A number of measures improve english reading skill for 8th graders

I OPENING PART The reason for choosing the topic English is the language used by most countries It has become the native language of many countries around the world Our country is in the period of innovation, integration and development of the economy, implementing in dustrialization and modernization so learning English is the most important issue The issue of teaching and learning English effestively are being concerned by both the leaders of Education career and all the students’parents The universalization of English in secondary schools in Vietnam today poses increasing demands not only on the level but also the teaching methods of teaching foreign language teacher, how to choose for themselves a teaching method which is the most effective, imparts to the students in a good way they can understand is a hard problem that all teachers mention Therefore, to increasingly improve the teaching methods, the teacher must know how to use the method knowledge reasonably and practicaly which can be applied in the real circumstances and with respect pupils Continuously response to the implementation of the theme "Innovation in education, improve the quality of comprehensive "and “ teach and study with the real quality at schools" was and is a very urgent work of both teachers and students We all know that learning English as well as any other language, when learners want to become proficient in that language, they must practice the four basic skills: Listen-Speak-Read-Write In that "Read" is a basic skill focused in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages “Read” that is both a purpose and a means is effective, essential for students to be able to master, also consolidate knowledge language, expand vocabulary and understand more about literature style, use the language in their real life By observing the class , being observed by the other teachers, exchanging experiences with the colleagues, summarizing my own experience, I realize that the teaching and learning "Read" classes remain problematic - especially for 8th grade English program, results of receiving the knowledge and training reading skill in a large part of students also is low Students participate in learning activities not pro-actively and positively Therefore, I have boldly chosen the theme: "A number of measures improve English reading skill for 8th graders" to research and use in actual teaching at my school - Te Thang Secondary School - Nong Cong Research objectives With researching this topics successfully will help the teacher get the following experiences: a How to organize an effective reading lesson b How to conduct the steps in a teaching reading period effectively c Instruct students to self-training for English Reading Object and scope of the study a Object The theme revolves around the study of teaching and learning English reading periods of teachers and students in grades at Te Thang Secondary School b Scope of the study This topic is researched and practiced with two classes 8A and 8B at Te Thang secondary school 4.Research Methodology a Method of observation: I myself visit and observe the other teachers’classes b The method of exchange, discussion: After observing my colleagues, and being observed by the colleagues we exchange, discuss about the period so that I can receive the experiences c Experimental Methods: Teacher conducts teaching experiences required for each particular purpose of the class d Methods of investigation: Teacher asks the students questions to check their understanding the lesson content and gives them the reading tests II THE CONTENT OF THE TOPIC 1.Theorial bases of the problem Although English has become an official subject in school, the promotion of its role has not received much attention yet Partly it is due to limitation of infrastructure and teaching facilities in schools but more important is the quality of teaching not high, not attracting the passionate students In reading English classes, students always feel afraid of reading long texts with many new words On the other hand students are only interested in the meanings of words without insight into the content of the reading, and the results is that they not understand the lesson and they can not fully answer questions about the readings so teaching quality which is reduced, does not meet the requirements the teacher has set out In this case, teachers should teach students reading, analysis retrieve information From that students understand and can apply their homework quickly Recognizing the quality and effectiveness of teaching reading skills in secondary school in general and especially the 8th grade students is a problem, a situation needed to supplement and improve teaching methods The purpose of the study of this subject is to understand the importance of reading skills in English From the current status of teaching reading skills in secondary schools, improve teaching methods to suit each positive post, each subject students From that we will find the suitable teaching methods to continuously improve the quality of students' reading comprehension The real situation of the research problem According to the survey of the students in grade at the beginning of the school year The result before practising the project Class Number of Very good Good Medium Bad Very bad students number % number % number % number % number % 8A 38 5.3 23.6 10 26.4 21.1 23.6 8B 37 8.2 10 27.1 10 27.1 18.8 18.8 From these results , I know that the quality of learning English is not high especially in reading English There are many students who are