innovating teaching learning methods, building friendly schools active students

TABLE OF CONTENTS Part A : Introduction I Reasons for raising the study II Aims of the study Part B: Contents I Theoretical background The importance of extracurricular activities The importance of using games and competitions to motivate students II The reality of learning English in my school III Scope of the study IV Methods of the study V Advantages and disadvantages of carrying out the study VI Solutions to the problem Preparations for the activities Details of the extracurricular activities held 2.1 Opening performance 2.2 Part 1: Introduction 2.3 Part 2: Crossword 2.4 Part 3: Speed 2.5 Quiz for the audience 2.6 Part : Painting 2.7 Part : Speech The effect of the study Part C: Conclusion I The applicability of the study II Experiences from applying the study III Suggestions Reference Index 5 8 9 10 10 10 11 12 14 16 17 17 20 20 20 20 21 PART A : INTRODUCTION I Reasons for raising the study: Objective reasons Today, learning English is extremely important It can be said that English is the only language capable of connecting the whole world together Viet Nam has become the 150th member of an international trade organization (WTO) So when the door to WTO integration is gradually expanding, investment cooperation is always the top focus of every profession, the quality of the brainpower in the workforce is enhanced, it is the time for the race of knowledge and intelligence begins, and the primary means to reach and win the race is English Therefore, it is required that our country must have a human resource, besides being professionally trained in a systematic and quality manner, also meeting the requirements of international communication, which means using English effectively Professor Joshep Foley - Thailand said: “For millions of English learners, the ability to communicate in English is a passport to enter a prosperous economy, into a dynamic society that is always changing and into progressive education ” In fact, many students are experts in their profession, but their English communication ability is still weak, so they have to break up with their dream jobs It can be said that English is the first and most important standard for an employee who wants to work in businesses Not only foreign companies but many domestic companies also appreciate this requirement of staff Therefore, it is required that our country must have a human resource, besides being professionally trained in a systematic and quality manner, also meeting the requirements of international communication With the same requirement, English is one of the compulsory subjects at school as well as in graduation exams in Viet Nam In the general education program, the English subject is built in the direction of communication Forming communication skills is the ultimate goal of the teaching process To form communication skills, the learning environment in general and the English practice environment in particular play a very important role Learning and practicing in a favorable and positive language practice environment will help students practice, apply the knowledge they have learned and increase confidence and excitement for students when using English However, teaching foreign languages in general and teaching English in particular in Vietnam in recent years has encountered many difficulties, such as inconsistent textbooks, the low and uneven qualifications of teachers, outdated and ineffective teaching methods, lack of teaching facilities; students’ lack of motivation to learn Especially the lack of communication practice environment leads to the low quality of teaching From the above facts, we can confirm that the renovation of English teaching methods in general and creating an environment for students to practice their own language is very necessary This contributes to the realization of educational goals and human development in Vietnam in the period of national industrialization and modernization It also contributes to improving the quality of human resources for the country in the process of integrating into the world economy Subjective reasons Over the years I have been directly teaching English in an upper secondary school, I have noticed the fact that most high school students are very afraid to learn English Studying the lessons in the textbook for an entire school year will make them bored and pressured, especially very passive in the process of practice Teaching in textbooks, teachers often have to logic in the order of the program content, according to program distribution Teaching and learning between teachers and students is repeated throughout the school year; Time in class is limited, so teachers can only ask students to practice as required by textbooks, which cannot help students develop natural communication skills After graduating, they cannot communicate in the foreign language that they have studied Often when starting a new level of study (University, College) or when necessary, they have to start over again In particular, due to the extremely limited communication environment, when accidental communication occurs (such as meeting a foreigner, or unexpectedly asking questions in English), they often cannot communicate Many children even said that they were ashamed and afraid of being wrong when speaking English Similarly, when studying English, most students