Using mind mapping to help students improve english communication skills at nhu thanh secondary high school

1 : INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY: As we know English has now become one of the most popular languages in the world In the tendency of integration of the global economy, English is one of the most effective communicative tools for everybody The role of English is considered to be very important in the fields of economics, politics, science, culture and education Being aware of the importance of English so the society is becoming more and more interested in teaching and learning English at schools, the curriculums and the methods of teaching English are innovated to better the needs of learners Therefore, today in Viet nam, everyone from the children to the adult tends to learn English and many English centers are opened to satisfy the leaners They are fully aware that knowing English will allow people to access an incredible amount of information which may not be otherwise available So communication skills are essential for a successful career, satisfying relationships and a personal sense of accomplishment Communication is seen every day through TV commercials, interaction with the person opening a door for people and listening to the manangers of their company speaking Effective communication empowers people, provides clear direction and increases productivity Without it, people lose motivation and the inability to make a decision, and they become angry because their messages are not understood In fact, many students in Viet nam who have good command of English, but can’t use English well don’t get good jobs So, English is the first and the most important standard for workers who want to work not only for foreign companies but also for domestic ones To this better, Teachers at schools especially at high schools and Universities have to use many skills and activities to promote positive, proactive students and create optimal conditions for students to train, develop and enhance skills to use language for purposes of communication So we have to create the environment for students to communicate in the classroom, especially, in English lessons and this raises for teachers is to organize various activities to improve the efficiency of communication skills and make students feel easily with the subject However, students have limited time to learn English in class, and they still not have enough encouragement to practice English outside the class in order to get familiar with English This case brings a problem that make high school students have difficulties to communicate in English and the majority of students are still feeling embarrassed and shy when speaking in front of the class By using the mind mapping, it is believed that what is written in the picture with is able to improve the students’ ability in communication skills Through mind mapping, the students can communicate easier and better Enjoyable and challenging teaching aids should be prepared well, so that the students’ can develop their ideas of what and how to speak better,orderly and systematically Mind mapping is one of many strategies in teaching and learning English Many teachers use this teaching strategy to teach writing, reading, and speaking Buzan (2005) defined that mind mapping is an effective way for students to remember what they have read and recall it easily when they need it They will be able to organize ideas on paper structurally This strategy will facilitate the students to speak or present their thought in front of class easily Buzan (2005) also mentioned that mind mapping is a good tool to improve students‟ ability in recording information and enhancing creative thinking Therefore, in this study I boldly give the subject “ Using mind-mapping to help students improve English communication skills at Nhu Thanh secondary & High School ” 1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY When writing this initiative, I just wish to offer some ideas to find the best teaching methods to generate excitement for students and bring optimal efficiency - To find out whether mind mapping strategy improve students’ communication skills or not - To find out how mind mapping strategy improve students’communication skills 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objectives of this action research are: To explain whether mind mapping better enhances communication skills at class 11C5,12B1,12B2,12B3 at Nhu Thanh Secondary & High School To improve the creativity of the students at class 11C5, 12B1,12B2,12B3 at Nhu Thanh Secondary & High School 1.4 METHODS OF THE STUDY In this research, I use some research methods to collect and analyze the needed data Recording is used to record the process of giving some activities and surveying through the answer sheets is used to know the practical situation of teaching and learning English communication skills a Planning The researcher planned the activities on applying mind mapping in teaching communication skills Before coming to the classroom, the researcher did the following things: - Preparing the lesson plan of teaching communication skills by mind mapping - Preparing mind mapping teaching communication skills - Preparing a research instrument (observation sheets,and field note) - Arranging the research schedule b Exchange method, discussion: Discussing with other colleagues after visiting their classes to draw out experiences c Acting In this phase, the researcher did the action by applying the scenarios of teaching that had been designed in planning phase The researcher also collected the data while the process of action was going on The researcher also gave final test at the end of cycle of action d Observing While doing the action, the researcher and the observer observed the teaching and learning process, the activities done by the students and the teacher herself The researcher took field note for each step in teaching and learning process and the observer filled