Using information gap activities to improve 11th grader¬, speaking skill

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study In Viet Nam , since the development of market economy, English is not only a great interest but also an increasing demand for most people English now is therefore a compulsory school subject in many schools and universities In all the four skills of learning English, speaking obviously plays the most vital part in communication However, most Vietnamese learners find it hard to be able to use English in the real life The reasons may come from the fact that traditional language teaching method like the Grammar- Translation one which has been applied to teach English in our country for ages In many English classes, teacher and student exchanges have little communicative value because there is no real information being exchanged Teachers often spend a large of proportion of class time asking “display” questions for which they and their students already know the answers Here are three examples of typical display questions: When presenting the new word “book” , the teacher holds up a book and says: this is a book What is it?” When teaching the sentence pattern for habitual actions, the teacher asks a student,” Do you go to school everyday?” When demonstrating the present continuous tense, the teacher performs the activity, such as walking to the door, and while doing so says “ I am walking to the door What am I doing now?” These display questions serve only to elicit inauthentic language practice to: present a new word( example 1), elicit a sentence pattern( example 2) or practice a grammatical structure (example 3) They are not communicative They demonstrate usage rather than use of the target language In contrast, by using information gap activities, the teacher will motivate students to speak English and will create like-real situations where one of them has some information and other does not; thus, they must use the target language to share that information The students must speak in order to be able to finish the task In other words, information gap activities give students opportunities to manipulate English appropriately not only inside but also outside the classroom There have been a number of previous studies on how to exploit information gap activities in the speaking class Nevertheless, no researchers have examined the practice of using information gap activities to improve speaking skill for the grader 11th in Chu Van An high school This has given the researcher desire to carry out a research study on this issue 1.2.Objectives of the study Doing this research , the researcher expected that the results are useful for the English teacher of Chu Van An high school in teaching speaking, so that the English teacher can create more communicative and active activities for the students by using information gap activities The researcher also hope to help students have a better atmosphere in an English speaking class in which they are encouraged to speak or to state their ideas, thoughts orally in English Furthermore, using information gap activities can motivate them to speak English as often as possible, so that they can improve their ability in speaking skills 1.3 The scope of the study Due to limited time and experience, this study focuses on how the students’ speaking skills can be improved by using information gap activities The study was limited to teach English language textbook Tieng Anh 11 which is now in use in the high schools The study was applied in the school year 2017/2018, 2018-2019, by implementing information gap activities 1.4 Research Methodology This research is a classroom action research which is intended to make a contribution to the improvement of teaching and learning process by using information gap activities CONTENTS OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE 2.1.THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1.1 Information Gap Activities An information gap activity, in class terms, means that one student must be in a position to tell another something that the second student does not already know The two following examples offered by Brown and Yule (1983) will distinguish information gap activity with other ones Activity 1: The teacher gives the student an object to describe Activity 2: The student A is provided with a simple drawing of a line, a square and a triangle with a pen and a sheet of blank paper The student A’s task is to instruct the student B to produce, as accurately as possible, the drawing which the student A can see but the student B can not In activity 1, the student has to create, for himself, an artificial information gap between his knowledge and the teacher’s He has to behave as if the teacher does not know what the object looks like This behavior is regarded as being additional and highly artificial There is no information gap because both the teacher and the student can see the object clearly and then this is not genuinely communicative Differently, activity is more interesting partly because it creates a reasonable purpose for the students to perform the task In other words, one person has the information that the other does not know, so there is a need to communicate This definition reflects the nature of information gap activities In information gap activities, there is always an information gap among participants which causes a need to communicate This characteristic of information gap activities is similar to the nature of a conversation in real life In fact, the need to communicate is created when one of the participants want to find out something they don’t know Therefore, Information gap activities can be considered as a bridge to bring features of real life communication into classroom context 2.1.2 