SKKN improving students speaking skills through projects (phát triển kỹ năng nói của học sinh thông qua dạy học giao dự án)

I THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH Introduction Nowadays, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education has undergone major reforms in the English Curriculum so as to meet the demands and challenges of globalization and the economy A total review in the English curriculum emphasizes on several important aspects in English education which includes Communication and English for public presentation Especially, project-based learning has been proved to be a good way to develop students’ speaking skills However, most teachers encounter problems of conducting and assessing the students’ work This study is carried out in the hope to develop students’ presentation skills by pointing out some ways to conduct an effective project lesson and some ways to assess the students’ work The need of the research Project-based learning (PBL) helps students apply what they learn to real-life experience and developing cross-curriculum skills while working in small collaborative groups Due to the active and engaged learning, students are inspired to gain a deeper knowledge of the topics they are studying In addition, students develop their confidence and self-motivation through team-based and independent work In the process of completing their project, students also improve their organizational and research skills and develop better communication with their peers and their teacher Project-based learning is also an effective way to help teacher explore students’ ability to integrate technology into their learning and in the classrooms Hence, it sparks students’ desire to explore the world and apply what they have learned in real life and improve their speaking skills both through group work and through present their ideas in front of the class Although project lesson is especially designed for students learning English 10-year program, it can be applied for those of 7-year one It has been proved to be effective The content of the research: This section discusses the procedure to conduct a project lesson and an effective way to help students develop their speaking skills through the project given to students following English 7-year program a Procedure: Step 1: Introduction a Contextualize the task b Inform the class of the lesson objectives c Timeline and assessment Step 2: Divide class into groups a Select the group members randomly b Adapt the topic according to students’ interests and levels c Using lucky number for students to choose their parts Step 3: Conduct the project - Using questions to help students Step 4: Prepare students for information gathering & compiling, and analyzing data - Ask them to make a plan to assign their members’ duty - Show them how to search for information and ways to gather information - Help them make outline Step 5: Prepare students for the final activity Step 6: Present the final outcomes of the project Step 7: Assess students’ work Step 8: Give key values Lesson plan used for the study 1: (ENGLISH 11- years) PROJECT- TOPIC 8: CELEBRATIONS – ENGLISH 11 (7 YEARS) Activity: Choose one of the celebrations to make a presentation on it - Tet holiday - New Year in western countries - Mid-autumn festival - Christmas - Valentine’s Day A OBJECTIVES  Language objectives By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - further discuss the topic CELEBRATIONS and develop their communication skills, including reading, listening, writing, and oral presentations on activities of some CELEBRATIONS - use key terms and key grammatical structures related to “CELEBRATIONS” to discuss activities - apply language knowledge and skills acquired from the unit to give some information about CELEBRATIONS in Vietnam and in the world  Content objectives By the end of the lesson, students will: - present their ideas about CELEBRATIONS B LANGUAGE FOCUS Key terms: - Tet holiday - New Year in western countries - Mid-autumn festival - Christmas - Valentine’s Day - Key grammar/ structure: present tenses C METHODS Communicative Language Teaching &Project-based Learning D TEACHING AIDS Textbook, board, chalk, a video, posters, pictures, photos E PROCEDURE Step 1: Introduction a Contextualize the task - Ask students: - When and where is this celebration originated? - What people usually do? - What you yourself often on this occasion? b Inform the class of the lesson objectives - Address the objectives of the lesson to the class and emphasize on the core value and language requirements for the project - Help students understand the instruction and the procedure for conducting the project Remind students of the following points: o They should make a detail presentation on the origin, activities, special thing about each celebration o Then they brainstorm all the necessary information and illustrations related to the activities they will and arrange them in a logical order on a poster/ power point o They need to have a good preparation for their presentation on the project c Timeline and assessment - Allow week for students to work on their project - Introduce the form of project teamwork plan, checklist and rubric for project assessment to students Give a clear explanation to help students understand all requirements before