Improving listening skill in english for students at hoang le kha high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HOANG LE KHA HIGH SCHOOL INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE “IMPROVING LISTENING SKILL IN ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS AT HOANG LE KHA HIGH SCHOOL” Full name: Dương Thị Hoa Position: Teacher Subject: English THANH HOA, 2021 INDEX Numerical order 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 3.1 3.2 3.3 Contents Introduction Background of solution Reason for choosing solution Research scope and object Research purposes Contents of initiative experience The status of the solution is available, known Advantages and disadvantages of teaching listening at Hoang Le Kha High School New solution implementation steps / Procedures are presented Solution illustration The advantage and disadvantage of the new method Evaluation of the initiative is created Conclusion Lessons learned from the process of applying the initiative Recommandation / Proposing conditions for implementation and application of initiative into practice Commit not to copy or infringe copyrights Reference materials Pages 1 2 3 5 12 12 14 14 14 14 16 Abbreviations Abbreviation T F mns Ss adj n Full word True False Minutes Students Adjective Noun General information about the initiative Topic of the initiative: “ Improving English listening skills for students at Hoang Le Kha high school” Field of application of the initiative: Teaching methods Author: - Full name : Dương Thị Hoa Male ( Female): Female - Professional skill: Bachelor of Foreign Language - Position , work place: Teacher at Hoang Le Kha high school - Telephone number: 0387.202.106 Email : hoadt.hlk@gmail.com - Contribution rate creates initiative ( %) : 100% Colleague: none co-worker - Full name :……………………… Male ( Female): …… - Professional skill :………………………………… - Position , work place:………………………………… - Telephone number:……………………Email:……… - Contribution rate creates initiative (%):……………… Improving listening skills in English for students at Hoang Le Kha high school Introduction 1.1 The background of the solution: In the period of social development and integration with the world today, English plays an important role not only in schools but also in society It is the main mean , mainly to communicate to all the countries of the world In schools, the goal of the English subject is to form and develop students’s the basic knowledge and skills of English to continue their vocational training, college, university or working life So English textbooks from elementary to high school are completed according to the concept of program development, that is the point of view (thematic approach) including four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing be interested nad coordinated in the tasks of class activities in class and highlighted the students’active learning methods With the desire to improve the quality of English learning, the Ministry of Education and Training has also launched many innovative programs to help students to improve their proficiency: especially, it is the Foreign Language Project in 2020 Listening skill is the first skill in learning a foreign language in general and English in particular: listening, speaking, reading and writing skills However, there is a common situation in English students that is teaching and learning Listening skills are not focus due to many reasons Firsly, one of the four skills that english learners I general as well as high school students in particular often encounter the most difficult in learning process is the listening skill Maybe they don’t listen to anything so students often pass it, be bored and not pay attention to English anymore Secondly, according to the curent trend in the structure of the test only revolves around the topics of grammar and vocabulary, almost teachers and students only focus on teaching and studying to get high marks , so listening seems to be lost 1.2 The reason for choosing the solution: With the research of this topic, I wish to partly help teachers and students at Hoang Le Kha high school gradually overcome the difficulties in teaching english to listen and listen more effectively Students are more active and proactive when acquiring and acquiring knowledge of the lesson 1.3 Research scope and object: The topic revolves around the topic of teaching and learning private listening to teachers and students at high school in grade 10 ,12 But applicants whom I research in this topic are in grade 10 in school year 2020 – 2021 1.4 Research purposes : The purpose of the new method is to promote the activities, initiation and creativity of students in learning, creating conditions for students to practise and develop language skills at the level of communication, not purely linguistic knowledge In addition, English is a language that has been and will be learned by many people due to the need to communicate, study and research because it is the most popular language used in most textbooks and materials as well as learning exchanges between countries in the world Currently teaching and learning English with the new approach, students have more favorable conditions exposed to the English language The content of new textbooks that facilities maximum four