Using some learned centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and self study in the lessons communication and culture of unit 3 and 4 from the new english tex

NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHAN DANG LUU HIGH SCHOOL o0o - INITIATIVE Using some learned-centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and self-study in the lessons Communication and Culture of Unit and from the new English textbook 10 Subject: English School year: 2020-2021 NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHAN DANG LUU HIGH SCHOOL o0o - INITIATIVE Using some learned-centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and self-study in the lessons Communication and Culture of Unit and from the new English textbook 10 Subject: English Full name: Phan Thi Thuong Group: Literature - English School: Phan Dang Luu high school School year: 2020-2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS .1 PART I: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale I.2 Aims of the study I.3 Scope of the study .3 I.4 Research methods .3 I.5 Significance of the study PART II: MAIN CONTENT II.1 Theoretical Background II.1.1 Literature review on Student-Centered Teaching II.1.1.1 What is Student-Centered Teaching? II.1.1.2 What are the benefits of Student-Centered Teaching? II.1.1.3 Common student - centered activities ……….……………….… II.1.2 Literature review on Learning Enthusiasm II.1.1.1 What is learning enthusiasm? II.1.3 Literature review on Self-study……………………………… …………8 II.1.4 Literature review on Communication ………………… ……… … …10 II.1.5 Literature review on Culture …………………… …………… …… 12 II.2 Practical background ……………………………… …… .13 II.3 Solution for the reality of the problem…………………………………….14 II.4.Why can those activities stimulate learning enthusiasm and self-study? 20 II.5.Applied Lessons ………………………………………………………………… 20 PART IV: CONCLUSION 36 PART V: REFRENCES 37 PART VI: APPENDIX 37 PART I: INTRODUCTION Abstract Learning at least a foreign language has become almost a necessity and English is considered as the one omnipresent in all sectors and every walk of life The young learners should be shown the importance and the interest of learning English for their better future However, to be succeed both the learners and teachers need to know the vital role of communication and cultures in mastering a language Culture, communication and community are not separable from each other In order to have proper relationships, culture plays a very important role as a means by which these relationships are expressed, but at the same time there must be adequate communication Reflecting on the different ways in which the human being is understood is also very important There is, as can be seen, an almost universal tendency to judge other cultures and communities based on someone's cultural predispositions I also see that teaching a foreign language should be an overall cover so that learners will be more confident in using that language Thus, encouraging students to learn enthusiastically has become a target in this research Once they have adequate motivation, they will have self-study I would like to guide my students into a new way of learning by conducting some centred-learners activities in Communication and Culture lessons in new English Textbook 10 I Rationale In accordance with the development in all aspects of society, the changes in teaching methodology are indispensable to educational system To meet this urgent demand, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (MOET), in the Official Document 5555 / BGDĐT-GDTrH, issued on October 8th, 2014 gave a clear guideline on implementing new teaching methods It is stated that teachers need to change the traditional ways in equipping students with new knowledge As a result, the ten-year English textbook series was planned under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project The new textbook is organized into ten Units and each unit includes eight periods: Lesson 1- Getting Started, Lesson - Language (Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Grammar), Lesson - Reading, Lesson - Speaking, Lesson - Listening, Lesson - Writing, Lesson Communication and Culture, Lesson - Looking Back and Project However, to meet the demand of the new curriculum, both teachers and students must work hard as well as try to find out a more suitable way of learning the lessons especially the Lesson: Communication and Culture because it is totally new and covers extensive knowledge To solve this problem, I begin with conducting a survey related to the categories in my research The survey is for students in the classes 10A1 to 10A6 at my school Table 1: Result from students Items Disagree Strongly disagree Agree Strongly agree Neutral 15% 5% 40% 30% 10% 8% 3% 30% 45% 15% Teachers should adapt new teaching methods 5% 2% 50% 31% 12% Self-study plays a key role in gaining knowledge 5% 1% 54% 30% 10% Communication, language and culture are closely connected 20% 10% 40% 15% 25% 2% 60% 30% 3% Communication skills are the key to success The way teachers deliver a lesson strongly affects your excitement about learning Technology and the Internet help 5% students in learning From question number one, most of the students 40% agree that communication skills contribute to students’ success in learning, while in question five 20% of students disagree and 25% have not decided whether yes or no This means that learners are not fully aware of the relationship between them Question two shows that students’ attitude towards learning depends much on the way teachers prepare the lessons Besides that, in question three 50% agree and 31% strongly agree It can be seen that learning enthusiasm must be created through what kinds of learning activities designed for the lessons The last question states that technological devices are helpful in promoting the quality of learning in learners and 60% agree and 30% strongly agree This means that my students are aware of the importance of applying technology in education To improve the situation, I decided to work on the topic “Using some learned-centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and selfstudy in the lessons Communication and Culture