they start doing their project (Appendix 1, & 3) Step 2: Divide class into groups - Divide students into groups of according to their concern about each celebration - Have students in each group choose a leader who will assign tasks to the members and monitor teamwork and a note-taker who will be responsible for taking notes of group ideas for later discussions For example, the group leader has to guide and divide work among members in the group; member is in charge of collecting photos or pictures about a celebration; member has a duty in writing the content of presentation; member is responsible for presenting the form of the poster; member who is good at speaking has to make a presentation By doing this way the teacher encourages students to speak naturally with their peers and feel safe to ask the teacher questions - Students discuss in group to complete the table and hand in - Teachers guides students how to divide the task MEMBERS IN CHARGE RESPONSIBILITY TIME TO COMPLETE Step 3: Conduct the project - Encourage students to make a detailed teamwork plan for their project (See appendix 1) - Elicit the information that should be put on the poster Step 4: Prepare students for information gathering & compiling, and analyzing data - Guide students how to collect information and pictures for their project - Remind students that they need to compile, evaluate, and synthesize the relevant information for their project poster EXAMPLE: (students’ draft) • Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday which is celebrated on February 14th by many people around the world • In English-speaking countries, it is the traditional day on which lovers show their love to each other by sending Valentine's cards, giving flowers, or going out for dinner together • One of the most common presents on this day is chocolate.The holiday is named after a Christian priest – Valentine.The most common symbol of St Valentine’s Day is Cupid - the Roman saint of love • Cupid is a young boy with a bow and arrow.The first Valentine’s Day was in England, and then spread around the world including many countries in Europe, Asia, and South America • However in some countries such as India, Valentine’s Day is not allowed.In India, many lovers are not even allowed to go out together or show their love to each other in public places Step 5: Prepare students for the final activity - Have students think about the language use, skills, the content requirements, and the format of the oral presentation (see appendix 2) and final poster display (see appendix 3) - Help Ss to simplify the ideas they get from the Internet - Encourage students to anticipate questions the audience may ask them about their poster - Help Ss to make an outline of a presentation: Introduction: Welcome the audience Good morning everyone Introduce the topic Today, I am here to tell you about … Body: Introduce the first point, To begin with, I’ll suggest … To move to the next point, My next point is…… Conclusion: To indicate the end of the talk To sum up, …… To thank the audience Thank you for listening Step 6: Present the final outcomes of the project Have students present the final outcomes of their work in the project show: o Teacher sets the time for each group to present and rules For example, each group has 10 minutes to present their project and minutes for question and answer section.) o While one group presents its project, the others observe, tick the checklist and give comments YES (√) / NO (X) MARKING CRITERIA NAME OF THE PROJECT PREPARATION DESIGN INTRODUCTION ABOUT ONE CELEBRATION Have they had a group leader? Have their leader assigned tasks to all members? Have their group listed tasks and plans that you intend to do? Have they searched the information from magazines, newspapers, the Internet, or libraries? Have they taken your own photos of your community? Have they given the relevant information? Are illustrated picture/ photos eye-catching meaningful, and understandable Does their product include: - title of the project? - name of group members? - main contents - Observe and take notes while groups are presenting their projects Step 7: Assess students’ work - Use the rubrics for the project poster and for the oral presentation COMMENTS ORAL PRESENTATION RUBRIC Topic: _ Teacher: Group: CATEGORY SCORE Shows a full Shows a good Shows a good Does not understanding understanding understanding seem to Content of the topic of the topic of parts of the understand topic the topic very well Speaks clearly Speaks clearly Speaks clearly Often and distinctly and distinctly and distinctly mumbles or all (100-90%) most (89-75%) about 74-60% cannot be Clear speech the time, and the time, but of the time understood and mispronounces mispronounces Mispronounces OR pronunciation no words 1, 2, or no more than mispronoun words words ces more than words Facial Facial Facial Very little expressions expressions expressions use of facial and body and body and body expressions language language language are or body generate a sometimes used to try to language Eye-contact strong interest generate a generate Did not Confidence and enthusiasm strong interest enthusiasm, generate about the topic and enthusiasm but seem much with the others about the topic somewhat interest in with the others pretended topic being presented Student is