CONSOLIDATING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AFTER EACH UNIT BY USING ROLE PLAYS

PART I: INTRODUCTION I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE RESEACH Learning a language is a complex, difficult and long process as anyone who has tried will surely approve One of the most challenging and frustrating things is making the transition from the classroom to the 'real' world Speaking another language outside the classroom is completely different and often students are lost at sea as soon as they step outside the door Lists of memorized vocabulary are suddenly useless when ordering in a restaurant Studying English nowadays has gradually become an essential demand for everyone as English is one of the most popular international languages and it is most not only all over the world but also in all aspects of society Therefore, learning and mastering it would greatly bring a number of oppotunities for the person concerned Although many Vietnamese students have graduated with excellent certain qualifications, their ability of communicating in English has always been a hard-to-solve obtacle As a result, they will easily fail to win their dream jobs Obviously, English is the optimum standard for applicants to have chances into foreign and state- owned companies English plays a vital role not only at school but also in examinations at certain stages of the school education system According to the national curriculum, English is taught base on the aim of communicative approach Now that being able to communicate effectively in English is considered as a satisfactory target to achieve For our students, guided practice by teachers is one of the best ways to improve their skills Nevertheless, in the recent years, teaching English in Vietnam has faced up with many difficulties such as the lack of teaching aids, teachers’ poor qualifications, students’ weak study motivation or ineffective methods of teaching A large number of teachers only focus on teaching grammar, reading and writing skills In the process of evaluating students’ study result, they concentrate too much on papertests They find it very hard to improve communicating comprehension after each unit in the textbooks From reasons stated above, it is necessary to apply the innovative methods of teaching English in general and how to use this interesting language in the most effective and natural way After having been teaching English at Nong Cong No High School for ages, I realise that most of the students are afraid of English skill classes and so are grammatical problems Consequencely, they have a tendency to neglect tasks How to encourage students to take part in language activities? How to motivate students to become eager participants in mini- speaking dialogues? How to raise students’ awareness of learning? The problems have become more simple when consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using role-plays suitably However, from my experiences of restating the content of each lesson,the simple and practical speaking tasks have always brought specific results to my students In this writing, I would like to recommend a practical way of consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using role-plays II AIMS OF THE RESEARCH On the basis of surveying students’ English ability at Nong Cong No3 High School, I will suggest some feasible solutions in motivating students to use role-play techniques skillfully as well as improve dramatically speaking skills to systematise the tasks after each English class From that teaching and learning English at high school will become a piece of cake and easily approach the teaching and studying foreign language targets This subject is concerned with using role-play techniques effectively and improving students’ communicative ability to consolidate after each unit in the textbooks III SCOPES OF THE RESEACH Researching role-play techniques used in consolidating for high school students after each English skill lesson helps them be more self-confident in communcation especially their speaking skill Therefore, students at Nong Cong No3 High School can gradually codify the neccessary knowlegde The research will make students use vocabulary to practise any grammatical tasks more easily IV RESEACHING METHODS - The method of collecting and analyzing material for the research: research for material concerning about the subject, analyze and get certain knowledge from previous researches, finally give the foundation to the research - The method of talking to students: through talking to students, I have got to know real situation of students’ achievements after language classes at Nong Cong No3 High School - The method of surveying through answer sheets PART II: DEVELOPMENT I Theoretical background: My experience initiative is " Consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using role-plays " As far as we know, role-plays, or simulations are one of the ways English as a Second language (ESL) instructors can ease students' transition into using English in real world situations A simulation is where students act out a real-life situation, for example checking into at a hotel, but not act out a different personality Roleplays are where students take on different personalities In a role-play, for example, one student may be asked to take on the role of "an angry neighbor" which is out of character for the student The purpose of role playing is to give the students an opportunity to work with others in determining how an individual or group might behave in response to a particular situation Role playing is often used primarily to promote