SKKN creating the english spaces for students at cua lo upper secondary school

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO NGHỆ AN TRƯỜNG THPT CỬA LÒ SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM TÊN ĐỀ TÀI: Creating the English Spaces for students at Cua Lo Upper Secondary School (Lĩnh vực Tiếng Anh) Tác giả: Nguyễn Thị Tuấn Anh Năm 2021 MỤC LỤC PART A: INTRODUCTION I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC II AIM, OBJECTIVE, METHOD, SUBJECT AND RANGE OF THE STUDY Aim of the study: 2 Objective of the Study: Method of the Study Range of the Study: Novelty of the Study: PART B: CONTENT I THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC: II PRACTICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC III.PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN CREATING THE ENGLISH SPACES FOR STUDENTS The news space The movies space: The conversation space 14 The connect space 17 Music space: 20 PART C: CONCLUSION 23 I RESULTS OF THE EXPERIENCE APPLICATION 23 II SUMMARY: 25 III PROPOSALS: 25 CUALO UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL 26 ONE-MINUTE SURVEY FOR STUDENTS 26 CUALO UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL 27 ONE-MINUTE SURVEY FOR TEACHERS 27 REFERENCE BOOKS 28 PART A: INTRODUCTION I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC In the context of teaching and learning foreign languages, especially English in Vietnam today, how to build up and develop the environment in which learners can use the language naturally and actively is getting more and more essential and this is also the issue that the leaders, teachers, students and the community have paid a lot of attention to Through real situations created, learners not merely have chances to practice their language skills and apply what they have learnt to the ones in real life but also become more and more selfconfident as well as interested in learning and using the language, which plays an indispensable part in helping learners make good progress In addition, the active learning environment through real situations also improve the quality of teaching and learning foreign languages in general and English in particular Thus, the educational leaders from the Ministry of Education and Training as well as Nghe An Department of Education and Training has brought in a lot of guidelines to encourage the educational organizations and schools to create the environment outside classrooms for students to learn and use English In an attempt to meet the demand of the leaders and the need of improving the quality of teaching and learning English, my colleagues and I have organized a great many activities called English spaces in the form of small clubs in which students can gain knowledge of various aspects in English through real situations Through the process of implementing these activities, students at my school are getting more and more interested and active in learning English, which really helps to raise students’ awareness and attitude towards English as a core subject For the reasons above, I have chosen the topic: “Creating the English Spaces for students at Cua Lo Upper Secondary School” I would like to share a few experiences of creating English learning environment to engage the students’ passion for English so that it is no longer a difficult and boring subject in classes The topic consists of three main parts: Part A: Introduction which includes the Reasons for Choosing the Topic, the Aim of the Study, the Objective of the Study, the Method of the Study, the Range of the Study, and the Novelty of the Study Part B: Contents with the Theoretical Basis of the Topic, the Practical Basis of the Topic and the Practical Application in Creating the English Spaces for students Part C: Conclusion including the Results of the Experience Application, the Requests and the Proposals II AIM, OBJECTIVE, METHOD, SUBJECT AND RANGE OF THE STUDY Aim of the study: The topic was studied and applied with a view to enhancing the competence to use English for students at upper secondary schools It is also served as a source of materials that help teachers of English in their teaching Objective of the Study: The writer’s experiences shown in this study may provide English teachers with a source of materials to create the English spaces for students In addition, students can also use the activities illustrated in this study for their selfstudy in practicing English Method of the Study - Studying the materials about giving the English spaces in reference books - Analyzing and drawing experiences from the process of carrying out - Studying the sources of documents relating to the content of the process of creating the English spaces for students such as news, movies, kinds of music,… - Applying in the real working to self evaluate Range of the Study: The teachers from English group and the students who have attended the English spaces at Cualo upper secondary school Novelty of the Study: Many studies have mentioned improving the students’ competence for using English up to now However, they have discussed general activities or activities for teaching specific skills inside classrooms In this study, the writer have tried to show the activities to create the English spaces for students outside their classrooms with the aim to help them be more active and confident in learning English as well as get used to using English in daily life PART B: CONTENT I THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC: The leaders are really concerned about teaching and learning English and have enacted a lot of regulations as well as suggested methods that helps to improve the quality of teaching and learning English On the 30th September, 2008, the Prime Minister signed a decision No 1400/ QĐ-TTg, approving of the Scheme “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system” (also known as Foreign Languages Scheme 2020) The objective of the Scheme is carrying out the overall renovation of teaching and learning foreign languages in the education system Besides, On the 8th April, 2011, the head of the Ministry of Education and Training signed a decision No 1400/ QĐBGD&ĐT establishing a committee to manage the Scheme “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system for the period of 2008-2020” These policies have laid the foundation for the overall changes in teaching and learning English in the education system Additionally, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a statement No 4536/ BGDĐTGDCTHSSV dated October 4th, 2019 to guide the implementation of the English learning movement and the development of the environment for learning and using English Thus, Nghe An Department of Education and Training released a statement that required the schools to accelerate the development of the environment for learning and using English since the academic year 2019-2020 Obviously, this has become one of the main duties of English teachers at schools II PRACTICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC Although students are taught the language skills including listening, speaking, reading and writing and grammar lessons at school, they don’t have chance to practice the language because the time is limited Moreover, the final examination just focus on the written test with a view to checking students’ knowledge of English grammar Most students try to learn the grammar rules to get high marks in the tests They have no opportunity to use English In classes, they sometimes hesitate to communicate in English because the structures and situations given in the textbooks are somehow inflexible and not natural enough like in daily communication Creating the environment for students to use English with real situations helps to solve these problems and makes students nurture their passion for English They also have chance to express their English competence On the other hand, nowadays, English as a means of communication and entertainment is no longer strange to students, especially to those who live in big cities Children are sent to English centres to learn with native teachers at a very young age Besides, good living conditions provide students with lots of modern facilities that help them get familiar with English day by day through electronic equipment connected to the Internet The sources of news, entertainment, academic knowledge or requirements from work in English have made it become a crucial part of a modern life Students, hence, are eager to learn English in a different way outside classrooms Simultaneously, they have also shown their excellence and good competence in understanding the Western culture and related knowledge in English III.PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN CREATING THE ENGLISH SPACES FOR STUDENTS The plan had been made and discussed by the English teachers at school even before the start of the school year to make sure that everything was well prepared First of all, we chose a group of the organizers for each space The organizers were responsible for collecting information, prepared the contents and called for the participants as well as arranged the timetable Below are the way each space proceeds The news space 1.1 Goal: - To help the participants ( students) to practice skills of reading newspapers, getting information and discussing in English 1.2 Language level needed: Elementary at least ( it’s up to knowledge and personal ability of language as well as documents selected) 1.3 Prepared materials: English newspapers and cards of suggested questions 1.4 The content and method of organizing: Some English newspapers are given in the school English room so that participants can choose, read and discuss The organizers should fix the theme for each time of performing All participants will be given newspapers or pieces of news prepared by organizers The participants will also be given a card with suggested questions on, which direct the information they must focus on At the end of the period the organizers ask all the participants to gather so that they can present the news they have read which have been discussed in groups 1.5 The rules of discussing: No discussed ideas are true or false The most important thing is just sharing the ideas and opinions 1.6 A sample of the news space: Theme: Celebrity + Introduction: The organizers show some famous people such as “ Tom Hanks, David Beckham, Bill Gates, etc…with a clear explanation : “ These people are very famous all over the world They are called celebrities” This makes the participants clearer about the theme + Procedure: After introducing, the organizers may ask the participants to name some other celebrities that they know to make sure that all the participants understand the theme clearly ● Group work arrangement: The organizers then divide the participants into groups Five articles with different contents related to the theme are given out Each article is printed on sheets of paper put in a box Therefore we need boxes with orders from to Remember that the content of the article is on one side of the sheet of paper and the suggested questions are given on the other side Next, the organizers have participants choose articles from boxes Thus, the participants are divided into groups of four It mean that those who have chosen the same article from one box will be in the same group ● Discussion: Members of groups read articles within 10 or 15 minutes Having read articles they discuss and share the contents of the articles with the others in groups ● Exchanging information among the groups After each group have finished discussing, the organizers ask the groups to gather according the former positions Next, the representatives from groups present the content of the articles they have read as well as their ideas, opinions about the articles Having heard the preparation of each group, the members from other group ask questions about the articles These questions should be answered or explained clearly by members who have read and understood the articles May be organizers help them if necessary with the aim to make everyone gain as much information as possible ● Wrapping the program The participants express their feelings, experiences they have obtained from the program The organizers make some remarks on the performance and encourage the participants with compliments or some presents 1.7 Some pictures of the prepared materials and the activities oganized: GUESSING GAME THE NEWS SPACE Topic: Celebrities The pictures of different celebrities will be shown on the screen Raise your hand if you know his (her) name and tell us about it “”NEWSPAPERS READING TASK”” Table Of Contents Our Teaching Here you could describe 01 Method Our Academic Here you could describe 02 Areas the topic of the section the topic of the section Enrollment Here you could describe 04 Process Our Teachers 03 The leader of each team will pick a random newspaper Here you could describe the topic of the section the topic of the section Each team will be given a Summary form You will read the newspaper and fill in the form in minutes The representative of each team will show everyone the main content of the newspaper based on the Summary form Order of presentations David Beckham Ariana Grande Coco Chanel IU Tom Cruise Comments from the teachers The conversation space 3.1 Goal: To develop skills of communication such as listening, speaking and conversing 3.2 The prepared materials: Some cards with suggestions and questions on 3.3 The content and method of organizing The organizers have decided the theme of the conversation and the cards containing some questions and vocabulary or structures which relate to any matter of the general theme Coming in each of the participants will be given a card with some suggestion on to discuss with the others Next, they will be divided into small groups ( about or members in a group) The participants now discuss in groups with different matters of each member Finally, the organizers ask the groups to talk about their discussed matters When a group presents their matter the others pay attention and make some questions about that matter so that all the participants have a chance to share ideas, opinions or discuss the conversed theme 3.4 A sample of conversation space * Warm- up: The participants sit around tables in groups of four Each of the organizers is responsible for observing, controlling and managing a group After stabilizing the groups the manager of each group has their members greet, ask each other some questions in English within minutes so that they know each other more clearly Of course, this also helps creating a warmer, more open atmosphere * Procedure: -The organizers state the theme of the conversation “ Daily life” In order to perform this conversation there must be 16 cards wellprepared for two turns + The first turn; each card asks for personal information to be discussed For example: Name/ Class/ Reasons for joining/ Hobbies/ Interests/ Future plan etc,… + The second turn: Each card asks for personal ideas about everything in daily life to be discussed For example: Your feeling about daily life in your neighborhood/ Your opinions about style of young people nowadays/ Your ideas about the differences between the children and their parents/ Your impression on the landscapes in our hometown… etc… 14 - The members of the organizers are in charge of showing the cards on the tables in turn so that the participants can converse with each other about the matters relating “daily life” - Remember that, each turn is about minutes to make sure all the participants have chances to talk about their requested contents - After presentation of each member the others may ask some questions to get more information about the mentioned matters * Wrapping the program The members of the organizers ask the participant of the groups they are in charge of managing to talk about their experiences, knowledge or memorable things from the conversation Finally, the representative of the organizers summarize all the ideas and conclude the program 3.5 Some pictures of the prepared materials and the activities oganized: 15 16 The connect space 4.1 Goals: To develop the communicative skill through speaking and listening activities which help to improve the connection and interaction among the participants 4.2 Prepared materials: The cue -cards 4.3 The content and method of organizing Each of the participants is given a card of questions to prepare They stand in two queues face to face Participants talk to the opposite members within minutes The talks may be about personal information or common interests/ hobby etc….After talking to a partner the participants move on the right or left to find another partner to make sure all the participants have new partners Remember that the themes should be popular with students such as music, sports, entertainment or their impression on school, friends, teachers… However, the organizers may suggest some themes which are necessary to students such as future jobs, daily activities, socialization, holidays, shopping online, how to keep fit etc After the participants finish interacting, the guider may ask some of them to report the information which has been discussed The guider must note down to state the person who should be praised with the most information about the partners Note: In a program there must be the only theme, therefore the organizers should prepare questions in details on the cards This will make participants can interact easily during the program 4.4 A sample of connect space * Warm- up: The participants greet each other and ask some questions about anything they are interested in within minutes with the aim to make the atmosphere be cozier and more exciting * Procedure: - The representative of the organizers introduces the theme of the program of connect space “ Your health” - The organizers deliver each participant a card which contains a question Next, the organizers explain the way of organizing - The participants are arranged into two rounds ( 10 members for each round) The members in two round are face to face After they exchange personal information the participants start interacting about the questions given on the cards 17 These questions may be : + “ What you think is the best way of keeping fit and healthy?” + “ What kind of sports or gymnastics you like best and why?”/ + “ What is your opinion about a healthy diet?” + “ Which habits are good / bad for our health?” + “ List benefits of a having a healthy and fit body?” …………………… - The participants continue interacting with each other from the first round to the second one in the same way The members of the organizers observe and help the participants if necessary * Wrapping program After the 35 minute process of interacting, the organizers should sign to sop and have some of the participants report all the questions they have asked as well as they have been asked The organizers choose the person who remembers most information of their partners to be given the presents from the program Finally, the participants evaluate the program they have just joined and the representative of the organizers conclude the program 4.5 Some pictures of the prepared materials and the activities oganized: 18 19 Music space: 5.1 Goals: To help the participants to improve their skills of listening and understanding vocabulary/ idioms through songs 5.2 Materials needed: Some musical clips, video of songs which are popular with the youth Cards of vocabulary/ idioms and guiding questions 5.3 The content and method of organizing Before listening to songs, the participants discuss some words/ idioms which will appear in the songs They should be stimulated to try to practice discussing as much as possible This will make them listen and understand the words of songs more easily 5.4 A sample of music space * Warm -up: Participants stand around and exchange some information within minutes so that they become closer and the atmosphere get warmer * Procedure: - The representative of the organizers introduce the song “ Heal the World” - The organizers ask some questions : + “ Who has ever hear this song before?” +“ Whose this song is it?” +“ When was it written?” + “ Who is the best singer singing this song?” May be some participants have ever heard or know this song and these participants will help the others during listening to it - Getting the meaning of the words/ idioms in the songs Before listening the participants are given some cards with some words/ sentences/ phrases extracted from the song “ Heal the World” such as + “ You’ll feel there no hurt or sorrow” + “ Care enough for the living” + “ make a little space” + “ it only cares of joyful giving” + “ Wound this earth, crucify its soul?” + “ swords” +” plowshares” + “…………………………………….” The participants have about minutes to read and discuss with each other the words/ sentences/ phrases given on their cards 20 Having discussed the participants will listen to the song The organizers should pause the song at the position where words/ phrases have been extracted and ask the participants who had the cards with these words/ phrases The organizers have them try to understand these words/ phrases and they can explain the meaning especially in the song After hearing the song, the participants discuss in group They will help each other to understand the entire song Next, the representatives from the groups report what they have discussed and understood about the song The organizers pay attention to their presentation and then give feed back so that all participants understand the song “ Heal the World” clearly and the message that everyone should be responsible for making the world- the common home always peaceful, safe to all * Wrapping the program The participants are simulated to express their feelings, opinions about the program as much as possible One of the organizers points out the active results of the program and some shortcomings which should be considered Finally all members of the program sing the song “ Heal the World” 5.5 Some pictures of the prepared materials and the activities oganized: 21 22 PART C: CONCLUSION I RESULTS OF THE EXPERIENCE APPLICATION “Creating the English spaces for students” has been applied at our school in school years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 It has been proved to work well with some considerable results Firstly, the teachers of English group and students have mixed with English communicative atmosphere daily They can approach authentic materials and improve speaking skills as well as cultural knowledge of Englishspeaking countries Therefore, they can use English more naturally Secondly, students are stimulated to use English whenever they have chances Besides, a community of learning English at our school is set up through connecting the teachers with students of different levels In addition, students have improved their listening and speaking English which has made them more confident and more interested in English lessons at classes Below are the results of two surveys we have carried out with the same students before and after applying this experience * The survey before applying the experience Class Surveyed students Interested in English lessons Afraid of English lessons Confident to speak English Mind speaking English 11A2 25 18 20 11D4 25 12 13 16 12T2 25 10 15 11 14 12D3 25 11 14 10 15 * The survey after applying the experience Class Surveyed students Interested in English lessons Afraid of English lessons Confident to speak English Mind speaking English 11A2 25 22 19 11D4 25 20 18 12T2 25 10 17 12D3 25 21 18 It can be seen from the two tables above that the number of students being interested in English and confident to speak English has increased as the result 23 of the program “ The English spaces” at my school Thus, we can state the effect of the program is so active Moreover, it is not very difficult to apply it provided that we are always willing to perform We have also carried another survey about opinions and feelings of the students and the teachers of English participating the program so that we can improve the quality of the next ones The results from 200 asked students and teachers of English group are given on the two table below * The survey for students Participants’ satisfaction feedback on the program “ The English spaces” Advantages of the program Completely agree Agree Don’t know Disagre e Completely disagree It helped me practice English 160/ 200 28/200 12/200 0 It made me like English more 165/200 30/200 5/200 0 It corresponded to my English level 120/200 70/200 8/200 It fit my needs 147/200 48/200 4/200 It engaged many teachers and students 152/200 43/200 4/200 It should be organized frequently 162/200 34/200 4/200 0 * The survey for teachers of English Organizers’ satisfaction feedback on the program “ The English spaces” Advantages of the program Completely agree Agree Don’t know Disagre e Completely disagree It helped students practice their skills of English 8/9 1/9 0 It made students like English more 6/9 3/9 0 It corresponded to students’ English level 7/9 2/9 0 It fit students’ needs 7/9 2/9 0 It attracted many teachers and students 8/9 1/9 0 It should be organized frequently 8/9 1/9 0 24 Clearly, that the number of members who support the program is greater than the opposite ones The supporters find the program interesting, useful and beneficial According to them, the program should be organized frequently Therefore, we would like to share the experience of creating the English spaces with those who are concerned with the improving the English competence for their students, especially in the age of globalizing and assimilating into the English speaking countries II SUMMARY: One of the successful things of this topic is that students can get out of the fear of the speaking English On the contrary, to some extents, students may get the satisfaction whenever they have a chance to practice English They have become more and more interested in listening and speaking English Moreover, students not only improve their skills but also widen their vocabulary Thus, the topic has contributed to interesting students in English more To English teachers, the methods of organizing the program “ The English spaces” presented in this topic provide good sources of techniques which can be used in stimulating students improve their skills of English practicing and interests in learning English as well III PROPOSALS: The writer has written this topic with a view to sharing some experiences achieved from the organizing “ The English spaces for students” so that English teachers can use it as a material source for reference when practicing at their schools Furthermore, it may be somehow effective for students who are eager to be more confident to use English as a communicative means Therefore, it is recommended that it be widely used by English teachers and students Although the writer made a lot of effort in fulfilling the topic, there may be some unavoidable mistakes The writer hopes to receive more comments and feedbacks from colleagues as well as students to complete the topic in a more successful way so that it can help students improve their skills of practicing English and get good levels in learning English in general 25 CUALO UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL ONE-MINUTE SURVEY FOR STUDENTS This survey is aimed at getting your satisfaction feedback on the program’s activities Your feedback will be helpful data for us to improve the quality of the next programs English space’s name: …………………… Date of evaluation: ………… Please answer the following questions by putting a tick ( ƴ) in the appropriate box Advantages of the program „ The English spaces” The program Completely agree Agree Don’t know Disagre e Completely disagree helped me practice English made me like English more corresponded to my English level fit my needs engaged many teachers and students should be organized frequently Other comments: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………… 26 CUALO UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL ONE-MINUTE SURVEY FOR TEACHERS This survey is aimed at getting your satisfaction feedback or opinions about the program’s activities Your feedback will be helpful data for us to improve the quality of the next programs English space’s name: …………………… Date of evaluation: ………… Please answer the following questions by putting a tick ( ƴ) in the appropriate box Advantages of the program „ The English spaces” The program Completely agree Agree Don’t know Disagre e Completely disagree helped students practice their skills of English made students like English more corresponded to students’ English level fit students’ needs attracted many teachers and students should be organized frequently Other comments: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………… 27 REFERENCE BOOKS Jack C Richards- Tactics for listening- Oxford University Press 2014 Những phim luyện nghe tiếng anh- Open forum; Những hát luyện nghe tiếng anh hay - Open forum; http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/; http://ngoainguquocgia.moet.gov.vn/bo-so-tay-huong-dan-xay-dungva-phat-trien-moi-truong-hoc-va-su-dung-ngoai-ngu-1498.html 28 ... subject For the reasons above, I have chosen the topic: ? ?Creating the English Spaces for students at Cua Lo Upper Secondary School? ?? I would like to share a few experiences of creating English. .. from English group and the students who have attended the English spaces at Cualo upper secondary school Novelty of the Study: Many studies have mentioned improving the students? ?? competence for. .. understanding the Western culture and related knowledge in English III.PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN CREATING THE ENGLISH SPACES FOR STUDENTS The plan had been made and discussed by the English teachers at school