Innovating the methods of teaching english vocabulary at nguyen van troi secondary school

Table of Contents No Contents The opinion Pages 2.The content of the innovative experience 3 Techniques for communicating the meaning of words 4.Prepare plans for an English vocabulary lesson 10 5 The results achievements after application of themes 17 6 Conclusions and recommendations 19 7 Propose 22 1 The opening: 1.1 Introduction As you know, Ministry of Education and Training towards the replacement of English books next time His point is that communication is mainly matter and the students are special characters in the teaching activities To help the students work in a possitive manner efficently and creatively and use english suit the actual situations In my opinion, the most important thing is the teaching method To improve the students’ ability and creation, we should give them the easy ways to learn and understand English After the lesson students can use English to communicate with other people fluently To communicate with other people well, the students have to the capital of rich vocabularies To help the students learn vocabulary efficently I decide to choose the topic “ how to teach vocabulary for students at Nguyen Van Troi secondary school where I am working” Having a well-developed vocabulary supports children in their reading When words are part of a child’s spoken language, it can become easier for him to decode these words when encountering them in print For example, if a child has never heard or used the word “deli”, when trying to figure out this word when it appears in a book, he struggle because it’s not a term he’s familiar with The child may rely on trying to sound the word out the best he can, but may have no other strategies to confirm if he has accurately solved the word He can’t ask himself, “ Does that sound right?” or “ Does that make sense?” because the word is unknown to him Understanding vocabulary also supports children’s reading comprehension If a child encounters too many unfamiliar words in a text, it will make it challenging for him to understand what he’s reading Even if a child accurately decodes words in a story, without assigning meaning to them, his comprehension will decrease A well- developed vocabulary opens up possibilities for reading selctions As a child’s vocabulary expands, he is able to read and comprehend higher level texts This creates opportunities to choose from a wider variety of books As children acquire more vocabulary, they are also able to explore more topics in literature For example, they need to be familiar with specific vocabulary to read books about dinosaur or farm machinery 1.2 Purpose of researching We guide the students use vocabulary to communicate with their friends by giving the tips for the students to learn them efficently And when we solve this problem, we must answer these questions: 1.Translating is one way to communicate the meaning of words Can you think of several other ways to teach vocabulary? 2.Before your students read a text, is it good to teach them the meaning of the words they not know? 3.How can you teach your students new words to help them remember what they have learned? 1.3 Research objects: Initiative experience focused on teaching methods to improve the efficiency of listening hours and improve the quality of English at Nguyen Van Troi secondary school 1.4 Research methods: In the process of implementing initiatives I have used the following research methods: - Research methods build the theoretical basis through of the search documents on teaching listening skills - Survey method, comparative analysis and synthesis - Research method the tables a.The researching scope: The program of new English books b.The limited scope: The students of the secondary school 1.5 Object of Study: The students of the secondary school - The relationship between teaching and learning, the teacher is the organizer, controller As students occupy themselves with the knowledge of the actions, the actions of his own intellect under control teacher’s organizations 1.6 Method - vocational - technical (vocabulary teaching Techniques): - Teaching vocabulary is regulated by the skills Other words, the lother content dominates the selection, use, flexible coordination of teaching methods, teaching techniques Every technical teaching in accordance with a specific form of lessons (teaching grammar, teaching speaking, teaching, writing, teaching listening ) - Using both intensive listening and extensive listening effectively in each period to help students improve all the skills 2.The contend of the innovative of experience: 2.1 The reality of teaching vocabulary: Words are a good place to begin a course in language teaching methodology Vocabulary words are simple enough to begin learning on the first day of a class and they are powerful enough to encourage communication from the very beginning Words are small pieces of language which carry bits of meaning Knowing many words does not guarantee a person will be able to speak a language, but not knowing enough words can prevent a person from effectively speaking or understanding a language So, we must teach words from the very start Princibles for Communicating the Meaning of Words There are many different ways to teach vocabulary, but some ways are more effective than others Below are several princibles for teaching words a Provide a context for new words If we hear a new word in isolation, we are likely to misunderstand its meaning There are different kinds of context, such as