Factors affecting the choice of information gap activities In order to select the most effective and appropriate information gap activities, teachers must take many factors affecting their choice into consideration Among them, the four following criteria need to be paid most attention to: students’ language level, topics and objectives of each lesson, time allowance, and teaching aids First and foremost, students’ language level is the most significant factor affecting the choice of an information gap activity The reason is that the activity is under or above the students’ language level; the students may lose their interest when they find out that the activity is too easy or too difficult to be accomplished The activity then is just a waste of time and effort Secondly, the information gap activity which is chosen must suit the particular objectives of each lesson The teacher should not let his students perform an information gap activity which is claimed to develop students’ ability of using common expression in making small talks whereas the topic of the lesson is about technology and the lesson is targeted at developing students’ capacity of talking about the uses of mordent invention in daily life Therefore, in order to pick out suitable information gap activities, the topic and objectives of each lesson need to be clarified right from the start Another important factor must be considered carefully is time allowance for the activity For instance, an information gap activity set for warming up the class should be spent just below ten minutes while fifteen to twenty minutes can be spent on an information gap activity used in order to practice newly presented language items Last but not least, teaching aids (cards, pictures, flashcards, etc.) for the information gap activities should also take a great deal of attention Sketchy or illegible cards or pictures surely depress students’ interest for the activity An information gap activity that is interesting but hard to find the materials to be carried out also should be eliminated That is why, during the preparation, the teacher should assure that the aids are available, visible and attractively presented so he can motive his students to learn best 2.1.3 Strategies of implementing information gap activities Information gap activities should be implemented via some strategies The following are some techniques used to implement information gap activities 2.1.3.1 Pair work or group work: In order to elicit information and opinions, the learners need to interact among themselves They should spend most of their time working in pairs or groups, finding out their peers’ points of view, transmitting their own conceptions, exchanging ideas, and questing for clues for solutions Thus, dividing the learners into pairs and groups is an inevitable and important strategy to implement information gap activities This ensures the successful function of the information gap activities in teaching speaking in which group work can help achieve the goals of anxiety reduction and meaningful communication (Sato,2003) However, effective group work in the classroom does not occur automatically and thus the teacher’s careful involvement is required as in the following steps: Firstly, the teacher should plan and prepare for the group work activities ahead of the speaking lesson ( Sato,2003) because the good designs of the activities will result in “ more negotiation of meaning, more feedback and faster acquisition” ( Skehan,2007,p.291) Secondly, the engagement of the teacher in the group work is important (Ellis,2003.p.70) Thirdly, the teacher should allot roles to each member within group reasonably (Sato,2003) As, Ellis(2003,p.271) suggests that mixed groups including different proficient members can work better than “ homogeneous group” Additionally, Jacobs( 1998, as cited in Ellis,2003) suggests that “ the students ate seated in a way that they can talk together easily, keep eye contact , share materials and talk in a lower voice” In fact, information gap activities assist students to achieve their goals of meaningful communication Through pair and group work they can get more opportunities to speak and feel more confident about speaking after cooperating to practice Furthermore, they get enjoyment from learning language, which motivates them to reach a higher level But teachers should take into consideration that group work in speaking also has its negative effects For instance, students may overuse the first language or “ engage in off task talk”( Ellis,2003,p.168) 2.1.3.2 Personalization and individualization: according to Zhang (2004) as quoted in Defrioka (2009,p.40) information gap activities collect views not only from others but also from one’s own contributions as well It is both speakers’ conceptions that close the gap between them 2.1.3.3 Interest: interest is particular important for the implementation of information gap activities To stimulate learners’ involvement, interest requires that the activities be designed with some essential characteristics, such as those in games, role playing, curiosity arousing activities, imagination involving activities, real life touching experiencing activities, visual or auditory attracting activities, in addition to a clear goal and a meaningful problem solving process Making the information gap activities interesting will ensure a high involvement of learners and keeps the motivation on going 2.1.3.4 Variety: a variety of information gap activities and techniques are always essential in all teaching and learning They will accommodate varieties of learning styles and individuals 2.1.3.5 Open ending: this means “ the provision of cues or learning tasks which not have single predetermine “right” answers, but a prospectively unlimited number of