Teaching english vocabulary to students of classes 12c10, 12c11, 12c12 at ham rong high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY TO STUDENTS OF CLASSES 12C10, 12C11, 12C12 AT HAM RONG HIGH SCHOOL Researcher: Bui Thi Hieu Function: Teacher Work place: Ham Rong High School Research field: English THANH HOA 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Introduction 1.1.Reason for choosing the topic 1.2 The scope of the study 1.3 Objectives of the study 1.4 Method of the study 1.5 Design of the study Development 2.1 The basis of reasoning 2.2 A factual base English 2.3 The implementation process I Showing the meaning of words visually Using pictures and cards Using media Using real objects II Words meanings from context III Using synonyms or antonyms IV Definitions and translations Definition Translation V Exercises Gap-filling exercise Multiple-choice exercise Finding Conclusion and Proposals 4.1 Conclusion 4.2 Proposals Page 1 1 2 2 3 3 8 9 10 11 11 13 15 16 16 17 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reason for choosing the topic Foreign language teaching at high school level in Vietnam has been granted increasing supports from educational authorities, regarding the demand of Vietnamese young population for better means of communication with the world Studies have shown that vocabulary knowledge is strongly correlated, and researchers have found that word knowledge in high school can predict how well students will be able to comprehend texts they read in high schools Limited vocabularies prevent students from comprehending a text Good readers often acquire much of their vocabulary through wide independent reading, also known as incidental learning However, explicit instructions can help students learn enough words to become better readers (and thus acquire even more words) Direct vocabulary instructions are useful for students at all ability levels, but it is particularly useful for beginning students who have a limited reading vocabulary, little exposure to incidental vocabulary learning outside of schools Studies have shown that the key to increase vocabulary is exposure to new words-not an innate ability to learn from context Experts emphasize that vocabulary development is an attainable goal If given the opportunity to learn new words as well as effective instruction, most students can acquire vocabulary at rate that will improve their comprehension This enables them to read increasingly challenging texts with fluency and betters their chances for success in school and afterward For all the reasons mentioned above, I would like to devote my time and efforts to investigating some possible ways of choosing and using possible methods in teaching vocabulary for students of three classes 12C10, 12C11, 12C12 at Ham Rong High School 1.2 The scope of the study The study focuses on investigating some possible ways of choosing and using methods in teaching vocabulary for students of three classes 12C10, 12C11, 12C12 at Ham Rong High School 1.3 Objectives of the study The objectives of the study are as followed: - To investigate the difficulties of teaching and learning vocabulary faced by the students, the teachers’ solutions to these difficulties, and the students’ expectation by using teaching methods - To suggest some realistic and appropriate class techniques and communicative activities with a view to helping teachers enhance their learners in Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing skills 1.4 Method of the study Questionnaires are delivered to 100 students to find out the students attitudes to speaking learning, difficulties confronted and solutions suggested by them Then interviews are carried out to increase the reliability of the obtained information 1.5 Design of the study The topic consists of three parts: Part is the introduction, which presents the rational, the scope, the objectives, the method, and the design of the study Part consists of The basis reasoning, A factual base English, The implementation process Part consists of some sub-parts: Finding, Conclusion and Proposals, Suggesting activities by using possible teaching methods for students of three classes 12C10, 12C11, 12C12 at Ham Rong High School DEVELOPMENT 2.1 The basis of reasoning English is the most common language in the world, and it is one of the score subjects in schools Seeing the importance of it in international communication as well as in the development of the international integration of Vietnam, educational sector should select English as the most dominant subject English is not only the need for tourism, business, arts, information technology but it also required in General Certificate of Secondary Education exam So every student while still sitting on the couch home high schools need to have certain level of English to prepare for the exams and after graduating at least must be able to communicate in simple daily levels To this we not stop innovating teaching methods to achieve high results for English and other subjects in general This is the contribution to success in the profession of “planting” of the country 2.2 A factual base English Textbooks began to innovate along with other subject from 2006 The contents of the lessons are long and hard, more diverse and sometimes abundant It is both difficult as well as advantageous for teachers in the teaching process With such changes, I understand that teaching English is to teach how to communicate effectively rather than merely supplement the knowledge to students So, in addition to strong knowledge, teachers need to create lively classes, attracting the attention of the students to help them confidently in the process of learning and speaking English 2.3 The implementation process Over a number of years of teaching, my colleagues