students to practise skills Listening skills are skills that are focusing on developing new methods of teaching foreign language Listening skills have an important role because the students can not communicate verbally if not understand what he / she heard So how can students practise learning skills quickly, effectively and easily? Especially, when applying them to communication activities and solving problems arising in communication? With the study of the subject, this experimental innitiative will help teachers gain the following experiences: 1.4.1: How to organize an effective listening period 1.4.2: Steps for implementing an effective listening period 1.4.3: Guide students to practise and practise themselves to have English listening skills and skills 1.4.4: Form a heavy listening skill for students 3 Contents of the initiative experience 2.1 The status of the solution is known and available Although English has become an official subject on schools, it has not yet paid much attention to its benefits The quality of teaching is not high , and has not attracted the passion of the students This is more clearly shown in English listening lessons, the academy always tries to avoid, does not focus on the lesson because most of them can’t listen to the content of the lesson Practically, many years teaching at Hoang Le Kha high school as well as further learning in other school, I found that the listening lesson has not been paid attention to English Most of the students lack basic knowledge, so they can’t hear or understand English, leading to boredom, fear of hearing and most teachers and students think teaching, learning grammar to get good points so you don’t focus on listening skill I think listening skill in English is very important, listening skill is the first of the four skills ( listening, speaking, reading and writing) To learn a foreign language in general and in particular, so it must be the sharpest focused on However, through the practice of teaching English for many years at Hoang Le Kha high school, I realized some advantages and disadvantages of teaching listening at Hoang Le Kha high school 2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of teaching listening at Hoang Le Kha high school 2.2.1: Advantage: Although there are objective and subjective conditions that directly affect the teaching process, with a team of young, dynamic and enthusiastic teachers we know how to overcome the immediate difficulties, step by step to improve the quality of English listening hours to meet the purpose and content of the textbook program 2.2.1.1 On the teacher’s side: -The first steps have approached to use relatively well typical teaching techniques - Already fimiliar and proactive with how to organize a listening period - Quite flexible coordination of teaching techniques - Creating many teaching aids suitable to the content of teaching periods, so many listening lessons become lively , attractive and highly effective - Using modern teaching equipment to well serve this listening process: cassette tapes, computer, textbooks……… 2.2.1.2 On the student’s side: - Students have gradually become familiar with the subject of listening - Many students have heard and recognized the spoken and spoken voices of native speakers - Most of the students have heard simple listening lessons - Some students have developed skills and tricks in the process of listening to listen 4 2.2.2.: Disadvantage : 2.2.2.1 Teachers: There are still some teachers facing certain difficulties in performing matipalation and listening techniques, in choosing techniques suitable for each lesson period, each stage of the lesson , still hesitate,using or using not yet proficient in teaching aids for listening lessons ( casstte , projectors…….) 2.2.2.2 Students: Foreign language ( English) is a difficult subject for students of Hoang Le Kha high school, most of them lose basic knowledge of this subject Textbook’s knowledge is very difficult for them - Their motivation to hear and understand on his own was limited - Many students have less opportunity to listen, less access to the mass media but can ignore that is English listening skills - Some students are afraid to listen and speak English, they are afraid of making mistakes - Students are not yet familiar with the speed of learning and speaking in tape cassette by native speakers 2.2.2.3 Specific survey : In the teaching process, I myself take the 10 th grade with the sense of both studying the characteristics of the student’s learning situation and learning from experience Right from the beginning of the school year, I have oriented a specific plan and method to actively investigate the learning situation of students I directly teach I did an audio survey and fill in the blanks Exercise : Listen and fill in the blank: Hello everyone, my name is Lam I’m a cyclo driver in…(1)… City I usually have a busy working day I…(2)… at five thirty in the morning I start work at (3) My first passenger is usually an old …(4)… I take him from District to District After I drop him at a cafe near HCM City College of Education, I pendal to Thai Binh…(5)… My next passenger is a…(6)… who does shopping there two days I help her put all her purchases into the circlo and then take her to her shop in Tran Hung Dao Street