classroom discussion The use of role playing as a cooperative learning model also includes class discussion as an essential step, but in this approach the entire class is involved in preparing and presenting role plays through pair or group activities * Some principles of using and managing role-plays: When using role-plays, the more engaging the better Bacause the value of role-plays come from students immersing themselves in the material We should choose a topic and stage After each English class, teacher gives students the topic they have just studied The teacher assigns students positions on the topic (for/against) This will get students out of their personality and into the role where they not have the same inhibitions Preparation is very important to success so that the teacher has to give students 'personality cards' which sketch out their personal characteristics or scenario and divide students into groups and give them time to sketch out various scenarios, and go over extra or special vocabulary, ask them to discuss how they will act, think about the character and plan what they will say For example, what are possible responses/replies for the angry neighbor? The teacher, as facilitator of the role-plays must support students in their role, i.g they 'are' " Undersea World"- Unit English 10 The teacher should not anything to interrupt the pretend environment leave grammar correction to the end as correcting students in the middle of an argument interrupts the pretend environment Exaggeration is good, so we have think about how to encourage students to exaggerate their actions, opinions and movements Exaggeration helps students immerse themselves in the role In order to get a successful result, teacher must stage a rehearsal first and have students practice their role in small groups with coaching from the other students While the role-play or debate is in progress, have other students suggest vocabulary first, and act as backup if they not know Role-plays are unpredictable which makes them both a valuable learning tool and at the same time difficult to manage Therefore, the time should be controlled exactly ( in a short stage from to 15 minutes) The teacher has to sketch out the various routes the role-play can take from the initial scenario This will give you some ideas what to expect and avoid any surprises II Practical background: I have carried out the survey of real situations of learning four skills of English in class 10A8 and 11C6 (the school year: 2018- 2019) and I have got the following result: Class Before applying innovative techniques (According to the figures from a four skill test at the beginning of the school- year 2018 – 2019) Excellent Good Fair Poor 10A8 1% 15% 25% 59% 11C6 2% 18% 27% 55% From the above survey, It is not dfflicult to realise that teaching and learning English classes at Nong Cong No3 High School are ineffective and rather passive Students not seem to be eager to learn This is because of their lack of vocabulary Their systematicalisation and generalisation abilities are limitted In fact, the greatest problem is ability of communicating in English They are still inactive learners in joining lessons Therefore, it is extremely necessary to innovate the methods of teaching language classes well and flexibly, at the same time the teacher uses roleplays in consolidating for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks and motivate students to become better listeners From this, the above obtacles will step-by-step be solved III Solutions: 3.1 Steps in carrying out role-plays: 3.1.1 Outside the classroom: - Choosing the topic, based on the topic of the lesson for the unit in textbook - Preparing materials, especially role-play cards (Teachers can make up the cards themselves, or search for them on the Internet) 3.1.2 Inside the classroom: - Providing students with enough language to be used in their role-plays - Setting up the scene for role-plays ( scenes based on the units in the textbooks grade 10, 11 and 12) 3.2 Sample lesson plans: Unit 1: Friendship (English 11) Finding a Perfect Roommate/Flatmate Role-play Materials: + Ranking Roommates: Vocabulary Warm-up about adjectives of manner and people's characters + Room Ads: Listening Reading Comprehension Warm-up + Rooms for Rent Role Cards + Friends Looking for Rooms Role Cards + Students with Rooms for Rent Activity Sheet + Students with Friends Needing Rooms Activity Sheet Purpose and Audience: The purpose of these materials is to get the students to practice talking about the qualities of good and bad roommates Target language: Describing people and their habits Warm up: a) Group Discussion + Where you live? + Do you live in a dormitory or with your family? + Who you live with? + Are you happy where you live? Why or why not? b) Pros and Cons Brainstorm + What you think about shared accommodation? + What are the pros and cons of shared accommodation? + What kind of person is good to live with? Why? · groups divided into Pros and Cons then pair up Pro and Con to discuss When trying to find a compatible roommate, what qualities are the most important for you? Circle the qualities of your ideal roommate Finally, in groups, rank them below (1 being the most important and 12 being least important) Messy (is a slob) good cook Can’t cook outgoing shy easygoing argumentative/high strung boring humorous, interesting smoker Non-smoker heavy drinker social drinker non-drinker friendly grumpy/mean quiet noisy considerate selfish has a car doesn’t have a car broke has enough money How are you as a roommate? How many of the above ideal qualities you have? In your group, find out who is the most compatible roommate for you: c) Which would you choose? In groups of 3, put Shared Accommodation Ads in pile face down Students turn up and explain to the group This accommodation is in (area) It’s a ( flat/ house/ town/ house) There are (number) people living there It costs $ a week (other information) Would you like to live there? Why or why not? – Discuss After going through all six ads, choose the best one for you and explain why.Students Looking for Someone to Share Housing Dialogue: Finding a Roommate A: Hi, Steve B: Hey, Jack What’s up? A: Do you know anyone who’s looking for a place to live? One of our roommates is moving out B: As a matter of fact, I My friend Sally needs a place How much is the rent? (Steve asks questions about the room and roommates) B: I’ll let her know and give her your number A: Thanks Steve Oh wait! Is there anything I should know about Sally? B: Like what? A: Well, is she a heavy drinker? Our last roommate got drunk all the time and caused a lot of problems (Jack asks questions about the potential roommate Sally) A: That’s all I need to know I’ll talk it over with my roommates Thanks again Steve See you later B: See you Jack Unit 6: Competitions (English 11) Reported speech role play Level: Intermediate Teacher's notes: After you have taught reported speech, put the students into groups of three Explain that one person in the three is a rich actress/actor, one is his/her niece/nephew and the last person is the butler The actor/actress is hearing impaired and dying She is going to decide what to with her money and house after her death Set up the class so that the actors/actresses are on one side of the room, the nieces/nephews on the other and the butlers in the middle The butlers need to give messages from the nieces/nephews to the actor/actress The aim is for the butler and the nephew/niece to be nice so that the actor/actress will give them her money As they are doing this the butler will use reported speech e.g She said that you are lazy and never visited her He said he was busy and didn't have time He said that he was helping animals You are the niece/nephew of a very rich, famous hearing impaired actress You know that she hasn't got long to live So, for the moment you are trying to become her favorite relative in order to obtain her millions after she is dead You know that she loves animals and children You also know that her dog is her closest friend What you think will make her give you some money? You are the butler to a rich, famous hearing impaired actress Actually she hasn't got long to live and so you are being very nice to her at the moment, you think you have a good chance of being left her millions in her will You have always helped her and you have looked after her cats and dogs with care You think you should at least get the house which you have cleaned for nearly 40 years! You don't like her niece/nephew who has suddenly made an appearance You always have to act as a go between for the niece/nephew and aunt because the aunt can never hear her relative You are a rich, famous, hearing impaired actress You know that you haven't got long for this world but you don't mind because you have had a good life You also know that your niece/nephew wants something but you're not sure what You have already written your will but you are prepared to change it Your will: $ million to be left to the animal rescue league (you love cats) Your house will go to your dog It has been a faithful companion animal and you want it to have a home when you're gone Your jewelry will be sold at auction in order to raise money for the children's hospital near your house You haven't decided about the rest, a sum total of $150,000 Your butler has always been good to you Your niece/nephew is also sweet You are waiting to hear what they have to say You feel that if they can show you how good they really are you will give the money to either one of them As a follow up lesson: Ask the students what type of words "hearing impaired" and "companion animal" are i.e politically correct For homework ask the students to think/find of more politically correct words The students can compare their lists when they get back into class 10 Unit 10: Conservation (English 10) ROLE PLAY: A discussion between different parties interested in global warming Team up with classmates who have been assigned the same role to develop your roles and discuss ideas and “strategies” before the role play begins Introduce yourself to the other role players Discuss your roles after the role play ends Role A – Penguin leader You live in Antarctica You need global warming to stop Temperatures must actually get cooler Your species is at great risk of extinction Your habitat, the ice, is melting and your sources of food are disappearing The world must act to save you The day the last penguin dies is the start of the end of the Earth Role B – Dessert dweller You like the recent effects of global warming It has brought a lot of unexpected rain to your land For the first time you can grow things You have bumper harvests You have lots of water to drink You think global warming is simply a matter or winners and losers You think global warming or cooling has always happened Role C – Worried Martian Billions of years ago, Mars, your planet, looked like Earth Life was everywhere However, greedy Martians controlled the energy sources and the Mars climate changed, killing all life – except you The greedy Martians paid leaders to pretend nothing was happening and that alternative energies would arise It was all too late Advise the Earthlings and the penguins of the dangers