Using mind mapping as a tool to systematically revise english grammar for the 12th form students in cam ba thuoc high school

PART A: INTRODUCTION The rationale of the study English grammar, as one of the English components, is very important in learning a language When the students master the English structure well, they will be able to construct correct sentences and to communicate effectively Moreover, without adequate grammar knowledge, learners’ language development will be severely constrained Even though grammar is a fundamental material that must be mastered by the students, in fact, there are many students who not like learning grammar Grammar often triggers a negative reaction in both teachers and students (Dykes, 2007) Morever, Decapua (2008) states that the term grammar often brings our mind into unpleasant memories Meanwhile, many students face difficulties to understand and apply the English grammar Realizing the obstacles of learning grammar, many reseachers proposed ways to teach English grammar to the students Commonly, the use of media or the use of certain techniques is used by practitioners as variation of teaching to help students’ learning Mind map, which is a tool to express divergent thinking, can help people rationally utilize man’s left and right brain to improve people’s creativity and memory Mind map has been used in a variety of language teaching as a visual media that allows the students to brainstorm, arrange, memorize new information and helps the students stimulate their logic of thinking practices (Yen, 2010) Mind map, decorated with colors, pictures, code, multi- dimension, can lessen the vacuity of traditional grammar teaching and arouse the enthusiasm of students Moreover, it can help students to remember and understand grammar, be more convenient to extract the information of grammar, improve the efficiency of grammar learning For the 12th form students, the final year will be the most challenging for them because of the pressure to pass the entrance examination This is also the time for the students to revise the knowledge systematically Learning by heart is not the best way for them to memorize all the knowledge and they seem to be up to the ears with many things to cover From the above reasons, I choose the topic “Using Mind-mapping as a tool to systematically revise English grammar for the 12th form students in Cam Ba Thuoc high school”, hopefully that it will help enhance students’ initiative, promote their interest in learning, the efficiency of learning and the ability of grasping grammar knowledge Aims and Objectives of the study With the reasons above in my mind, the specific aims of the study accordingly are: + To demonstrate the benefits that Mind map can bring to the students’ language learning + To give out grammatical system of English language for students in the preparation for the entrance examination with the use of Mind maps Objects of the study In this study, I intend to help the low-level students revise what they have learnt by using mind mapping technique so that they can memorize the knowledge easily Methods of the study With reference to its characteristics, this study can be categorized as an action research The following instruments are applied to collect data for this study: * A study on theoretical background of Mind map and its benefits in grammar acquisition * Personal observations by attending classes Remarkable points of the study The study tends to help promote students’ interest in learning English grammar Also, it will help them to recognize and remember the grammatical items more effectively PART B: DEVELOPMENT I Theoretical background of Mind map grammar learning and teaching I.1 Definitions of Mind map in learning and teaching Mind map is the expression of divergent thinking, so it is also the natural function of human thinking This is a very useful graphic technique and a universal key to unlock the brain’s potential A Mind map is a diagram which is used to visually organize information It is often created around a single concept, drawn as an image in the center of a blank page, related to representations of ideas such as images, words and parts of words are added (Buzan, 1993) I.2 The importance of Mind- mapping technique in language learning and teaching Mind map is always decoreated with colors, pictures, symbols and so on With the aid of its features, teachers use Mind map to lecture lessons to make the lessons fun, to stimulate the students’ interest in learning While easily accepting the Mind map, the students learn much more grammar The Mind map follows the features of the divergent thinking of the human’s brain It makes the students effectively input or output messages which are linked with some words On the other hand, using this way to memorize or distill information can cultivate students’ creativity and excavate their potential Using Mind map to make notesonly rememering the relevant words can help students save a lot of time by looking at related words and create a clear and more appropriate association between key words Introducing Mind map into teaching effectively, by combining the two different Mind maps of main tree maps and contrast diagrams, helps students to intergrate some fragmentary knowledge points with those resources and help them to study systematically At the same time, students can also form good habits of thinking and study in order to improve their learning efficiency It’s helpful for students to use Mind map to complete the integration of grammar knowledge The method of drawing Mind map can not only stimulate students’ interest in learning, but also guide them to develop a habit of thinking actively and improve their understanding of knowledge content II The reality of teaching grammar in every high school In the course of a traditional high school English grammar class, teachers always play as the main speaker explaining the grammatical rules of the English language, organizing teaching in his/ her native language What students need to is just listening and trying hard to memorize the grammatical rule and examples It is too passive of students in this kind of teacher-centered class Teachers occupy dominant role to lecture the contents in the text We can’t fail to notice that the students are told to keep grammar knowledge in mind by practicing for a thousand times Students are deprived of enthusiasm and passion in the class Therefore, it’s not difficult to understand that why English grammar is very dull and boring Located in a mountainous area, Cam Ba Thuoc high school, where I am taking a duty for two years of teaching, consists of more than three hundred 10 th grade students of low English level Getting to know the English language, especially grammar is not easy for them With the traditional way of teaching grammar, they tend to recognize and understand the grammatical items passively Moreover, the difficulties in remembering and revising grammar are what they are facing As a teacher in Le Loi high school, in the time of taking a duty here, I desire to apply a different and creative way in helping the 12 th form students to grasp and revise all the grammatical items effectively, hopefully that they will make more progress in acquiring the English knowledge To find out the reality and the effectiveness of some traditional