at Nguyen Duy Trinh high school only pay attention to grammar and exercises on paper to get high marks in exams They take no care of English extracurricular activities although these activities are important for English learners Besides, the way English teachers organize outside classroom activities play an important part in drawing students’ interest in English However, in my school, there have not been any activities that appeal to the students In this study, we would like to work with our colleagues to find a successful method that can make the students eager to join extracurricular activities II Aims of the study From the above reasons and with the help of the Board of Directors, the contributions of friends and colleagues, the research through the media, we studied carefully and organized some extracurricular activities to create an outdoor classroom environment for learning English as well as motivate the spirit of learning English among the students at Nguyen Duy Trinh high school The competition we organize helps promote the movement of speaking and learning English at school through fun ,contributing to supplementing and consolidating general knowledge about the topic It also create a useful playground for students to practice English communication skills, create passion, interest in learning for students with English Besides, the activities bring a chance for students to apply soft skills such as presentation skills, theater mastery skills, team collaboration skills, skills to exploit internet knowledge for learning and life… When carrying out the study, we would like to contribute to emulation movements: "innovating teaching-learning methods", "building friendly schools active students" PART B : CONTENT I Theoretical background The importance of extracurricular activities Talking about holistic education, Rabowle (1494-1533) Renaissance thinker and educator once emphasized “Education must include educational, moral, physical, aesthetic contents, … In addition to studying at home, there are also visits to workshops, shops, contact with writers, parliamentarians, especially once a month teachers and students come back to live in the countryside one day ” Makarenco - the famous Russian teacher of the early twentieth century, also said: “I persistently say that the issues and the method of education cannot be limited in teaching matters It is even more impossible to let the educational process be carried out only in the classroom but should have been per square meter of our country That means, under any circumstances, there is no conception that education is conducted in class only " In Vietnam, “extracurricular activities” is probably not a strange phrase to Vietnamese schools as well as parents and students Uncle Ho was very interested in education In the "Letter to the National Conference of Officers in charge of Children", he wrote: "While children are studying, we also need to make them happy, while they are happy we also need to make them learn Whether in school or in society, the children are all happy and they all learn ” Extracurricular activities in school combine both elements of fun and learning, helping students to be more excited to participate in school, and at the same time, they also appreciate the student's initiative Extracurricular activities create a friendly learning environment between students, classroom-to-classroom, and teacher-student learning Extracurricular activities depending on each school can be done in different forms Some schools set up clubs of culture, arts and sports to encourage students to participate Some schools organize extracurricular activities on holidays, New Year, traditional school day Extracurricular activities, therefore, are both educational and aesthetic activities, “Contributing to creating a cultural lifestyle and the ability to enjoy cultural arts for students Through extracurricular activities, students develop a balanced intellectual, ethical, physical education and aestheticism ”(Phan Trong Luan, teaching methods, National University Publishing House 1996, p 381) The importance of using games and competitions to motivate students 2.1 Games in education Using games is an important tool that allows language teachers to add colours to their teaching by providing challenge and entertainment El Shamy defines a game as a “competitive activity played according to rules within a given context, where players meet a challenge to achieve an objective and win” Language games comprise many factors such as rules, competition, relaxation and learning in particular Using games in the process of language teaching-learning is not restricted for any language level; it helps all students to feel comfortable and more confident in acquiring a new language In addition to the personal challenge, younger students also enjoy competing with their peers, and introducing a game element is a way of livening up any material Prabhu offers two main reasons why teachers should use games in teaching a second language The first reason is based on spontaneous interaction that games can generate amongst the children, ‘creating opportunities for the deployment of their emerging internal systems’ A second major reason for using games is the supportive environment that is created Interaction between learners is less threatening than interaction with the teacher Game-like activities provide choices for