At about…(7)… I ride off toward Nguyen Thi Minh Khai School There I park my cyclo, chat with some of my fellows and wait for my third …(8)… They are two school pupils, a girl and a boy I take them home At twelve I have…(9)… at a food stall near Ben Thanh Market After lunch , I park my cyclo under a tree, take a short …(10)… and then continue my afternoon’s work And I got the below result Total Grade students 10B4 10B6 41 41 Good number Moderate Rate number (%) 0% 5% Medium Weak Rate Rate number number (%) (%) 5% 15% 25 10% 20% 20 Poor Rate Rate number (%) (%) 61% 19 % 48% 17 % Through investigation I have found that the quality of English listening of grade 10 students is still low because they are not really interested in learning process Most of them not know how to apply vocabulary and structive to listening, so teachers have to consider very much about English teaching methods and specifically how to use listening period in order to be effective 2.3 New solution implementation steps / procedures are presented 2.3.1: An overview of listening teaching skill Improving of listening skill toward improving the quality of listening lessons of the school, students actively acquire knowledge and skill, but no longer avoid being afraid when there are listening periods Wanting to innovate, improving quality and listening skill, students actively grasp knowledge, requiring teachers to renew their teaching method, applying appropriately listening techniques Listening is a long training process, requiring a lot of time to practice and make effort to acquire listening knowledge and skills Therefore, teachers must be persistent, use appropriately listening teaching methods and listening content suitable for students’levels, from low go to high place 2.3.2: Some ways to improve listening skill 2.3.2.1: Listening to the songs a Introduction: - Listening to English is a pressure for students, but when they apply song listening, they are very excited I often choose simple, fun songs that match the theme of the songs b Advantage: - Listening to music will feel like playing and entertaining without the pressure of learning to listen 2.3.2.2.: Redesigned typed of exercises for a listening period a Introduction: Some textbook exercises often make it difficult for students of Hoang Le Kha high school for example; question answering exercises: students not understand the main idea of the leson, they can’t hear, so they often can not the homework despite listening to it many times I often redesign listening exercises and answer questions in the form of multiple choice, T , F , fill in the blank…… b Advantage: Students delineate their answers, so it is easy for them to listen, understand and the exercises after listening 2.3.2.3: Take advantage of pictures to teach vocabulary or guess the content of the lesson a Introduction: - Pictures help students to look around visually, through pictures, teachers can exploit information about the main content by asking related questions It makes students more understood during the listening lesson b Advantage: Students grasp the main idea, grasp the content and know the vocabulary so listening becomes easier 2.3.2.4: Perform well the listening process a Introduction: The course of a listening period consists of three stages: Warm – up ; Prelistening ; While – listening ; after – listening This process not only helps students understand the lessons but also helps students use listening skills in real communication However, the prerequisite is that the teachers needs to clearly define the purpose and requirements of each specific listening lesson in order to guide students to perform well in the next stages + Warm – up ( 5mns): This is a period to help students predict a topic which they will learn, a good warm – up activity will keep students interested during the class -Teachers usually give students to listen to songs ,watch movies or pictures related to the topic to help students guess the topic, thereby students visualize related to situations and vocabulary + Pre- listening (10 mns): This is the stage that helps students to orient and think about a topic or situation before they listen The things that teachers should in this satge; -Teachers should prepare students for listening by prompting, asking questions about the topic of the listening lesson, asking students to observe pictures, reading new words related to the topic and guessing if they will listen to the topic What problem ? Who is going to tell you? -The teachers may ask the students to work in groups, to make a rough guess about what they are about to hear about the pictures or listening situations, but the students are interested before they listen -The teachers help students to anticipate difficulties in pronunciation or new structures and background knowledge -Finally, the teachers clearly tell the students how many times they will be heard and instruct the task requests when listening ( choosing right, wrong, answer questions ) -Some activities are used in Pre- listening part : * Share opinion / experience in related to the topic * Predict content * Guess facts which will be in the content * Mystery headlines, titles * Brainstorm – mind map * Visual – pictures, guess the name, pictures story, diagrams * Texts and words- gap fill, key