acceptable responses” ( Ur,1996,p.309) Open ended cues in information gap activities supply possibilities at various levels and dimensions Thus activate an increase in number of learners’ responses from elementary to advanced, from simple to sophisticated, and from textbooks to personal experiences Open ended strategy allow learners opportunities for choosing appropriate languages, topics and paces, which promotes a significant rise in the proportion of learners’ participation 2.2.THE REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING PART 2.2.1 An overview of Chu Van An high school Teacher Most of the English teachers think the aims of teaching speaking English is how to make students communicate effectively and naturally in real life However they found some problems in getting students’ attention and participations in speaking class Furthermore, the students are so active and noisy They are hesitant and unconfident when they speak in front of class Thus, when asking English teacher about what causes these problem most of them thought that the cause may be because of the teacher’s teaching method Students are not motivated enough in learning English The English teacher often use the same method in every speaking lesson They often give a sample dialogue to students, ask them to read and practice with their partner After that, the teachers ask students to make a similar dialogue with the teacher’s help by providing words, structures Whenever students not understand their instruction, the teacher uses Vietnamese to explain Then, teachers asks them to memorize and perform in front of the class In addition, English teachers see that most of their students speaking ability is low They are shy and hesitant when they speak English even inside or outside classroom They can not express idea or give opinion in real communication well The English teacher teaching method is boring, unmotivated and uncreative They rarely facilitate the students in communicative activities Students Most of students want to learn English well, they like it but they are not motivated in learning because English is very boring and difficult The students meet some problems in speaking English They not understand what their teacher explains There are so many new words and structures They not brave to speak English The causes for these problem may be because they are lack of confidence , lack of motivation and lack of vocabulary, etc From the above fact, the researcher see that He should use an active and creative activity to motivate students’ speaking skills Information gap is very useful for organizing these such activities The teacher is able to improve the students’ speaking ability because information gap activities increase student talk and promote interaction among students for communicative purposes rather than the students become comfortable to speak everything 2.2.2 The English Language syllabus Our school’s 11th Grade English Language textbook “ Tieng Anh 11” It is a traditional textbook structured with a priority towards theme-based or topicbased learning models The textbook has desirable aims of providing students with a foundational knowledge of numerous fields, a favorable attitude towards the English Language, and the four skills generally recognized as building proficiency in language study: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing For each topic, related vocabulary and word studies are presented communicatively The book contains sixteen units, with each unit presenting five lessons with four different skills and a language focus Speaking is the second unit in each lesson.Some tasks in the text book are difficult while some others are not really challenging This disparity requires teachers to creatively motivate students by adapting exercises to their interest levels Being effective at this adaptive skill is what sets teachers apart (average from excellent) worldwide 2.3 METHODOLOGY 2.3.1 Research design This research is a Classroom Action Research (CAR) Action research is an action that is done by the teachers to improve the teaching and learning process in their classes This research consisted of cycles and each cycles consisted of elements The researcher used the scheme of action research designed by Kemmis and McTaggart as follow: Figure Action research cycles by Kemmis and McTaggart Based on the model above, the first step is planning In this step, the researcher found some problems in classes Then, after planning the actions, the researcher took actions to solve the problems While taking actions, the researcher also observed the teaching learning process to know the effect of the actions This is also the stage where the researcher collected information as much as possible related to the implementation of the actions The last step was reflection where the researcher evaluated and reflected on what he had done In this research , the researcher used information gap activities to improve the speaking skills of grade 11 students in Chu Van An high school 2.3.2 The implementation of information gap activities in teaching speaking In this implementation, the researcher arranged the pre-test and post-test orally The pre-test was administered to the students under study before the treatment was given to know the students’ pre-existing ability in speaking Besides, the post-test were administered to know the students’ progress after the treatments were given In the pre-test, the students under study were asked to construct and perform the descriptive monologue The students could choose the topics which were provided by the researcher They could describe their best friend, daily activity, family or school in front of the class within until minutes The researcher scored the students’ performance by using the rubric