grammatical, semantic and discourse Consider the following examples: Discourse context: “There is a wide variety of primates which live in the wild in Africa The most commonly known are the chimpanzees, known for their human – like appearance A larger and stronger ape is the gorilla Another less – known primate is the orangutan This large animal has a strange appearance with its orange hair and big belly.” From this context, we can learn even more about the word “orangutan” by looking at the surrounding sentences in the discourse Using and presenting words in context helps students to guess at the meanings and to remember them better b Do not present too many words at once Teach a few words and allow students to pratice and use them a lot Presentation will help students understand Practice will help them remember If the students forget what has been presented, it will not be useful to them in the future c Practicing words in context is more important than memorizing isolated words We can learn many new words without being able to use them in communication Students may be required to learn the meanings of words but they must also be given the opportunity to use them productively speaking and writing d Teaching your students skills for guessing new words, especially when reading The meaning of words can be inferred from the different types of contexts and from looking at the affixes (parts) of the word Examples: A photograph is a picture taken with a camera What is a photographer? A learner can guess from the suffix “- er” that a photographer is person who takes photograph e Avoid translation as much as possiple If the students are always having words translated They are really only communicating in their own language, not in English Also, students not usually remember vocabulary that has been translated Only use translation as a last resort, when it would otherwise take too long to communicate in English f Avoid using the dictionary as much as possible When reading or listening, studennts should first try guessing or ignoring new words so that they can continue without stopping Also using a dictionary when speaking or listening often slows down communication In writing, using a dictionary can be beneficial It helps students express themselves more clearly g Remember that not all words are important For instance, in the sentence “The large, maroon sedan drove away”, the word “sedan” is important because it is the subject of the sentence But the word “maroon” is not so important to understanding the sentence (“The large, red car drove away”) h If a word is necessary for understanding an activity or passage Teach it to the students beforehand If it is not so necessary or important, let the students first guess at the meaning while they are reading or listening Teach the meaning later or not at all Techniques for communicating the meaning of words: If we not always translate words or allow our students to use their dictionaries, we must find other ways to communicate the meaning of words Below is a list of techniques for communicating vocabulary 3.1 Define: We can explain a word by using a different word, words or a definition Examples: A boy is a male child A car is a vehicle that carries people A jacket is also called a coat 3.2 Drawing: On the black board, we can draw a picture of some words that will quickly convey the meaning Examples: Body parts such as nose, elbow and leg A map of the world or parts of the world Animals such as dog, horse and giraffe Certain actions such as touching, hitting and kissing Prepositions of location such as under, beside and above 3.3 Objects: If we are teaching about nouns in semantic fields, we can bring a series of real object to class These are not only for seeing but for holding and passing around Examples: Household objects such as a can opener Cleaning products such as soap or detergent Clothing such as a hat, shirt or socks Containers such as a bottle, tube, box, package or jar 3.4.Charts: On cards we can have a picture on one side and the word on the other Or on a chart, we can organize groups of words or draw diagrams Examples: Cards with animals on them Cards with vehicles on them A chart with body parts marked A chart with an apartment map 3.5 Mime: Especially for action, we can act out a word to demonstrate its meaning Examples: Home activities such as sleeping, waking up, eating and showering School activities such as listening, reading and writing Sports such as basketball, tennis, volleyball and hockey 3.6.Pictures: Using photographs, prints or paintings, we can communicate about many types of words Examples: Photographs from magazines Personal photographs of family members Prints or pictures of Vietnam culture 3.7.Opposites: If the students don’t know a new word but they know the opposite, we can give them the antonym Examples: Size words such as tall, thin and wide (short, fat, narrow) Time words such as morning, dawn or sunrise (evening, dusk, sunset) Family relationships such as brother, mother or aunt (sister, father, uncle) 3.8.Semantic field: To show words in relation to other words, we can present words in semantic field Examples: School - - Classroom, blackboard, teacher, student, study, books Animals - - dog, cat, horse, cow, sheep Water - - ocean, sea, lake, river, stream 3.9.Guessing from Context: The meaning of many words can be guessed by reading the whole sentence Examples: The snake slithered through the grass The nurse handed the scalpel to the doctor He swiftly finished his work and went right home 3.10 Guessing