SKKN improving speaking skill through the mind mapping techniques for the 10 th grade students at nhu thanh 2 high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NHU THANH II HIGH SCHOOL INNOVATION IN TEACHING IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILL THROUGH THE MIND MAPPING TECHNIQUES FOR THE 10TH GRADE STUDENTS AT NHU THANH HIGH SCHOOL The writer: Nguyễn Thị Điệp The post: Teacher Innovation of subject: English THANH HOA, 2021 TABLE OF CONTENT CONTENT INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Methods of the study CONTENTS 2.1 Literature review 2.1.1 Overview of speaking skills 2.1.2 Definitions of mind map 2.1.3 The characteristics of mind map 2.1.4 How to draw mind map 2.1.5 Relation of mind map and speaking 2.2 Practical situation: The reality of quality of English at Nhu Thanh High School Practical solutions: Using the mind mapping techniques in speaking periods 2.3.1 Guidance to implement the mind mapping techniques to teach speaking skill 2.3.2 Some practical examples of using the mind mapping techniques in the speaking lessons at Nhu Thanh High School 2.4 Result CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 3.1 Conclusion 3.2 Suggestion *) References *) Danh mục sáng kiến kinh nghiệm hội đồng sáng kiến kinh nghiệm ngành giáo dục đào tạo huyện, tỉnh cấp cao xếp loại C trở lên PAGE 2 2 2 3 4 5 16 17 17 18 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Speaking is one of the important skills in learning English According to Hedge (2003), learning speaking is very important for students They may need this skill for a variety of reasons, such as for exchanging information, for influencing people, and for persuading the other people to speak with different background Moreover, speaking skill used to express someone ideas or used to transferring information with the oral communication, it takes places everywhere and has become part of our daily activity Generally, for many years, learning and teaching English have experienced many changes to meet the demand of society However, teaching and learning English especially speaking skills in high schools haven’t got much achievement Speaking has been considered the most demanding of four skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing But a large number of students pay very little attention or ignore in the speaking periods As a result, very few students can speak English even though many students have learnt English since at grade Through the teaching process and observing the English periods at Nhu Thanh High School, I recognize that almost of students ignore the speaking skills during their study because they realize that most of their tests and the national examination don’t require the speaking skills Therefore, students are not motivated or eager to speak and participate in the speaking activities Furthermore, the students often find some problems in learning speaking skills The problem frequently found is that their native language causes them difficult to use the foreign language Other reason is because of motivation lack to practice the second language in daily conversation They are also too shy and afraid to take part in the conversation Many factors can cause the problem of the students’ speaking skills such as the students’ interest, the material, and the media among others including the technique in teaching English Consequently, many techniques can be applied to motivate students and improve the students’ speaking skills However, from my own experiences, mind map is considered as one of the most useful techniques to improve students’ speaking skills, which can encourages the student to be actively participating in teaching - learning process and makes them imaginative and critical since mind mapping is a very powerful tool for brainstorming, creative thinking, problem solving, organizing of ideas and of course, note taking Besides, mind map can help students to increase students’ understanding about the topic or material and gave a new insight for the students because it contains the key word or outline about the topic that will be conveyed to the others In addition, this is creative method which is possible for students to identify the topic that they have planned and students can be able to concentrate on their talk as to convey their opinion systematically From the above reasons I mentioned above, having born in my mind for a long time, I made a choice to a research with title “Improving speaking skill through the mind mapping techniques for the 10 th grade students at Nhu Thanh High School” 1.2 Aims of the study The main aims of the study are not only to know about the fact of teaching and learning speaking skills in Nhu Thanh High School more clearly but also to investigate whether the using of the mind mapping techniques in English speaking lessons can bring the enhancement for students or not 1.3 Objects of the study The objects of the study are students in the three classes (10C1, 10C2, 10C5) that I have been teaching in Nhu Thanh High School