methods in teaching grammar to the students, I carried out two pre-tests among 65 students from 12B2 and 12C2 The results shown in the table below: PRE-TEST giỏi trung bình yếu 8.96% 17.91% 1.49% 32.84% 38.81% 15-minute test no1 giỏi trung bình yếu 8.96% 17.91% 1.49% 32.84% 38.81% 45- minute test no1 The results of the test show that the students are at a low level to understand the grammar and apply the grammatical knowledge to their doing exercises Some even can’t make sense of anything in grammar That confused me a lot and I was wondering how to help my students to make progress III Different types of mind-mapping technique in teaching grammar Mind maps are one of the easiest, most common ways of visualizing data They are used often as a thought development process, especially in education settings, as you can create ‘branches’ from one central idea in order to explore different related ideas But when it comes to create a visually engaging, well designed mind map it can be more difficult to know which kind of mind map is most effective Belows are some typical types of mind maps widely used in language teaching Flow Map Multi-flow map Brace map Tree map Circle map Bubble map Double bubble map In teaching grammar, teachers can variously use different types of mind maps according to its content or its aims It is advisable that grammar should be taught in some main parts of grammatical items such as: tense, passive voice, reported speech….so that the students can have easier revision of what they have learnt Articles Word classes IV Steps to create a mind map effectively There are some different ways to create a mind map, depending on the content or the aim of the lesson Buzan (2004, 45) proposes six steps of drawing a mind map to identify it more efficiently and effectively Start in the CENTRE of a blank page turned sideways Starting in the centre gives your brain freedom to spread out in all directions and to express itself more freely and naturally Use and IMAGE or PICTURE for your central idea An image is worth a thousand words and helps you use your imagination A central image is more interesting, keeps you focus, helps you concentrate and gives your brain more of a buzz! Use COLORS throughout Because colors are as exciting to your brain as images Color adds extra vibrancy and life to your mind map, adds tremedous energy to your creative thinking and is fun CONNECT your MAIN BRANCHES to the central image and connect your second and third level branches to the first and second levels Your brain works by association It likes to link two or three or four things together If you connect the branches, you will understand and remember a lot more easily Make your branches CURVED rather than straight lined Because having nothing but straight lines is boring to your brain Use ONE KEY WORD PER LINE Because single key words give your Mind map more power and flexibility Use IMAGES throughout Because each image is worth a thousand words So if you have only 10 images in your Mind map, it’s already the equal of 10,000 words of notes V The application of the Mind map in English grammar revision to the 12 th form students There are different ways for the students to revise English grammar, some tend to learn by heart, the others tend to write down as many times as possible until they can remember all the grammatical structures In fact, in this way, students may easily remember the knowledge but forget it sooner or later As a teacher with many years of experiences in teaching the 12th form students, I choose the other way to instruct my students to revise by using Mind map in the main categories of the grammar such as: tense, passive, reported speech… so that the students can acquire and have a careful revision of English grammar systematically English Tense Conditional sentences 10 Reported speech Types of clauses 11 Comparatives and superlatives Relative clauses 12 Articles Prepositions 13 VI Result of the study and some recommendations After one year trying to apply the using of mindmap in almost every main topic with a view to helping the students recognize and memorize the grammatical structure systematically, it’s delighted to see their progress in every test Here are typical tests at the end of the course: giỏi trung bình yếu 8.96% 17.91% 1.49% 32.84% 38.81% 15-minute test no giỏi trung bình yếu 8.96% 17.91% 1.49% 32.84% 38.81% 45- minute test no The results don’t fully come up to my expectations; however, it’s obvious that my students are slowly and gradually making progress More importantly, they can find the interest and keeness when studying English, especially the English grammar In their response, their abilities in remembering and understanding the grammatical items are getting better and they can deal with many different types of 14 exercises There’s no denial that using Mind map brings many benefits to the students in trying to mastering English language When students use their imagination and creativity to draw a mind map, they are motivated to learn and to show their interests toward their learning They can organize the ideas by their own language; and therefore, they can systematize their studying in the way that best suits them Advisably, they should this drawing at home, gather all in a portfolio so that they can use many times and keep it in a long time for repeated use 15 PART 3- CONCLUSION The results of the study clearly show that the implementation of this action research project and its results were fairly effective Using mind map in helping students to revise English grammar systematically is undoubtfully benefitable Also, their enthusiasm for the ways of learning grammar was also developed remarkably The above technique can be used as strategies for developing their source of grammatical structures that cultivate students’ interest and help students apply in the process of language learning The technique has a positive effect on students and make them want to learn more After one- year- practice, the students in my class had better understanding and the ability in dealing with the grammar Signature of Principle Thanh Hoa, May 18th, 2021 Hereby, I certify that this study is the result of my own experience and has not been submitted by any others Writer Lê Thị Thủy 16 REFERENCES [1] Buzan, T & Buzan, B (1993) The Mind Map Book London, Penguin Group [2] Buzan, T (2005).The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps London, Thorsons [3] Decapua, A (2008) Grammar for teacher: A guide to Ameracan English for native and non-native speakers New York, Springer [4] Dykes, B (2007) Grammar for everyone Australia: ACER Press [5] Yen, A C (2010) Our language clicked: Shakespeare in EFL classes Asian EFL journal, 12 (4), 33-50 17 ... trying to mastering English language When students use their imagination and creativity to draw a mind map, they are motivated to learn and to show their interests toward their learning They can... understanding of knowledge content II The reality of teaching grammar in every high school In the course of a traditional high school English grammar class, teachers always play as the main speaker... were fairly effective Using mind map in helping students to revise English grammar systematically is undoubtfully benefitable Also, their enthusiasm for the ways of learning grammar was also developed