Using language games to improve speaking skill for the students in class 7b at cu chinh lan secondary school

But in fact, secondary students in particular and people learning English in general have not learned English boldly and confidently to communicate in practice.. In order to help the stu

2 1 Introduction

1.1 The reasons for choosing the theme

4 1.2 Research purposes

1.3 Research subjects

1.4 Research methods

5 1.5 New points of experience initiative

6 2 The content of experience initiative

2.1 Theoretical basis of the experience initiative

2.2 Problem reality before applying the experience initiative

8 2.3 Solutions and implementation

18 2.4 Results of experience initiative

19 3 Conclusion and requests

1 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, English has played an important part in our life It has been considered as an international language all over the world, it has become a compulsory subject in all secondary schools as well It is the key for anyone who wants to get success in life In fact, secondary students have difficulties learning English Despite learning English for many years, their communication in English

is very limited They can not know how to express what they want to say They are shy and they are not confident enough to speak or communicate with the others in English even though they still understand vocabulary and the sentence structures Students are learning self-contained method

1.1.The reasons for choosing the theme

Today, the use of English in communication is essential and important English not only helps us to develop economy, society, but also helps us integrate with our friends throughout the world English is useful for many different reasons:

We may use English when traveling or working abroad If we know English, we can find a good job easily, we can trade with other countries in English around the world to do business, economic development Knowing English helps us understand the songs, read books, watch movies, watch TV programs in English But in fact, secondary students in particular and people learning English in general have not learned English boldly and confidently to communicate in practice In order to help the students use English to communicate in everyday life, the teachers need to innovate teaching methods, pay attention to promoting language environment at school However this is not an easy matter for both the teachers and the students It is important for the teachers to know how to select the specific language games in the appropriate classes of objects, the ability of the students to meet the efficiency

They mainly focus on mastering grammar and forget speaking skill, the school speaking environment is little known even without The reason for this is

partly due to their limited vocabulary On the other hand, because of the assessment requirements of the department, the students mostly have to take part

in written test in favor of grammar rather than the oral test Therefore, the students often learn conception to pass the exams, not learn to communicate Besides, the students are often afraid of making mistakes when presenting dialogues or expressing their comments on the issues to be presented to the crowd But perhaps, the basic cause is that the students are lack of communication environment: the teachers of English are Vietnamese, so Vietnamese should be used when they can’t express something in English The majority of the teachers pay little attention, or rarely encourage the students to develop speaking skill, the students do not have the habit of speaking English That is why, in the process of teaching, especially for English pilot program, I have been thinking about "How to improve the students’ speaking skill ? », « How to help students to be self confident enough to communicate with one another in English? » I have found out that the use of language games in teaching English is one of the most effective methods to get the students involved in speaking English Moreover, using language games makes the lessons more interesting and the students more active in learning English The speaking environment is promoted more and more For the above reasons, I have

chosen the theme « Using language games to improve speaking skill for the

students in class 7B at Cu Chinh Lan Secondary School » Please be shared to

consult colleagues and additional comments

1.2 Research purposes

In many secondary schools, speaking is a skill that has been ignored Students always feel shy when they communicate with other people in English They aren’t self – confident enough to communicate with their teachers and friends

in English in speaking lesson In English speaking classes, only some students take part in speaking However, in a passive way while other students do not care anything happens around them So the training effect is very low Good students are better and better and bad students are worse and worse The atmosphere of speaking classes is very boring and the students don’t feel self - confident to report their ideas and thoughts with their partners and before class In the theme, I would like to introduce some techniques that I have used in exploiting speaking lessons in grade 7 Particularly, the result is quite satisfactory In English speaking lessons, students are active in being continuous to the knowledge

1.3 Research subjects

In fact, in teaching and learning a foreign language, the students will learn more effectively if they practice speaking skill in an atmosphere of learning fun, relaxation and have more opportunities to communicate in the context of the real world The use of language games in teaching a foreign language can increase motivation for the students, one of the decisive factors for the students to get success in their language learning At the same time, the teachers can help and encourage the students to learn and maintain their interest in learning In addition, language games also help the teachers create the context in which language practice

is very useful and easy

1.4 Research methods

The teachers should always encourage the students to participate in learning

activities and practice communicating to make the lessons more exciting, lively, and attractive They can form the habit of communicating in English The students are excited about learning the knowledge of the lesson by participating the games, they have to understand what the others are saying By playing games, they have to

say the things to present their own opinions or to present information they want to exchange with their partners or friends in the class So, in this theme, I want to mention some games organized to encourage, promote and improve speaking skill for the students in class 7B at Cu Chinh Lan secondary school

1.5 New points of experience initiative

- With the new methods I apply, they help a lot of students become more active, self - confident and interested in speaking skill and create the atmosphere for them

to practice speaking English with their friends and teachers better

- Teachers can use some techniques to transmit the content of the lesson lively and easily

2 THE CONTENT OF EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

2.1 Theoretical basis of the experience initiative

As we all know, previously under the old teaching methods, teachers play a central role as the transfer of knowledge and the students as recipients of knowledge a little passive This method brings educational attainment, it is inconsistent with the development situation of our country today