with the aim to examine how the mind mapping techniques affect the process of speaking here 1.4 Methods of the study In order to complete this research, a combination of many different methods has used follows: - Collecting information related to the mind mapping techniques from different resources: textbooks, magazines, references as well as accessing from the Internet - Carrying out experimental teaching on speaking skills using the mind map techniques as well as observing the lesson - Recording is used to record the process of using the mind mapping techniques CONTENTS 2.1 Literature review 2.1.1 Overview of speaking skill Speaking is one of the important basic skills in learning English It is the productive skill in the oral mode in giving information or responding which requires the speakers to use the knowledge about pronunciation, vocabulary, culture, listening, the ability of responding and predicting …It consists of both verbal and non verbal communication Speaking is a complicated process It includes activities that occur prior to, during, and after the actual speaking event For example, before speaking, the speaker might determine the actual content of the message, how it should be presented, and what kind of audience will be hearing the message While speaking, the speaker must attend to such things as presenting a clear message, tone of voice, suitable vocabulary, possible responses, the environment, and nonverbal gesture Following speaking, the speaker might accept comments, answer questions, explain concepts not understood, and assess the process 2.1.2 Definitions of Mind Map Mind mapping technique refers to teaching technique using mind map as a tool to represent students’ understanding by using words, picture with color and symbols in a hierarchical or tree branch format (Burn, 2010) Mind map uses the whole brain to help generate ideas The cerebral cortex (cerebrum) of our brain, or 'thinking cap' as it is sometimes called, consists of a left and right side The left side of the brain mainly focuses on words, logic, lists, analysis and numbers, whereas the right side of our brain focuses on such areas as rhythm, imagination, colour, images, dimension and day dreaming Mind map is a fairly simple technique which will appeal particularly to visual learners Some students may already have encountered mind-mapping before in the guise of “spider diagrams” or “concept mapping” In the mind mapping technique, the student could draw or write what they have in their mind related to the topic discussed They could generate or develop their ideas They could find the best idea that can be used by them 2.1.3 The Characteristics of Mind Map According Buzan (1993), there are five essential characteristics of Mind Mapping: a The mind idea, subject or focus is crystallized in a central image b The main themes radiate from the central images as ‘branches’ c The branches comprise a key images or key word drawn or printed on its associated line d Topics of lesser importance are represented as ‘twigs’ of the relevant branch e The branches from a connected nodal structure 2.1.4 How to draw a Mind Map Drawing a mind map is as simple as 1-2-3: Step 1: Start in the middle of a blank page, writing or drawing the idea you intend to develop You should use the page in landscape orientation Step 2: Develop the related subtopics around this central topic, connecting each of them to the center with a line Step 3: Repeat the same process for the subtopics, generating lower-level subtopics as you see fit, connecting each of those to the corresponding subtopic Some more recommendations: - Use colors, drawings and symbols copiously Be as visual as you can, and your brain will thank you I’ve met many people who don’t even try, with the excuse they’re "not artists" Don’t let that keep you from trying it out! - Keep the topics labels as short as possible, keeping them to a single word – or, better yet, to only a picture Especially in your first mind maps, the temptation to write a complete phrase is enormous, but always look for opportunities to shorten it to a single word or figure – your mind map will be much more effective that way - Vary text size, color and alignment Vary the thickness and length of the lines Provide as many visual cues as you can to emphasize important points Every little bit helps engaging your brain 2.1.5 Relation of Mind Mapping and Speaking One aspect that makes us got difficulties in speaking is about the idea Especially, if we need to explain something in English as our foreign language, and in fact in speaking time for preparation is very limited And one of the solution is the using mind mapping techniques This is very needed to avoid we get stag because lost of concept Tony Buzan (2004) stated that there three common techniques for taking notes during a lecture: Writing a complete transcript, writing a summary, writing key words only The mind map should be interesting too; the students can use lines, colors, arrows, branches or some other way of showing connections