Student seems The student is Student completely pretty prepared somewhat does not prepared and but might have prepared, but it seem at all Preparation has fully needed a is clear that prepared to rehearsed couple more rehearsal was present rehearsals lacking Discussion Student can fully answer the audience’s questions Student can answer the audience’s questions, but Student can answer some of the audience’s Student can answer only of the audience’s rather slowly questions questions Total score / 10 - Give constructive and positive feedback - Praise feasible projects that completely meet the requirements - Ask students to vote for their friends with good presentation and give their comments This makes them feel eager and motivated Step 8: Give key values - Ask students the following questions to identify key values after doing the project o What have you learned today? o What is the value of your project? o How you feel about your project? o When you intend to carry out your plan? - Encourage students to talk about practical advice based on their real problem and their own ability Lesson plan used for the study 2: PROJECT- TOPIC 6: GLOBAL WARMING – ENGLISH 11 (10 YEARS) Activity 1: Discuss which of the following activities your group can to help reduce the carbon footprint of your school and community Activity 2: Give your group’s activity a campaign and think about its purpose Then make a detailed plan using the table below Tasks Person Time/ Possible In Charge Place Difficulties Activity 3: Present your group’s detailed plan to the class A OBJECTIVES  Language objectives Effects By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - further discuss the topic GLOBAL WARMING and develop their communication skills, including reading, listening, writing, and oral presentations on activities to help reduce the carbon footprint of your school and community - use key terms and key grammatical structures related to “action plan” to discuss activities to help reduce the carbon footprint of your school and community - apply language knowledge and skills acquired from the unit to give some practical advice on how to help reduce the carbon footprint of your school and community  Content objectives By the end of the lesson, students will: - present their ideas on how to help reduce the carbon footprint of your school and community B LANGUAGE FOCUS - Key terms: climate change, global warming, greenhouse effects, deforestation, preservation, 3R campaign, going green campaign, raise people awareness… - Key grammar/ structure: Use should, ought to, you’d better, need to make suggestions, or to give advice on reducing carbon footprint in the school or in the community C METHODS Communicative Language Teaching &Project-based Learning D TEACHING AIDS Textbook, board, chalk, a video, posters, pictures, photos E PROCEDURE Step 1: Introduction a Contextualize the task - Ask students about the causes, effects and solutions to the global warming problems - What are the causes and effects of global warming on the natural environment and our life? - What can we to reduce the carbon footprint of your school and community ? b Inform the class of the lesson objectives - Address the objectives of the lesson to the class and emphasize on the core value and language requirements for the project - Help students understand the instruction and the procedure for conducting the project Remind students of the following points: o They should make a detail plan on how to help reduce the carbon footprint of your school and community o Then they brainstorm all the necessary information and illustrations related to the activities they will and arrange them in a logical order on a poster/ power point o They need to have a good preparation for their presentation on the project c Timeline and assessment - Allow week for students to work on their project - Introduce the form of project teamwork plan, checklist and rubric for project assessment to students Give a clear explanation to help students understand all requirements before they start doing their project (Appendix 1, & 3) Step 2: Divide class into groups - Divide students into groups of according to their concern about each type of pollution - Have students in each group choose a leader who will assign tasks to the members and monitor teamwork and a note-taker who will be responsible for taking notes of group ideas for later discussions For example, the group leader has to guide and divide work among members in the group; member is in charge of collecting photos or pictures about the type of pollution; member has a duty in writing the content of presentation; member is responsible for presenting the form of the poster; member who is good at speaking has to make a presentation Step 3: Conduct the project - Encourage students to make a detailed teamwork plan for their project (See appendix 1) - Elicit the information that should be put on the poster Step 4: Prepare students for information gathering & compiling, and analyzing data - Guide students how to collect information and pictures for their project - Remind students that they need to compile, evaluate, and synthesize the relevant information for their project poster EXAMPLE: (students’ draft) -Purposes: +Celebrate the day of Foundation of The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union +Raise people’s awareness about the importance of protecting the environment -Time and place: +Time: 8am, 25.3.2016 +Place: Cho Moi park -Task: Clean up the park, collect garbage, plant flowers -Person in charge: +Founder’s campaign: Lan Anh, Mai, Uyen Em, Nhật, Duy, Trọng, Oanh +Volunteers: 28 students from class 11C11 *Details: -Bring: shovels, plastic bag, gloves, brooms, flowers (portucala) -The park will be divided into parts, here and here We will have group, group A which is managed by Lan Anh, Mai, Uyen Em, Group B which is managed by Nhật, Duy, Trọng, Oanh Group A will work here, and group B will work here -Fill the vacant land by planting portucala flowers - Collect the garbage and put them into the plastic bags -Possible difficulties: +Lack cleaning tools So we can take turn to use +The weather may be hot so I hope you will bring hat and masks -Effects: +Help people understand the importance of the environment Step 5: Prepare students for the final activity - Have students think about the language use, skills, the content requirements, and the format of the oral presentation (see appendix 2) and final poster display (see appendix 3) - Encourage students to anticipate questions the audience may ask them about their poster - Help Ss to make an outline of a presentation: Introduction: Welcome the audience Introduce the topic Good morning everyone Today, I am here to tell you about … Introduce the first point, To move to the next point, To begin with, I’ll suggest … My next point is…… To indicate the end of the talk To thank the audience To sum up, …… Thank you for listening Body: Conclusion: Step 6: Present the final outcomes of the project Have students present the final outcomes of their work in the project show: o Teacher sets the time for each group to present and rules For example, each group has 10 minutes to present their project and minutes for question and answer section.) o While one group presents its project, the others observe, tick the checklist and give comments(see appendix 4) - Observe and take notes while groups are presenting their projects Step 7: Gallery walk - Have the class walk around and vote to decide which group had the best poster and the best advice or suggestions Step 8: Assess students’ work - Use the rubrics for the project poster and for the oral presentation (see Appendix 5) - Give constructive and positive feedback - Praise feasible projects that completely meet the requirements Step 9: Give key values - Ask students the following questions to identify key values after doing the project o What have you learned today? o What is the value of your project? o How you feel about your project? o When you intend to carry out your plan? - Encourage students to talk about practical advice based on their real problem and their own ability II THE RESULTS: A project-based learning environment provides students with opportunities to develop their abilities to adapt and change methods to fit new situations Further, students have greater opportunity to learn real Communication associated with seeking information from any resource such as Internet The research instruments used in this study were interview form for students from 11C1 (20162017) (the control group) and 11C11 (2018-2019) 11C10 (2018-2019) (the experiment group) and the score on presentations of these two groups The questionnaire helps to know the students’ attitudes towards speaking using projects The result of this study indicates that the experiment group is better than the traditional group and better than before This study makes students understand the lesson easily with positive attitude They also scored higher than the control group in terms of representation and explanation Their presentations were evaluated by their preparation – (25%), Coherence and cohesion (25%), design (25%) and discussion (25%) Class PROJECT Before 10 After 11C1 (2016-2017) 35 students 11C11 (20182019): 29 students 11C10 (20182019): 41 students QUESTIONNAIRE: GLOBAL WARMING GLOBAL WARMING CELEBRATIONS 25 (80,6%) 10 (19,4%) 19 (65.5%) 10 (34.5%) 10 (45,5%) 19 (54,5%) 30 (73.2%) 11 (26.8%) 26 (48,4%) 15 (51,6%) Questions How much you like when given a project? Do you feel like working in groups? Do you feel more confident when talking to your friends? Do you enjoy speaking in front of the class with your friends’ help? Do you want to study speaking traditionally or with projects? III SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: This study can be applied for students not only for students learning English 10-year program but for those learning English 7-year program and those learning other science subjects as well Teachers can give easy or more difficult tasks depending on the students’ level The latest thing of this research is that if this project lesson is not included in the curriculum, the teacher can apply this research in optional lesson, in any skill in the topic such as reading, speaking, listening and writing or at the end of each unit IV CONCLUSION: This study show the effectiveness of conducting a project in English classrooms and some ways to assess students’ work in the hope to develop students’ presentation skills Hope to receive comments from my colleges! Many thanks to spend your time on this study! An Giang, February 20th, 2019 Person in charge Lê Thị Tuyết Lan 11 APPENDIX PROJECT TEAMWORK PLAN Project Name Team Members Product: Due Date: Person responsible Task (Activities done) need to be (A responsible person must be identified for each action step) 12 Timeline Comment (An expected completion date) (Comments optional.) are APPENDIX GUIDELINES ON ORAL PRESENTATION Name of the Project: Names of the Group members: 2. 