which had three categories The categories were grammar , fluencies and comprehension ( see appendix 3) After knowing that the students’ speaking ability is low, that can be seen in the result of pre-test score, the researcher prepared cycles Each cycle consists of four steps They were planning, action, observation and reflection After each cycle was done, the researcher conducted post-test to know the improvement of speaking ability The description of each cycle can be explained as follow 2.3.2.1 Cycle a Planning Planning was focused on preparing the lesson plan , teaching aids for doing an action in the classroom The lesson plans were suitable with the 11 th grade and the information gap activities that is sharing information with unrestricted cooperation It was divided into two meeting, 45 minute for the first meeting and 45 minute for the second meeting The researcher prepared some pictures and the activities related to the topic This cycle was carried out to solve the problem in the pre-test, which was students still low in speaking ability To avoid the students’ boredom, the researcher designed different activities in each meeting b Action Action means the activities that the researcher really did in the classroom There were two meetings in this cycle In this phase, the researcher taught and the teacher sat down, observed and monitored all the activities that happened in the classroom First meeting Date: March, 25th, 2018 Topic: Sources of energy The researcher began the lesson with a warm up activity by watching a video of sources of energy and answer questions about it The researcher also supplied new words and structures Then, the researcher gave a student one picture of sources of energy while he had six ones His duty was to ask and describe about the advantage and disadvantage of these sources of energy in order to find out which one is student’s energy picture This activity was a sample activity to help student practice later After giving the sample activity, the researcher asked students to work in pairs with their partner This time, the partner given pictures of sources of energy and the other was given a picture The student had to practice with their partner the activity which had been performed before The teacher called the students to go in front of the class with their partner The teacher gave six pictures to the other They performed what they had practiced, but a picture held by a partner was selected by the teacher At this time, there are some students practice and the teacher motivated them by giving additional score for the person who was volunteer to perform in front of the class Second meeting Date: April, 4th , 2018 Topic: Hobbies The researcher began the lesson by giving an interesting warm up activity (miming game to guess what the student would like to do) to lead into the new lesson Furthermore, the researcher may ask students some questions about their hobbies before the lesson The researcher asked students to work in pairs Each student had pieces of paper on that the researcher wrote hobbies that people often like to Student A arranged the pieces of paper in his/her way and the student B had to rearranged his/her paper the same sequences as student A but he/she may not see student A’ papers Student A’s duty is to instruct and direct student B by describing, asking questions so that student B can arrange the same sequence as student A’s If they finished , they could change the turn to each other After practicing with partner, the researcher asked two students went in front of the class to perform but at this time the papers are different from the papers given to them before and the researcher was the person to arrange the paper c Observation The researcher observed the teaching learning process in order to get the data from students’ progresses From the result of the pre test, the researcher found that before using information gap activities, students were not running well They were hesitant and unconfident when they perform in front of the class They had difficulties in expressing ideals and thought orally However , the researcher found that in the first cycle , after using information gap activities, the student may speak English more confidently They are initiative in speaking by using grammar and vocabulary correctly They could make questions and answer them fluently Especially, they are motivated by the teacher Most of them were ready to perform in front of the class Although there were some students still have difficulties in using vocabulary and grammar but they understood how to use them They only need more activities to apply them d Reflection After analyzing the data and evaluating the result of observation of teaching learning process in cycle 1, the researcher should pay attention to the students who were shy and not confident enough to speak English Furthermore, he should recognize the student who got difficult to understand and often produce incorrect speaking When the researcher categorized these kinds of students, first the researcher could ask them to speak English with him so that the researcher can correct the errors that they made, second the researcher could put them in pairs or groups who have a good ability in speaking English They can give peer correction To sum up, after using information gap activities in cycle 1, the researcher found that the students’ speaking English is more fluently and correctly 2.3.2.2 Cycle a Planning After cycle 1, the researcher found that using information gap activities helped students improve their speaking English better However, the researcher didn’t satisfy with this result because there were some students who still have difficulties in using grammar structures and vocabularies correctly Thus, the researcher decided to continue