between the ideas generated on your mind map These relationships may be important in understanding new information or in constructing a structured essay plan By personalizing the map with their own symbols and designs, they will be constructing visual and meaningful relationships between ideas which will assist in their recall and understanding When the students speak, commonly they got stagnancy They have no idea what should they talk about The mind map could help them to stay speak By using mind mapping it would be easier for them to remember about the concept they made before 2.2 Practical background: The reality of quality of English at Nhu Thanh High School Nhu Thanh high school is a school in the mountainous area, most of the students are ethnic minority, therefore, their basic knowledge of English is not good and they are not confident in learning and communicating in English As a result, most of the students ignore the speaking skills during their study because they realize that most of their tests and the national examination don’t require the speaking skills Thus, students are not motivated or eager to speak and participate in the speaking activities Furthermore, the students often find some problems in learning speaking skills The problem frequently found is that their native language causes them difficult to use the foreign language Other reason is because of motivation lack to practice the second language in daily conversation They are also too shy and afraid to take part in the conversation Many factors can cause the problem of the students’ speaking skills such as the students’ interest, the material, and the media among others including the technique in teaching English Consequently, many techniques can be applied to motivate students and improve the students’ speaking skills During the process of teaching in Nhu Thanh High School, I realize that most of the teaching lessons have been taught by using active teaching methods After applying these methods to teaching, I found that using mind maps in English lesson really practical and effective because mind map is a very powerful tool for brainstorming, creative thinking, problem solving, organizing of ideas and of course, note taking The students' results in learning English are becoming better and better Furthermore, more and more students are interested in learning English English lessons are no longer a burden to the students those are always sitting and listening to the teacher During the class, students can brainstorm, then discuss with their partners about the content of the lessons and draw the mind maps by themselves, which makes them understand and remember knowledge better In general, based on the practical experience in my school, I want to present the way to use mind maps in English lessons effectively, with the aim of contributing to improving the effectiveness of teaching and learning English, especially in teaching speaking skills for the 10th grade students 2.3 Practical solutions Using the mind mapping techniques in speaking periods 2.3.1 Guidance to implement mind mapping technique to teach speaking skill In teaching speaking by using the mind mapping technique, we need to use the procedures below: Picture 1: Dinh Mai’s mind map – Class: 10C5 (Topic: Daily routine) Step 1: Teacher gives topic to the students Teacher should choose the interesting topics which are familiar to students to enhance their interest Step 2: Teacher explains the topics and gives the basic mind maps which help student understand how they should Step 3: Teacher gives the students time to make short preparation and asks student to work in groups or pairs to discuss the topic With the topics related to the personal information, teacher asks students to work individually, after that, share their information with their partner Step 4: Teacher asks the students to make the sub points of the topic given and write them into the mind mapping form Teacher encourages students to use the pictures or draw the vivid paintings to make their mind map more engrossing Step 5: Teacher asks the students to speak in front of the class based on the topic given The students could be used the mind mapping that they made before to help their speaking activities Step 6: The students are given some questions to see how they give responds immediately Step 7: Each student gives his / her questions and answers one another to practice doing communication in English Step 8: Teacher gives feedback and pays a compliment on the beautiful, creative mind maps or gives them good marks Picture 2: Students work in group to discuss the topic 2.3.2 Some practical examples of using the mind mapping techniques in the speaking lessons at Nhu Thanh high school Topic 1: Introducing yourself *) Functions practiced: Talking about yourself, people’s background *) Applied lessons: - Optional period (Introducing yourself with the classmate) - Unit – English 10 (Talking about People’s back ground) *) How to use the activity - Step 1: Teacher introduces topic and