from Stems and Affixes: The meaning of some words can be understood through affixes Examples: Undeniable Autobiography Review un deni able not deny ability auto bio graphy self life write re view again look at 3.11.Translation: If it will save much time, the teacher or a student may give a similar word in the students’ first language Examples: Careful Interested Died 3.12.Using the dictionary: If we need to save time or communicate about a difficult word, the dictionary might be the best option Examples: Neurosis Compressor Freon What Vocabularies to Teach: In a given passage, the reader (and teacher) will find many new words Because there are so many words, the teacher must decide which words to teach and how much time to spend teaching them There are four types of words categorized below They are represented in the following diagram with general guidelines for teaching: Unknown words Unkown words Essential to understanding a passage - - Not essential to understanding a First have students guess, then pre - teach Known words passage - - Teach later or not at all Known words Already understood by the students - - No But not understood because of need to teach idiomatic meaning - - Teach only if commonly used For new words which are necessary to understanding a text, the students should (A) try to guess at its meaning from the context or grammar If this is not possible, (B) the teacher should pre - teach the word (A) The drinking goblet fell to the ground and broke into many pieces (Students might guess that “goblet” means “glass” or “cup” or something like that They should try to guess this kind of word) (B) Would you please go to the store and buy a hole punch for me? (If the students already know the words “hole” and “punch”, they might be able to guess, but probably not The teacher should pre - teach that a hole punch is used for making holes in paper) For a new word that is not necessary for understanding a text, the teacher should one of two things (A) If it is a common word, the students will likely use later in their use of English, teach the word’s meaning later, after reading the passage (B) If the word is stranger or unusual, it is probably not necessary to teach it at all Examples: (A) The man was very embarrassed (The students will probably use this word in the future, so the teacher should help them understand it) (B) The man was rebellious and autarkic (Most native English speakers not even know this word It not necessary to teachs its meaning.) For the many words the students already know, of course is not necessary to teach the meaning If there are too many words the students not know, the text is probably too difficult for their level of English In some phrases, the students may understand all the individual words but still not understand the meaning For instance, they may understand the meaning of “stick”, “in”, “the” and “mud” But they may not understand that the idiom “Stick in the mud” means “A person who does not like to have fun” For words used in idioms, the teacher must decide if they are important Especially at the lower level, explanations for idioms shoul be limited or saved for later If it is a common idiom, the students will probably see often, then the students should understand what it means After they try to guess at the meaning, teach it Otherwise, not much time should be spent on idioms 10 Examples of idioms: Fit as fiddle Stick in the mud Dead as a door nail Passed away Bit the dust Active and Passive Vocabulary Some teachers like to make a distinction between passive and active vocabulary Passive vocabulary are words which a student can recognize but not necassarily use in speaking or writing If a student sees a word in their passive vocabulary, he or she will understand what it means Passive vocabulary words are especially useful for the receptive skills of reading and listening Active vocabulary are words which students can both understand and use in communication Active vocabulary words are especially useful for the productive skills of speaking and writing The process of vocabulary expansion looks something like this: Unknown Passive Vocabulary Active Vocabulary A teacher should expect his or her students to understand words in reading and listening before they can use those same words in speaking and writing When teaching, it is best to first train students to recognize words Later the teacher will find the students can actively use those same words in communication Prepare plans for an English vocabulary lessson : A Pre – Teaching vocabulary: to focus their attention create excitement by some short game (bingo, pelmanism, brainstorming ,guessing game, Kim’s game, chain game,crossword puzzle Ex : 11 * Brainstorming:Unit 1-lesson 2: ask students to think of the adjectives used to describe body build and hair tall straight slim Body build thin Hair Fat long *Bingo: Unit Lesson 5: - Ask Ss to write down on their notebooks things they can eat - Prepare a list of food Then call out each word in aloud voice - Ss listen to the teacher carefully If anyone has the same things ,they cross them out.The first person crossing out all things shouts “Bingo” and win the game - Suggessted list of food: chicken, beef ,cake, candy, garlic , noodles, rice, ham, peas, *Guessing :Guess from context:What actions? (Unit 9-Lesson 3) - Ask Ss to look at the picture on page 82 and write out all the verbs describing the actions of the people in it - Tell Ss the group having the most right verbs is winner - Answer key: drive, wheel, move, push, weigh, wait, lie, stand, lean *Crossword puzzle: Unit 14-Lesson - Put the chart on the board L O S E C L U E - Ask Ss to draw the crossword in their note books Unable to find sth/so 12 Something that help you find out an answer to a question A very thick forest To make a sugegstion Collect Ss’answers and give them good points if they are right There are many other activities, but every activity I always guide clearly, definitely, in particular I often encourage them, put an exact repair These activities have helped them a lot in the next receptive listening easily In sum: you can apply various techniques, many methods in the REVISION / WARM UP is really effective, and perform many different tasks to create attention of students, class stability and control Oldest investigation and help students psychological preparation for their lesson B While – Teaching vocabulary: If educators prefer to have students complete an individuals written activity, a graphic organizer such as a word map can be used Educators can choose the format of the word map, with a vocabulary word written in the middle of the page and certain criteria written around it For example, students may be aksed to write a definition of the word, a synonym, an antonym, and to use the word in a sentences During independent reading times, where students have selected their own books to read, educators may have them maintain a personalist of vocabulary words These are unfamiliar words the students come upon in their reading and need to seek out the meaning of This approach allows students to learn new vocabulary words in context Educators may need to offer explicit teaching of specialized teachnology in subjects such as math and science For example, when teaching a unit on measurement, cvocabulary such as “ two-dimensional”, “area”, and “perimeter” may be introduced Educators can help students define these words and find examples to demonstrate them Students may benefit from having the vocabulary posted in the room where they can refer to it, along with their 13 definitions and examples A chart about shape words like “ hexagon” and “octagon” may display the words, their definition and a picture Give feedback * Brainstorm : Unit 12- Lesson cloudy cool Words related to the weather forecast warm hot Possible answer: dry, fine,humid ,rainy ,snowy, sunny, wet, windy, stormy, degree, The purpose of this section is to attract the attention of students on the main idea of the lesson – the main idea to listen In Pre - listening section , they only predict not require completely accurate This has helped them to be more confident in learning, not fear of making mistakes and it has helped him or her want to listen to all things to see if my predictions are correct Next, apply one of techniques to the Pre – listening stage Ordering Statements/Pictures: Typically for listening content as a story or about a process Use an extra- board or the projector to introduce students to a number (5-7) sentence or a picture about the content of listening, ask them to rearrange the order as their predicts for the content or story that process True/False Statements Predictions: Use this technique for the listening is one passage, text or a conversation Also use an extra- board or the projector to give a few sentences , ask students to predict right and wrong based on prior knowledge Open Predictions: used for short excerpts listed or describe Can be used sentences filled with gaps (gap) is the data or the nature and characteristics It 14 is possible that the tables with columns of data, missing information Ask students to predicts the data and information We can use Networks/ Brainstorm instead Besides we can use tricks Pre - Questions by giving some suggested questions on the subject which students are going to listen to the students to think and predict on the content or ask students to put a number of questions that the listening will answer Students can learn new vocabulary through inferencing Inferencing occurs when readers use context clues along with their own knowledge and experience to determine what a word means For example, they may not understand the meaning of a word written in isolation But when that word is embedded in a sentence, which is part of a larger story, readers may be able to determine what the word means Educators can support inferencing by encouraging students to read to the end of the sentence or to the end of the paragraph, which may provide them with clues Educators can also use prompts such as, “ Think about what’s happening in the story” and “ What would make sense right now?” As students become more proficient readers and writer, it’s important for educators to continue focusing on the introduction of new vocabulary Well- developed vocabularies will benefit students in all aspects of theis receptive and expressive language C Post - Teaching vocabulary: This is the final stage of the process of teaching English listening skills During this period students have more opportunities to practice after listening, they can apply the knowledge, language skills have been trained stage set “while – Listening” on the actual communicative situations, students have to add several types more exercises to consolidate their knowledge and expand their thinking abilities Gap - Filling: Use the words in the article to fill in the blanks Survey: ask and answer about problems in the listening text, in the classroom or outside the real life 15 Transformation Writing: Base on the information in the article to write a similar issue Recall / retell: Say or tell the