the next cycle to improve the students’ speaking ability The second cycle was carried out to improve the problem in cycle b Action The researcher continued applying information gap activities in this cycle to improve students’ speaking ability There were three meeting in this cycle , including post - test They are described as follow Fist meeting Date: April, 14th, 2018 Topic: Space conquest To motivate students in the new lesson, the researcher warm up them with a small game ( quiz game) The questions in the game were related in the topic Then , the researcher divided students into groups, each group had four members The researcher prepared 10 important events in space exploration However, each event was cut up into pieces of paper The students worked in groups Each member in group handed one or two pieces of the event Without seeing each other ‘s paper, the student in the group must decide the original sequence of the event After that they discussed about the event and created a story without writing it The researcher helped students if necessary After discussing, the researcher called two member of each group to perform their story in front of the class The researcher chose the students to perform randomly This activity helped students to improve their description and narration language The second meeting Date: April, 25th ,2018 Topic: The wonders of the world The researcher warmed up students with a suitable activity that was related to the topic ( such as brainstorming the wonders of the world) She also prepared two kinds of paper The first paper is the list of wonders of the world The second paper is the list of the characteristics of these wonders ( construction, special features, attraction….) Then the researcher asked students to work in pairs , one student had a paper consists of the names of wonders, one had a paper consists of their characteristics The students may not see the other’s paper Students worked in pairs to decide which characteristics belongs to which wonder by describing and asking questions Students took turn in this activity In order to help students to understand how to this activity, the researcher asked a student who has a good ability in English to come forward and perform this activity with the researcher in front of the class After students practiced with their partners, the researcher called students to perform in front of the class Third meeting ( post - test) Date: May, 2rd,2018 Topic: The beauty of Vietnam The researcher gave warm up activity related to the topic The activity used in this test was the same activity with the second meeting but the topic was different The researcher asked students to work in pairs Then , he gave a student in each partner a paper consists of 10 provinces, while the other was given a paper consists of 20 things that may be found in these provinces Then, the researcher asked them to work with their partner to decide things that might be found in each province by discussing and arguing After practicing, the researcher called students’ name two by two She selected the name randomly Then she gave them two papers as the papers that had been given to them before The researcher also invited the English teacher to assess students’ performances The test run for 45 minutes c Observation After observation the second cycles, the researcher found that by using information gap activities students’ speaking English become better They were very enthusiastic to follow the teaching learning process Most of the students 10 are more confident and initiative in expressing their idea or thought orally in English They are willing to be volunteers when the researcher asked them to speak or answer the questions They could use grammar structures correctly d Reflection Based on the result of the observation, the researcher evaluated the result of implementation of using information gap activities for the 11 th grader as follow Most of the students are braver, more confident and easier to understand English speaking and easier to use grammatical rules and vocabulary items fluently and correctly Furthermore, students may use English in real communication They are willing to speak, and communicate with their teachers and friends outside classroom To know the progress of the students’ speaking ability after conducting the research for cycles ( with meetings), the researcher displayed students’ progress on their pre-test and post-test 2.3.3 SOME EFFECTIVE INFORMATION GAP ACTIVITIES TO TEACH SPEAKING TO 11 GRADERS 2.3.3.1 Speaking activities based on information gap activities The teacher should design the speaking activity so as to provide an opportunity for learners to produce language that they had recently learnt in order to prepare the learner for later communicative activity by providing them with the necessary linguistic form and the necessary links between forms and meanings According to William Littlewood (p.40,2006) speaking activities based on information gap principle can be divided into some categories, those are: Identifying pictures: learner A has a set of four, five or six pictures which are very similar in content, but contain a number of distinguishing features Learner B has a copy of these pictures , learner A must find out which of the pictures learner B is holding, by asking him questions about it Discovering identical pairs: In this activity the students work in groups, for instance, one group consists of five students Four pictures are given among four students and the fifth learner in the group holds a duplicate of one of these pictures He must ask the others to discover which learner has the picture identical to his own Discovering sequences or location: learner A has a set of six patterns These are arranged into a sequence from one to six Learner B has