gives the basic mind map - Step 2: Teacher asks students to work in pairs and discuss about the main points related to the topic, give the sample of the mind map in general - Step 3: Teacher gives the eliciting questions to help students recall the vocabulary related the topic of the lesson, and give some language function or useful language - Step 4: Teacher asks students to make the mind map in detail individually - Step 5: Teacher goes around and helps students if necessary - Step 6: Teacher asks students to share their mind map with their partners - Step 7: Teacher calls on some students to present in front of the whole class - Step 8: Students gives the comments or questions to the presenter - Step 9: Teacher gives the feedback *) For example: Period - Introduction Teacher’s sample: Schools Measure Favorite Subjects Personalities People’s background Hobbies Good Points Weak Points Dreams Student’s product: Picture 3: Luong Van’s mind map – Class: 10C1 (Topic: People’s backgound) Topic 2: Daily routine Functions practiced: Talking about daily activities Applied lessons: - Unit 1– English 10 (Talking about daily activities) How to use the activity - Step 1: Teacher introduces topic and gives the mind map relating to the topic in general - Step 2: Teacher asks students to work in pairs and discuss about the main points related to the topic - Step 3: Teacher gives the eliciting questions to help students recall the vocabulary related the daily routine, and give some language function or useful language - Step 4: T asks students to make the mind map in detail individually - Step 5: Teacher goes around and helps students if necessary - Step 6: Teacher asks students to share their mind map with their partners - Step 7: T calls on some students to present in front of the whole class - Step 8: Students gives the comments or questions to the presenter - Step 9: Teacher gives the feedback *) For example: Unit 1: A day in the life of – Part B: Speaking Teacher’s sample: Student’s product: Picture 4: Thanh Huyen’s mind map – Class: 10C1 (Topic: Daily routine) Topic 3: Mass media Functions practiced: Talking about different types of media Applied lessons: - Unit 7– English 10 (Talking about different types of media) How to use the activity - Step 1: Teacher introduces topic and gives the mind map relating to the topic in general - Step 2: Teacher asks students to work in groups and discuss about the main points related to the topic - Step 3: Teacher divides the topic for each group Each group prepares a kind of mass media - Step 4: Teacher lists the vocabulary related the features of different types of the mass media, and give some language function or useful language - Step 5: Teacher goes around and helps students if necessary - Step 6: Teacher calls on the representatives of each group to go to the board and finish the mind map - Step 7: Students base on the mind map to present - Step 8: Students gives the comments or questions to the presenter - Step 9: Teacher gives the feedback *)For example: Unit 7: The Mass Media – Part B: Speaking Teacher’s sample: Student’s product: Picture 5: The representatives of each group finish the mind map Picture 6: Group 3’s mind map – Class: 10C5 (Topic: Mass media) Topic 4: The threats to the health of the ocean Functions practiced: Talking about causes and consequences, offering solutions Applied lessons: - Unit 9– English 10 (Talking about causes and consequences) How to use the activity - Step 1: Teacher introduces topic and gives the mind map relating to the topic in general - Step 2: Teacher asks students to work in groups and discuss about the main points related to the topic - Step 3: Teacher divides the topic for each group Each group prepares a kind of threat to the heath of the ocean - Step 4: Teacher lists the vocabulary related the threats to the heath of the ocean, and give some language function or useful language - Step 5: Teacher goes around and helps students if necessary - Step 6: Teacher calls on the representatives of each group to go to the board and finish the mind map - Step 7: Students base on the mind map to present - Step 8: Students gives the comments or questions to the presenter - Step 9: Teacher gives the feedback *) For example: Unit 9: Undersea world – Part B: Speaking Teacher’s sample: Student’s product: Picture 7: Ha Manh Dung’s mind map – Class: 10C2 (Topic: Threats to the health of the ocean) Topic 5: A film Functions practiced: Talking about a film Applied lessons: - Unit 13– English 10 (Talking about a favorite film) How to use the activity - Step 1: Teacher introduces topic and gives the basic mind map - Step 2: Teacher asks students to work in pairs and discuss about the main points related to the topic, give the sample of the mind map in general - Step 3: Teacher gives the eliciting questions to help students recall the vocabulary related the topic of the lesson, and give some language function or useful language - Step 4: T asks students to make the mind map in detail individually - Step 5: Teacher