the learners ‘They allow teachers to add variety and flexibility to the teaching menus’ Sometimes educators feel weighed down by assigned curricula and need to come up with new ideas and interesting activities Another advantage, in language classes, learners feel stressed because they think that they have to master the target language that is unknown to them Besides, learners become too anxious about being criticized and punished by their teachers when they make a mistake (Sugar, 2002) Games are advantageous at this point because they reduce anxiety, increase positive feelings and improve selfconfidence because learners are not afraid of punishment or criticism while practicing the target language freely 2.2 Competitions in games One of the elements that makes games fun is competition Competition is a rivalry between two or more individuals or groups In this rivalry they all compete to be the best Competition can be found in many parts of our lives One way to use our competitive instinct is games Although some may disagree, competition is a very important, if not essential, part of playing a game (Shaffer 2006; Akili 2007; Michael and Chen 2006) For competition you need two different components First you need groups or individuals who have some kind of rivalry with each other (Michael and Chen 2006) Second you need a goal where the people contesting can work for (Michael and Chen 2006) The contestants need to know what this goal is, what they need to to reach it and what happens if they reach it They need to know this because it will motivate them to go on with the competition Competition is the part of the game that makes you want to perform better, you want to reach the goal earlier than your opponent One way for a teacher to motivate his students is to add competition to the learning process Competition arises when one of the students achieves a certain goal which the other student fails to meet (Johnson & Johnson 1991) In the case of language learning the question is what the effects on the language learner are when they have competition as a motivator to learn a new language Although education is far more important than either “winning” or “losing,” Dr Sylvia Rimm, director of the Family Achievement Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, suggests competition can be a great motivator for students in certain circumstances Dr Rimm notes several benefits of teaching healthy competition, and while she acknowledges the motivation of winning and being the “best” in a competition, she also explains how the experience of losing is important for students “When failure occurs, they can identify the problems, remedy the deficiencies, reset their goals, and grow from their experiences,” says Dr Rimm This is an important talking point for educators because even though the main focus is on helping students feel successful, it’s also necessary for students to feel and learn from loss II The reality of learning English in my school We teach English in an upper secondary school Students at this level mainly study for their final exam to win a place at university, not for the use of knowledge in daily life To get good marks in English in that exam, what students need is to English paper tests as much as possible This means that they not need to listen to and speak English well To form and develop communication skills for students, the practice environment is a very important factor To assess the current status of English practice environment at Nguyen Duy Trinh High School today, I have conducted a survey with the results shown in Table 1.1: Table 1.1: Current status of English practice environment at Nguyen Duy Trinh High School ST T Expression of the current state of the high schools of high school, Nguyen Duy Very often Trinh Percentage Regularl y Quite often Less often Rarey Most teachers and students use the foreign language in a learning activity or in the classroom 6.8% 7.2% 14.3% 45.5% 26.2% Students actively communicate in English 9.4% 13.4% 19.7% 30.5% 27% Students have a variety of activities to practice English communication 0.5% 4.3% 9.4% 10.7% 77.8% Students are trained in soft 1.4% 7.3% 11.4% 32.6% 47.3% skills (such as making presentations in English, exploiting knowledge on the Internet ) through the lessons Look at table 1.1 We see the current situation of the language practice environment through the survey results is limited in which: Teachers and students have not use most of English in some activities or in class; Activities for students to have a practice environment are not regularly and strictly organized; students have not actively communicated in English; Students have not been trained in soft skills through lessons So, from the above survey results, it shows that: It is essential to create an English practice environment for students to give them opportunities to practice, from which they can form and develop communication skills, That is also the ultimate goal of the foreign language teaching process III Scope of the study In this study, we organize themed extracurricular activities in the form of a competition We only apply the method to grade 10 students and to the topic CELEBRATIONS that the students learned when they were in lower secondary school IV Methods used to carry out the study Documental analysis method: Reviewing documents related to research issues, analyzing and drawing conclusions about