the same set of patterns, but these are not in sequence Learner B must discover the sequence of A’s pictures and arrange his pictures in the same way Discovering missing information or features: learner A has information represented in tabular or picture form However, some items of information have been deleted from the table or picture Learner B has an identical table or picture but different items of information have been deleted Each learner can complete his own table or picture by asking his partner for the information that he lacks Communicating patterns and pictures: learner A has an assortment of shapes which he arranges into a pattern Learner B has the same shapes They 11 must communicate each other so that B can reproduce as exactly as possible the same pattern as A Discovering differences: learner A and B each have a picture or map/patter , etc The pictures are identical except for a number of details The learner must discuss the pictures in order to discover what the differences are Following directions: learner A and B have identical maps Only A knows the exact location of some building or other feature He must direct B to the correct spot Pooling information to sold a problem: learners have to pool information in order to solve a problem For instance, learner A has a tow plan showing the location of interesting places Learner B has a list of a bus timetable together they must devise a itinerary which would enable them to visit, say five places during one say , spending at least half an hour at each Reconstructing story sequences: a picture script story(without dialogue) is cut up into its separate pictures One picture is handed to each member of a group Without seeing each one’s pictures, the learners in the group must decide on the original sequence and reconstruct the story 2.3.3.2 Typical procedure to conduct an information gap activity Norman, Levihn, and Hendenquist (1986, p.101) offer the following steps to carry out an information gap activity: Step 1: Divide the class into pairs Step 2: Give each student the appropriate “half” of an information gap activity Explain that they must not look at each other’s information It is a good idea if the information given to the students the instruction for what they are required to It is often helpful for one student’s information to contain the information You start, while the other student’s includes Your partner will start Step 3: Students prepare for a new moment silently Step 4: Students the activity, without further preparation by the teacher Step 5: One or more pairs “performs” for the class If all pairs are working on the same activity, after each “performance”, other students are invited to comment, and both the teacher and students make comments on how the language can be improved Talking about their speaking English ability , many students assume that they have not spoken English well yet They are hesitant when they express ideas or thought orally 12 2.3.3.3 Some suggested lesson plans for teaching speaking ‘ Tieng Anh 11” Because of the limitation of the number pages (no more than 20 pages), reasearcher only states out periods Date of planning:…… Period:… Topic: Friendship ( unit 1: Part B: speaking) I Objectives: Students will be able to : - describe physical characteristics, discuss - personalities and talk about a famous person or a friend… II Teaching aids: Tieng anh 11 course book, Pictures, Handouts III Method: mainly communicative IV.Procedure: Teacher’s activities Warm up: Guessing game Suggested questions:  Is the person a girl/a boy?  Is she tall?  Is she wearing a blue shirt?  Is she friendly?  Does she have long black hair? the game can continue until the time is up Pre speaking: Brainstorming.( Group work) Teacher gives the keys words square oval crooked hooked flat face round heart- shaped curly wavy nose pointed Students’ activities - turn-up snub large One st goes to the board and T gives him a piece of paper with the name of a st in the class Others have to ask Y/N Qs to find out who the st is Sts should ask about the appearance, personalities, or clothes -Students find out the related words (mainly adjectives) wrinkled hair straight shoulder- length long, short forehe ad high wide sleek 13 careful friendly easygoing hospitable personality While- speaking Activity 1: Guess the card Teachers prepare cards ( pictures of some pupils in class) One student holds a card so that their partner can not see The partner must ask yes or no questions to determine who is on the cards Suggested questions:  Is the person a girl/a boy?  Is he tall?  Is he wearing a ring ?  Is he friendly?  Does he have under- cut hair?  Does his name start by letter M ?  Is his bag red ? Teacher goes around to help students with words and structures - Students work in pairs or small groups -ask and answer Questions as the teacher has guided Use the same ways in activity to Activity 2: Find your idol/ famous person ( whole class pratise with activity) anybody they love Students go around the class They will ask each other yes or no question about a person who they think in mind (a famous person) The others have to guess who they are Work in pairs to talking about practise Post - speaking * Ask students to perform in front of the class * Give feedback Write down and Consolidation and homework at home Ask Students to write a paragraph about a person who they love most Date of planning: Period: Topic: Holiday/ celebration ( unit 8: Part B: speaking) I Objectives: Students will be able to : - describe a holiday or a celebration - talk about the features of the celebrations 14 II Teaching aids: spaeker, computer Tieng anh 11 course book, Pictures, Handouts, projector, III Method: mainly communicative IV.Procedure: Teacher’s activities Warm up: Game: Celebration