out the observation checklist Taking photographs and video are also done by the researcher with other data resources This was to see the classroom events and interactions e Reflecting In this last phase, the researcher discussed and interpreted the data with the observer There were two kinds of data: quantitative (speaking test) and qualitative data (observation) The researcher and observer analyzed both data and make the conclusion Finally,the researcher and observer reflected and interpreted the result and discussed the weakness of the process to make an improvement cycle 1.5 NEW POINTS OF INNOVATION Using mind-mapping to help students improve English communication skills at Nhu Thanh secondary & High School Using mind-mapping to help students improve English communication skills through Reading, Speaking, Listening,and Writing lessons CONTENT 2.1 Theoretical and practical basis 2.1.1 Theoretical basis: The aim of teaching a foreign language is not only to give students the knowledge of the language, but also the ultimate aim of teaching a foreign language is to teach students to have the ability to communicate in that language The ability of students to communicate through skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing Students' communication skills are formed through a process of academic training in English language environment In addition to learning in the classroom, students have to learn and practice communicating through different forms and methods Novi says (in Ismiati, 2011:45) that speaking is a complex process because it involves thinking, language and social skills It means that there are at least one speaker and one listener in this activity When the speaker speaks, she/he expresses her/his attitudes, feelings and interests towards the topic being talked with the listener Thus, it may be concluded that people as social creatures tend to interact each other in order to share information, ideas/opinion, and express feelings through communication skills Further, Nelasco (1987: 42) explains what people actually when they are speaking They are as follows: a) They share meaningful information b) They take turn c) They use body language and gesture to emphasize d) They use stress and intonation In other words, people try hard to convey their feeling, ideas and arguments by using non-verbal language, such as: gesture, body language, stress and intonation 2.1.2 Practical basis: After many years teaching English in high school , I have noticed the fact that the majority of students in high school are afraid of learning English, and they often have a heavy feeling in the English lessons and especially when the teacher give some topics to communicate, the students don’t know how to speak So what must we to make students have a real enthusiasm about learning a foreign language, namely English subject and make students motivate and hope for this subject without feeling bored ? How can they hear and speak simple English sentences in a natural way ? Those are some of my concerns in the teaching process, so I'm always trying to find out the most effective solutions to make my lectures attract students’attention, and is also aimed at improving the quality of this subject on the purpose of renovating teaching methods is that : “learner –centered”.So I decide to choose this research subject“ Using mind-mapping to help students improve English communication skills at Nhu Thanh secondary & High School ” 2.2 The status of the research subject: 2.2.1 The advantages of using mind-map in teaching communication skills: Murley (2007) explained that the radiating design of a mind-map keeps the main topic or idea central stand together with all its major subtopics neighboringit Similarly, sub-subtopics stay close to their topics This arrangement keeps the big picture in focus and makes relationships and connections easier to notice Furthermore, mind mapping is more flexible that students’ creativity will be encouraged Memory storage is enhanced as mind mapping allows displaying all related topics on the same mind map, with keywords and connections indicated by images, symbols, and colors Mind map is not only enhancing students’ creativity, but also attracting students’ attention The benefits of mind mapping include providing the students with a more attractive and enjoyable format for their eye and brain In addition, Murley (2007) noted that it is easy to understand the “maps” drawn on mind-maps This benefits the students as it saves time and increases productivity that distinguished learning styles in EFL classrooms can also be accommodated Mind-maps are especially helpful for strong visual learners who absorb information better when it is presented via diagrams and similar visual aids than through written text To sum up, it can be concluded that mind mapping is an effective strategy to use the power of both sides of the human brain to encourage studying, problem solving, critical thinking, and memory recall 2.2.2.The disadvantages of using mind-map in teaching communication skills: Not being blinded by the powerful advantages mind-mapping offers as stated above, we also need to admit the disadvantages mind-mapping brings about in the EFL classroom (Hofland, 2007) First, mind-mapping is not unfamiliar in the teaching and learning process,yet it is not widely used in schools Budd (2003) states that the students will probably find it a bit odd to make even one very simple mindmap when first using mind-mapping technique This results into a complicated experience as the students may think it is time consuming However, this must appear to be so only in the beginning There is one solution to cope with it: any students who get involved in mind-mapping technique to improve their leaning need to practice regularly In other words, the more the students use the technique,the easier it becomes Another disadvantage in mind-mapping technique is that it uses many images, symbols, and colours This could make it difficult to get some students