previous studies, thereby building a theoretical basis for the topic Method of conversation: Exchanging with students about the current situation of the language practice environment at Nguyen Duy Trinh High School Method of survey by questionnaire ( Anket method) : Construction of ANA system including questions We use this method to find out the current situation of the English learning environment of students at Nguyen Duy Trinh High School, and at the same time propose solutions to improve the communication environment for students V Advantages and disadvantages of carrying out the study When proceeding with the issue, the most difficult step we had was designing appropriate activities for each part It took us lots of time to build up activities and search for information about the topic To create excitement for the students, we need to find out celebrations which are both popular and interesting for teenagers and easy to know Furthermore, with the aim of stimulating the spirits of studying English among students, we have to discuss the topic that is closely related to the topics of the lessons For example, we found a very wonderful topic about celebrations in Unit and we had to spend nearly a week searching for its information and images Besides some disadvantages, we also found some advantages when we were studying issues First, our students were always excited about having a chance to speak English They were willing to coordinate and answer our questions Second, our colleagues were usually ready to give us useful advice and comments They also helped us with the design of appropriate activities It was those things that helped us apply our study successfully VI Solutions to the problem To overcome the above situation , we have applied the solution: "Organizing English themed extracurricular activities in the form of a competition " Preparations for the activities 1.1 Choosing the time and the topic : - Time to organize the activities : January 6th, 2020, two weeks before Tet holiday - Topic : celebrations 1.2 Determining the objectives of the activities: - The activities will create a chance for the students to speak English, show their knowledge about celebrations in Viet Nam and in the world as well as improve their team working skills - The extracurricular session as a competition will bring students at Nguyen Duy Trinh upper secondary school an exciting atmosphere and make them keen on learning English It will also help students revise and enrich their knowledge of the topic celebrations in Viet Nam and in the world 1.3 Designing the format and the questions of the competition - There are two teams of six members taking part in the competition - The competition has four parts as follows Part : Introduction Part : Crossword Part : Speed Part : Painting Part : Speech and a quiz for audiences - The questions will be shown in detail in the following parts 1.4 Students’ preparations: - Students will be informed about the topic, the activities and how to prepare for the topic - The teachers teaching in grade 10 will help students to choose the members and names for their teams - Students in each group will discuss and build up the script for their introduction part and rehearse for it as well as prepare the knowledge for the topic - To make the atmosphere of the session more exciting, some students are chosen to prepare some singing and dancing performances Details of the extracurricular activities held - Name of the extracurricular session : CREATIVE EXPERIENCE ACTIVITIES - Topic: CELEBRATIONS - Form: a competition - Preparations: + Equipment: a laptop, a power point presentation showing all the content of the competition , a screen for the two competing teams and two screens for the audience if possible, a projector, speakers, microphones, a box of crayons, some sheets of A4 paper, two bells, banners,… + The awards for the winning team and the rewards for the audience - Participants: two teams of students from grade 10, all students in grade 10, all teachers of English and all administrators in Nguyen Duy Trinh high school - MC : two students from grade 11, one in Vietnamese and the other in English 2.1 Opening performance: - At the beginning of the session, one of the administrators will give a talk about the importance of English to youngsters, especially for the students in Nguyen Duy Trinh high school - To warm everybody up, there will be an English singing and dancing performance of students who are good at dancing and singing English songs 2.2 Part 1: Introduction - Aims: To prepare for this part, students have to work in groups, discuss the way and the information needed, then they have to write the script and rehearse for it It is a time for the students to improve team working skills, practise speaking English together and build up the most creative way to introduce their team - Rules: 10 ● In this part, each team has got from to minutes to perform the introduction The judges will observe and score your ideas, accuracy, fluency and time duration ● 2.3 Part 2: Crossword - Aims: The aim of this part is to check two teams’ knowledge about Tet holiday in Viet Nam It also helps other grade 10 students revise the information and vocabulary for the topic “Tet in Viet Nam” that they learnt at lower secondary school - Rules: ● Each team in turns will choose a number and answer the question relating to that number and score 