of Unit and from the new English textbook 10 ” I hold a strong belief that creating innovative methods and exciting activities are crucial in teaching foreign languages in particular and teaching other subjects in general However, it is not easy at all to realize our expectations because there are some related objective factors that hinder our actions In my limited capability, this initiative is an evidence for my great attempts in making changes for the better I.2 Aims of the study The study aims at stimulating the spirit of learning and self-study ability as well as investigating the roles of culture in spoken English as a foreign language and how teaching can reflect that roles - to help students understand more about the close relationship between culture and communication It means how culture influences a good communication - to develop students’ ability to use technological devices to support their learning - to build up a fun environment of learning English among learners - to shifted from teacher-centered classes to student-centered classes - by the end of the lessons, the students will know more about the importance of culture and self-study in mastering a foreign language I.3 Scope of the study The study was going to be conducted at my school for every student in Grade 10 starting with the new textbook curriculum Due to the limited time, I concentrate my work on students in class 10A1 who are majoring in science subjects but they are also interested in how to improve their English in this globalized world Most of the teachers at my school also give strong support for my study following national curriculum to finish the semester on time Thus, there must be a careful plan to carry out my initiative from September to February of this school year 2020 – 2021 I.4 Research methods Reading the materials related to the topic and working with students to find out the obstacles they meet are the key elements to help me reach the most potential ways in dealing with the problem The long lessons as well as the high levels in the book really encourage me to design another activities suitable for my students Moreover, I made some reference to the study about new methodology in teaching languages I found out many changes that were made in order to give the young learners as many interesting lessons as possible Besides that, I also get my students more familiar with applying technology into their study It can not be denied that technological skills play a major role in every aspect of life Therefore, both teachers and learners can make a good use of the devices to supplement their knowledge I always follow and collect the results from my students to prove that technology really helps More importantly, students can depend on it to form the habit of self-study Carrying out the teaching procedure in class 10A1, I would like to show the effect of my research From the theoretical principles and practical lessons, I have gradually completed this research paper I.5 Significance of the study The study is conducted with a view to making some changes in the teaching method of Communication and Culture I hope that my study would be a contribution to the new trend of education- that is how to make an interesting lesson and how to engage students more in their learning process In other words, this would make students more enthusiastic about their academic duties Obviously, once they have enough enthusiasm and motivation, they will have the habit of self-study to gain knowledge Moreover, I truly carried out the lessons in accordance with a learner - centred class, which meets the requirements for the changes in the modern education Our public schools will use student-centered approaches to give students the skills they need to succeed after high school and participate in their communities Student-centered approaches to learning highlight four key tenets, drawn from the mind/brain sciences, learning theory, and research on youth development that are essential to students’ full engagement in achieving deeper learning outcomes PART II : MAIN CONTENT II.1 Theoretical background II.1.1 Literature review on Student-Centered Teaching II.1.1.1 What is Student-Centered Teaching? Student-Centered Teaching is an approach to teaching that focuses on the learners and their development rather than on the transmission of content; it addresses the balance of power in teaching and learning, moves toward learners actively constructing their own knowledge, and puts the responsibility for learning on the learners (IGI Global Publisher of Timely Knowledge) A teaching approach where students are required to take on active learner roles and responsibilities beyond listening passively to instructors’ lectures and taking notes Students learn information by systematically examining the subject and critically assessing the situation Students are active members of this learning process II.1.1.2.What are the benefits of Student-Centered Teaching? If student-centered teaching is going to impact the learning process positively, it must produce real-world results This naturally leads to an important question: Is there evidence to support the benefits of switching to a studentcentered approach? As it turns out, researchers have already done a significant amount of work on this subject In April of 2020, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Nellie Mae Education Foundation reported a large-scale review of SCL-related studies This review concludes that student-centered learning does indeed produce measurable benefits In one study, researchers looked at 62 schools that implemented SCL-based teaching practices The schools with SCL-based teaching practices experienced substantial improvements in their students’ performance in math and reading In some schools, these improvements were relatively small However, in other schools, students saw more significant gains in their reading and math skills From the review of SCL-related studies, we can draw the conclusion that SCL based teaching practices bring about some benefits below: ● Fitting education content to student interests ● Allowing students to gain competency and mastery at their own pace before moving on to other topics ● Teaching