studying sentence structures Being provided with a list of topical language Oral instruction by the teacher Pictures/posters related to the topic Speaking activities in the textbook Listening to a sample conversation Watching a video related to the topic From the data collected, the author finds out that most of the students (more than 90%) state that watching a video related to the topic is a great source of inspiration for their own speaking The next positions belong to listening to a sample conversation and pictures/posters related to the topic In contrast, 100% of the students find speaking activities in the text book the most boring, putting it at the bottom of the least Number 1, 2, are not very helpful in engaging the students in speaking activities Sample lesson plans Unit MY WEEKEND MORNING ROUTINE Level: Intermediate Aim: a mingle activity with emphasis on oral fluency; students practise making a monologue about their weekend morning routine Language point: expressions to use for describing everyday activities; rhythm and stress when giving important information Materials: a sample clip in which a girl talks about her weekend morning routine WARM-UP Write on the board: A DIFFERENT ME Ask the students if they would like to know about a different aspect of their classmates Ask five pairs of students (it is better if the pairs are deskmates or best friends) to come to the front Give one member in each pair a piece of paper and a pencil to draw their favourite activity on a day off school, and ask the other to guess what it is without looking at the drawing Then check if the answers and the drawing really match Write some ‘abnormal’ activities on the board PRE-SPEAKING Have the class watch a short clip in which a girl talks about her weekend morning routine Ask the students to note down some expressions used to describe daily activities and some connectors used in the clip Elicit the phrases and write on the board Sleep in Wake up Check my phone Enjoy my morning Hello world Get onto my laptop Get my lazy butt up Head back upstairs Change into my clothes Make my bed Take a shower Do my makeup Head downstairs To heat up Make some coffee/can’t live without coffee Hop into the shower Put on my moituriser/concealer Let out my dog Exfoliate my skin Curl my lashes WHILE-SPEAKING Ask individual students to make an outline of their own weekend morning routine Ask students to talk to their partners Ask some students to come to the front and talk about their weekend morning routine Ask the others to take notes of the activities mentioned and connectors Take notes of language errors good use of the target language, but don’t correct at this point POST-SPEAKING Ask the students if they have found anything surprising about their friends Do a quick feedback on the errors or language you took notes on Ask the students to come home a make a video clip of their own Unit MY SOURCE OF INSPIRATION Level: Intermediate Aim: a mingle activity with emphasis on oral fluency; students practise describing incredible figures Language point: expressions to use for describing describing incredible figures; rhythm and stress when giving important information Materials: a clip of a disabled girl WARM-UP Write on the board: BORN DIFFERENT Have the class watch a short clip in which a girl amazingly adapts to life despite her disabolity Ask the students to note down some expressions used to describe incredible figures Elicit the phrases and write on the board - Hold her back Learn to adapt in many ways Rarely complain about her disability Upbeat and optimistic Fit in Struggled with questions and looks she received Face new challenges Incredible attitude She has so much personality, perseverence, spirit Outgoing, spunky, amd tenacious Back down from a challenge PRE-SPEAKING Put students into groups of 4-5 students Ask each group to think of a person that inspires them the most in the school Ask them to write down a list of questions they are going to ask that person and those who know the person really well, for example his/her teacher, close friends, etc WHILE-SPEAKING Ask the groups to go and interview those people Groups of students come back to the classroom and report what they have done Take notes of language errors good use of the target language, but don’t correct at this point POST-SPEAKING Do a quick feedback on the errors or language you took notes on Ask the students to come home a make a video clip of that person Unit THE BEST FUTURISTIC CITY Level: Intermediate Aim: a mingle activity with emphasis on oral fluency; students practise presenting ideas and convincing others Language point: expressions to use for describing a city, presenting ideas and convincing others; rhythm and stress when giving important