good at grammar but they have poor pronunciation or not confident in reading English Therefore, I myself would like to help my students to use English better With the thought above, over the years I have explored myself to learn, read documents and practise the actual teaching hours in class to try to find out a method of good classroom management, to attract students to participate in lessons in an active, more lively and more positive impact on the students, as well as inspire more students in English, as well as it can help children learn English in anywhere, which helps students eliminate feeling afraid of studying this subject and they will feel bored without joining the lesson and working with their friends so I have bravely applied this new method for students in grade at Te Thang secondary school to help improve English reading skills To achieve that initially I must study materials combining with the batch go to acquire specialized training regularly, learn from colleagues to apply to each period of teaching which has led to good results Students work more actively, more boldlyin communicating and students have the skills to use language better Especially it appeals to all the children in lessons, Providing students interests in learning English in class and at home, at school as well as going out and gradually interested in English I boldly present my actual work with my collegues for the exchange of learning one another and constantly improve skills a Advantages: + The teaching and learning English is now a major concern of all levels and sectors, and students’parents + English is the language most widely used in the world so students can meet anywhere + English is the language written in Latin letters the same as the written word of Vietnamese enabling students to easily access + Rich of references and documents from the radio, television, Internet, newspapers, magazine in English + English is the important at school which is chosen to be a compulsory subject in the entrance examination into high schools and universities b Difficulties + Facilities are in short supply locally, failing to meet the requirements of teaching and learning of this subject which is taught by new methods such as English classroom, versatile projector, pictures + English is the language of many syllables without in Vietnamese so students have difficulty in pronouncing Especially local sounds ingrain in the daily parlance of the students so it is difficult to adjust + Many of them are not aware of the importance of English subjects + English is a difficult subject which needs more practice time many students not have the condition to access to native English speakers to expand vocabulary and improve communication skills + Students have not had much practice time in class for too long lessons Solutions to the problem The process of teaching reading skills can be divided into the following stages: Pre-reading (preparation stage), While-reading (reading period) and Postreading (consolidation and further practice) a Pre-reading (preparation stage) In this stage teachers should introduce extensive reading on the coming subject, using the data related to students' life experiences and predict content of the reading If reading is a dialogue, the teacher might say to the context for the dialogue, the number of participants in the dialogue and if possible teacher should talk about the relationship between the people in the conversation, If reading lesson is an excerpt of a story or an essay, the teacher can give a student one or a few points to the main events before In textbooks, there are usually pictures or posters related to the content of the reading Teachers should use the pictures to guide the attention of students on an internal reading article by helping them to anticipate the ideas and language which will be shown in all According to me, teacher needs to put some provocative questions In this stage, the question should follow the sequence in the reading theory These questions represent the basic structure of the reading and the means to help students interested in the topic that is read, thereby moving to the main reading in a more natural way Sometimes, teachers can ask students to skim throughthe text to have some general comments about the information in the readings By a number of activities like, teachers can inspire students to read and to make students interested in learning about upcoming topics The activities in this period can vary according to the actual situation of the class and students’ level Teachers can one or two activities in this period With English there are two forms of reading: Conversation in the "Listen and read" and reading paragraphs or essays in the "Read" Therefore, in eah kind of the lesson teachers need to use the steps and different teaching techniques accordingly Here are some specific examples For conversations Example 1: UNIT 1: My friends Listen and read * Pre-teach vocabulary: + Introduce the AIMS and some new words - To Seem (translation) - A next door neighbor: a person who lives next to your house - To look like (translation) *) Pre QUESTIONS - Give some questions presented and ask Ss to work in pairs to add add your answer Is Nien Lan's friend or United, s friend? How old is Nien? Where does Nien live? a beautiful girl is she? - Give feedback Example 2: UNIT 4: Our Past Listen and read * Pre - reading: Pre-teach vocabulary - To look after to take care of = - Equipment (n) - example - A folk tale: Tam Cam is a folk tale - Traditional (adj) - A great grandma (n) * Checking: What and where T / F statements prediction - Ask Ss to read the statements and predict chúng true or false - Call on Ss to read and write them on predictions có the board Example 3: UNIT 8: Country life and city life Listen and read I Pre-teach vocabulary + Accessible (a): can be used + Facility (n): facilities + Permanently (adv): permanent, forever + Peaceful (adj): peaceful * Checking vocabulary: Rub out and remember Example 4: UNIT 11: Traveling around Vietnam Listen and read Presentation: Listen and read: Introduce the situation of the dialogue - Ask Ss to listen to the tape twice - Have added the rolls in the dialogue play - Introduce some new words: Sugar cane + (n) Pictures + Water buffalo (n) + No problem = Not at all => explanation + Wow = Surprise - Have Ss read new words For reading out the paragraph and essay Example 1: UNIT 3: At home Read Pre - reading: Introduce the topic of the passage reading and some new words to Ss Pre - teach vocabulary: - A precaution = precaution, precautions - A socket (realia) - A match (realia) - An object = object or objects - Safety (n) = safety - To destroy = destroy - To injure (situation) * Checking: Slap the board True / false statements predictions - Ask Ss to read the statements and guess mà true, false mà Guess Key Statements Example 2: UNIT 5: Study Habits Read I Pre-teach vocabulary - Mother tongue (n): explaination revision (n): the review - Underline (v) Underline Sửa (v) review - Highlight (v) highlight -in order to (pre) * Checking: Slap the board Brainstorming II- Students to work in pairs ask to make a list of the Ways how a language learner can learn new words True / False statements - Students ask to read the statements on page 50 then read the text and decide mà mà true and false Example 3: UNIT 7: My neighborhood Read I Pre-teach vocabulary Pre-teaching: + Vocab: - Humid (adj): wet - Shooping mall (n): regional trade - Resident (n): Residential - Roof (n): bamboo roof - Selection (n): * Checking choice vocabulary: What and where II Brainstorming - Set the scene: In Men's neighborhood there is a new shopping mall - Ask to think about the convenience Students of the mall - Students ask to read the text silently and compare ask for their ideas of get more information b While reading-(stage reading) In this process, the activities are organized to help students practice reading comprehension skills Besides, some other academic skills are combined in reading comprehension skills Skills used in this stage is focusing reading and open reading Focusing reading means that the readers must understand all lesson which they are reading and They can answer detailed questions about the words and ideas expressed through essays Expansionreading means that students must understand in a general way about all text without the need to understand each word or each idea The focus reading will help students expand better At the same time the expansion reading will also help students familiarize more confidence when they contact with harder materials For a long reading, teachers can apply extended reading a few paragraphs and for students to read in a different reading If students read a text too long they will lose interest and not enough time to practice reading skills faster Readings in the old textbooks are usually prepared carefully, limits of language to students apply for focusing reading way But in the new textbooks, the reading lessons are rich, diverse and precise With extended reading students will feel no matter about their limitation of the level of their language, they can still understand an overview of what is communicated by the language used in life In the class teacher should restrict students to read the text loudly because it is difficult to focus while essays can have many words that students not know how to pronounce or the conversation may require an understanding of the structure, in particular intonation that students not know Reading an essay unprepared before will make students less natural reading, hesitates or mispronounce which affect other students When reading aloud, students will focus more heavily on the tones than the meaning of the text, so that students can read English well but understand little or not understand of what is being read 10 I realize that teachers have to read the whole article one time or let students listen to the tapes one time Then the teacher asks students to read silently and will help the children who have difficulty in reading The students reading aloud should be prepared in advance or it will be time-consuming and inefficient Teachers also need to change the way of reading In the teaching of open reading the form of silent reading is very suitable and bring high efficiency Teachers may limit reading time and afterwards give a number of questions and check reading comprehension level of the students Most of the long reading teachers should give students read silently but also need to say that preparing lesson before coming to class is the most important thing and can be changed in several ways as follows: + For the beginner class: The teacher read the form, then the students repeat each sentence + In the low-qualified students, in addition to the repeated reading after teacher, students can listen to the tape reading in a few times to get used to the voices of native speakers + The teacher reads the passage, then calls a student to read the section following teachers Besides, the class should be divided into pairs or more groups of people Each group prepares a paragraph then the representative of a group will read a passage in the case of reading is a dialogue, ask students to work in pairs of role play Teachers and students discuss with the groups having difficulty in pronunciation (stress, rhythm, intonation, ) Then a certain group will be selected for the class practice track While teachers should teach reading interspersed some questions to guide students to read out the contents of all the information, also can know the quality of learning of students under our charge Since then the teacher can also explain more of the details that are unclear So the content of questions need to direct 11 attention to the students' own ideas in the text and help students understand the meaning of the reading, we should not give too long questions and too hard to judge the students Teachers should ask brief and concise questions to help students understand the lesson Teachers should encourage and organize so that the whole class can participate in activities together answere questions confidently Then guide students to answer the question right or wrong During this period, teachers can organize students into more active in groups of two or more students to discuss answers In this way, all the people in the class can participate in activities and have the opportunity to respond or work together and help each other Forms of answer may be in speaking The answer will take less time Teachers face many difficulties in controlling the students, if the class is too crowding Forms of written answers will help students have more time to think teachers feel easy to organize in a large class of students to be effective or not? this method is very time consuming So teachers should encourage students to write short answers because the purpose of this exercise is only to test reading comprehension Some of this activity can: + Mode One: Questions and answers With the conversation Example 1: UNIT 8: Country life and city life Roleplay the dialogue Students -ask to listen to the dialogue and then work in pairs to roleplay the dialogue - Have some pairs practice is before class - Pronunciation correct mistakes Example 2: UNIT 11: Traveling around Vietnam Practice: - Introduce new structure: 12 Would / you mind if + I + V ? Would / you mind + V-ing ? - Give some examples - Introduce to Ss compound adj: a 40 minute, a ten year old - Work with a partner - Ask one student to read the Sentences and others choose T or F in exercise in Students' book For reading the paragraph or essay Example 1: UNIT 5: Study Habits - Brainstorming - Students to work in pairs ask to make a list of the Ways how a language learner can learn new words - True / False statements - Students ask to read the statements on page 50 then read the text and decide mà mà true and false - Give feedback * Answers: a- b T c F d T F Example 2: UNIT 7: My neighborhood Brainstorming - Set the scene: In Men's neighborhood there is a new shopping mall - Ask to think about the convenience Students of the mall - Students ask to read the text silently and compare ask for their ideas of get more information True / False statements: - Students have a look at the statements in exercise page 68 - Get Them to read the text again and decide Which statements are true, false mà * Anwers: Asian F b F c T d F f T 13 - Ask to correct the false statements Students Asian The mall is open daily b There are 50stores in the mall c Not everyone is pleased The owners of the small stores on Tran Phu street are not happy Example 3: UNIT 10: Recycling The while-reading: Recycling fact: - Ss read the text Quickly Guide - Explain the text put some questions presented + What People used with things so? + What Can They Make Them from? Car tires, Milk bottles, Glass, Drink cans Household and garden waste - Ss read the text carefully Request and answer questions presented - Ask add compare có answer - Call two or three Ss read answers - Gives Ss T corrects mistake and correct answers - Give Ss structure passive form: S + be + past participle - Request Ss find out the câu of passive form Work with a partner: Complete the câu to make a list of things cycled - The class work in pairs Devides - Explain the exercise: Basic on each passage to write a câu recycling - Call two pairs on the board write có answer Other pairs remarks Car tires are recycled to make pipes and floor recoverings Milk bottles, Glass, Drink cans Household and garden waste - Correct mistakes IF NECESSARY c Post-reading (consolidation) 14 In this phase, students will participate in a number of activities to expand the exploitation of reading and develop some other skills in addition to reading skills Exercise can be: + Form 1: Fill a table available to help students focus on the main points of the reading Especially for those readings have many statistics and facts Example 1: UNIT 1: My friends -Work In pairs - Ask Ss to read the dialogue and answer the questions presented again in exercise / page 11 - Have work in pairs to add answer the questions presented - Call on some proven and demonstrated in front of pairs to class and ask for their correct mistakes or Pronunciation - Correct and give feedback: - Ask open added to work in pairs to practice asking and answering the questions presented and the dialogue Example 2: UNIT 4: Our Past * Comprehension: - Get Ss to work in pairs, asking and answering questions presented - Give feedback - Ask Ss to practice asking and answering the questions presented - Give feedback For reading out the paragraph and essay Example 1: UNIT 5: Study Habits - Comprehension questions presented - Students work in pairs have to answer the questions presented on ex on page 50 - Give feeback * Answers: accommodation They learn words in Different Ways 15 b- Because chúng help add to remember dùng new words c- They write examples, put the words and ask for their meanings on stickers, underline or highlight added d- They can not unfortunately think so In stead they only learn words Revision is cần print e- learning words F Learners shouldnt try to find words out of learning what is the best - Ask Students to practice answering the questions presented in asking and open pairs and closed pairs * Survey: - Students ask to work in groups of or to interview one another and tick the Ways They have used to learn new words Example 2: UNIT 10: Recycling - Ss read the text carefully Request and answer questions presented - Ask add compare có answer - Call two or three Ss read answers - Gives Ss T corrects mistake and correct answers - Give Ss structure passive form: S + be + past participle - Request Ss find out the câu of passive form Work with a partner: Complete the câu to make a list of things cycled - The class work in pairs Devides - Explain the exercise: Basic on each passage to write a câu recycling - Call two pairs on the board write có answer Other pairs remarks Car tires are recycled to make pipes and floor recoverings Milk bottles, Glass, Drink cans Household and garden waste - Correct mistakes IF NECESSARY Some pictures of the material: 16 Colleagues observe the class and contribute their ideas Students work in groups and pairs Colleagues comment after observing the class 17 Using audiovisual media during studying periods 4.The effect of carrying out this topic Research results After a semester I follow this topic which give the following preliminary results: The survey results at the end of the first term Class Number Very Of good Good Mediu Bad Very bad m students number 4 % 10.5 10.8 number % 7.9 5.4 8B Decrease 10.4 15.7 8A Decrease 8.1 13.6 8A 8B Increase 8A Increase 38 37 number 5 % 13.2 13.6 7.7 number 12 13 % 31.6 35.1 7.7 number 14 13 % 36.8 35.1 10.5 5.4 8.1 8.1 8B III CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS Conclusions 18 After the time I have tried to think, to explore, in consultation with my chosen method, whether students understand the lesson better or not ? By checking the quality of student assessment I have obtained more positive results and more quality than before applying the new method It can be seen that applying the method of teaching reading skills is improving the actual teaching, the results are much higher than before That motivated me to constantly strive to achieve higher results with the application of this approach to the specific lesson I have my small contribution to the achievements of the school, put the targets of higher school as the first plan was devised In sum, to be successful in teaching English in general and reading skills in particular, requires the teacher to know the harmony, skillful among steps up in class with knowledge of textbooks To make teaching more lively now, apart from the specific teaching methods teachers should use the illustration, the visual aids and by practical exercises Teachers should thoroughly apply the exercises to provide opportunities for all students to be able to understand the lesson easily Also to inspire student learning, teachers should be telling anecdotes involving suggestive lessons to students about the main content before reading I have tried to maintain the methods mentioned and never stop learning, exchange with colleagues to bring more effective teaching hours Striving to become a real good teacher In this project I tried to exploit and explore methods of teaching reading skills in secondary schools From there go into analyzing the causes, factors affecting teaching methods from which to make the approach to each target specific students Because of time and reference books limited, so in this topic there are the limitations that I have not analyzed carefully yet I look forward to the sincere advice of colleagues and the scientific community at all levels Proposals 19 After a while boldly implement initiatives I have seen tangible results in this school year so I continue to perform on grade and gradually expand with grade more advanced and intensive I recommend professional groups to help me to organizel this English learning activities for students throughout the school Moreover, I also expect the School Board to create conditions, the form-teacher to cowork better integrate learning English in extracurricular education hours Certified by the headmaster I guarantee that this topic is my own experiences I have not copied from the other teachers Te Thang,March 15th -2017 Writer’s signture Le Van Sinh REFERENCES 20 SGK, 8th grade English SGV's Ministry of Education English language Teaching Methodology of the Ministry of Education in 2003 The ELTTP Methodology course TOEFL Reading - Publisher children - 2004 Education Foundation - Hanoi Publishing House, 1995 Assessment of Education of the Ministry of Education Book "Some problems are swept innovative methods to learn English secondary school level subjects , "Of MOET Training materials innovation methods 6,7,8,9 in English class 21 ... pro-actively and positively Therefore, I have boldly chosen the theme: "A number of measures improve English reading skill for 8th graders" to research and use in actual teaching at my school - Te Thang... skills can be divided into the following stages: Pre -reading (preparation stage), While -reading (reading period) and Postreading (consolidation and further practice) a Pre -reading (preparation stage)... Each group prepares a paragraph then the representative of a group will read a passage in the case of reading is a dialogue, ask students to work in pairs of role play Teachers and students discuss