Recognition Teacher prepares a tape with pieces of songs: Happy new year Jinggle Bells Chiec Den Ong Sao Happy birthday - divide class into teams the team has the faster and correct answer will be given mark - the winner is the group having more marks - check sts' understanding of the instructions happy new year- New year's celebration Jinggle Bells - Christmas day chiec den ong sao- Mud- Autumn festival happy birthday- Birthday's celebration - Do you know any other celebrations in our country and around the world Pre speaking: Make questions Ask students to make as many questions as possible when they want to talk about a celebration Sample questions: - What is it? - When is it exactly? - what is the main purpose of the celebration ? - What you often on that day? ……………… While- speaking Activity: Discover missing information Learner A has a table of celebrations However, some items of information have been deleted from the table Learner B has an identical table but different identical items of information have been deleted -sheet A and Sheet B will give full information Sheet A Holiday/Celebr Main purpose Main activities Students’ activities - listen to each song once and tell the occasion when this song is played -the team has the faster and correct answer will be given mark - the winner is the group having more marks - write down the forms and practise Each learner can complete his or her own table by asking his /her partner for the information that 15 he lacks -sheet A and Sheet B will give full information ation Valentine’s day People express their love to each other Family members get together They prepare a large meal with roast turkey People visit other family members or friends Children receive lucky money Tet People celebrate the largest full moon in the year Sheet B Holiday/Celebr Main purpose ation Main activities Work in pairs to practise They give chocolates, flowers or gifts to the people they love Thanks giving Mid Autumn festival People celebrate the harvest Mark the beginning of spring Work in pairs to practise Children wear masks, parade in the street, have parties with special cakes and lots of fruits Post – speaking Ask and answer about the holidays above Consolidation and homework - Write a short paragraph about one of the holidays Work in pairs to practise Write down and at home Date of planning: Period: Topic: The wonder of the world ( unit 16: Part B: speaking) I Objectives: Students will be able to : Students will be able to know more some wonders of the world and talk about them 16 II Teaching aids: Tieng anh 11 course book, Pictures, Handouts, projector, speaker, computer III Method: mainly communicative IV.Procedure: Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Pre – speaking * Brainstorming the wonders of the world ( Group work) Halong bay Work in The Great Wall groups, give The Great Pyramid of Giza the name of Tai Maha India, …………… the wonders * Provide new words of the world World Heritage = wonder of the world Construction: cấu trúc xây dựng -write down Feature: đặc điểm the words Visible (adj): nhìn thấy -listen and Man made: nhân tạo read * Check up: Rub out and remember While - speaking Activity: Discover missing information * hand out the lists of wonders , and the lists of their characteristics to students Sheet A and Sheet B will give full information Sample cards Student A (sheet A): - students to work in pairs Pyramid The Great The statue Wonders Eiffel tower -Students of Giza wall of liberty have to Country? France America decide which Constructi In 1889 In 1886 characteristic on? s belong to Be which considered Be seen wonders by as a Attraction from almost masterpiece describing ? anywhere and asking of the in paris questions human -each student spirit has to finish Special 147 The length : his card with features? metres more than full high 6000km information The height: 17 11m Students may use the suggested questions: - Which country does it belong to ?/ where is it located ? - When did its construction start ? - Is it in France ? - Is it a manmade heritage ? / Is it a natural wonder ? - What is the most attraction about it ? - Can you tell me some special features about it ? Student B (sheet B): Pyramid of Eiffel The great The Statue Wonders Giza tower wall of liberty Country? Egypt China 2560 BC In 1368 Constructi Built over a Took 200 on? 20 year years to period complete The tallest To be structure on Attraction visible earth more ? from the than 43 moon centuries 1665 steps 20.000 light bulbs on the tower A present of Special Over 30 France to features? replicas of America the Eiffel tower around world Post - speaking * Student perform in front of the class * Teacher gives feedback Consolidation and homework: student write a short description about one of the wonders of the world Practise in pairs by using yes/no questions or Wh questions Practise in pairs by using yes/no questions or Wh questions Practise in pairs by using yes/no questions or Wh questions Work in pairs to ask and answer about the wonders of the world 18 2.4 RESULT OF RESEARCH - I compared the students’ performance in speaking lessons in class 11D2(42 students) and 11D3 (42 students) at Chu Van An high schhol, school year 2017 – 2018 about: fluencies (when they speak) , comprehension (when they speak), pronunciation and vocabulary (when they speak), selfconfidence when they speak in class - we should focus that the student in class 11D2 and in class 11D3 are the same level, 11D2 used information gap but 11D3 didn’t use And I see that: + The fluencies (when they speak) Level Good Quite good 11D3 5% 20% 11D2 15% 25% normal 30% 40% bad 45% 20% + Comprehension (when they speak) Level Good Quite good 11D3 10% 20% 11D2 15% 25% normal 40% 45% bad 30% 15% normal 40% 40% bad 25% 10% class normal 20% 