10 points for each correct answer ● Only after seven numbers are opened can they guess and give the key words The letters in the key words coloured red and jumbled ● Each team will win 30 points if they give correct key words, but will lose 20 points if the answer to the key words is incorrect - Questions: 1, one thing that children are usually given on New Year Days (2 words-10 letters) > lucky money, the key letter is N 2, one of the ingredients used to make chung cake ( words-9 letters) > green bean, , the key letter is N 3, An indispensable ingredient used to make candied fruits ( word -5 letters) > sugar, , the key letter is R 4, one kind of tree with deep orange fruits that are usually used to decorate on Tet holiday (2 words-11 letters) > kumquat tree, the key letter is U 5, one kind of trees that are usually used to decorate houses in the North on Tet holiday (2 words-12 letters) > peach blossom, the key letter is A 6, one kind of trees that are usually used to decorate houses in the South on Tet holiday (2 words-14 letters) > apricot blossom., the key letter is A 7, an ingredient from which Chung cake is mainly made.(2 words-10 letters) > Sticky rice, the key letter is Y 8, one of the indispensable things put on the altar at Tet ( words- letters) > Chung Cake, the key letter is E 11 9, People always this in front of the ancestor’s alter on New Year Eve with the hope of having a Happy New Year.( one word – letters) > pray , the key letter is R 10, what people always exchange when they meet each other during New Year Days (one word-6 letters) > wishes, the key letter is W 11, one thing used to decorate streets during Tet holiday ( words-9 letters) > red banner, the key letter is E 12, twinkling things with different colours usually used to decorated houses, trees or streets.(2 words-14 letters) > coloured lights, the key letter is L Key words : LUNAR NEW YEAR - PowerPoint presentation : In this activity, we choose to design the crossword with the key words not in a vertical line and the key letters jumbled It is because the key words are easy to guess and we want to make it more challenging for students to find out 12 2.4 Part 3: Speed - Aims: The aim of this part is to check two teams’ knowledge about celebrations in Viet Nam and in the world It also helps other grade 10 students know more about celebrations - Rules: ● There are questions in this part ● After each question is shown, the team ringing the bell first will have the right to answer ● If the first team has no correct answer to the question, the other team can get the right to answer it ● Each team will get 10 points for one correct answer - Questions: Question 1: On what day Vietnamese children usually wear masks , parade in the street with colourful lanterns and have parties with special cakes and lots of fruits ? Answer: It’s Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month / the 8th month on the lunar calendar Question 2:What is the name of the festival ? Where does it take place? Answer: It’s Cuong temple festival in Dien Chau district in N.An Question 3:What is the greatest celebration for Catholic people ? ( On this occasion pine trees are used as a traditional preparation) 13 Answer: It’s Christmas Question 4:Water-throwing festivals are a tradition on Tet holiday in some countries Which countries are those ? A, China and Thailand B, Thailand and Philippines C, Thailand and Laos D, China and Laos Answer: C Question 5: What is the name of the festival ? Where does it take place? Answer: It’s Nguyen Xi temple festival in Nghi Loc district in N.An Question 6:There is a special day in May when Vietnamese people celebrate a great victory considered as a world-shaking event What day is it and what is that victory? Answer: It is the celebration of Dien Bien Phu victory on May 7th 2.5 Quiz for the audience - Aims: The aims of this part are to get the audience involved in the activities and change the atmosphere of the session It also gives the students a chance to use English, show their knowledge about celebrations and have fun - Rules: ● There are 10 questions in this part ● All the questions will be shown on the screen ● Students have to answer the questions in full sentences.The student with the fastest correct answer to each question will get a nice present 14 - Questions: Question 1:What color is considered as a lucky color at Tet ? Answer: It’s Red / Red color Question 2: What can children to help their family with Tet’s preparations? (Students’ answer must include at least three activities) Answer: To help my family to prepare for Tet, I can … - clean and decorate the house - go shopping - cook Chung cake /traditional foods - plant new trees / flowers - ……… Question 3: In what year will our school ( Nguyen Duy Trinh upper secondary school ) celebrate the 60th anniversary of its foundation? Answer: Our school will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its foundation in 2021 Question 4: Which countries celebrate Lunar New Year at the same time as Viet Nam? A, China and Cambodia B, China and Malaysia C, Cambodia and Laos D, Malaysia and Cambodia Answer: The countries that celebrate Lunar New Year at the same time as Viet Nam are China and Malaysia Question 5: What day in September is the most special for all Vietnamese people? What is it called in English? Answer: It is Independence Day or National Day on September 2nd Question : It is