A consideration of how to attract beginners to speaking lessons in popodoo foreign language centre

HAI PHONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITY FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT -oOo “A CONSIDERATION OF HOW TO ATTRACT BEGINNERS TO SPEAKING LESSONS IN POPODOO FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE” By: Pham Thi Van Anh Class: NA 1201 Supervisor: Ms Nguyen Thi Huyen (M.A) Hai Phong – December 2012 HAI PHONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - GRADUATION PAPER “A CONSIDERATION OF HOW TO ATTRACT BEGINNERS TO SPEAKING LESSONS IN POPODOO FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTRE” By: Pham Thi Van Anh Class: NA 1201 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Huyen, M.A HAI PHONG - 2012 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC DÂN LẬP HẢI PHÒNG - NHIỆM VỤ ĐỀ TÀI TỐT NGHIỆP Sinh viên: ………………… Mã số: ……………………… Lớp: ………………………………… Ngành: ……………………… Tên đề tài: ………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… NHIỆM VỤ ĐỀ TÀI Nội dung yêu cầu cần giải nhiệm vụ đề tài tốt nghiệp (Về lí luận, thực tiễn, số liệu cần tính tốn vẽ) …………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… Các số liệu cần thiết để thiết kế, tính tốn …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… Địa điểm thực tập …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN ĐỀ TÀI TỐT NGHIỆP Người hướng dẫn thứ nhất: Họ tên: Học hàm, học vị: Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung hướng dẫn: Người hướng dẫn thứ hai: Họ tên: Học hàm, học vị: Cơ quan công tác: Nội dung hướng dẫn: Đề tài tốt nghiệp giao ngày… tháng … năm … 2012 Yêu cầu hoàn thành trước ngày… tháng… năm… 2012 Đã nhận nhiệm vụ Đ.T.T.N Sinh viên Đã giao nhiệm vụ Đ.T.T.N Cán hướng dẫn Đ.T.T.N Hải Phòng, ngy thỏng nm 2012 Hiu trng GS.TS Trần Hữu Nghị PHẦN NHẬN XÉT TÓM TẮT CỦA CÁN BỘ HƯỚNG DẪN Tinh thần thái độ sinh viên trình làm đề tài tốt nghiệp: …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… Đánh giá chất lượng Đ.T.T.N (So với nội dung yêu cầu đề nhiệm vụ Đ.T.N mặt lí luận, thực tiễn, tính tốn giá trị sử dụng, chất lượng vẽ) …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… Cho điểm cán hướng dẫn: (Điểm ghi số chữ ) …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… Hải Phòng, ngày… tháng… năm 2012 Ng ười hướng dẫn (Họ tên chữ ký) NHẬN XÉT VÀ ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA CÁN BỘ CHẤM PHẢN BIỆN ĐỀ TÀI TỐT NGHIỆP Đánh giá chất lượng đề tài tốt nghiệp mặt thu nhập phân tích số liệu ban đầu, sở lí luận chọn phương án tối ưu, cách tính tốn chất lượng thuyết minh vẽ, giá trị lí luận thực tiễn đề tài Cho điểm cán phản biện (Điểm ghi số chữ) H¶i Phßng… ngày……tháng…… năm 2012 Người chấm phản biện TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW I Speaking skill: an overview What is speaking? The importance of speaking II Children picking up English II.1 The Benefits of Early Language Learning II Children‘s stages in picking up English II Factors affect children learning English 10 III Teaching English speaking skill for children 11 Advantages 11 Challenges 13 Effective English speaking teaching method for children 13 Chapter 2: STUDY ON HOW TO ATTRACT BEGINNERS TO SPEAKING LESSONS AT POPODOO FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER 15 I Reality 15 I.1 Introduction of Popodoo: Establishment and current situation 15 I.2 Teaching and learning condition 15 I.3 English teaching staff 19 I.4 Popodoo‘s curriculum 21 I.5 Communication book, stickers and gift 24 I.6 Popodoo‘s English teaching program for children 25 II Survey questionnaire 26 Participants 26 Purposes of the survey questionnaire 26 Design of the survey questionnaire 27 Data and analysis 27 4.1 The age of students (question 1, appendix 1) 27 4.2 The students‘ learning English time (question 2, appendix 1) 28 4.3 The students‘ learning English time in Popodoo (question 3, appendix 3) 28 4.4 Reasons for choosing Popodoo to learn English (students can choose more than one answer) (question 4, appendix 4) 29 4.5 Students’ opinions toward the role of speaking skill 30 4.6 Students’ opinions toward Popodoo speaking lessons 31 4.7 Kinds of working activities in speaking activities 32 4.8 Students’ opinions on current used techniques and their effectiveness in teaching speaking 33 4.8.1 Pre-speaking (question 8, appendix 1) 33 4.8.2 While-speaking (question 9, appendix 1) 34 4.8.3 Post-speaking (question 10, appendix 1) 36 4.9 Students’ opinions about difficulties when speaking in class 38 4.10 Activities students expect teachers to apply more in a speaking lesson 39 4.11 Students‘ expectation of improving their English in a speaking lesson 40 III Findings and discussion of findings 41 Chapter 3: SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES TO ATTRACT BEGINNERS TO SPEAKING LESSONS IN POPODOO FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER………………………………………… … 43 I Lesson‘s procedures changes to raise the children‘s interest of English speaking activities 43 II Increasing student‘s interest by using new games and activities 44 II.1 Pre-speaking 44 1.1 Listening 44 1.2 Brainstorming 44 1.3 Pictures description 45 1.4 Pre-questions 46 1.5 Teaching through songs 47 1.5.1 The Influence of music to children 47 1.5.2 Teaching English by songs with specific topics 48 1.5.3 Examples of some typical songs related to specific topics: 49 1.6 Matching 51 1.7 Games 54 1.7.1 Hang man game 54 1.7.2 Spelling game 55 1.7.3 ―Who am I?‖ game 55 II While-speaking 56 2.1 New games 56 2.1.1 Four corners 56 2.1.2 Death corner 57 2.1.3 Stand up questions 57 2.1.4 Zoo Game: 57 2.1.5 Dog and cat chase ……………………………………………………….57 2.1.6 Telephone 58 2.1.7 Silence…………………………………………………………………….59 2.1.8 Word search 59 2.1.9 Role play 60 2.1.10 Information gap 61 2.2 Drawing activity 62 II Post-speaking 63 3.1 Free talk 63 3.2 Games to review 63 3.2.1 Jumbled words 63 theme to which all the hidden words are related Obviously, this game is useful for spelling of students Moreover, this game also promote the intelligent of children Teacher hands out the photo of word search to every students in class, and then he guides the rules of this game minutes are allowed time to find these words Example given: Words can go across and down only Words not overlap or share letters B E A U T I F U L O G O I V H M C B W W T M O O R H T A B M M O O R G N I V I L W N E H C T I K F I J B E D R O O M G P N D A V M R W J K X A L L A M S O W H K B U H A O E S U O H E R N I Z B I G J W After minutes, teacher asks students how many words they can find when time is up, and then call some of them write their answer in blackboard Moreover, she will give A mark if the answer is total true with purpose of encouraging their learning Teacher checks the answer and finds how many percentages of students are total true Keys of ―My house‖: bathroom, beautiful, bed room, big, house, kitchen, living room, small 2.1.9 Role play Adrian Doff said that in role play, students pretend they are in various social contexts (buying food, planning a party …) and have variety of social roles (a 60 police officer, a shop assistant…) Role play should improvise students decide exactly what to say as they go along Furthermore, students will have funny time to relax and practice their speaking better Students can speak English more naturally and fluently because they have to perform their own play and develop imagination and creativeness Role play increases the self-confidence of hesitant students because in role play activity, they will have a different role and they don‘t have to speak for themselves Teacher asks students to work in pair or group to make a role play about the situation in front of the class Example given: making new friends The speaking part of this unit requires students to ask and answer fluently about age, hobbies Teacher provides the situation: a new student joining in class and other students communicate with him/ her Let‘s make a conversation in which all of you ask and answer about age, hobbies… Teacher can divide class into group or pair Teacher calls some pairs to play in front of class to compare and make corrections 2.1.10 Information gap Information gap activities help students be familiar with collecting information and give students more opportunities to talk extensively in the target language Teacher gives a form or a grid so that students can follow it Otherwise, teacher writes/ types some sentences/ information on separated paper and each student will take one/ several pieces of paper One student will have the information that his or her partner doesn‘t have and they will share their information to each other Teacher gives students 10 minutes to collect the information then call some students to read aloud their results In other way, teacher hands out paper to students Ask students to work in pair: students will ask other to fulfill the information in the paper After students finish it, teacher calls some students to report the information they have collected 61 2.2 Drawing activity With the advantages of having white board in every classroom, Popodoo has great potential for carrying out activities related to this board Draw and description should be more frequently apply in class The aim of this activity is practice student‘s spoken English through picture‘s description In addition, it‘s also enhancing students‘ imagination and creativeness This activity reinforces the use of prepositions and the vocabulary of concrete objects students have already