words * Games – who / what am I? + While – listening (20 mns): This is the period when students have a chance to practice At this stage, the teachers give the types of exercises that students ask to Students may make mistakes at this stage so the teachers should pay attention to correct the mistakes that the students made 7 -The teachers play the tape two to three times ( if the content is difficult, it can be more than once) The first , it is to help students to listen, to understand and cover the content of the listening for the first time The second, it is to listen to give key information to complete the exercise The third time, it is to listen and check the exercises you did The main goal of listening comprehension is students to listen to the main content or details and to understand the attitude of the author Therefore, teachers let students listen to the whole lesson to understand the general idea as well as the layout of the lesson and to the homework, then you can listen to each paragraph agai to grasp the results or listen to each sentence again where it is difficult to confirm the answer Should be limited for students to listen to word by word because it will make students have a habit of listening to word by word - Some activities in while – listening part: * Listening for gist : Who ? What? Why? Choose topics from a list; confirm / contradict prediction * Listening for detail: Who? What? Why? Spot the difference; sentence completion; fill in gaps * Listening for specific information : Fill in chart / table ; time / dates / numbers; phone messages - Some types of exercises : * Note – taking: facts, phone message, chart / table summery * Questions types: T / F; multiple choice; ordering / ranking + Post – listening ( 10 mns): This is the post – listening stage At this stage, students use the language knowledge and skills that have been practiced at the “ while – listening” stage in practical and meaningful communication situations After listening, the students need to some exercises such as: reporting to the class or in groups about the results of the homework, other students write, give comments, or correct the lesson for you Your teacher needs to incorporate other skills like: recall, write – it – up, discussion,…… b Advantage: Praticing well the teaching process of warm – up, pre – listening , while – listening and post – listening will help students to master the knowledge and feel comfortable and interested in listening lesson 2.4 Solution illustration: Lesson plan: Unit : An excursion Part C: Listening Warm – up: (1) Target: Inspire students at the beginning of a lesson and help them guess the topic of the lesson (2) Teaching method / techniques : listen to an English song (3) Teaching facilities : cassette (4) Result : Students guess the topic of the lesson 8 Activities content Students’activities Teacher’s activities Warm – up: Aims: Ss interest and guess the topic -Teacher asks Ss to watch a video – -Ss listen to the song and sing the the song “ The wheel on the bus’’ and song in chorus sing a song in chorus The wheel on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round The wheel on the bus go round and round, all through the town -Ss listen and answer the questions: -Teacher asks some questions +No,they go by bus + Do the children go by motorbike? +No, they go an excursion + Do they go to school? +Theybring backbag, food, drink… + Why you know that? -Ss answer the question -Teacher asks SS to guess the topic +Picnic they will learn Lead in: Today we will study Unit 6: An Excursion Part C: Listening 2.4.1 Forming your knowledge ( Pre –listening): 2.4.1.1: Providing vocabulary: (1) Target: help students to understand the vocabulary in the lesson It makes them better listen to (2) Teaching method / techniques: Illustrations (3) Form of teaching: The contest “ Who is faster?’’ (4) Teaching facilities: Pictures, chalks, board (5) Results ( products): Students understand the vocabulary Activities content Teacher’s activities Activity :Vocabulary: Aims : Providing vocabulary -Teacher asks to look at some pictures nad guess the new words in groups The group gives the correct word in the shortest time will be the winner + glorious (adj) + spaciuos (adj) + left – over (adj) + delicious (adj) + guitar (n) + botabical garden (n) -Teacher reads the words again and Students’ activities -Look at the pictures and guess the new words in groups -Some Ss stand up and give their answer asks Ss to repeat the new words -Teacher asks Ss to read the words in groups -Teacher asks some Ss to read the new words again Checking the new words: -Teacher shows the pictures and asks Ss to read the english words -Read after Teacher -Read the words in groups -Some Ss read again -Look at the pictures nad read the english words 2.4.1.2: Pictures description: (1) Target: Help students to better understand the activities in the lesson (2) Teaching method / techniques : Illustrations (3) Form of organization activities : Matching the sentences with activities (4) Teaching facilities : Pictures, chalks, board , handout (5) Results ( Products): Students understand and know the schedule of the trip Activities content Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Activity 2: Describing the pictures Aims : Guess the content of