information Materials: a short clip about A FUTURISTIC CITY WARM-UP 10 Write on the board: SPOT THE DIFFERENCES Have students look at two pictures of Bienhoa City at two different times Ask students to note down the differences between the two pictures PRE-SPEAKING Have the student watch a short clip about a futuristic city Ask students to note down the language to describe a city Elicite and write down some phrases on the board Set up the scene: Bienhoa city is going to become the host city for Olympic Games 2020 The city committee has just launched a competition to look for the best design for a city that can meet all the requirements of a city that hostS Olympic Games Put the students in to groups of 4-5 young architects who are going to take part in the competition by handing in their own designs WHILE-SPEAKING Students work in their group, sketching the city on an A0 paper Students stick their work on the board and take turns presenting their ideas of the ideal city Other groups vote for the best city Take notes of language errors good use of the target language, but don’t correct at this point and video the competition POST-SPEAKING Do a quick feedback on the errors or language you took notes on Ask the groups to come home watch the video to see how they have improved in the speaking skill Unit 11 SAVE THE BEAUTIFUL MARINE WORLD Level: Upper-Intermediate Aim: a mingle activity with emphasis on oral fluency; students practise calling for actions and and convincing others Language point: expressions to use for describing problems, calling for actions and convincing others; rhythm and stress when giving important information Materials: a short clip about PROJECT OCEAN WARM-UP Write on the board: PROJECT OCEAN Have the student watch a short clip about MARINE LIFE IN DANGER Ask students to note down the language to describe problems and call for actions Elicite and write down some phrases on the board - Fish are worth more to humanity than gold Rely on fish as their primary protein source Count on the ocean for their liveihoods We need healthy ocean to support our way of life Fish stocks are fully or overexploited Overfish our ocean Become bycatch Unintentional victims of indiscriminate fishing practices Oceans are complex interconnected systems Damage one part and all the others suffer too Wipe out Multiply unchecked Take actions Marine reserves work Provide a refuge for species Protect the habitat they depend on during critical life stages Restoring our oceans will take time We need to act globally and act now 12 PRE-SPEAKING Set the scene: The city committee has just launched a competition to look for the best poster that can raise people’s awareness of the threats to marine life and call for people’s actions to protect marine life Put the students in to groups of 4-5 students who are going to take part in the competition by handing in their own posters WHILE-SPEAKING Ask students to have a look at the problems in task and solutions in task in the textbook to get some ideas for their posters Each group is assigned with one problem Students work in their group, sketching the poster on an A0 paper Students stick their work on the board and take turns presenting their ideas Other groups vote for the best poster Take notes of language errors good use of the target language, but don’t correct at this point and video the competition POST-SPEAKING Do a quick feedback on the errors or language you took notes on Ask the groups to come home watch the video to see how they have improved in the speaking skill Unit 12 THE VOICE – BLIND AUDITIONS Level: Upper-Intermediate Aim: a mingle activity with emphasis on oral fluency; students practise giving comments on songs and voices 13 Language point: expressions to use for giving comments on music; rhythm and stress when giving important information Materials: a short clip about THE VOICE US – BLIND AUDITIONS WARM-UP Write on the board: WILL YOU PICK ME? Have students watch a short clip about the voice US – blind auditions Ask students to note down the reasons why the coaches chose that contestant Ask them to write down the adjectives that are used in the clip - How engaging and passionate and you’re more comfortable than I am up there - That moment when you realise this person can be a huge star - I’m gonna fight harder than you - Someone who understands who you are as an artist and is able to unlock that - You were phenomenal - I have planned on winning this entire thing with you - I just want to help you figure out what you wanna amd make you the winner of this show - It’s time to choose Who you want to be your coach? - I’m going to pick … PRE-SPEAKING Set up the scene: Choose one student to be the host, and other students to be in the coaching