and I have found that with new textbook, we should have the choice to fit teaching supplies effectively These are some methods I have applied to teach in school, which depend on each lesson and time In my initiative experience, I focus on four main methods with exercises in the form of Gap - filling and Multiple- choice I SHOWING THE MEANING OF WORDS VISUALLY USING PICTURES AND CARDS Picture cues are a great mechanism for teaching young students to study vocabularies They can combination of words and visual cues can help a young mind piece together a word There are several ways to approach it The approach shown here works with whole words First, you can plan your lesson and pick the words you'll teach your students An effective way to this is by categories Second, get the corresponding picture cue cards You can obtain picture cue cards with one letter on them or with entire words on them When teaching a student to read by showing whole words, it’s best to look for picture cue cards that deal with life activities These packages normally have food groups and other categories in them Third, sit the child down in a quiet place before starting the lesson The trick to getting picture cues to work is to keep a young student’s attention and have her connect a picture with a word This won’t happen if she can’t see the picture cue card or is distracted by sounds Fourth, pick up a picture cue card and say the corresponding word Make sure you explain what you are doing before the lesson Then, as you say the word and show the picture cue card, allow a time delay This time delay (1 to seconds) will allow your student to soak in the word and associate it with the image After you show the picture card, spell the word so your student will associate certain alphabetic letters with the image Next, repeat this exercise at least two times This means you should show a picture cue card of an apple and say the word twice Repetition is a proven method of learning, so use it to your advantage Then, coordinate picture cues with spelling lessons You can this by covering up the word on the picture cue card and revealing only one letter at a time as the student says it to you This will further associate the word with the picture and help the young student learn to read Last but not least, allow your student a chance to show off his stuff These are some activities which help students guess the meaning of vocabulary which is related to the lesson ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 9: Deserts- Speaking (page 99) Choose the right words or phrases, which best describeEucalyptus the pictures CARDS: A desert Eucalyptus desert B C Dessert Date palm D E Date palm G F Frog H I Grass Dessert Crocodile Frog Camel Fox J PICTURES: P1 Grass P2 P3 Lizard Crocodile Lizard P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 Students’ activities: Students are divided two groups, and they have to observe pictures carefully and use cards to paste in the pictures The class will be vibrant Teacher’s activities: Teacher divides the class into groups Teacher asks students to paste pictures, which are suitable with cards Teacher helps students to discuss Teacher gives small presents or adds mark for the winning group Teacher helps to read USING MEDIA Almost any video can be used to teach English: commercial films, TV programmers, home-made dramas and holiday films Live television programmers are NOT recommended Your method should vary according to the language point you wish to teach and the level of your student(s) Although a handset is ideal, it is not essential Position yourself near the front of the class, to one side - close enough to the video player to work the controls if you not have a handset If the video player is independent of the TV, turn it so you can work the controls easily without interfering with your students' view of the TV screen This medium can be used to practice consolidate range of language points to introduce subject(s) for debate to encourage conversation amongst students to improve writing skills to introduce new vocabulary to develop listening skills (with visual aid) Few lessons would involve continuous viewing - even with speech-free films Strategic stopping is essential The teacher controls what students see and hear: Films, with excessive bad language, can be shown without sound If the majority of film is good, unsuitable sex or violent scenes can easily be avoided as follows plan in advance how to exploit the remainder of the film knowing the exact counter positions of scenes to be omitted ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 2: Cultural diversity - Listening (page 24) Warm up: Teacher gives a short video about a marriage in Vietnam and America When students watch video clip, T points some important words, which are shown on screen Some important words: Altar/ Master of ceremony/ Banquet/ Groom/ Bridge/ Ancestor/Tray/ Schedule/ Blessing USING REAL OBJECTS The main advantage of using real objects into the classroom is to make the learning experience more memorable for the learner To give a couple of simple examples, if you are going to teach vocabulary of fruit and vegetables it can be much more affective for students if they can touch, smell and see the objects at the same time as hearing the new word This would appeal to a wider range of learner styles than a simple flashcard picture of the piece of fruit or vegetable (With very young learners, classroom management can become trickier if you bring in real objects as excitement levels tend to rise Last year one of my students bit into an onion we were passing round I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten that class!) A second example would be if you are going to teach some functional language for asking for the timetable for a train You could use a fictitious timetable or you could use a real one from the local train station, one from the internet, or if you’re really organized, some you brought back from your last trip to the UK This way you expose students to more language than simply the times and destinations They will see information about prices, discounts, bank holidays etc ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 2: Cultural diversity – Writing (page 25) Teacher brings the “Nónlá” (conical leaf hat) Teacher shows it in front of the class Teacher asks students to guess which is “leaf, rim, ribs, shape” Students learn vocabularies by watching real objects USING MINE This is the way of using actions and facial expressions to show the meaning of words Most action verb (sits, stand, open…) and some adjectives showing feelings and status (happy, worried…) can be taught using mine ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 3: Ways of socializing-Reading (page 30) Warm up: Vocabularies Some words teacher can express by actions: Clap: Teacher claps in front of the class and asks students what it means “Vỗtay” Shake hand: Teacher shakes hands with one student in the class and asks students what is he/ she doing “Bắttay” Wave: Teacher also “waves” and makes students understand his/her actions II WORD MEANINGS FROM CONTEXT Using examples, situations, or explanations is another ways of showing what word mean Most abstract words (love, happiness…) can be taught effectively in context There are some points to consider when using this method Besides, it is not necessary to give a complicated explanation, the meaning can be shown by simple sentences The teacher can ask students to find the meaning by guessing the meaning of sentences, which are around ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 1: Home life - Reading (page 12) Teacher asks students to see in the book and pay attention to the sentences 10 “The main responsibility is to wash the dishes and take out the garbage” “I also look after the boys” Depending on the sentences teacher asks students to guess the meaning of words “responsibility”, “look after” III USING SYNONYMS OR ANTONYMS Synonyms are different words with similar or identical meanings They are interchangeable For example: car and automobile Antonyms are words with opposite or nearly opposite meanings For example: large and small This is a nice warm up game using synonyms and antonyms You can make it as difficult or easy as you wish, depending on the level of your students Hand out a list of words to each student There should be two columns next to each word, label the heading of each column, synonym and antonym You can make up your own lists using words you've already taught Thesaurus.com is a useful tool for this exercise Then read out the synonyms and antonyms of those words The students have to write these words next to the word they are the same or the opposite of ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 6: Future Job - Speaking: Task (page 66) Find each pair ofantonym from the following: boring rewarding dangerous difficult fantastic easy fascinating unsatisfied grotesque safe Teacher adds words in the board or give small handouts to ask students to match Students guess and match Teacher checks corrected answers Teacher helps students to read vocabulary and explains IV DEFINITIONS AND TRANSLATIONS Applied linguists have for some time suggested that communicativecompetence includes a major component, usually termed strategiccompetence, the development of which largely determines thelearner's fluency and 11 conversational skills Practicing teachers,however, are usually unaware of the significance of this competence,and hardly any activities have been developed to include strategytraining in actual language teaching The aim of this articleis to bridge the gap between theory and practice by first describingstrategic competence and then presenting language exercisesto facilitate its development DEFINITION ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 10: Endangered species - Reading (page 107) Task: The nouns in column A all appear in the passage Match each of them with a suitable definition in column B A extinction B a The existence of a larger number of different kinds of habitat animal and plants which make a balanced environment b The act of preventing something from being lost, biodiversity wasted, damaged or destroyed c a situation in which a plant, an animal, a way of life conservation stops existing d The natural environment in which a plant or animal lives Teacher asks students to work in groups Students guess and match the word, which is suitable with its definition Teacher suggests students find words in the text and guess the meaning Teacher checks the answer TRANSLATION: ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 9: Deserts- Reading task (page 98) Task 1: Give the Vietnamese equivalents to the following words or phrases English stretch sandy aerial survey Royal Geography society of Vietnamese kéodài thổdânÚc HộiHoàngGia địalýÚc cồncát Australia 12 Australia Aborigine dune sloping steep hummock 10.crest 11 spinifex Teacher asks students to work in groups đỉnh cócát dốcthoaithoải lánhọn gịđống dốcđứng phỏngvấntrênkhơng Students guess and match the word, which is suitable with its definition Teacher suggests students find words in the text and guess the meaning Teacher checks the answers V EXERCISES GAP- FILLING: Gap-fills are an excellent way to reinforce vocabulary, and allow the student to encounter the vocabulary in a variety of contexts The exercises can be worked on individually or in pairs in class, or can be assigned as homework to be quickly reviewed in class Some types of gap fillings: a) The Standard Multi-Word Gap-Fill Gap-fill