the listening task through pictures -Teacher asks Ss to look at the -Look at the pictures amd describe pictures and describe them them -Teacher asks some questions -Answer the questions Example : +What are they doing? +They are dancing, they are taking +Where are they? photos… +Do you go by taxi? -They are at the gate -Teacher asks Ss to look at the -They go by bus pictures and guess the order before -Ss look at the pictures and guess the listening order before listening 10 2.4.1.3 Activities of practice and application ( while – listening): (1) Target : Help students use the knowledge, vocabulary which they have learnt to hear and exercises (2) Teaching method / techniques : Redesign assignments appropriately, students work individually, exchange and discuss (3) Form of organization activities : Present personal questions and answers (4) Teaching facilities ; Textbook, computer,interactive table, cassette (5) Results ( Products): Students know to use knowledge Activities content Teacher’s activities Students’activities +Task 1: Listen and number the pictures in the order you hear Aims: Practice listening and ordering pictures -Teacher introduces the situation about -Listen and task a student talking about a picnic to the Botanical garden Teacher asks Ss to listen to the tape and number the picture in the correct order -Teacher plays the tape twice -Listen to the tape -Teacher asks Ss to compare the answer -Compare the answer with the partner with their partner - Give their answers -Teacher plays the tape again and asks -Check their answer and then correct Ss to check the answer their work if they have the wrong 11 -Teacher corrects and gives comments + Task : Aims: Practice listening for specific information by filling in the gaps -Teacher asks Ss to have to look at the given sentences and read them in pairs and make sure they understand them Teacher encourages to Ss guess the words / phrases to fill in the gaps -Teacher asks Ss to listen to the tape once or twice again and fill in the gaps with the missing words / phrases -Teacher asks Ss to compare their answer in pairs -Teacher asks to give the answers -Teacher plays the tape again, stops where necessary and conducts the correction + Task 3: Aims: Practice listening for specific information by answering given questions T or F -Teacher asks Ss to read the statements and underline the key words -Teacher asks Ss to listen to the tape once / twice and take short notes to answer the questions -Teacher asks Ss to compare their answer in pairs -Teacher asks Ss to give the answer -Teacher plays the tape once again, stops where necessary and conducts the correction answer Suggested answer : 1a – 2e – 3b – 4c – 5f – 6d -Work in pairs to read the passage and try to fill in the gaps -Listen and the tasks -compare the answer with friends -give their answer -Check their answer, and then correct their work if they have the wrong answer Suggested answers: 1.was just a few 2.to pay a visit at the school gate a short tour 5.playing some more -Read the statement and underline the key words - Listen and the task -Compare your notes Some Ss give the answer -Check their answer, and then correct their work if they have the wrong answer Suggested answers: 1.They played a lot of games on a spacious piece of glassland T 2.Once of the boys brought his piano F ( the guitar) 3.They laughed,sang and danced too T After a delicious meal, some of them slept very soundly T 5.In the afternoon, they went on playing soccer F 12 6.They all didn’t feel happy 2.4.1.4 Consolidation activities, application ( post – listening): (1) Target : Help students to consolidate the knowledge learned above (2) Teaching method / techniques : Individual, discussion (3) Form of organization activities: Discuss and present by group (4) Teaching facilities: Textbook, computer, interaction table (5) Results ( Products): Students consolidate the knowledge which they have learned and know to use to talk about their trip Activities content Teacher’s activities Students’ activities -Teacher asks Ss to work in groups -work in groups and plan for their picnic this weekend -Teacher reminds Ss to pay attention -Plan for the picnic this weekend to the times, means of transport, picnic sites, food, equipment… -Teacher moves round to check the activities and to make sure that Ss are working effectively -Teacher asks two Ss to report in front -Two Ss present of the whole class -Listen and take note -Teacher checks and gives remarks 2.5 Advantage and disadvantage of this new method 2.5.1 Advantage of the initiative : Obviously improve students’listening results with creating excitement for students They are not under pressure of english listening 2.5.2 Disadvantage of the initiative: Teachers spend a lot of time redesigning lessons to suit for students Less expensive to prepare teaching facilities: Roky paper, pictures, pens, magnets……… 2.6 Evaluation of the initiative is created 2.6.1 The innovation: The solution given in the initiative is completely self – researched by me, has been implemented at Hoang Le Kha high school in the school year 20202021 and achieved high efficiency in transferring knowledge and English listening skills to students The initiative created the interest of english listening and overcome students’ boredom while