3. 4. 5. _ I INTRODUCTION Group members Introducing name of project II CONTENT A Purpose B Activities C Person in charge D Possible difficulties E Effects III CONCLUSION Concluding the contents Giving some key values IV QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Answer questions related to the topic from the teacher and the audience 13 APPENDIX GUIDELINES ON POSTER LAYOUT Your PROJECT POSTER may follow the layout below (or you may create your own) NAME OF PROJECT: RIDING Tasks BICYCLE FOR A GREENER EARTH Person in Time/Place Possible Effects on your charge difficulties school/community CHECKLIST FOR Donating All members of 15/02/2019 People willPOSTER not Designing our money our group Nguyen Huu be uniform campaign Project: _ Group: Canh High willing to share and printing School or the their money posters Teacher: Class: Park near the The money we Secondary raise will not be School enough for our activities Delivering All members of 22/02/2019 Not many people Letting people posters group Nguyen Huu accept to take the know more about Canh High posters the campaign School or the Park near the Secondary School Designing Lan Anh 15/02/2019 Cannot complete Having uniform uniform and before deadline make us more printing professional posters People know more details about the campaign Creating a Mai 18/02/2019 There will not Letting people fanpage on have many know more about Facebook people follow the global warming page and how to reduce it Updating the group’s activities Contacting to Nhật 24/02/2019 The request may Letting the the Youth not be accepted students know Union and more about the holding an campaign event Attracting people to join in the campaign Borrowing Uyên Em 20/02/2019 There may have For the ones who bicycles not many people want to join this who are willing campaign but don’t to lend us the have bicycles bikes Making a list Trọng The day we hold Cannot control Making sure that of the ones the event all of the bikes all of the bikes can 14 who borrow be taken back bicycles APPENDIX YES (√) / MARKING CRITERIA NAME OF THE PROJECT NO (X) COMMENTS ACTION PLAN Have you had a group leader? Have your leader assigned tasks to all members? Have your group listed tasks and plans that you intend to do? PREPARATION Have you searched the information from magazines, newspapers, the Internet, or libraries? Have you taken your own photos of your community? Have you compiled, evaluated, and synthesized the relevant information? Are illustrated picture/ photos eye-catching meaningful, and understandable Handwriting on the poster is neat and easy to read? DESIGN Does your poster include: - title of the project? - name of group members? - main contents Have you designed the poster in a logical order? APPENDIX ORAL PRESENTATION RUBRIC Topic: _ Teacher: Group: _ 15 CATEGORY Content Clear speech and pronunciation Eye-contact Confidence Preparation Discussion Shows a full understanding of the topic Shows a good understanding of the topic Shows a good understanding of parts of the topic Does not seem to understand the topic very well Speaks clearly and distinctly all (100-90%) the time, and mispronounces no words Speaks clearly and distinctly most (89-75%) the time, but mispronounces 1, 2, or words Speaks clearly and distinctly about 74-60% of the time Mispronounces no more than words Often mumbles or cannot be understood OR mispronoun ces more than words Facial expressions and body language generate a strong interest and enthusiasm about the topic with the others Facial expressions and body language sometimes generate a strong interest and enthusiasm about the topic with the others Facial expressions and body language are used to try to generate enthusiasm, but seem somewhat pretended Very little use of facial expressions or body language Did not generate much interest in topic being presented Student is completely prepared and has fully rehearsed Student seems pretty prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals The student is somewhat prepared, but it is clear that rehearsal was lacking Student does not seem at all prepared to present Student can fully answer the audience’s questions Student can answer the audience’s questions, but rather slowly Student can answer some of the audience’s questions Student can answer only of the audience’s questions 16 SCORE Total score / 10 17 ... students? ?? attitudes towards speaking using projects The result of this study indicates that the experiment group is better than the traditional group and better than before This study makes students. .. you enjoy speaking in front of the class with your friends’ help? Do you want to study speaking traditionally or with projects? III SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: This study can be applied for students. .. poster Step 4: Prepare students for information gathering & compiling, and analyzing data - Guide students how to collect information and pictures for their project - Remind students that they need