learnt before It is also tests students‘ ability of memorizing and recalling what they heard from their teachers and friends Teachers ask students draw things in lesson‘s content They can use colorful markets to write on white board The markers are available in many colors such as red, black, dark blue… It is very convenient for students to draw colorful pictures on the whiteboard After that teachers ask students describe the picture they draw Encourage students by keeping class quiet to listen to speakers who are talking, clap hands, nod head, smile to them… make them feel as comfortable and confident as teachers can so that the effectiveness of this activity can be raised 62 For example: lesson‘s content is learning words of phonic H (house, horse, hand, head, hen, hammer) and short sentences: ―I have…‖; ―this is…‖ Teacher invites some students come to the board, ask them draw a picture of a hand, a house, a horse, a hen or a hammer…on the board and make several sentences to describe picture such as: I have to hands; this is my hands; this is a white horse… II Post-speaking 3.1 Free talk Give students more chance to express their opinion toward the topic they have learnt Students are not of making mistakes when sharing their ideas It is also a good way to help students review old lessons Teacher raises some questions related to the lesson students have studied and ask students to think about it After several minutes, teacher lets students freely speak Example given: Teacher raises the question to students such as: what can you do? What colors you like? Students will think about that and share their ideas freely They certainly have different answers Teacher lets students say what came up to their mind 3.2 Games to review 3.2.1 Jumbled words Jumbled words help students recall the knowledge and words fast and effectively It is also an useful way of relaxing after a hard lesson Teacher writes or words which are in the wrong order on the board and says the topic of those words Asks students to guess and rearrange the words Teacher calls some students to come to the blackboard to write down and speak out the words The winner is the students who can speak and write correctly (Teacher can give a small gift to make students more interested and eager) Example given: Ask students to work individually or in pairs to guess the words Who can speak the words fastest and correctly will be the winner 63 3.2.2 Game: Gunny Teacher asks students make two teams or two lines in which two students playing together should in the same English level Teacher stands or sits on a chair in front of students Then, teachers show flashcards and ask students say the words or make a sentence After saying a word or sentence about the flashcards, students must say “bang” towards his/ her partner Who faster is the winner and the looser must turn back and stay behind the last person of his/ her team or line This game is very funny and interesting due to the repeated sound “bang, bang…” which students like it very much 3.2.3 Simon says A good review for any topic Teachers start every sentence with "Simon says …" then students as teachers’ requirement Teachers both say and action at the same time so that it is easy for students to follow them When teachers says a sentence without the word "Simon" then students shouldn't follow that instruction If a student makes a mistake she/he has to sit out until the next round 64 For example: lesson’s content is topic “in the garden” Teachers: “ Simon says tree, tree, tree Simon says leaf, leaf, leaf, Simon says flower, flower, flowers Garden, garden, garden” If students action of “garden”, he/she will be loose For this reason, students must pay much attention to teachers’ word After several times being the looser, student will be punished The punishment maybe is reading some English words, making sentences or singing an English song… 3.2.4 Asking questions To practice any others phrases, sentences such as “there is/ there are” Give your students a list of questions, and have them go around the school, park in order to answer the questions Questions could be: How many doors are there in the school? How many teachers are there in the school in this moment? How many plants are there in the hall? How many tables are there in the classroom?, etc… 3.2.5 Word-cue-drill It is easiest way to give and get information it is also a suggestion for students to speak more fluently without having to think so much, therefore weaker students have equal chances to speak Furthermore, students can also revise grammar and structures when doing word-cue-drill Teacher gives the suggested words, students have to base on these word-cues to complete the sentences and speak Examples: am/ I / a/ student Are/ there/ many/ how/ chairs/ class/ in/ the? 65 My father/ a/ doctor/ is 3.3 Coloring activities Advantages of coloring pictures in children learning Color Encourages Learning: Children learn and retain information longer when color is used in educational material and in the classroom Eighty percent of the brain receives information visually Color stimulates the visual sense and encourages the retention of information Different Colors Cause Different Moods: The colors red, orange and yellow stimulate and increase brain activity The colors green, blue and violet induce relaxation Teachers can design classroom decor to to match either an active or relaxed style of learning Classroom assignments and presentations can use color to enhance learning Children that are overly stimulated could benefit from the relaxing colors Children with attention disorders can benefit from brain stimulating colors Children Remember Colors Better Than Verbal Cues: A study conducted in 1999 by Vuontella, showed that children remembered color cues better than verbal cues Combining lesson material with colors can help children to memorize information For instance, flash cards with facts can be presented with colored back grounds Each fact can have a different colored background The students will associate the color with the fact, helping them to recall the information 66 Color and Creativity: Color inspires creativity and encourages students in coming up with new ideas The use of color not only assists students in artistic projects, color stimulates creativity thinking towards story writing and helps students to evaluate and solve questions Colored Writing Utensils: The simple adjustment to classroom instruction of allowing students to use various colored pens and pencils to complete their schoolwork, has proved to motivate students to their schoolwork It also hold the student's attention span for longer periods of time, and helps to retain classroom information Some kinds of typical coloring pages Cartoons and characters coloring pages: most of children love drawing and coloring cartoon coloring pages which including favorite cartoon characters like SpongeBob, Dora the Explorer, Ben 10, Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, Snoopy and many more Family, people and jobs coloring: great coloring pages of people and jobs that are important for our community This way help children learn about important community helpers like the police, doctors, scouting and firemen Fantasy and medieval coloring pages: Let the imagination of children run free with those coloring pages of elves, fairies, dragons, knights and princess coloring pages 67 Holiday and seasonal coloring pages: Coloring pages featuring children’s favorite holidays and seasons, they will have a great holiday time coloring their favorite holiday coloring pages such as Christmas, Tet holiday, Halloween, Mother's day and many more Nature and food coloring pages: Fun and educational nature coloring pages for children They will love these nature coloring sheets of fruits, trees and rainbows Food and drink coloring pages are also found in this section Sports coloring pages: Hundreds of free sports coloring pages that parents and teachers can print for children Sports fans will enjoy coloring these sports themed coloring pages Sports include basketball, baseball, football, soccer, ballet and many more!Transportation coloring pages: Transportation coloring book pages can be printed and colored Printable coloring pages of trains, boats, helicopters, cars and many more cool vehicles! How to carry out coloring activity in class? This activity should last 10 to 15 minutes Teachers desired the coloring pages so that it is suitable for content of each lesson There are maybe one or some pictures on a coloring page and besides that the English words, phrases, sentences about those pictures are next to or under the pictures 68 The requirements for coloring pages are also variety They all contribute in helping children remember the lesson‘s content Teachers maybe ask students color the pictures with different colors so that students can both learn the new word and colors Otherwise teachers ask students read/ say the English words, phrases, sentences while coloring pictures Then teachers check them after students finish coloring; ask them not only say the words but also phrases and sentences Meanwhile related question bout the lesson‘s content is also necessary At Popodoo Foreign Language Center, it is very seldom to see coloring activity talking place Due to its effectiveness in many aspects, Popodoo teachers should pay more attention in using this techniques 69 PART III: CONCLUSION In conclusion, this graduation paper has been carried out with the aim to investigate the current