content of the listening text again With any types of exercises, in any steps, after giving out, teachers have to conduct the following rules: - Set the scene: Give the situation of the listening text - Give time for students to ': Give students time (1-10 minutes) to homework - Collect information from students / Get feed back from Students./: get information from students - Check and correct: Check and correct information In the process of conducting the exercises, we can include into the game as: Lucky Number, Simon Say, Guessing Game, Introductions, Right-Left, Information to increase the excitement of the activities and attract students’ interest after learning to listen * Applying methods for teaching listening skill on a particular lesson : UNIT 4: OUR CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS Period 32: SKILLS I Teaching points: - By the end of the lesson Ss can: + listen to get specific information about a traditional dance of an ehtnic group in Viet Nam + write a description of a traditional Japanese dance II Content: - Vocab: customs and traditions - Grammar: Should or shouldn’t III Preparations: - Materials: Ss’ books, text books, tape & radio - Method: T- WC, group work, individual work IV Procedures: 16 Teacher and Students I, Warm up: Brainstorming Contents Customs and traditions - Ask Ss to talk about their likes and dislikes in the countryside II, Pre-listening: + Vocabulary: - Give Ss some questions: - spiritual: ( explanation) - conical: ( picture) - break with: ( explanation) - yagura: ( explanation) - clockwise: ( explanation) - counter-clockwise: ( picture) - reunite: ( explanation) - typical: ( explanation) Look at the picture What tradition you think this is? Share your ideas with a partner III, While-listening: -The xoe dance Listen to Mai’s presentation and - Tell Ss that they are going to complete the table with no more than listen to Mai’s presentation on the three words from the recording xoe dance and complete the table Key: - Play the recording once Happy and wealthy - Ask Ss to write the answers on the Private gatherings board 30 - Play the tape again to check their The circle dance answers 5.Social - Get Ss to give the answer Fire the music - Without listening to the recording Culture and lifestyle 17 again, Ss decide if sentences are Listen again and tick () true or true or false fasle - Have Ss compare their answers Key: with their partner before giving 1T 2.F 3.F 4.T 5.T answers to the class - Check Ss’answers V Consolidation: T reminds ss how to send parcels or letters + how to use the present perfect tense VI Homework: - Practice the lesson at home again - Prepare the next part: read The results achievements after application of themes: The experience applying the innovative experience “Some methods to improve the efficiency of teaching listening skill in grade at Nguyen Van Troi secondary school.” In the process of teaching English to students in grade that I undertake myself have been very delighted, excited for rapid obtained very positive results Firstly, the experience of teaching English listening skills are very consistent with the textbook program innovation interested student learning rather, they are more active and better at learning, creative capital to expand the knowledge themselves, and also very versatile in performing tasks, acquire knowledge and develop skills in listening comprehension in English courses learning atmosphere in the classroom is more exciting, so they learn English more effectively and actively This is also an important factor, positive, contributing to improve the quality and enhance and effectiveness of English teaching , and help students become more confident, through the test given in English the second semester of the school year 2019 - 2020 as follows : Table 3: Second semester of the school year 2019-2020: 18 2020 8B 44 6,8 16 36, % 13,3 20 45,4 % poor Number 19 42, Weak Number 20 44,5 % Medium Number 45 % good Nunber 8A Number 2019- Amounts School year Class Excellent % 11, The quality of the students changed positively: Grade Type Class 8A Increased 38 % Increased 16,4 % Reduced 38,3 % Reduced 16,1 % Excellent good Medium Weak Class 8B Increased 6,8 % Increased 26,1% Increased 16,7% Reduced 16,2 % We can easily find out the positive change compared with the results of the school year 2019-2020 This change made me feel more confident to apply these methods and techniques for next school years Table 4: Check the students’ interest ( In the 2nd semester of the school year 20192020.) Very Interested Normal intereste d 8B 44 22, 15, 17 37,8 13 29,5 % 14 31,1 18 41,0 interested % Number 10 % Not Numbers 45 % Numbers 8A d Number Number -2019 s Amounts School year 2018 Clas intereste Less % 8,9 0 13, 0 19 The interest of the students changed remarkably: Type Very interested Interested Normal Less interested Not interested When I applied Grade Class 8A Class 8B Increased 6,1 % Increased % Increased 5,6 % Increased 8,8 % Reduced 4,4% Reduced 7,3 % Reduced 0,6% Reduced 0,2 % Reduced 6,5 % Reduced 10,3 % this innovative experience in teaching listening skill for my grade students, I saw them working more attentively and effectively That is why they have been more interested in this skill This makes me pleased so much to have more ideas to my teaching better and better Conclusions and recommendations: 6.1 Conclusions: According to the results obtained, we can notice that Teaching vocabulary is a skill that need to be developed consciously It can best be developed with practice in classroom through