a time when people give chocolate, flowers or gifts to their lover What celebration is it ? Answer: It is Valentines’ Day (on 14th February) Question : Thanksgiving is an important national holiday in the USA which people celebrate on the fourth Thursday in …… A December C October D January B November Answer: Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November Question : How many times does the bell ring on New Year’s Eve in Japan? Answer: The bell rings 108 times on New Year’s Eve in Japan 15 Question 9:Who composed the song : “Happy new year” ? Answer: ABBA band composed the song Happy New Year ( After students’ answer to this question, the song “Happy New Year” will be played) Question 10:In what country is “ Bonne Anne” the wish for the New Year? A Italy B France C America D Germany Answer: “ Bonne Anne” is the wish for the New Year in France 2.6 Part : Painting - Aims: The aim of this part is to give an opportunity for students to speak English through describing, asking and answering about the picture given - Rules: ● In this part, there is one picture shown on the screen for each team ● The members of each team in turn describe the picture to their representative who has to stand with his /her back to the picture The representative paints the picture according to his/her team’s descriptions ● The painter has the right to ask at most four questions about the details of the picture ● The allowed time for this part is minutes for each team ● After being painted, the two paintings will be photographed and shown on the screen The score of each painting is based on its similarity to the original in colour, position, quantity and name of the objects - The pictures used in our competition : In this competition, basing on the topic and with a view to celebrating the coming Tet holiday, we chose two Happy New Year cards as follows 16 Card Card 2.7 Part : Speech - Aims: In this part, representatives from each group have to present a speech about Tet holiday in Viet Nam To prepare for this part, students have to work in groups, discuss the information needed They have to work together to choose the information and the images relating to the topic, design a powerpoint presentation then they have to write the speech and rehearse for it It is a time for the students to improve team working skills, learn more about Vietnamese Tet holiday and talk about it in English It also provides other grade 10 students an opportunity to know more about Tet holiday - Rules: ● In this part, each team has got from to minutes to perform the speech ● The judges will observe and score their ideas, accuracy, fluency and time duration ● The maximum score for this part is 40 points The effect of the study Creating an English practice environment to form and develop communication skills for students through the organization of extracurricular activities, I have 17 obtained relatively satisfactory results: - Students have changed attitudes towards English They are very excited and active because they can both learn, play and debate freely - The extracurricular themed activities help the students apply the knowledge learned in regular class to communication contents in specific learning situations and in real life to serve life - They have the opportunity to develop a number of soft skills such as presentation skills, theater mastery skills, skills to exploit knowledge from sources other than textbooks The following are the results of our survey after the competition 3.a Teacher’s comments: Regarding the effectiveness of speaking activities, interviewed teachers reported that their learners seemed to learn English more effectively and communicate fluently, naturally Most of the students liked the competitiveness and motivation that extracurriculum activities brought to the classroom because they had chances to use imagination and creativity during these activities Experience from my own classes showed the same results as those in interviewed teachers’ classes In general, most students were willing to participate in these speaking activities 3.b Students’ reactions and progress: Chart 1: Students’ reaction 18 Chart 2: Students’ progress As can be seen from chart 1, the percentage of the students who felt interested and useful in learning English through extracurricular activities is much higher than that of those who had opposite ideas (75% as compared to 1%) This fact one again confirms that extracurricular activities are really useful and attractive to the students Most of them expressed their satisfaction after speaking activities Only one student did not find their satisfaction and decided that speaking activities were uninteresting and useless for them It might be explained by the fact that they were very shy and reluctant students and it was difficult for them to join their lessons Therefore, teachers should help them by encouraging and giving them opportunities to express their opinions and feelings While this small class survey was conducted, it was important to know if our students made any progress in learning grammar through speaking activities Although the action research was conducted in limited time , it was hard to assess what they had achieved However, the finding from the above table was encouraging for us to see that most of the students are gradually progressing in English Also from the table, it is a big surprise to know that most students