goes around and helps students if necessary - Step 6: T asks students to share their mind map with their partners - Step 7: Students base on their mind map to present - Step 8: Students gives the comments or questions to the presenter - Step 9: Teacher gives the feedback *) For example: Unit 13: Films and cinema – Part B: Speaking Teacher’s sample: Student’s product: Picture 8: Minh Son’s mind map – Class: 10C5 (Topic: A favorite film) Topic 6: Historical Places Functions practiced: Talking about historical places Applied lessons: - Unit 16– English 10 (Talking about historical places) How to use the activity - Step 1: Teacher introduces topic and gives the mind map relating to the topic in general - Step 2: Teacher asks students to work in groups and discuss about the main points related to the topic - Step 3: T asks each group to choose a famous historical place Each group prepares a list of information related to it - Step 4: Teacher lists the vocabulary related historical places, and give some language function or useful language - Step 5: Teacher goes around and helps students if necessary - Step 6: Teacher calls on the representatives of each group to go to the board and finish the mind map - Step 7: Students base on the mind map to present - Step 8: Students gives the comments or questions to the presenter - Step 9: Teacher gives the feedback *) For example: Unit 16: Historical Places – Part B: Speaking Teacher’s sample: Student’s product: Picture 9: Huong Giang mind map – Class: 10C2 (Topic: Historical Places) 2.4 Result In conclusion, it can’t be denied that the use of mind mapping techniques have proved to have a great number of merits It is clearly seen that the mind mapping techniques can increase students’ speaking skill in some aspect, such as, pronunciation, grammar, fluency and vocabulary In pronunciation, mind mapping gives good effect for this speaking aspect Students’ pronunciation is increased by mind mapping They have good pronunciation after learned by using mind mapping, because during their study with mind mapping technique, they are more often to speak English in front of the class, because mind mapping is an affective way to connect and organize our minds by doing colours, images or symbols, and associations So, it can help students’ to plan and deliver our speech and can generate their own mind map to convey ideas to be presented visually as supporting materials to talk about the lessons Thus, they are accustomed in speaking English The students could produce English words with good pronunciation Mind mapping also increased students’ grammar, students could speak English with good grammatical and just a little of grammatical errors were done by students during the researcher gave treatment The researcher also taught the students how to use tense and study about grammar Students’ fluency is also increased by mind mapping The students could speak English not in long pauses again They did not need long pauses to search for words of meaning and they also has unlimited expression when they were spoke English, because students have representation in their minds by knowing central theme and supporting ideas around it The last aspect is vocabulary By teaching with mind mapping, the students’ vocabulary is increased because, when the students learned with mind mapping, they could add their vocabulary and select the appropriate words connect with the concepts and ideas that they want to use to express their picture Because of many pictures that they have got and they have told, so they could produce many new vocabularies Students’ improvement can be seen clearly in their speaking tests The following chart is the result of class 10C1, 10C2, 10C5: Class Before using the mind mapping techniques in speaking skills Total After using the mind mapping techniques in speaking skills Excellent (%) Good (%) Fair (%) Poor (%) Excellent (%) Good (%) Fair (%) Poor (%) 10C1 40 2,2 10,9 36,1 50,8 14,3 29,7 37,8 18,2 10C2 38 4,3 15,2 31,9 48,6 15 32,4 35,5 17,1 10C5 37 3,1 12,3 29,8 54,8 13,5 33,7 39 13,8 Therefore, it can be concluded that mind mapping techniques could improve the students speaking It is significantly effective to improve the students’ speaking skill by using mind mapping technique CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 3.1 Conclusion To sum up, speaking skill is one of the four important skills in learning English; thus, to improve the students’ speaking skill, teacher should always operate the activities in speaking lesson such as the mind mapping techniques Thanks to this research, I have more my own experiences and the deeply lessons in teaching and learning English speaking skill using the mind mapping techniques First of all, it is clearly seen that the mind mapping techniques can create a relaxing learning environment in which students feel more confident to speak English and have more chances for practicing and presenting in front of many people This gives students practice in a non-threatening environment, and gives the