panel The others will be the contestants It is better if you allow the students to take turns playing the roles of the host and coaches in order to save time For example: if there are 30 students in the class students will play the role of contestants, students the host, and the other 16 the coaches After the performances of 2-3 contestants, the coaches will be replaced by other Ask each student to choose one of their favourite song to sing in the blind audition 14 Give the host the list of songs together with the names of the contestants Give the coaches the list of questions to ask the contestants WHILE-SPEAKING The host introduces the contestant and the song The contestant sings the first part of his/her song The coaches can turn round to face the contestant if they decide to pick the contestant The coaches ask the contestant some questions and give comments Take notes of language errors good use of the target language, but don’t correct at this point and video the competition POST-SPEAKING Do a quick feedback on the errors or language you took notes on Ask the groups to come home watch the video to see how they have improved in the speaking skill Unit 13 MY FAVOURITE THEME SONGS Level: Upper-Intermediate Aim: a mingle activity with emphasis on oral fluency; students practise making a monologue about their favorite theme songs Language point: expressions to use for describing music and films; rhythm and stress when giving important information Materials: five film trailers and a clip about best moderns theme songs WARM-UP Write on the board: DO YOU REMEMBER ME? 15 Have students watch five film trailers Ask students what impressed them the most when they watched the films Ask them to write down the theme song of each film PRE-SPEAKING Have the class watch a short clip about best modern theme songs Ask the students to note down some expressions used to describe a theme song Elicit the phrases and write on the board - Count down our picks for the top 10 theme songs Number 2: Celine Dion: My heart will go on from Titanic One of the biggest songs from one of the biggest movies One of the most overplayed tunes ever Best-selling soundtrack in history Struck a profound chord with audiences Sell a million units in one week Multi-award winning track shares the film’s darkness and finality The film’s climax just wouldn’t be the same without it WHILE-SPEAKING Ask students to work in groups of 4-5 make a list of their own favourite theme songs Ask students to talk to their partners Ask 2-3 groups to come to the front and talk about their favourite theme songs take notes of language errors good use of the target language, but don’t correct at this point POST-SPEAKING Do a quick feedback on the errors or language you took notes on Ask the groups to come home a make a video clip of their own 16 III CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS After one year of implementation, the author realises that the students have become more confident in English communication Most importantly, the students take more active roles in each speaking lesson and really enjoy the fun that comes from each meeting However, the preparation stage is quite a challenge for the teachers because once you have come up with the idea for your lesson, it is not easy to find a suitable video to use in that particular lesson One solution is there should be a network created for ESL teachers, where they share the videos for particular topics This can really help to lift the burden of material shortage that most ESL teachers have been carrying for years IV REFERENCES ESL workshop - Using the Smartboard to provide visual scaffolding Available at http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/fis/index-s.htm, retrieved on April 28, 2017 Jack, C.R and Willy, A.R (2002) Methodology in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Jeremy, H (1998) How to Teach English Longman: Pearson Education Limited Motivating Language Learners to Succeed Available at http://www.tesol.org/read-and-publish/journals/other-serialpublications/compleat-links/compleat-links-volume-5-issue-2-(june2008)/motivating-language-learners-tosucceed#sthash.abp674ey.dpuf, retrieved on April 26, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEKacXdURkk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpNlvQLgsAc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcDDUSUbq9A&t=13s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PgKS1dGrx0 17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNhGSkNqG8s 10.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31CNgtIEN80 11.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MK7qz13bU 12.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk 13.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axySrE0Kg6k 14.