learning listening lesson 2.6.2 Effective application : Using this experience initiative, I have personally achieved some position results First off all, these experiences are very relevant to the textbook program, students are more interested in learning, analazing, active and creative to expand knowledge, is very flexible in acquiring knowledge and developing skills The learning status become vibrant and gentle, students have the 13 opportunity to assert themselves , no longer embarrassed and anxious when entering listening process The table of results achieved by students in grades 10B4,10B6 in the school year 2020 -2021 after implementing the topic Total Grade students Good Number Moderate Medium Weak Poor Rate Rate Rate Rate Rate Number Number Number Number (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) 10B4 41 5% 20% 12 29% 14 10B6 41 15% 10 24% 14 34% 34% 15% 12% 12% 2.6.3 Applicability of the initiative: - Initiative was used in English listening part - To use this initiative, students must be active and proactive, teachers must invest in lesson plans and teaching facilities such as: projector, computer, Roky, A0, and create lectures with powerpoint - This initiative can be widely applied in agencies, high school and education systems 14 Conclusion part 3.1 Lessons learned from the process of applying the initiative After successfully applying this topic , I have obtained the following remarkable results and valuable experiences for myself -Teacher must always create a foreign language environment during school hours and must use English as the primary language for communication Depending on the grade and the target of the students, teachers can use short, simple, easy communication sentences to easily memorize -Teacher must always encourage students to use english in communicating with their learned knowledge -Teacher should not concentrate on too much students’ mistakes while speaking Let the students hear and speak naturally Don’t ever force a student to stop speaking whlie he or she is trying to express their thoughts in English, doing so that will make him or her feel scared to hear and speak , he will not dare to speak due to the wrong -Teacher should integrate english listening and speaking skills with “ play – and – study” form -Instruct children to pratice listening to english through radio, television, Internet…… -Teacher needs to attract students with different forms of activities and listening techniques suitable for each stage of each listening period -Using listening aids suitable for the content of the listening lessons such as: pictures,models Using creative tapes or discs ( recording a listening song on a tape or disc three to four times This is very convenient in manipulation and saves times in class) -In the practice phase after listening, the teacher needs to give suitable exercises with high practical features 3.2.Recommendation/proposing conditions for implementation and application of initiative into practice Starting from the theoretical basic , practice , teaching purposes as well as the successes and limitations when implementing the topic, to contribute to teaching English in general, teaching listening in particular with increasing quality I better myself have the following practical recommendations * On the basic’s side: - The foreign language learning skills must be trained according to the specific characteristics of the foreign language environment, so it is necessary to have a separate subject room to avoid causing noise in the neighboring classrooms and not being affected by noise from the outside - The electrical system must be repaired to ensure its usefulness and safety in use * On the side of Superior leaders - It is necessary to create conditions for teachers to exchange, learn and learn from experience in seminars 3.3 Commit not to copy or infringe copyrights: 15 - I commit initiative not to infringe copyrights , not to copy content from other initiatives - The above is my experience teaching in grade 10 as well as referencing though many different sources of information and documents I hope to have the contribution of colleagues to help my topic be improved I would like to thank The confirmation of the principle Thanh Hoa, May 15th 2021 I promise not to have copied Written by Dương Thị Hoa 16 REFERENCE MATERIALS [1] Teacher’s book [2] The book “ some issues about teaching English in High School teaching method innovation of the Ministry of Education and Training” [3] Training materials for innovating English method [4] English language Teaching Methodology of the Ministry of Education and Training in 2003 [5] Evaluation in education by the Ministry of Education and Training  ... True False Minutes Students Adjective Noun General information about the initiative Topic of the initiative: “ Improving English listening skills for students at Hoang Le Kha high school? ?? Field... and English listening skills to students The initiative created the interest of english listening and overcome students? ?? boredom while learning listening lesson 2.6.2 Effective application : Using... is the Foreign Language Project in 2020 Listening skill is the first skill in learning a foreign language in general and English in particular: listening, speaking, reading and writing skills