of climate change Role D – U.S President You are terrified of taking measures to control global warming because you might lose your power You believe scientists can build a huge machine to re-freeze the ice caps You think keeping American jobs is more important than penguin food You know better than the world’s climate experts You don’t believe in aliens 11 Unit 10: Conservation (English 10) Role play activity: The Environment - Disposing of Car Waste This is your chance to discuss some of the issues that the European Parliament makes decisions about The characters involved in your role-plays are: • Tony Fallon, Environmental campaigner • Trevor Grey, MEP • Sally Whiting, Car owner • Simone Taylor, Resident of Chippingham Estate • Grace Pemberton, Spokesperson for Viva UK (a car manufacturer) These characters are fictional (this means they are not real people) but there are people like them who have similar opinions Your discussion question is: Should car owners be responsible for disposing of their worn out cars? Your character is: Tony- Environmental campaigner You are pleased that the European Parliament is making an effort to minimise the damage to the environment that results from car waste as you are concerned that, up to now, all the petrol and oil has been left to seep into our earth However, you believe that this does nothing to deter people from buying new cars or to stop the ever-increasing level of car usage and consequent pollution You want the European Parliament to put the environment first, not the interests of greedy car manufacturers You can’t understand why the European Parliament doesn’t put pressure on car manufacturers to design cars that last for longer Your character is: Trevor Grey, MEP You and your colleagues in the European Parliament have worked hard to come up with a solution to the problem of vehicle waste and you are confident that this will make people responsible for disposing of their vehicle with the environment in mind You believe that the European Parliament has balanced the interest of consumers and manufacturers whilst putting the environment first Your character is: Sally, Car owner You’re very suspicious about this European Parliament proposal You agree that car owners should be responsible for getting rid of their worn out cars but you 12 think that you’ll end up paying for this new measure in the end The car manufacturers will probably put up their prices You already pay through the nose to run your car, which you need for your business and to drive your disabled son to school Why shouldn’t the government (which gets all the money you pay in tax) pay to protect the environment? Your character is: Simon, Resident of Chippingham Estate You think that this is a great idea Anything that gets rid of this dangerous junk from the streets is fine by you Kids love playing on these old cars that people have simply abandoned and you worry that your kids are going to hurt themselves You believe that people need to take responsibility for things they buy If you buy it – you’re responsible for disposing of it in a safe and sensible way You don’t understand why the European Parliament is involved though Surely the local council or government can sort this out without getting the European Union involved? Your character is: Grace, Spokesperson for Viva UK (a car manufacturer) Cars are an important part of modern life and your company fully supports the European Parliament’s proposal to make people dispose of them responsibly Viva UK is committed to protecting the environment and is happy to contribute toward these measures You want to reassure car owners that Viva UK is prepared to put its money where its mouth is and bear at least part of the cost of disposing of cars safely Unit 11: Sources of Energy (English 11) Going green: Role play A - You want to convince your school to use more renewable energy You think that global warming is a big problem and you want to try and reduce the effect your school has on the environment Try to convince your school’s director that he / she should invest in renewable energy B - You are the director of the school You think it would be a good idea to change to renewable energy but you are worried that changing to renewable energy is very expensive You want to spend the school’s money on other things Unit14: The World Cup (English 10) 13 Roles for Planning Debate Debate/ Role play: Each pupil takes turns to be Pele' to talk to the fans In groups they have to decide a reporter to make questions for one of the teammate After minutes, the students from each group will act out their role - plays and get feedback for the group’s discussion from the rest of the class The aim of this activity is to restate students vocabulary involved in the topic The following passage is only a cue: " Pele’ is considered one of the greatest football players of all time He was born in 1940 in Brazil As a football player, Pele’ was famous for his powerful kicking and cotrolling the ball He joined a Brazilian football club in 1956, and in 1962 he led the team to its first world club championship Pele’ became the only player to participate in three World Cups in 1958, 1962, and 1970 By 1974, Pele’ had scored 1,200 goals and became a Brazilian national hero He played for an American football club for two years before he retired in 1977 Later Pele’ became an international ambassador for the sport, working to promote peace and understanding through friendly sport activities " - Year: 1940 Events: Born in Brazil - Year: 1956 Events: joined a Brazilian football club - Year: 1962 Events: First world club championship - Year: 1974 Events: 1,200th goal - Year: 1977 Events: Retired Suggested questions: 1.What was Pelé famous for as a football player? 