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZAw8qxn0ZE 15.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H6ay-dZtvY Người thực Châu Hồng Lam SỞ GD&ĐT ĐỒNG NAI CỘNG HOÀ XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Đơn vị: Trường THPT Chuyên Độc lập - Tự - Hạnh phúc Lương Thế Vinh –––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––– Biên Hòa, ngày 18 tháng 05 năm 2017 PHIẾU ĐÁNH GIÁ, CHẤM ĐIỂM, XẾP LOẠI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM Năm học: 2016 -2017 ––––––––––––––––– Tên sáng kiến kinh nghiệm: MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE MEANINGFUL Họ tên tác giả: Châu Hồng Lam Chức vụ: Đơn vị: Trường THPT Chuyên Lương Thế Vinh Họ tên giám khảo 1: Ch ức v ụ: Đơn vị: Số điện thoại giám khảo: * Nhận xét, đánh giá, cho điểm xếp loại sáng kiến kinh nghiệm: Tính 18 Điểm: …………./6,0 Hiệu Điểm: …………./8,0 Khả áp dụng Điểm: …………./6,0 Nhận xét khác (nếu có): Tổng số điểm /20 Xếp loại: GIÁM KHẢO SỞ GD&ĐT ĐỒNG NAI CỘNG HOÀ XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Đơn vị: Trường THPT Chuyên Độc lập - Tự - Hạnh phúc Lương Thế Vinh –––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––– Biên Hòa, ngày 18 tháng 05 năm 2017 PHIẾU ĐÁNH GIÁ, CHẤM ĐIỂM, XẾP LOẠI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM Năm học: 2016 -2017 ––––––––––––––––– Tên sáng kiến kinh nghiệm: MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE MEANINGFUL Họ tên tác giả: Châu Hồng Lam Chức vụ: Đơn vị: Trường THPT Chuyên Lương Thế Vinh Họ tên giám khảo 2: Ch ức v ụ: Đơn vị: Số điện thoại giám khảo: * Nhận xét, đánh giá, cho điểm xếp loại sáng kiến kinh nghiệm: 19 Tính Điểm: …………./6,0 Hiệu Điểm: …………./8,0 Khả áp dụng Điểm: …………./6,0 Nhận xét khác (nếu có): Tổng số điểm: ./20 Xếp loại: GIÁM KHẢO SỞ GD&ĐT ĐỒNG NAI Đơn vị: Trường THPT Chuyên Lương Thế Vinh ––––––––––– CỘNG HOÀ XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập - Tự - Hạnh phúc –––––––––––––––––––––––– Biên Hòa, ngày 18 tháng 05 năm 2017 PHIẾU NHẬN XÉT, ĐÁNH GIÁ SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM Năm học: 2016 -2017 ––––––––––––––––– Tên sáng kiến kinh nghiệm MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE MEANINGFUL Họ tên tác giả: Châu Hồng Lam Chức vụ: Đơn vị: Trường THPT Chuyên Lương Thế Vinh Lĩnh vực: (Đánh dấu X vào ô tương ứng, ghi rõ tên môn lĩnh vực khác) - Quản lý giáo dục  - Phương pháp dạy học môn:  - Phương pháp giáo dục  - Lĩnh vực khác:  Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm triển khai áp dụng: Tại đơn vị  Trong Ngành  20 Tính (Đánh dấu X vào ô đây) - Đề giải pháp thay hoàn toàn mới, bảo đảm tính khoa học, đắn  - Đề giải pháp thay phần giải pháp có, bảo đảm tính khoa h ọc, đ ắn  - Giải pháp gần áp dụng đơn vị khác chưa t ừng áp d ụng đ ơn v ị mình, tác giả tổ chức thực có hiệu cho đơn vị  Hiệu (Đánh dấu X vào ô đây) - Giải pháp thay hoàn toàn mới, thực toàn ngành có hiệu cao  - Giải pháp thay phần giải pháp có, thực hi ện toàn ngành có hiệu cao  - Giải pháp thay hoàn toàn mới, thực đơn vị có hiệu cao  - Giải pháp thay phần giải pháp có, thực đơn vị có hiệu  - Giải pháp gần áp dụng đơn vị khác chưa t ừng áp d ụng đ ơn v ị mình, tác giả tổ chức thực có hiệu cho đơn vị  Khả áp dụng (Đánh dấu X vào ô dòng đây) - Cung cấp luận khoa học cho việc hoạch định đ ường lối, sách: Trong Tổ/Phòng/Ban  Trong quan, đơn vị, sở GD&ĐT  Trong ngành  - Đưa giải pháp khuyến nghị có khả ứng dụng thực tiễn, dễ thực dễ vào sống: Trong Tổ/Phòng/Ban  Trong quan, đơn vị, sở GD&ĐT Trong ngành  - Đã áp dụng thực tế đạt hiệu có khả áp dụng đạt hiệu phạm vi rộng: Trong Tổ/Phòng/Ban  Trong quan, đơn vị, sở GD&ĐT  Trong ngành  Xếp loại chung: Xuất sắc  Khá  Đạt  Không xếp loại  Cá nhân viết sáng kiến kinh nghiệm cam kết không chép tài li ệu c người khác chép lại nội dung sáng kiến kinh nghiệm cũ Tổ trưởng Thủ trưởng đơn vị xác nhận sáng kiến kinh nghi ệm đ ược t ổ chức thực đơn vị, Hội đồng khoa học, sáng ki ến đơn v ị xem xét, đánh giá, cho điểm, xếp loại theo quy định NGƯỜI THỰC HIỆN SKKN XÁC NHẬN CỦA TỔ CHUYÊN MÔN 21 THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ ... REFERENCES MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE MEANINGFUL I RATIONALE It is undeniable that Vietnamese high school students often get bored and distracted during speaking lessons Having speaking. .. ––––––––––––––––– Tên sáng kiến kinh nghiệm MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE MEANINGFUL Họ tên tác giả: Châu Hồng Lam Chức vụ: Đơn vị: Trường THPT Chuyên Lương Thế Vinh Lĩnh vực: (Đánh... Tên sáng kiến kinh nghiệm: MAKING SPEAKING TASKS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS MORE MEANINGFUL Họ tên tác giả: Châu Hồng Lam Chức vụ: Đơn vị: Trường THPT Chuyên Lương Thế Vinh Họ tên giám khảo 2: