Using gestures and movement together with songs to increase thestudents interest in the study englich 6

1 TABLE OF CONTENTS: I INTRODUCTION : Page I.1 Rationale I.2 Aims of the study I.3 Objects of the study I.4 Methods of the study II CONTENT II.1 Literature review II.2 The reality of the students II.3 The produre II.4 Results and Findings 17 III CONCLUSION III.1 Conclusion 19 III.2 Suggestion 20 PART I: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale Nowadays, with the develpoment of science and technology people in general and students in particular are surrounded by information from several sourses and reaching information becomes more and more important English is the language of the international business, technology, science and travel and the ability to communicate in English can be kind of a linguistic power While English language is widely used for communication, the competence in English is considered as an added potential However, it can be said that learner of a new language face exciting challenges in developing their abilities to speak, listen, read and write and in learning about other cultures as well Generally speaking, students often feel nervous or shy when they try to speak English They even struggle to understand what someone is saying to them despite years of study They are embarrassed about their pronunciation or worried that they speak too slowly Despite the fact that they have vocabulary and grammar, it is difficult for them to actually to use their English to speak One of the big problem teachers all face is maintaining students’ interest throughout the lessons as well as make them enjoy learning English Although there are more and more innotivate approaches helping students study English, music is said to be a great teaching tool because of its universal appeal, connecting all cultures and language Music plays an important role in our life Music is also considered a form of international language All everybody can enjoy and understand music, whether you are one, and where you For students, the music brings back a lot of useful things Scientists have provided reasons to explain why music will bring back many wonderful things for childre, especially in teaching foreign language.This makes it one of the best and most motivating resources in the classroom, regardless of the age or background of the students For high school students, Super Simple Songs are both easy to listen and short to remember Teachers can bring new worlds into the classroom and bring language learning alive through Super Simple Songs If songs allow students to feel the language, gestures and movement help them make sense of it Students learn more quickly and retain the knowledge longer when they sing and move together For these above reasons, I would like to choose the topic: “USING SIMPLE SONGS TOGETHER WITH GESTURES AND MOVEMENT TO INCREASE THE STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN STUDYING ENGLISH IN CLASS AT QUAN SON SECONDARY AND HIGH SCHOOL IN QUAN SON, THANH HOA” in the hope of motivating the students of class at Quan Son Secondary and High school in studying English and then developing their listening and speaking skills though listening and singing along those songs in regular basis I also expect that English super simple songs as authentic materials are possible to increase the students’ interest in the study of English at school It is hoped that both students and other teachers will find some useful reference for their learning and teaching I.2 Aims of the study The study is aimed to help the students: - Become familiar with English sounds and their pronunciation and intonation patterns as well as recognize the sounds they hear, imitate them and then develop their listening skill - Learn English phrases used in real life situations, improve vocabulary and catch authentic languages - Create an enjoyable asmophere - Increase the students’ interest in the study of English I.3 Objects of the study The study is carried out with 45 students of the class who have been learning English for years( years at primary school ).These students study at Quan Son Secondary and High School in Quan Son, Thanh Hoa They are mainly from ethnic minority, Thai people Among 45 students who take part in the study, most of them are not good at English, even they can not speak English, expect some simple words or sentence However, they have mobile phones which can be connected by wifi or 4G everyday I.4 Methods of the study In order to achieve the above aims, the teacher uses English- language super simple songs as authentic materials to increase the students’ interest in the study of English as a second language Students will have time to watch super simple songs with gestures and movement After singing along in a period of time, they will gradually develop their English skills, copy or imitate the pronunciation and enjoy learning English more In this study, theory study, observation, data collection and analysis, discussion as well as evaluation are mainly used to achieve the aims of the study 4 PART 2: CONTENT II.1 Literature review II.1.1 The definition of Super Simple Songs According to https://supersimple.com/super-simple-songs/, Super Simple Songs are original kids songs and classic nursery rhymes made SIMLPE for young learners Combining captivating animation and puppetry with delightful music that kids love to sing along with Super Simple Songs make learning simple and fun II.1.2The benefits of using songs in English class II.1.2.1 Linguistic benefits The use of music in the classroom has numerous advantages The benefits of using songs in the English class are obviously linguistic, since they help students to distinguish different phonemes and stress parterns and favour the unconscious acquisition of otherwise difficult issues such as pronunciation, rhythm and intonation; they offer grammatical structures which are repeated once and again and are therefore easily absorbed in their mind; and they introduce lexical items in context, which facilitates the correct use of such items in their future utterances II.1.2.2 Psychological benefits Psychological benenits like motivation, social participation, confidence building or memory development also deserve being mentioned as an important part of the learning process They also can be achieved from the use of songs in the English classroom Because of their linguistic and psychological benefits, songs are useful tool in the language learning classroom They contain authentic language, are easily abtainable, provide vocabulary, grammar and cultures aspects and are fun for students They provide enjoyable speaking, listening, vocabulary and language practive both in and out of classroom Therefore, songs are considered as a regular part of their classroom activities II.1.3 Music: Using Gestures and Movement According to https://dictionary.cambridge.org/vi/dictionary/english/gesture, Gestures is a movement of hand, arms and a head, ect to express an idea or feelings On the website Wikipedia(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture) A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body Gestures differ from physical non-verbal communication that does not communicate specific messages, such as purely expressivedisplays, proxemics, or displays of joint attention.[1] Gestures allow individuals to communicate a variety of feelings and thoughts, from contempt and hostility to approval and affection, often together with body language in addition to words when they speak Gestures make learning funny and easy One way to really enhance language development in the classroom or at home is the use of music and gestures together There are a number of studies that indicate that both songs and gestures together absolutely assist learning 5 One of the great benefits of using song with gestures is that it helps students understand where the words are in the sentences When singing with gestures, even if students a gesture for one word or phrase in a sentence, understanding that one word helps us piece together the rest of the sentence Do not need to make gestures for everything When doing gestures with songs, too many gestures will confuse and frustrate the students Identify key words and create gestures for those Keep it simple Using gestures helps students internalize the language When students have a chance to create movement and gestures themselves, it makes that connection to the language even stronger If the students are not yet familiar in the song, try introducing the vocabulary with pictures, objects, or flashcards When using flashcard, introduce the card, say the word together and then have the students create a gesture for that word The teacher migh need to help them but it together Make sure that gestures for a song are not too big or complicated because there may not be time to them while singing Keep the gestures simples and concise II.2 The reality of the students’ interest in the study of English at Quan Son Secondary and High School Quan Son is one of the mountainous districts of Thanh Hoa province The living condition and studying condition are poor and restrict Although students who are in grade have been learning English for years, they still feel that English is a very difficult subject, especially the listening and speaking skills Most of them not receive sufficient exposure at home They have many difficulties in recognizing sounds, understanding English sentences as well as using English to communicate with others because of the lack of knowledge on sentence pattern, grammar knowledge, poor vocabulary and even wrong pronunciation Additionally, the students who study at Quan Son Secondary School in Quan Son, Thanh Hoa are mainly from ethnic minority, Thai people Their mother tongue is Thai language and they not have opportunities to study English extra or use it outside classrooms Thus, they find it difficult to remember English words, the pronunciation as well as the usages Those are the reasons why their English are not good, even there are many students who not know anything about English For these students, learning English as a foreign language is a really boring and uninteresting task Students used to work on grammar exercises on their own and learn enormous lists of vocabularu by heart, which lacked any communicative sense All this turned this subject into something horrible and boring to tears Besides, Quan Son has the boder with Laos and a lot of foreigners come here every year They mainly use English to communicate with local people However, most of the students can not communicate in English, even they can not hear and understand what the foreigners are saying as well as how to reply Therefore, motivating students, increasing their interest in the study of English and then developing their English skills are really necessary and important in their English learning and in their daily lives as well 6 II.3 The produre of using gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs to increase the students’ interest in the study of English in class 10A1 at Quan Son Secondary School II.3.1.Time and Measurement II.3.1.1.Time The study is carried out at the beginning of English lessons This warm- up last minutes, they have three English lessons per week at class but English Super Simple Songs with gestures are only applied once a week Every song is repeated twice Students are watched again at home( songs are up on the group of the class on Facebook or on Youtube) The study lasts months ( from February 15th 2021 to April 15th 2021) In this study, there are Super Simple Songs II.3.1.2 Measurement Assessment of the students’s interest in the study of English is based on their language development and motivation they have Their language development here is mainly about oral language Oral language must focus on a student’s ability to interpret a conveying meaning for authentic purpose in interactive context Giving students a mark for speaking is challenging job Evaluating speaking is difficult as there are many things to pay attention at the same time One possible solution for this is to pay attention on one or two aspects at a time For an example a particular speaking activity or task the teacher can focus on marking the content and the word stress For next, the teacher can pay attention on intonation and linking sounds In this study,I myself evaluate the students’ interest through their attitude in studying English as well as my observation about their improvement compared to their level at the beginning to see whether the students are able to listen and recognize sounds better, minimize errors, use new words and phrases that they learnt when they speak, speak confidently, speak clearly or organize ideas Table 1: Measurement scale Level Competencies Level Student listened or spoke one or two words from speech sentences, the sentence is meaningless Level Student listened or spoke approximately 1/2 of the words from the sentence, the sentence does not provide the full meaning Level Student listened or spoke more than ½ of the words from the sentence, the meaning of the sentence is almost there Level Student has completed ¾ of the sentence, with some mistake in pronunciation The meaning of the sentence is apprehended Level Student listened or spoke the sentence complete and full Moreover, I also have discussion with my students and my colleage working with me at Quan Son Secondary School on using English super simple songs with gestures in increading the students’ interest in studying English and evaluate it II.3.2 The ways to use gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs For students in class 6, the teacher chose Super Simple Songs that are very simple,repetitive and easy to understand to helps them sing easily They understand mostly from what they receive through their senses, that is to say, through sight, hearing or touching and from interaction rather than from explanation Some principles on using gestures together with songs to increase students’ interest in the study of English This proceduce is divided into two stages: + Preparation + Presentation II.3.2.1 Preparation stage ( Teacher’s preparation before the lesson) - Step 1: Using Super Simple Songs that start with music and movement in mind It can be said that most super simple songs are short and easy to use gestures - Step 2: Preparing the flashcards/ pictures/ objects related to the vocabulary of the song - Step 3: Finding gestures which are suitable for the song Make sure that gestures for a song are not too big or complicated because there may not be time to them while singing Keep the gestures simples and concise II.3.2.2 Presentation stages Step 1: Song Presentation - Activity 1: First of all, the teacher represents or symbolizes the different gestures and movement used in the song while the students listen to it - Activity 2: The teacher use flashcards/ pictures/ objects to elicit vocabulary from students or introduce vocabulary of the song in order to help students understand what they hear - Activity 3: The teacher re-presents the song with gestures and movement while students listen to the song again Step 2: Students’ Presentation Ater the song presentation, the students stand up and repeat what the teacher has done, imitating him or her They sing along with their gestures II.3.3.Suggested topics in choosing Super Simple Songs Basing on the content of units in English textbook and the students’knowledge I recommand some topics such as: - Hello and goodbye songs: Hello, hello, goodbye… - Song related to people: the body part, the family,the neighbour, the friend, … - Daily activity songs: in the morning… - Nature and weather songs:Rise and shine, … 8 Songs are divided into vocabulary songs and grammatical songs II.3.4.Some illustrating examples for using gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs Here are two illustrating examples and I have included different examples in Appendix The steps and activites I have proposed for the two example chosen can equally be appiled to any the songs in appendix 2.3.4.1 Super Simple Song: Wash Your Hands Song * Preparation stage: Step 1: Super Simple Songs: Wash Your Hands Song - Step 2: Preparing the flashcards/ pictures/ objects related to the vocabulary of the song - Step 3: Finding gestures which are suitable for the song * Presentation stages Step 1: Song Presentation - Activity 1: First of all, the teacher represents or symbolizes the different gestures and movement used in the song while the students listen to it - Activity 2: The teacher use flashcards/ pictures/ objects to elicit vocabulary from students or introduce vocabulary of the song in order to help students understand what they hear - Activity 3: The teacher re-presents the song with gestures and movement while students listen to the song again - Step 2: Students’ Presentation Ater the song presentation, the students stand up and repeat what the teacher has done, imitating him or her They sing along with their gestures Wash your hands, wash your hands( using hands guestures) I rub my hands here and there( using hands activities) I wash my cute face ( using hand and face gesture) Lyrics Gestures and movement Mother to son :Wash your hands ! Wash your hands ! After you play games , you shoud wash your hands Look at your little hands, there are many germs After you play games , you shoud wash your hands Son to mother: Wash my hands ! Wash my hands ! I rub here and there , bubble, bubble, bubble I wash my little hands , go away