Now the renovation of teaching methods that promote positive student asks students to know self-discipline, creative initiative, dominate the ownership of knowledge Implementing this requirement, the teacher must have the role to guide, control, organize student activities Therefore, the search for and apply new methods always requires each teacher to have

Moreover, language is a subject requires students must be hard, at anytime and anywhere If students have a huge vocabulary, the students will apply their knowledge in the lessons better Besides that, the main content conjecture in a class also indispensable

Previously, under the old method, teachers often mentioned even in the new post, this does not stimulate the thinking ability of students so they are very passive, so the effect of the lesson is not high

2.2 Problem reality before applying the experience initiative

*Advantages:

- School managing board always shows interest and creates favorable conditions for facilities and technical materials for the teaching service: painting, recorders, projectors

- Local authorities and associations in and outside schools always support the teachers in the process of work

- I myself am always received support from the teachers and professional groups and colleagues

- The majority of the students in the class loved learning English and have good preparing of books, means of learning

- Most parents are interested and create good conditions for their children to study

*Disadvantages:

- Some students do not have really method to learn English speaking skill effectively To the parents, it is also very difficult to check or guide them to learn at home by foreign language

- Some others, especially boys, often distract and they are interested less in studying and learning English speaking skill

- Some students have less time at home to study because they have to help their parents with housework, take care of their younger sister or brother

- The students have no chance to communicate in English and they are also afraid to communicate with each other in English after school hours

- Some of the students are always shy when they communicate with their friends and teachers in English

* Result of school year 2017-2018, before applying themes:

%

11 31,5

%

11 31,5

%

6 17,1

%

2.3 Solutions and implementation

Until now, teachers are accustomed to the traditional way of teaching So many teachers feel confused when meet with the renewal of teaching methods Therefore, to prepare a good vocabulary lesson that attract students, requiring teachers spend much time on exploring, collecting pictures, making visual aids, providing real objects to the class to help students remember vocabulary right in the class

So to teach vocabulary by new methods to reach the highest efficiency should ensure the following:

1 Preparation :

* For teachers :

- Teachers need to spend a lot of time to search documents and images related to the topic, while constantly updated information to support lectures

- Regularly doing simple visual aids to create interest in the lesson

- Prepare thoroughly, detailed before class

* For students:

- Collect more documents and pictures related to the lesson

- Prepare carefully before class

- Find new words at home

- Practice the pronunciation frequently

- Actively making visual aids and utensils when teachers request

2 Lead- in:

Depending on each lesson the teacher must cleverly found a way to post or to engage and attract students from the beginning lessons Teachers should lead students into the lesson to heart in many ways Such as giving suggestions by the simple questions related to the subject, forcing students to think, give the answers in personal opinion Then the guidance included in the lesson

Teachers create empowerment to students Previously, the teacher was the center of the lesson, the students now have to be more active in order to form the many skills in communicating confidently Students must regularly use their new vocabulary Teachers have to think a lot of game in group activities, student pairs to participate in building a better post Depending on the requirements of each skill

that has the appropriate procedure for each post Teachers fully exploit the activities and adopt them in a flexible way and not confined

1.Challenging Game.

Purpose: Review the thematic vocabulary and practice speaking skill.

The teacher divides the class into two teams, then takes out the topic of vocabulary Two teams huddle within 30 seconds and turn to challenge your team Which team is more challenging than the number of words will have the right to speak first If any team says enough and the right amount of challenge wil be scored 1 point If the team says one wrong word or says one word that does not belong to the topic or does not say enough times challenged, the team will lose the challenge and points The prize will belong to the other team The game will be resumed with different themes The game will stop when the set time has expired or the teacher has checked all the required test scores

Example 1: Unit 2: Health – Lesson 2: A closer look 1

(7 English Program Pilot).

The teacher gives the topic “Health problems” and divides the class 7B into two groups Then the teacher asks the students to play “Challenging game” to warm

up the class and lead in the new lesson

(The students are really keen on this game because the students like challenging and they are afraid of leaving behind their friends They have expressed their quickness and liveliness in speaking English than ever before).

Example 2: Unit 3: Community service – Lesson 1: A closer look1.

(7 English Program Pilot).

The teacher gives the topic “Problems in the society” such as “homeless people” Then the teacher devices the class 7B into four groups and asks the students to play “Challenging game” to consolidate the lesson

(In this game, I really felt pleased because the students were excited to talk about the “Problems in the society” and the speaking environment is improved

as well).

2.Face to face game.

Purpose: Practice the students’ reflexes and ability skills in communication.

In this game, the students work in pairs, stand face to face with their partner, think about the topic of the lesson, the new words they have learned above To start the game, S1 says a new word and S2 says the first related word that comes to mind, keeps the words going back and forth as quickly as possible until the teacher says “stop”

Example 1: Unit 2: Health – Lesson 2: A closer look 2

(7 English Program Pilot).

-The teacher asks the students to play a game “Face to face” to consolidate the lesson Whole class stand up In pairs, stand face to face One mentions to

Health problem and the other mentions to Health tip The students take in turns.

(In this game, not only good students but also weak students are involved The whole class take part in the game and pairs by pairs complete their task So, this game makes the lessons interesting, exciting and makes the whole class enthusiastic They have to think of what to say how to respond their partner ) Example:

S1: Obesity