students how to devise their strategies for learning ● Teaching students how to monitor their progress as they learn new material ● Improvements in students’ communication and collaboration skills ● Advances in students’ ability to think and work independently ● Increased student interest in school activities and education in general ● Stronger relationships between students and teachers in shared activities II.1.1.3 Common student - centered activities How to apply SCL -Teaching effectively in a lesson is a big question to all of us who are responsible for the final result of the learners We can have a lot of directions to follow However, I think that below are a few simple activities we might take to create the best result: ▪ Foster collaboration with group project: Collaboration can enhance creativity and innovative thinking Countless studies have proven that innovation happens when content expertise is matched with creative, nonlinear thinking It is also true that diverse teams are better teams Diversity is possible with collaboration ▪ Let students make stage presentations: Presentations are a great way to have students practise all language systems areas (vocabulary, grammar, discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening) They also build confidence, and presenting is a skill that most people will need in the world of work I find that students who are good presenters are better communicators all round, since they are able to structure and express their ideas clearly ▪ Hold a competition: It helps students to develop their creativity and their skill sets It also boosts their self-esteem, motivates them to become better and makes them mentally strong When we introduce the competitive element into a situation it creates a sense of external urgency and drama Competition brings a variable into the equation that shifts the participants attention from the task itself to attention to the cost of their performance in the task ▪ Hold a debate: Using debate as a teaching strategy is a great way to improve the students’ speaking skills It also allows them to research and read more texts in English During the process, they can widen their vocabulary too Most of all, their critical thinking skills are enhanced There are major components in English proficiency Throughout the debating process, from the researching of issues, expressing arguments, listening to opponents and hearing teacher’s feedback, all skills are given emphasis ▪ Gamify learning: Playing is what children love doing the most They are ever-ready to play So, if you include gamification in your teaching process, you can easily ignite your students’ interest in learning You can utilize both online as well as offline games for the gamification of learning ▪ Do role-play: Incorporating role-play into the classroom adds variety, a change of pace and opportunities for a lot of language production and also a lot of fun! It can be an integral part of the class and not a 'one-off' event If the teacher believes that the activity will work and the necessary support is provided, it can be very successful II.1.2 Literature review on Learning Enthusiasm II.1.2.1.What is learning enthusiasm? Enthusiasm is a strong feeling of interest and enjoyment about something and an eagerness to be involved in it (Longman Dictionary) Enthusiasm is great eagerness to be involved in a particular activity which you like and enjoy or which you think is important (collinsdictionary.com) From above definition for enthusiasm, we can infer that Learning Enthusiasm is strong feeling of interest and enjoyment about learning and great eagerness to be involved in a particular learning activity A simple meaning for the word enthusiasm is to have a keen interest It means you demonstrate an eagerness and a joy that fills you with energy Imagine students applying this type of energy to the study Students’ satisfaction might be the most important measure of any success, and an extremely important factor in increasing their practices Enthusiasm is a powerful motivator when it’s sincere It’s a spirit that inspires us to move forward positively in a direction of our own choosing Consider the benefits of being enthusiastic: more productive, more confident, students will view learning in a more positive light, and lastly, they’ll experience more peace of mind at the end of the lesson However, we’ve all experienced the difficulty of staying motivated and enthusiastic at work So, how can you encourage this eagerness in your teaching? It’s all about engagement Taking steps to help re-energize and re-engage your students is essential Listen to your students, applaud their efforts, and communicate with them on a regular basis There is nothing more motivating than being recognized for their hard work and knowing that their accomplishments are vital to the success in studying Learners want to feel valued and know that their contributions make a difference Also, keep in mind that everyday tasks would become easier and more enjoyable when done with enthusiasm If your students were to apply this mind-set to practice, they might find themselves eager to successfully finish the task Remember, enthusiasm is contagious When you work with enthusiastic people, it’s hard not to be enthusiastic yourself As a leader, and a teacher, you should also create as much enthusiasm as you can each day to motivate your students II.1.2.2 Common factors block learning enthusiasm According to scientific studies, most students are not motivated to learn; they are attending classes just for the sake of attaining the certification This lack of motivation in students is the root cause of the problems teachers face while teaching Here are the factors that hinder students’ excitement in learning ▪ Lack of Purpose: Lack of purpose is one of the biggest learning motivation blocks experienced by the students Most of them don’t have a specific purpose for learning They don’t consider education as a means to realize their goals and These are more links about students’ activities as a self-study one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Q8DT4yHhA&ab_channel=DungNgo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT-IymRsl_M&ab_channel=DungNgo III.2 Findings From the above results in the table and the performance collected in further application, we can draw the conclusions that: (1) Firstly, learners in the experimental class made a significant progress in learning after being exposed to the new ways of gaining knowledge; (2) Obviously, my students have become more active and positive in completing academic duties; they show a certain level of enthusiasm every task; (3) Most of the students get more skillful in applying technology such as making video, creating the link on the Internet, faster way of exchanging knowledge with each other; 36 (4) Their better ability of self-study is clearly shown through the ways they present their work in front of the class; (5) Consequently, learning through learner-centered activities have remarkably enhanced self-confidence in the majority of class 10A1 This contributes to bettering their speaking skill because confidence is the key element to a good speaker III.2 Limitations of the research Although the research has been carefully designed and implemented, and it has provided us with the expected results, there are still some inevitable limitations in the study: Firstly, the sample of the subjects is not large enough Subjects in the present study are only limited Therefore, the outcome of the initiative might not be applicable to students of different proficiency levels such as in a lower-level class Secondly, the duration of the experiment is not long enough It is no surety that the same results will still be obtained in a long-time study Thirdly, the test papers used in this experiment are chosen and corrected by the author, so there must be some subjective factors which may influence the results of the experiment to a certain extent PART IV: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Putting innovation in education has become the primary priority in these days, so making changes in teaching seems to be a major duty when we work as a knowledge-giver In order to be able to master a language to some degree of proficiency and to be able to say what people mean, some mixed strategies must be put together if we desire to educate an overall learner By applying some centered-activities the teacher not only gives the students the means to express themselves but also fulfills their expectations of what learning a foreign language involves Technology is also an ideal tool in learning and teaching language as they can connect us to whole world The more our students approach digital devices, the better they learn Besides knowledge, these applications can promote students’ soft skill helping them deal well with the real situation Moreover, studentscentered approach if combined with outdoor activities would benefits learners a lot Students have an amazing ability to absorb language when activities are familiar and enjoyable to them Teaching foreign language on the base of desirable methods is exactly carried out by devoted educators nowadays 37 Communication, Culture and Language are closely connected and surely link English with real-life situations These relations strongly affect a communicator when they use that kind of language to go out into the world Therefore, I would like to make some recommendations as follow: While teaching foreign language, it is advisable for teacher to integrate as much as culture in the language as possible Try to take students out at least once per semester to learn outside There should be cooperation between classmates to support each other during the learning process Students who read more should be awarded There should be competitions in language teaching to stimulate learning spirit and enthusiasm Self-study should be encouraged among high school students After doing this research, I find that the topic of my research is undoubtedly new and interesting to propose for further study I would strongly recommend the method in my research to my colleagues for both English and other subjects Many Communication and Culture lessons in the new textbook English 10 can be adapted in order to diversify the method of teaching English and to catch up with the update trend in current education I also would like to express my thanks to my dear students and colleagues having helped me to complete this teaching experience My initiative has also been applied by other teachers at my school and I really expect to welcome more contribution to perfect my research as well as further study PART V: REFERENCES New English textbook 10 (NXBGD) How to Teach English Jeremy Harmer, Longman 1998 Batstone, R (1994) Grammar, Oxford University Press Tomlin, R.S (1997) Functional grammars, pedagogical grammars, and communicative language teaching https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-pronunciationactivities https://www.learnupon.com/blog/learner-centered/ PART VI: APPENDIX 38 Questionnaires Question 1: Are you constantly enthusiastic about learning foreign language? …… …………………………………………………………………………… Question 2: Is Cultural knowledge important in learning English ? ………………………………………………………………………………… Question 3: Do technology and the Internet help students in learning? …………………………………………………………………………………… Question 4: In your opinion, should teacher frequently adapt new teaching methods? …………………………………………………………………………………… Question 5: Do you often read about other countries’ customs and cultures? ………………………………………………………………………………… Question 6: Do you think self-study is the key factor to learning success? Some images of students’ activities cut from video 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 ... called ? ?Using some learned- centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and self- study in the lessons Communication and Culture of Unit and from the new English textbook 10 ” II .3. 1... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHAN DANG LUU HIGH SCHOOL o0o - INITIATIVE Using some learned- centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and self- study in the lessons Communication. .. ………………………………………………………………………………… Question 6: Do you think self- study is the key factor to learning success? Some images of students’ activities cut from video 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48