germs I dry my hands with a towel, it’s all done Son to mother :Wash your hands ! Wash your hands ! After you sneeze , you shoud wash your hands Look at your little hands, there are many germs After you sneeze , you shoud wash your hands Mother to son Wash my hands ! Wash my hands ! I rub here and there , bubble, bubble, bubble I wash my little hands , go away germs I dry my hands with a towel, it’s all done II.3.4.2 Super Simple Song: Colours finger family * Preparation stage - Step 1: Using Super Simple Songs that start with music and movement in mind Lyrics - Step 2: Preparing the flashcards/ pictures/ objects/ videos related to the vocabulary of the song and Finding gestures which are suitable for the song ( colours ) * Presentation stages Step 1: Song Presentation - Activity 1: First of all, the teacher represents or symbolizes the different pictures related to colours and movement used in the song while the students listen to it Lyric 1: One, two, three, four, five! Finger blue, finger blue, where are you ? 10 Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger green, finger green, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger yellow, finger yellow, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger red, finger red, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger purple, finger purple, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Lyric 2: Six , seven , eight, nine, ten Finger pink, finger pink, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger orange, finger orange, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger brown, finger brown, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger black, finger black, where are you ? 11 Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger white, finger white , where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? - Activity 2: The teacher use flashcards/ pictures/ objects to elicit vocabulary from students or introduce vocabulary of the song in order to help students understand what they hear -Activity 3: The teacher re-presents the song with gestures and movement while students listen to the song again - Step 2: Students’ Presentation Ater the song presentation, ( watching video ) times, the students stand up and repeat what the teacher has done, imitating him or her They sing along with their gestures ,fingers Lyric : One, two, three, four, five! Finger blue, finger blue, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger green, finger green, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger yellow, finger yellow, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger red, finger red, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? etc Lyric 2: Six , seven , eight, nine, ten Finger pink, finger pink, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger orảnge, finger orange, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger brown , finger brown, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you? Finger black, finger black, where are you ? Here I am Here I am , How are you… II.4 Results and Findings After using gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs at the beginning of one lesson per week during three months, the teacher recogized that 12 students were eager to wait for English lessons and sing along with the Super Simple Songs the teacher used Another finding is that the students become familiar with English pronunciation and accent at the same time as they enjoy and share a good moment with their classmates According to the measurement scale( table 1), the level students received when they had listened many songs was determined by their confidence, ability to sing out loud and the number of accurate words in the sentence The students were asked to the same trial test at the first lesson and last lesson of the study The result had changed dramatically Table : The result of the trial test of the students in class at the beginning and the end of the study in comparision with measurement scale Level At the beginning of the study( the1st lesson) Percentage Level 30 students 67,0% Level students 18,0% Level students 15,0% Level students 0% Level student 0% Level At the beginning of the study( the1st Percentage lesson) Level 15 students 33,3% Level 12 students 26,6% Level students 20,0% Level students 15,7% Level students 4,4% As can be seen from the table, with the trial test in the first lesson before the study, most of the students (30 students) were in level and level and did not have enough to know any English simple songs and they even felt shy to talk and sing in 13 front of the class After warm- up lessons with songs at school and having more time at home to practice singing , the students in this class ( 18 students) are able to recognize most of the sounds( up to level 3,4 and level 5) Meanwhile they could speak more easily, fluently and naturally than they did at the first time with the same trial test In other words, there was a link between the students’s interest in the study of English with English language development in general and the listening and speaking skills in particular The more they are intered in learning English, the more their English skills develop From the result of the study, it can be clearly seen that using gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs has motived them in studying English Moreover, after having informal discussion with the students of class and other teachers, all of them agreed that the use of English language short songs as authentic material is an interesting approach compared with the printed materials used more often in traditional classroom They believe that this will be a good experience for them as well as a good opportunity to develop their listening and speaking skills while listening and sing along They are eager to watching and speak whatever