30% bad 50% 15% + Pronunciation and vocabulary (when they speak) Level 11D3 11D2 Good 5% 10% Quite good 30% 40% + Selfconfidence when they speak in Level Good Quite good 11D3 10% 20% 11D2 20% 35% - The comparisions about showed that in class 11D2 we used information gap activities in speaking lessons, which gave better results than those in class 11D3 (in 11D3 we used traditional methods/ without using information gap activities) - we should focus that the student in class 11D2 and in class 11D3 are the same level and taught by one teacher – reasearcher - In school year 2018 -2019, at Chu Van An high school I applied information gap activities in speaking lessons in class 11A3, 11A6 and had the same result in 11D2(2017-2018) - I also shared my ideas about using information gap activities in speaking lessons with some of my friends who are teaching English in high school such as: Mr Le Huu Tung in Lang Chanh high school, Mr Nguyen Van Xo, Mr Le Quang Nguyen in Sam Son high school, Mrs Le Thuy Linh in Le Lai 19 high school, Mr Nguyen Duy Xuan in Mai Anh Tuan high chool, Mr Le van Tuyen in Nhu Thanh high school They said they also applied information gap activities in speaking lessons in grade 11 in their school in school year 2018 – 2019 and got the exciting results So I can be sure that using information gap activities in speaking lessons in grade 11 is very useful CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 3.1.Conclusions By implementing information gap activities in teaching speaking , the students have more opportunities to practice their speaking by communicating certain information to their friends Information gap also increased students’ motivation and confidence to speak in English The students also understood the classroom English very well Information gap technique has various activities that can be effective to teach students in a big class The students’ speaking skills of grade 11 at Chu Van An high school are improved Because of the limited ability of reasearcher, the study hasn’t been perfect, we hope that it will contribute a small part to helping students learn and master English better at high school and to be more successful in daily communication 3.2 Suggestions for further study Exploiting communicative activities in developing speaking skill for students still remains a wide room to discuss and study Further research may concentrate on some aspects such as how to motivate students in speaking lessons or useful techniques to invest communicative activities effectively As for the field of information gap activities, the researcher would like to suggest that the study on building an item bank of information gap activities for particular course book would contribute to deal with the shortage of applicable materials for teachers Besides, concerning the teachers’ difficulties in selecting and adapting information gap activities, research on criteria to select appropriate exercises would worth considering The headmaster’s identification Thanh Hoa, May 14, 2019 I ensure that I wrote this experience initiative myself, without copying the content of others Writer Nguyễn Đức Toàn 20 TABLE OF CONTENTS I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study 1.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 The scope of the study 1.4 Research Methodology CONTENTS OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE 2.1.THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1.1 Information gap activities 2.1.2 Factors affecting the choice of information gap activities 2.1.3 Strategies of implementation information gap 2.2 THE REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING PART 2.2.1 An overview of Chu Van An high school 2.2.2 The English language syllabus 2.3 METHODOLOGY 1 2 2 3 5 6 7 2.3.1 Research design 11 2.3.2 The implementation of information gap activities in teaching 11 12 speaking 13 2.3.2.1 Cycle 2.3.2.2 Cycle 2.3.3.SOME EFFECTIVE INFORMATION GAP ACTIVITIES To TEACH SPEAKING To 11 GRADERS 2.3.3.1 Speaking activities based on information gap activities 2.3.3.2 Typical procedures to conduct an information gap activity 2.3.3.3 Some suggested lesson plans for teaching speaking "Tieng Anh 11" 2.4 RESULT OF RESEARCH CONSOLIDATION AND SUGGESTION 3.1 Conclusions 3.2 Suggested for further study REFERENCES APPENDIX II 19 20 20 20 REFERENCES Brown, D.(2004) Language Assessment: Principle and Classroom Practice New York: San Francisco State University Brown, G., & Yule, G (1983) Teaching the spoken language Great Britain: Cambridge University Press Levihn, & Hendenquist, T.(1986) The Social Construction of Reality Oxford: Oxford University Press Nunan , D.(1991) Language Teaching Method Hemel Hempstead: Practice Hall Richards,J.C.(2008) Teaching Listening and Speaking from Theory to Practice Cambridge : Cambridge University Press Richard, J., Platt, J., and Webber, H (1986) Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics London: Longman Group Limited William Littlewood.(2006) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University press Ur,p (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Video.nationalgeographic.com/video/alternative – energy III ... EFFECTIVE INFORMATION GAP ACTIVITIES TO TEACH SPEAKING TO 11 GRADERS 2.3.3.1 Speaking activities based on information gap activities The teacher should design the speaking activity so as to provide... implementation of information gap activities in teaching 11 12 speaking 13 2.3.2.1 Cycle 2.3.2.2 Cycle 2.3.3.SOME EFFECTIVE INFORMATION GAP ACTIVITIES To TEACH SPEAKING To 11 GRADERS 2.3.3.1 Speaking activities. .. activity to motivate students’ speaking skills Information gap is very useful for organizing these such activities The teacher is able to improve the students’ speaking ability because information gap