English teaching and learning situation in Haiphong Popodoo Foreign Language Center so that how to attract beginners to speaking lessons should be pointed out in order to make lesson more interesting and make students more active and willing to speak Some related background knowledge as: what is speaking, types of speaking, characteristics of a successful speaking activity… were presented in Chapter I Especially, in order to research the opinion of teachers and students on the reality of teaching and learning English in general as well as speaking lesson in particular, the survey which were carried out with the wish to find out the most effective techniques to apply in each step of a speaking lesson have been clearly introduced in Chapter II In Chapter III, some suggested techniques to attract students‘ interests and involvements into speaking lessons were demonstrated However, beside the strong points, weak points are unavoidable Due to limitations of time and knowledge, the study can not cover all stages and grades at secondary school Moreover, my graduation paper only concerns a very small part of teaching speaking with the main purpose is to improve students‘ speaking skill and their interests to speaking lessons Therefore, the author would like to receive both critical and lenient review from the readers Finally, I hope that in the near future, many other activities for attracting students‘ interests and involvements into writing/reading/listening lessons will be studied to help learners in studying English well 70 Appendix 1: The survey questionnaire Dear students, This survey questionnaire aims at finding out your attitude and your expectations towards speaking lessons at Popodoo Foreign Language Center Your answers will be used for researching purposes of my graduation paper entitled ―a consideration of how to attract beginners to speaking lessons in Popodoo Foreign Language Center‖ Thank you for your cooperation in completing this survey questionnaire How old are you? o years old o years old How long have you been learning English? □ Less than year □ 1-2 years □ More than years How long have you been learning English at Popodoo? □1-3 months □ 3-6 months □ more than months Why you choose Popodoo for learning English? Because of: □ Teaching staff □ teaching equipment □ teaching method In your opinion speaking skill is: □Very important □ Important □ Not very important □ Not important What you think about Popodoo speaking lesson? □ Very interesting □ Interesting □ Not very interesting □ Not interesting 71 While taking part in speaking activities, you like working: □ Individually □ In group □ In pair What your teachers often in pre-speaking? Its frequency and effectiveness? Frequency Techniques Frequently Sometimes Never Effectiveness Not Very effective Normal very effective Questions Games Discussion Pictures description Learning by songs Popodoo CD & DVD What your teachers often in while-speaking? Its frequency and its effectiveness? Frequency Techniques Frequently Sometimes Never Flashcards Songs Questions Effectiveness Very effective Not Normal very effective Games Discussion Free talk Drawing Popodoo curriculum Picture description Popodoo CD & DVD 10 What your teachers often in post-speaking? Its frequency and its effectiveness? Frequency Techniques Frequently Sometimes Never Coloring pictures Games Exercises Popodoo CD & DVD Free talk Effectiveness Very effective Not Normal very effective 11 What difficulties you have when speaking in class? □ I don‘t have enough words to express what I want to say □ I am shy □ I am afraid of making mistakes □The lessons are too difficult for me □ My friends don‘t cooperate with me □ I don‘t understand what people speak to me □ I am not interested in speaking Other difficulties: ………………………………………… 12 Please rank the following activities from 1(the most interesting) to 10 (the least interesting) in this table: Activities Rank Coloring pictures Flashcards Popodoo curriculum Drawing Learning by songs Free talk Games Learning with foreign teachers Popodoo CD & DVD Questions 13 Which you expect to improve in an English speaking lesson? o Accuracy o Fluency o Pronunciation ... made to beginners of English at Popodoo This helps examine the real situation of teaching speaking and the advantages of English speaking teaching method in attracting beginners to speaking lessons. .. have the ambition of understanding how to attract beginners to speaking lessons in Popodoo Foreign Language Centre; the characteristics of ―immersion language teaching‖ method; finding out how. .. Chapter 2: ? ?A consideration of how to attract beginners to speaking lessons in Popodoo Foreign Language Centre? ?? referred to the analysis and the findings obtain from survey questionnaires made