to use mind-mapping technique (Hofland, 2007) As the students need to use coloured pencils or crayons, they might feel uncomfortable to know that there are students out there are writing in their notebook.Moreover, not all students are good at drawing and colouring It appears to be awkward to force all students to draw images and symbols and colour them when making a mindmap 2.2.3 Specific survey in classes 11C5, 12B1, 12B2,and 12B3 I have conducted a survey among classes I am teaching at Nhu Thanh Secondary&High School to determine their attitudes toward communicating in English by asking them the following questions Do you like speaking activities in English lessons? A Very like B Like C Normal D Dislike Class Students Very like Like normal Dislike 11C5 12B1 12B2 12B3 100% 100% 100% 100% 10% 8% 7% 5% 25% 15% 12% 10% 35% 32% 30% 25% 40% 45% 51% 60% From the survey above, we can see that communication skills are rarely improved at Nhu Thanh Secondary& High School, this may not make it attractive to learners as a classroom activity The students often see communication as hard work, boring, unrewarding Moreover, students don’t know how to learn English and improve communication skills effectively 2.3 Some solutions to the research subject: 2.3.1 General requirements: We know that communication skill plays a very important role in mastering a foreign language According to David Nunan (1991) the author of language teaching methodology book: "Success is measured by the ability to conduct a dialogue in the language they are learning." To this successfully, teachers must make students understand and gain the ability to use the language as much as possible because the needs of learners are very diverse Besides, teachers shouldn’t create unfortunate misunderstanding in the communication process Communication skills of students are practised with other skills through a learning process in English language environment In addition to learning in classroom, students must learn themselves and practise speaking exercises through different forms and methods because the aim of speaking exercises is to help learners speak exactly and fluently The selection of teaching communication skills must be determined on the basis of the lesson content to build the activities for study Through research process and practice in different classrooms I offer some solutions to guide students to develop communication skills 2.3.2 The main solutions: Students often think that the ability to speak a language is the product of language learning, but speaking is also a crucial part of the language learning process To guide students to develop communication skills in English, teachers can teach students speaking strategies such as providing a dialogue, spoken word actions, using minimal respones, practising grammar structures and applying groupwork or pairwork in speaking skills and games Mind Mapping technique, Improve, Speaking Ability in learning English, students should master the four- language skills There are listening, speaking, reading, and writing Speaking is important skill which the students should master it well The aim of speaking lesson is to make the students be able to communicate with other people using English Based on the interviews with English teacher, the researcher founds the problem Based on the problems above, the writer conducts a research by using Mind Mapping technique to improve English communication skills at Nhu Thanh Secondary & High School 2.3.2.1: Providing a dialogue: Thanks to the guidance of teachers, students themselves can create the dialogues and then practice, practice instead This activity is quite simple and will be familiar so students are interested in learning The main purpose of this activity is to help students use Wh- questions or Yes-no questions fluently 2.3.2.2: Spoken word actions: In these actions teachers should let students speak simple sentences or dialogues so that students have communicative opportunities In classroom, teachers can give some exercises to students to explain or talk on the themes and afterwards, teachers and the whole class will remark by asking questions or assessing and this will help students make faster progress because: - Assessment helps learners become more confident about assessing language ability used by others - Teachers must create a routine for your own classroom - where speaking English in the classroom can turn into daily conversation, even compulsory for students - Teachers can use this activity to help students retell the stories or conversations in front of the whole classroom - Teachers should create situations, contexts, themes for students to practise speaking in pairs or groups In this section teachers can use pictures, photos in and out of a textbook or topics close to them as their school, their home, and their friends, and so on 2.3.2.3: Using minimal responses: - Language learners who lack confidence in their ability to participate successfully in oral interaction often listen in silence while others the talking One way to encourage such learners to begin to participate is to help them build up a stock of minimal responses that they can use in different types of exchanges Such responses can be especially useful for beginners - Minimal responses are predictable, often idiomatic phrases that conversation participants use to indicate understanding, agreement, doubt, and other responses to what another speaker is saying Having a stock of such responses enables a learner to focus on what the other participant is saying, without having to simultaneously plan a response 2.3.2.4: Practising grammar structures: Unlike other languages , English has a word order and grammar rules to be followed The implementation of the structures and grammar principles in practising speaking English is not simple Therefore, when communicating in English, try to use the grammar structures that you have been learned and mastered If you just master the structures and simple sentences , you should only use them until you can be sure of the correct use of more complex structures 2.3.2.5: Applying groupwork or pairwork in communication skills: This is the basic and efficiency activity to practise speaking Teachers need to give careful instructions and know exactly how to divide the class Pair work and group work can become a routine Once students are used to it and have regular working partners, it can be organized quickly and easily After that group chief may give topic to say and members discuss Some activities such as paintings, plays, telling story should be applied 2.3.2.6: Games: Games is a very popular activity that teachers frequently used any activity is also considered games when we want students to and want to find out the winner It is clear that Games are very positive and have a high motivation Teachers can design the games such as “chain games”, “lucky number”, “find someone who” and so on to suit each specific class, each specific object to encourage more students to participate 2.3.3 Organization steps: For a speaking period, there are often three stages which are: Preparing for speaking – Controlled practice – Free practice/Production This learning process not only helps students understand the material but also understand their speaking skills used in practical communication But the prerequisite problem is that teachers need to clearly define the purpose of each speaking lesson to orient for the students perform the tasks in the next steps 2.3.3.1:Preparing for speaking: - The instructions that are given at the beginning are crucial If the students not understand exactly what they have to do, there will be timewasting, confusion, lack of effective practice, possible loss of control - Select tasks that are simple enough to describe easily; and in monolingual classes, you may find it cost-effective to explain some or all in the students’mother tongue - Teachers encourage students to contribute to the general ideas for speaking lessons ( Brainstorming activity) - Teachers can ask students some questions to check their understanding 2.3.3.2 Controlled practice: - Need to comply with the guideline from easy to difficult Teachers should give different types of exercises such as Substitution drills, using Prompts or picture cues or language games for students to form structure they have just studied - Teacher goes from group to group, pair to pair, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful - Providing general approval and support; - Helping students who are having difficultly; - Keeping the students using the target language(in many cases your mere presence will ensure this!) - Tactfully regulating participation in a discussion where you find some students are over dominant and others silent - Correcting mistakes and language problems that students have such as pronunciation or grammar Teachers should provide some new words that relate to the subject However, teachers shouldn’t correct unimportant mistakes and should encourage other students to find out the mistakes and correct them 2.3.3.3:Free practice/production: - This is the last activity of the lesson so teachers should give the general requirement and shouldn’t limit students’ideas as well as language so that students can speak freely - Teachers can create the situation, the context and the topic for students to practise speaking in pairs or group - Teachers can use pictures and photos in textbook and outside it or the topics that is close to students such as describe their school, house or their friends how to ensure the requirements of the lesson effectively, and how to stimulate student’s enthusiasm 2.3.4 Demonstration: Example of Controlled practice - Teacher goes from group to group, pair to pair, monitor, and either contribute or keep out of the way whichever is likely to be more helpful - Providing general approval and support; - Helping students who are having difficultly; - Keeping the students using the target language(in many cases your mere presence will ensure this!) (Unit Part B Speaking task English 12) Talking about predictions that are likely/unlikely to happen Through this mindmap, students can know how to prevent, treat, transmit virus corona Example of Free practice ( Unit Part B: Speaking English 11) Talking about your best friend Everyone of us has at least one best friend to share happiness and sadness So I My best friend's name is An I can say she is my closest friend since we were small We have grown up in the same town , went to same school and even studied in the same class An is quite good-looking She is tall and thin She has an oval face, black eyes and thin lips She is a kind and honest girl She has talent in Maths so sometimes when I get troubles , she always explains comlex Maths theories in simple ways to help me understand I like spending time with her because we have common things together That's why she understands me including my hobbies and dislikes The best thing I like about her is sense of humor She always has useful ways to make me laugh whenever I'm sad or angry I really treasure our friendship and hope that it will last forever 10 Example of group work Before you read (Unit – Part A: Reading - English 12) This activity helps students develop communication skills by summarizing the ideas in the passage The procedure may be: Divide students into groups of four or five Read through the instrutions and make sure that each group understands what to Choose one “secretary” in each group to write the list but emphasis that everyone in the groups should agree on what to write While the activity is going on, move from groups, but not interrupt more than is necessary When some groups have finished their discussion, stop the activity, ask one person from each group to report on what they decided Give feedback: - Content - Popular mistakes 11 Example of using games ( chain games) Task (Unit 13 – Part B: Speaking - English 11) Teacher: My hobby is singing Student 1: My hobby is singing and swimming