thought that extracurricular themed activities helped them a lot in learning English 84% of them found that their ability of speaking English become better since they participated into speaking activities(44% got much better use of grammar, 40% got better use), 13% of students gained a little better progress, only 3% did not find any progress in grammar use 19 PART C : CONCLUSION I The applicability of the study After applying the study to Nguyen Duy Trinh high school, we find out that: Organizing extracurricular activities in the form of a themed competition is easy to fulfill Teachers can organize competitions in a class, in an English club or at a school meeting English themed competitions can make students more excited and interested in leaning The more often these competitions are held, the more attention students pay to the lessons in class The activities we designed for the topic CELEBRATIONS can be used to consolidate the content of unit : our Tet holiday, English textbook, or unit 9: festivals around the world, English textbook (new English curriculum) They can also be used for grade 10 students (new curriculum) to check up the knowledge they learnt in lower secondary school, or teachers can apply the activities to grade 11 students after unit : celebrations ( old English curriculum) to help students remember the lesson better II Experiences from applying the study In order to organise a successful extracurricular activity, teachers need to remember a few notes: Firstly : Choose a topic for extracurricular activities Teachers need to come up with a discussion topic or can use an article, object or image to establish a big topic for extracurricular activity or conversation Teachers should consider whether the topic is appropriate for extracurricular activities Secondly: Determine the goals of extracurricular activities Before starting to organize English extracurricular activities, teachers decide what they want their students to achieve after extracurricular activities Thirdly : Give students the opportunity to listen to each other It is human instinct that they can recognize other people’s faults when they are not talking To make sure students care about each other’s communication, give them a goal they need to work on just by listening to other students Finally: Give students a sense of accomplishment At the end of the contest, sum up the results Students can now review what they have achieved In addition, teaching communication often arises unexpected situations that teachers not anticipate So prepare yourself for vocabulary, grammar and ability to handle situations flexibly III Suggestions For further use of the study, we would like our document to be carefully considered and we will be given necessary assessment through which we can better our method 20 For teachers who want to apply the study, it is a good idea to organize these activities among students who really have interest in English This may avoid the fact that students attending the session not pay attention to what is going on on the stage and make noise Teachers of English can also adapt these activities to use in class, which I believe will bring about possitive influences to learning and teaching English at school We would also like to express our thanks to our colleagues at Nguyen Duy Trinh upper-secondary school as well as other schools in Nghi Loc district and Cua Lo town, who helped us a lot to accomplish our study REFERENCE 1, S El Shamy Training Games: Everything You Need to Know about Using Games to Reinforce Learning Verginia: Stylus Publishing, LLC, 2001, P.15 2, S Sugar & K Sugar Primary Games Experiential Learning Activities for Teaching Children K- American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2017) Volume 37, No 1, pp 140-150 149 Jossey- Bass Publishing House, 2002, P.6 3, D Crookal, &R Oxford Simulation, gaming and language learning New York, Newbury House Publishers, 1990, P.5 4, I.Chen (2005) “ Using games to promote communicative skills in Language learning TESL Journal [Online]-2,pp.125-132 5, Phan Trong Luan, teaching methods, National University Publishing House 1996, p 381 6, Textbook English and English 11, Viet Nam Education Publish House INDEX The full powerpoint presentation about the competition on link https://tinyurl.com/THPT-NDTrinh-COMPETITION Some images of the competition: 21 The members of the two teams with the principal Hoang Thi Kim Lien, the assistant principal Nguyen Thi Thu Ha and the secretary of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Hoang Van Phuc Team Growing Dream in Tam Cam play The MCs The two teams in the competition The two teams in the competition 22 A member from team Firework Warriors confident in speaking English The paintings of the two teams 23 A happy smile with a small gift 24 ... knowledge for learning and life… When carrying out the study, we would like to contribute to emulation movements: "innovating teaching- learning methods", "building friendly schools active students" ... ineffective teaching methods, lack of teaching facilities; students? ?? lack of motivation to learn Especially the lack of communication practice environment leads to the low quality of teaching ... of practice Teaching in textbooks, teachers often have to logic in the order of the program content, according to program distribution Teaching and learning between teachers and students is repeated