exercises can take various forms; the most common is the standard multi-word exercise with a number of sentences and words to choose from A short example exercise with five sentences is shown below estimated boost crashed abandon debt 1.The plane soon after take- off, but no one was killed Advertising on the Internet has helped to our sales She had to her car and walk to work after getting stuck in the snow I can’t afford to buy a car I am already in from paying for university He it would cost $50 to fix my bike b) The Gap-Fill with Clues in Root Form A challenging variation of the above exercise is a gap-fill exercise in which the words which are gapped are presented in their root form In this way, students have to choose the correct word from the contexts given, and supply the 13 appropriate form of the word, such as a different derivation or different tense A short example exercise with sentences is shown below factor enroll harvest global immigrate in our class has increased by 10% this year Many contributed to my bad marks at school He teaches English to new at the cultural centre , the tobacco industry is worth US $400 billion Wild rice is expensive because it must be by hand c) Multiple Contexts for One Word Another variation which can help students to understand the various derivations for a word is a gap-fill exercise with several different contexts for word, each showing a different form or derivation A short example exercise with sentences is shown below theoretical theories theory theorizes theorists Einstein’s famous that E= mc2 has been shown to be true Efforts to solve global problems often require broad understanding of cultural systems, as well as detailed understanding of specific local cultures The notion of the Big Bang that the universe began as a huge explosion of matter Many now believe that vocabulary development is even more important than grammar study for second language learners Current trace our first human ancestor to Africa about to million years ago d) Listening Practice with Gap-Fills Gap-fill exercises can be presented as listening exercises In this exercise, students hear the sentence rather than reading it, and have to choose the appropriate answer A short example exercise with sentences is shown below The next day in class, students can be shown the sentences that they heard in the language lab At this time, they can see if what was said is the same as what they thought they heard It also offers an additional opportunity to review and learn the target vocabulary ILLUSTRATED LECTURE 14 Unit 10: Endangered species- Listening Task (page 112) Complete each of the sentences with the correct form of the words below: peaceful plant eating a few female a few female forest being cut down in trees their young plants civil war insects HAND-OUT: General (1)……………., gentle, social, and ……………(2) Group members The silverback, one or two sub- adult Food males, …… (3) Place for sleeping …… (4) and worms Cause of being endangered Nest……………(5) or…………… civil war (6)……………………hunters killing them for food,……………(7) MULTIPLE-CHOICE: Multiple - choice is a form of assessment in which respondents are asked to select the best possible answer (or answers) out of the choices from a list Multiple- choice items consist of a stem and a set of options The stem is the beginning part of the item that presents the item as a problem to be solved, a question asked of the respondent, or an incomplete statement to be completed, as well as any other relevant information The options are the possible answers that the examinee can choose from, with the correct answer called the key and the incorrect answers called distractors Only one answer can be keyed as correct This contrasts with multiple responseitems in which more than one answer may be keyed as correct There are several advantages to multiple- choice tests If item writers are well trained and items are quality assured, it can be a very effective assessment technique If students are instructed on the way in which the item format works and myths surrounding the tests are corrected, they will perform better on the test On many assessments, reliability has been shown to improve with larger 15 numbers of items on a test, and with good sampling and care over case specificity, overall test reliability can be further increased Multiple - choice tests often require less time to administer for a given amount of material than would tests requiring written responses This results in a more comprehensive evaluation of the candidate's extent of knowledge Even greater efficiency can be created by the use of online examination delivery software This increase in efficiency can offset the advantages offered by free-response items That is, if free-response items provide twice as much information but take four times as long to complete, multiple-choice items present a better measurement tool However, the most serious disadvantage is the limited types of knowledge that can be assessed by multiple- choice tests Multiple- choice tests are best adapted for testing well-defined or lower-order skills Problem-solving and higher-order reasoning skills are better assessed through short-answer and essay tests However, multiple -choice tests are often chosen, not because of the type of knowledge being assessed, but because they are more affordable for testing a large number of students This is especially true in the United States where multiple- choice tests are the preferred form of high-stakes testing ILLUSTRATED LECTURE Unit 1: Home life - Reading (page 14) Task: Choose the sentences A,B,C that is nearest in meaning to the sentences given He doesn’t come homeuntilvery late at night A He never comes home late at night B He comes home late at night C He sometimes comes home late at night “Men build the house and women make it home” A Both men and women make it home B Men and women have to live separately C Men’s responsibility is to work and support the family and women’s job is to look after the family 3/ Our parents join hands to give us a nice house and happy home 16 A Our parent work together to give us a nice house and happy home B Our parents take each other’s hands when they give us a nice house and happy home C Our parents shake hands when they give us a nice house and happy home The boys aremischievoussometimes A The boys are well- behaved sometimes B The boys enjoy playing tricks and annoying people sometimes C The boys miss their parents sometimes We are a very close knit family A members of our family have very close relationships B members of our family need each other C Members of our family are never close to each other Activities: Teacher asks students work in groups Teacher gives each group the handout Students guess and choose the answer Teacher checks and explains more FINDING Through a few years of teaching, I myself as well as colleagues in the field have all found the methods mentioned above to be effective The quality of students learning has increased dramatically Survey results from 2017-2018 to 20182019 are as follows: Year 2017-2018 Exam Results class good 11B10 2,5% 11B11 3,5% 11B12 4% Year 2018-2019 quite good 28% 27% 28% average 65% 66% 65,5% weak 4,5% 3,5% 3,5% quite good 29% 28% average 65,5% 66,5% weak 2,0% 1,5% Exam Results class 12C10 12C11 good 3,5% 4,0% 17 12C12 5% 29% 66,0% 1,0% CONCLUSION AND PROPOSALS 4.1 Conclusion The study has presented some useful techniques accompanied by a number of activities as well as exercises to develop certain skills for students Compared with previous years, the situation of English teaching now has a lot of positive, paying special attention to training four skills to students.So teacher should combine all activities to create excitement for students and make students love English Moreover, when students not understand vocabulary, they cannot fully understand the text Good vocabulary instruction emphasizes useful words (words that students see frequently), important words (key words that help students understand the text), and difficult words (idiomatic words, words with more than one meaning, etc.) In providing vocabulary instruction teachers can help students by activating their prior knowledge, defining words in multiple contexts, helping them see context clues, helping them understand the structure of words, e.g., prefixes, roots, and suffixes, teaching them how to use a dictionary and showing them the range of information it provides, encouraging deep processing From what have been presented, the study is hoped to be useful, preferred to by secondary school teachers and can be widely applied 4.2 Proposals Due to the shortage of time and lacks of practical experience, all the issues of the teaching process cannot be covered as a whole It is expected that the further studies will be the continuance for this one, which suggest techniques to the remained stages I hope the quality of teaching and learning vocabulary in high schools as a result can be step by step improved To so, I think our schools, classrooms should be equipped with more modern facilities Teachers should pay more attention to the lectures, especially focus much on PowerPoint lectures Students must voluntarily participate in practice and are not afraid of making mistakes They also need to integrate new words into their working vocabularies, giving them multiple exposures, focusing on a 18 small number of important words Ideally, the words should be related so that the depth of concept development can be increased XÁC NHẬN CỦA Thanh Hóa, ngày 25 tháng năm 2020 THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác Người viết: Bùi Thị Hiếu 19 REFERENCES Finochiaro, M &Brumit - C (1983) The Functional-notional Approach: From Theory to Practice; Oxford University Press Doff, A (1988)Teaching English; Teacher’s handbook Cambridge University Press Brown, H.D (1994)Teaching by Principles; an Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy- Prentice Hall Harmer,J(1991), The Practice of English Language Teaching- Longman Lighthrown Bock, G (2000)Difficulties in Implementing Communicative Theory in Vietnam Teacher’s Edition, 2, 24-28 VUN Canels, M & Swain, M (1980)Approaches to Communicative Compentence,SEAMEO Regional Language Centre Tieng Anh 12- Nhaxuat ban GiaoDuc Viet Nam 20 DANH MỤC CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP LOẠI CẤP SỞ GD&ĐT VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Bùi Thị Hiếu Chức vụ đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên Trường THPT Hàm Rồng, Thành phố Thanh hóa Cấp đánh giá Kết Năm học xếp loại đánh giá xếp TT Tên đề tài SKKN đánh giá xếp (Phòng, Sở, loại (A, B loại Tỉnh…) C) Phá thuy tính tích cực học sinh THPT Cấp Sở A 2002-2003 hội thoại Tiếng anh Strategies for Teaching Reading Cấp Sở C 2007-2008 Comprehension Some techniques of Teaching Writing to Cấp Sở B 2011-2012 tenth grade students at Ham Rong high school Teaching Inversion to Upper Secondary Cấp Sở C 2014-2015 Students 21 ... to devote my time and efforts to investigating some possible ways of choosing and using possible methods in teaching vocabulary for students of three classes 12C10, 12C11, 12C12 at Ham Rong High. .. Suggesting activities by using possible teaching methods for students of three classes 12C10, 12C11, 12C12 at Ham Rong High School DEVELOPMENT 2.1 The basis of reasoning English is the most common language... home high schools need to have certain level of English to prepare for the exams and after graduating at least must be able to communicate in simple daily levels To this we not stop innovating teaching