2.How many World Cups did he participate in? 3.Where did he play football before he retired? 14 IV.The results of the research: I directly experimented the above method in consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using role-plays to teach 42 students in class 10A8, Nong Cong No3 High school Besides, I have also been applying the traditional method to teach 48 students in class 11C6 in the year 2018-2019 There is no doubt that 80% of students at class 11C6 acquired firmly the content of each unit in the textbooks to express their ideas, remember the vcabulary better as well as master the grammatical issues more naturally They could join enthusiasticly any English discussion and acquire deeply what the teacher introduced Consolidation is no longer any obtacles English lessons have become every student' expectation I have got the following detail result after applying my innovative technique : Class After applying innovative techniques (According to the figures at the end of the school- year 2018 – 2019) Excellent Good Fair Poor 10A8 11% 35% 47% 7% 11C6 15% 36% 45% 4% My research has also been applied by most of my English teaching colleagues at Nong Cong No High school as well as my English teaching friends in some schools in Thanh Hoa province such as Nhu Thanh High school, Nguyen Quan Nho High school, Ba Thuoc No1 High school The responsible reply and optimistic results from them encourage me to extent the scope of my reseach in recent time PART III CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS Although role-plays require more imagination by students and teacher and can be difficult to manage because they are unpredictable, the initial scenario 15 develops from the students interacting with each other and can literally go in any direction This gives students practice in a non-threatening environment, and gives the motivation and involvement wherever they have to think in English After applying this method, role-plays have gradually more amd more interesting, memorable and engaging As a result, students can retain the vocabulary and grammar tasks they have learned more naturally In their assumed role, students drop their shyness and other personality and cultural inhibitions, making them one of the best tools available for obtaining English Staging role-plays can be challenging for a teacher, but is also great fun After I have done a few, I can specificly know what to expect and feel more confident My experience is students love them, retain what they learn, and often leave the classroom laughing and still arguing! Helping students understand grammar tasks clearly and remember vocabulary based on topic or themes in the textbooks is an important target to follow in teaching English As I mentioned above helps me reduce the amount of stressful time to explain everything to the students Instead, students can actively pay attention to developing English skills For all the above experiences, I believe that my research will widely be used, applied and extended effectively by my colleagues and students An English club should be opened in each high school so that English teachers and students have more wonderful time with English Consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each unit by using role- plays is one of the realistic requirements and the necessary need of all teachers and students to improve quality of learning this exciting foreign language at higher levels, to meet the practical demands and proposed curriculum ================***================== REFERENCES: Adrian Doff, Teach English – Cambridge University Press in asociation with The British Council 16 A.V Martinet and A.J Thomson - A Practical English Grammar Dwaft Version- English Language Teacher Training Project Seth Linstromberg - Language activties for teenagers Ann Baker and Sharon Goldstein - Pronunciation pairs Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 10 - Nhà xuất giáo dục Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 11 - Nhà xuất giáo dục Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 - Nhà xuất giáo dục 17 18 19 20 21 THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NONG CONG No3 UPPER - SECONDARY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE Consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each Enghlish unit in the textbooks by using role-plays The writer: Mạc Đăng Minh Position: English teacher Experience initiative: English Thanh Hoa, 2019 22 APPENDIX TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION PAGES I Resons for choosing the reseach II Aims of the reseach III Scopes of the reseach IV Reseaching methods 3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT I Theoretical background II Practical background III Solutions 3.1 Steps in carrying out role-plays 3.1.1 Outside the classroom 3.1.2 Inside the classroom 3.2 Sample lesson plans Materials Purpose and Audience Target language Warm up: a) Group Discussion b) Pros and Cons Brainstorm IV.The results of the research PART III CONCLUSION AND 15 16 SUGGESTIONS REFERENCES 17 23 24 ... method in consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using role- plays to teach 42 students in class 10A8, Nong Cong No3 High school. .. experience initiative is " Consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using role- plays " As far as we know, role- plays, or simulations... when consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using role- plays suitably However, from my experiences of restating the content of each