motivation and involvement where they have to think in English As a result, students’ speaking ability, fluency, interaction and motivation are much improved Secondly, the mind mapping techniques give students a chance to work in pairs or groups Therefore, they help students learn more about how to share their responsibilities as well as cooperate with all the members of the groups Thirdly, mind mapping makes students more active and creative in shared their ideas by speaking English It indicated that the treatment by using mind mapping has positive affect for students’ speaking skill Besides, the mind mapping techniques are interesting, memorable and engaging, and students retain the material they have learned In their assumed role, students drop their shyness and other personality and cultural inhibitions, making them one of the best tools available for teaching a second language To sum up, it can’t be denied that mind mapping technique has huge influence on the students’ speaking skill, and also the implementation of mind map on their research was wonderful 3.2 Suggestions The study has implied a number of suggestions about how to make the implementation of the mind mapping techniques into teaching speaking successfully Firstly, English teacher was suggested to use mind mapping as an alternative way in teaching speaking So mind mapping can encourage the students to be more active in learning process Secondly, it is also advisable for teachers to provide their students with vocabulary or grammatical structures that may help them to complete their activity When students have enough background knowledge, they not have the need to use mother tongue Thirdly, the topics which are designed to activities need to be interesting enough and not too difficult nor unfamiliar with students so that they can be engrossed in working with their friends to finish them Fourthly, the English learner were suggested to be more active, creative and enjoy in exploring their ability in speaking by applying mind mapping technique in order make them more easier in expressed their ability in speaking English Fifthly, another consideration is to form pairs or groups of students that have different strong points so that they can help and learn from each other In such an organization, the better students can give assistance to their less capable peers During this process, not only the weaker students will benefit from the help they get but it is also a chance for the stronger ones to understand more about the language they are mastering Lastly, I’m really hopeful that my school will have a practical room for teaching and learning English so that I as well as our colleagues can guide student to learn many interesting lessons The headmaster’s identification Thanh Hoa, the 15th of May, 2021 I ensure that this study has been written by me The writer Nguyen Thi Diep REFERENCES Bộ Giáo Dục Đào Tạo, Tiếng Anh 11, Nhà xuất Giáo Dục, 2005 Brown, H Douglas 2004 Languange Assessment Principle and Classroom Practices U.S.A: Longman Buzan, Tony 2001 The power of Spiritual Intelligence 10 ways to tap into Your Spiritual genius London: Harrper Collins Publishiner Buzan, Tony 2003 Kekuatan ESQ 10 Langkah meningkatkan Kecerdasan Emosional Spiritual Indonesia: Delapratasa Publising Buzan, Tony 2007 Buku Pintar Mind Map Jakarta: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama Lindzey, Garner et.al 1898 Psychology U.S.A: University of Minnesota 7.Myers, G David 1987 Social Psychology U.S.A: McGraw-Hill Richards et al 1992 Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics England: Longman Sugiono, Prof Dr 2008 Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif Kualitatif dan R &D Bandung: Cv Alfabeta DANH MỤC SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM NGÀNH GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO HUYỆN, TỈNH VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Nguyễn Thị Điệp Chức vụ, đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên- Trường THPT Như Thanh - huyện Như Thanh Thanh Hóa TT Tên đề tài SKKN Improving speaking skills through role play activities for students at Nhu Thanh High School Một số giải pháp nhằm hạn chế viêc lạm dụng sử dụng điện thoại di động học sinh thông qua hoạt động Đoàn trường THPT Như Thanh 2 Cấp đánh giá xếp loại (Ngành GD cấp huyện/tỉnh; Tỉnh ) Kết đánh giá xếp loại (A, B, C) Năm học đánh giá xếp loại Cấp tỉnh C 2015-2016 Cấp tỉnh C 2018-2019 ... speaking skill through the mind mapping techniques for the 10 th grade students at Nhu Thanh High School? ?? 1 .2 Aims of the study The main aims of the study are not only to know about the fact... of the study The objects of the study are students in the three classes (10C1, 10C2, 10C5) that I have been teaching in Nhu Thanh High School with the aim to examine how the mind mapping techniques. .. easier for them to remember about the concept they made before 2. 2 Practical background: The reality of quality of English at Nhu Thanh High School Nhu Thanh high school is a school in the mountainous