activities, which promotes interaction between students This innovative experience has tried to show that it is easier to obtain students ‘participation and motivation when the suggested materials are entertaining, original and surprising The key is to motivate and change their negative attitude towards English, giving students chances to make networds about interesting topics, which can result easy for them and for their level How can teachers get that? First of all, teachers should use the English language from Primary Education so, if pupils are accustomed to this language since an early age, it will be easier to communicate and understand English better and their fears will disappear Day by day, students really learn the mentioned skills previously Sometimes, it is only when a child spontaneously uses vocabulary or expresses his/her own opinion related to a previous lesson carried out in the classroom An idea would be giving pupils opportunities to use their vocabulary in real life situations, giving them the sense of what they are learning in situations that they not 20 have in the classroom For example, doing more activities outside school, participating in events or inviting people from an English speaking country as a way of comprehending its practical use Another way would be using new technologies, which are very useful and motivate the students because they consider them something different and funny It is desirable to say that teachers must support students in their education and encourage them to use English, and at the same time, teachers need to be in constant contact with new techniques and materials in this changeable teaching Finally, teaching vocabulary can be very different depending on the methodology followed by each teacher but what it is really important is to develop during the English lessons to get students learn the second language entirely Due to this, some suggestions have been offered, which can be put into practice during the lessons in order to motivate students to participate in class and to interaction activities to develop vocabulary networds These activities allow students to feel more comfortable and confident when they have to hold a conversation in English and they make the skills more effective in order to get a perfect acquisition of the second language, covering all the skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing 6.2 Recommendations: To the leaders: - It is necessary to create conditions for teachers to have the opportunity to learn and exchange experiences with colleagues, with the foreign experts through seminars on teaching and learning in English - functional visual classrooms to service for the teaching of English vocabulary To the professional group: Organize classes which are related to the way to teach vocabulary effectively From that teachers have more chances to share and learn the experience from other teachers in teaching vocabulary Through the practical teaching, learning from my friends and colleagues, based on my own experience but could not make mistakes, I look forward to additional 21 scientific council comment on my initiative experience which is more completed and widely applied in Hoang Hoa area to improve the quality of English in general and vocabulary in particular Finally I would like to thank the school administrators, teachers training staffs in professional groups have facilitated for me to complete my initiative experience * Before giving the tips of learning vocabulary, the students use obout words per 10 words for each lesson - After giving the tips of learning vocabulary, the students use obout words per 10 words for each lesson Especially, the students remember the words longer Class Students 7A 8B 43 42 Good N % Pretty good Medium No % No % Weak Poor No % No % o 15 34 17 39.5 20.9 0.4 0 11.9 15 35.1 20 47.6 9.5 7.1 The quality of students had much more positive changes: Type Good Pretty good Medium Weak Poor Propose: Class 8B Increased 12% Increased 16% Class 8A Increased 16,6% Increased 13,4% Reduced 4% Reduced 20% Reduced 4% Reduced 3,4% Reduced 19,9% Reduced 6,7% With this teaching method, I need to use the pictures, posters, and many visual aids So I hope I will have enough means asistants for each period for students to learn and use English efficently 22 Thank you very much for reading! Hoang Quy, May 7th, 2021 I assure that this is my innovative PRINCIPAL CONFIRM experience I not copy other people's content Written by Nguyen Minh Ha Nguyen Thi Hue OTHER REFERENCES The Book of teachers, textbooks 6,7,8,9 English class of the Ministry of Education Books teaching methods in English "English language Teachimg Methodology" of the Ministry of Education in 2003 Methodology The course ELTTP Books Student Assessment in Education of the Ministry of Education Books "Some problems of innovation of teaching methods of English secondary school level by the Ministry of Education and Training" 23 24 25 ... books b .The limited scope: The students of the secondary school 1.5 Object of Study: The students of the secondary school - The relationship between teaching and learning, the teacher is the organizer,... Student Assessment in Education of the Ministry of Education Books "Some problems of innovation of teaching methods of English secondary school level by the Ministry of Education and Training" 23... Teaching vocabulary is regulated by the skills Other words, the lother content dominates the selection, use, flexible coordination of teaching methods, teaching techniques Every technical teaching