sounds they hear Additionally, they are not afraid of speaking and they can recognize the familiar sound they’ve ever heard It were observed that students were much more interested in studying English when they are guided to sing with gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs after three months of time of the study PART III CONCLUSION III.1 Conclusion Having completed this study, I believe that using simple songs together with gestures and movement is one of the most usefull ways to motive the students who have little knowledge of English in their study I have had to make a choice of what I thought most important in terms of theory, the advantages of using songs in English class as well as using gestures and movement together with songs and the possible appications at the beginning of the English lesson This study is aimed at increasing the students’ interest in the study of English by using gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs for the students of class at Quan Son Secondary School in Quan Son, Thanh Hoa It can be clearly seen that increasing the students’ interest in the study of English is the process that takes times Through Super Simple Songs with gestures and movement, the students listen and sing along step by step, finally they will feel easier to sing out out as well as speak out what they want in English They won’t feel worried and have difficulty when they are asked in English Therefore songs could become an instrument to practice the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing Song- based gestures and movement should be dedicated to teaching vocabulary, grammatical structures and pronunciation, while simultaneously arousing students’ interest in the study of English as a second language 14 According to the result of the study, this techniques may help students in general and high school students in particular enjoy learning English more, developing their English language and confidence in English communication as well Additionally, with the development of information technology and modern devices, the study can easily find and sing along with other Super Simple Songs outside classrooms to have better effect on improving language skills, especially listening and speaking skills Considering the advantages of music and songs on the development of English language, it can be suggested that further- study on different kind of songs with appropriate subjects should be considered This is my own experience in teaching English to the students of class this school year in Quan Son Secondary and High School in Quan Son, Thanh Hoa With the requirement of learning English now, I believe that the students will use English better, have more confidence in English communication when their listening and speaking skills are developed Finally, I hope to receive ideas from other teachers so as to have the better study III.2 Suggestion I myself think that the students’ interest in the study of English as a second language by using gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs will increase if somedays, we are able to try more something different as follow: a the teacher can point to a finger at the flashcards and the students make the appropriate gestures and tell the sentence that correspond to the pictures in the songs; or b one student goes up to the board instead of the teacher and he or she becomes the examples to imitate that day; c some other days, we can also sing the song without listening to it first; in this way, we can confirm that students really know the lyrics Through direct observation, the teacher can make an accessment about the internalization of the songs d The teacher also can use those songs in special occasions of the class such as birthday, ect Moreover, I suggest that more training classes for English teachers should be held so that the teachers can have more knowledge related to the subject they are teaching and more opportunities to meet and share their experience in their teaching Besides, high schools need to be equipped with advanced technology and other conditions to have an effect on teaching and studying a language, especially using songs in development of listening and speaking skills Lastly and even more importantly, a new textbook should be published in stead of the current one Although the current textbooks has been changed much in order to meet with the need of the students as well as the society, the contents of listening and speaking parts are not really suitable to the situations in the daily life Besides, high school students not have opportunity to practise much in the real life so they are easy to forget Therefore, The Ministry of Education and Traning should have plans 15 to edit the textbooks and cirriculum which are more suitable for the changes of both the students and the society In summary, the ability of teachers in teaching English, the changes in the content of the textbook and the use of advanced technology would make the quality of teaching and learning English at high schools better in the future XÁC NHẬN CỦA HIỆU TRƯỞNG Thanh Hóa, ngày 05 tháng 05 năm2021 Tơi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, không chép nội dung người khác 16 ... topic: ? ?USING SIMPLE SONGS TOGETHER WITH GESTURES AND MOVEMENT TO INCREASE THE STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN STUDYING ENGLISH IN CLASS AT QUAN SON SECONDARY AND HIGH SCHOOL IN QUAN SON, THANH HOA” in the. .. at the beginning of the English lesson This study is aimed at increasing the students’ interest in the study of English by using gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs for the. .. gestures in increading the students’ interest in studying English and evaluate it II.3.2 The ways to use gestures and movement together with Super Simple Songs For students in class 6, the teacher