Student 2: My hobby is singing, swimming and fishing 12 Example of providing a dialogue Talking about Tet ( Unit Task Part B Speaking English 11) The aims of this task are to: - Expand students’ vocabulary about many diffirent topics - Use expressions and idiomatic phrases - Use gestures - Make eye contact Example of applying groupwork or pairwork in communication skills: Task (Unit – Part D: Writing - English 10) Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of the Internet 13 APPLYING THE RESEARCH IN TEACHING Unit 12 The Asian Games B: Speaking Period:74 I Oblectives: Knowledge : Scanning the passage and completing the table Intensive reading and answering the questions Summarizing the reading passage Skill : - Main skill : Reading - Subs kills : Writing, speaking and listening attitude: - Have a positive attitude towards what they have learn - Understand and actively respond to relevant matters or situations Competence: Develop the competences of communication, cooperation, using languages,and solving problems II Teacher’s and student’s preparation: Teacher: Lesson plan, text book, pieces of with new words Students: Text book and note book III PROCEDURE A Getting started: Class organization Check up New lesson B Knowledge: Aim: By the end of the lesson, Ss will be able to understand the passage scan for specific information guess the meaning in context remember some events about Asian games method: Communicative Materials: Text book and note book Competence: Ss are eager to read the passage Teacher’s activities Warm up: Use game stop the bus: Divide class into groups: Group 1: Name the countries Group 2: Name the sports - Check with the class and give correct answers Students’ activities T gives some letters such as: V,T, C, S, K, B Countries Sports 14 Work in pairs II While-speaking: Task 1: T: - Review the pronunciation of ordinal number, the year and the countries in the table P: Listen and repeat T: - Ask Ss to use the information from the table to ask and answer about the Asian Games - Give model: - Get Ss to work in pairs - Go around observing and providing help A: When and where were the second Asian Games held? B: in 1954 in Philippines A: How many countries took part in the Games? B: eighteen A: How many sports were there at the Games? B: eight Task - Ask Ss to look at the information from the table and talk about the sports results of the Vietnam athletes at 14 th Asian Games - Give example: In bodybuilding, the Vietnamese athletes won one gold medal and one bronze medal - Let Ss to work in groups - Call on some Ss to present their talk Task Work in groups + In billiards, Vietnamese athletes won one gold medal 15 and one silver medal + In Karate Vietnamese athletes won two gold medal and one bronze medal + In shooting Vietnamese athletes won one bronze medal + In wushu Vietnamese athletes won one gold medal and one bronze medal 2.4 Result after applying the research in teaching: Students are more active in practising communication skills Students communicate with each other better Class Students Very like Like Normal Dislike 11C5 100% 30% 45% 15% 10% 12B1 100% 25% 50% 15% 10% 12B2 100% 25% 40% 20% 15% 12B3 100% 15% 45% 25% 15% 3: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 3.1 Conclusion: To improve communication skills for students, it requires preparation from both sides, teachers and students First, teachers have to identify the focus of the lesson to select appropriate content, then there is a clear plan Second, students need to be prepared at home well, actively learned If they well with the above requirements, certainly teachers will develop speaking skill for students 3.2 Suggestion: 16 To teach communication skills more effectively, the first thing to have good facilities, full intuitive full furniture, vivid pictures for teachers to have the time to invest in new initiatives and prepare for improving communication skills better Nhu T hanh The Headmaster’s identification I ensure that this study has been written by me The writer Phan Anh Đào 17 4: REFERENCE BOOKS The teacher training materials – English 11 ( Hoàng Văn Vân) The practice of English Language Teaching ( Jeremy Harmer) Brunei C (1984) Communicative methodology in teaching Cambridge University press David Nunan (1991) the author of language teaching methodology book (David Nunan 1991) English book 10,11,12 (Hoàng Văn Vân) Ujang, Rusman (2012) Improving Students’ speaking skill by Using Picture Series Murley, D., (2007), Mind Mapping Complex Information, Illinois: Southern Illinois University School of Law Library 18 DANH MỤC CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP LOẠI CẤP PHÒNG GD&ĐT, CẤP SỞ GD&ĐT VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả:PHAN ANH ĐÀO Chức vụ đơn vị công tác:Trường THCS& THPT Như Thanh Kết Cấp đánh đánh giá giá xếp loại TT Tên đề tài SKKN xếp loại (Phòng, Sở, (A, B, Tỉnh ) C) Guiding students develops Sở C communication skills in English at Nhu Thanh high school Using some activities to help Sở C students improve English communication skills in speaking lessons at Nhu Thanh Secondary and High School Using mind-mapping to help Sở C students improve English communication skills in speaking lessons at Nhu Thanh secondary and High School Năm học đánh giá xếp loại 2013-2014 2017-2018 2019-2020 * Liệt kê tên đề tài theo thứ tự năm học, kể từ tác giả tuyển dụng vào Ngành thời điểm 19 ... to make an improvement cycle 1.5 NEW POINTS OF INNOVATION Using mind- mapping to help students improve English communication skills at Nhu Thanh secondary & High School Using mind- mapping to help. .. activities to help Sở C students improve English communication skills in speaking lessons at Nhu Thanh Secondary and High School Using mind- mapping to help Sở C students improve English communication skills. .. methods is that : “learner –centered”.So I decide to choose this research subject“ Using mind- mapping to help students improve English communication skills at Nhu Thanh secondary & High School ”