(Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm) solutions for mastering upper secondary students’ performance in using the english articles

Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 “Solutions for Mastering Upper-secondary Students’ Performance in Using the English Articles” PART I: INTRODUCTION I Rationale for selecting the topic of the study: An English sentence is obviously a grammatical unit that is constituted of a set of various parts of speech One of these sentence compositions can undoubtedly be the English articles In fact, the English articles seem to be such simple words that they receive relatively little attention Despite their highly frequent appearance in both spoken and written English, the acquisition of the complex article system remains one of the biggest challenges for learners of English as a foreign language learners, especially Vietnamese students Sometimes, it is also difficult for teachers to teach the English articles effectively At the Upper-secondary Level of Education in Vietnam, the English articles are taught to students in Grades 10 and 12 However, this content is only a minor part of the language focus lesson (Unit 13, English 10, and Unit 8, English 12) with a quite monotonous form of practice (gap-filling) After the students have been taught the articles in these two periods, there is no further educational process about English articles Students are then likely to reduce their attention to the use of articles no matter if it is in their oral or written English, unless they come across a task testing their ability to use articles in an English test In addition, teachers will gradually pay little attention to noticing whether students are using English articles in a correct way Most of the time, teachers will not correct the errors of using incorrect articles in their students’ utterance or written work, because this kind of errors is not believed to result in misunderstanding or to affect the meaning very much All of these lead to a consequence that students can still not fully acquire the use of the English articles even if they are advanced or gifted students Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 As the teaching, learning and acquisition of the English articles have always posed problems to the learners; hence, the topic “Solutions for Mastering Uppersecondary Students’ Performance in Using the English Articles” has been studied to find out more suitable teaching techniques and approaches in teaching the articles so that the teaching and learning process of the articles will be more effective II Purposes of the study: This study has been conducted with a strong desire that it can help raise students’ awareness of the meaning and importance the correct use of the English articles in everyday communications, in written English, as well as in their tests and examinations On that basis, they can have more opportunities to consolidate the knowledge about the articles thoroughly through a detailed and logical system of adequate theoretical contents and typical skills to solve problems related to this topic for them to learn, use and apply in practice rapidly and productively And then, as a result, they will gradually be able to master their performance in using the articles Furthermore, with this experience initiative, I hope to contribute some of my personal ideas on the use of the English article system to teaching experience sources for my teacher colleagues to use as a reference in the English teaching process in general III Objects of the study: This teaching experience initiative specially focus on researching and analyzing problems or difficulties that students encounter in using the English articles, and finding out possible solutions to these problematic issues IV Scope of the study: The topic was studied in the English programme for the upper-secondary students at Mai Anh Tuan High School in the school-year 2016-2017, and through English tests, examinations of all kinds in the recent years V Bases and of the study: The experience initiative has been studied based on my own practical teaching experiences, referring to documents related to the researched topic, including database from the internet, observing other teachers’ lessons, and consulting my colleagues Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 PART II: DEVELOPMENT To improve high school students’ performance in using the English articles, first and foremost, it is necessary to investigate and analyze students’ difficulties related to the use of this part of speech and their negative impacts Afterward, the previously analyzed problems will help find out possible solutions to better the situations A Problems facing students in using the articles: After the process of investigation and research through teaching my own classes, observing my colleagues’ classes, studying references, consulting other teachers of English about the researched topic, and results of various kinds of tests that my student participants have done, it can be seen that learners of English as a foreign language are faced with a wide range of difficulties in using the English articles The problems may be caused by the first language interference or the intra-lingual factors of English These factors, whether internal or external, make the task of mastery difficult for learners of English to achieve, and can have a negative effect on their proficiency Among problems facing students, there are the following emergent tendencies: I Article omission (lack of an article or no article): Needless to say, English and Vietnamese are the two languages with so many significant differences However, when learning English, Vietnamese students naturally tend to have a habit of using their mother tongue in the thinking process instead of the language that is being studied It is this habit that can put their production of the new language to a lot of trouble Moreover, among the parts of speech forming English sentences, the articles are only little words, hence, it is not very surprising when problems as follow appear when students try to transform Vietnamese word by word to English Because of language thinking in the mother tongue, Vietnamese students tend to transform their own language word by word to English when they want to use English to express and convey their ideas The transformation is simply performed based on expressions and sentence structures of the Vietnamese language, without appearance of the English articles Moreover, Vietnamese has no exact parallels of articles to English, Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 so learners nearly have no notion or a vague notion of this part of speech How can they use the English articles in communications when they not know the existence of these words? For example, such sentences as the following are quite frequently spoken or written by Vietnamese students: a In future, I want to become doctor.-Trong tương lai, muốn trở thành bác sĩ b My friend has given interesting book to me.-Bạn tặng sách cho In the example a, in front of “future” and “doctor” should be the articles “the” and “a”, and in b, “an” should stand right before “interesting book” The majority of people may not get trouble understanding the meaning of these sentences, however, to ones with a little knowledge of English, the utterances seem unusual, and less natural Moreover, generalizing rules of article use from examples students have learnt somewhere can also lead to article deletion For instance, after listening or reading such sentences produced by native speakers or writers as “We had a wonderful holiday in Italy, a country in southern Europe.” or “China has so many famous historical places.” or “France was the host nation of the 1998 World Cup.”, learners recognize that there are no articles before the name of countries, which may become a rule for them to apply As a result, they can leave out the articles in their sentences: a Some of my friends are living and studying in USA b Philippines is a country consisting of a group of islands in South East Asia In the examples previously mentioned, “the” should come before “USA” and “Philippines” simply because these are exceptions of the rule formed by students In addition, lack of knowledge about features of nouns or noun phrases (whether they are definite or indefinite, countable or uncountable, singular or plural…) may also lead to the tendency of omitting the articles, for example: a Thank you for your dinner Soup was really delicious b Television is effective means of communication In a, students may easily realize the noun “soup” is uncountable, but it is also definite, so “The” should come before it In b, “means” is indefinite singular noun, however, its plural form is the same, so the article an is left out Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 II Article overuse (Unnecessary insertion of articles): Vietnamese students in an attempt to transform Vietnamese word by word to the second language not only leave out the articles, but also use this part of speech where it is not needed The overuse is often caused by students’ limitations in recognizing whether the nouns or noun phrases that the articles precede are countable or uncountable, definite or indefinite, for instance: a That’s a great news - Đó tin tuyệt vời b This the house is going to be demolished -Ngôi nhà sửa bị phá hủy In the previous examples, the articles “a” and “the” should not be there The reason for this overuse is student’s understanding that “một” in Vietnamese is corresponding to “a/an” in English, in addition, in Vietnamese, “tin - news” is a countable noun, and “Ngôi nhà này” is a specific noun which is thought to need a definite English articles Another reason for article overuse may be inflexible overgeneralization of an article using rule and lack of flexibility in applying a set of rules to a certain situation For example, on the basis of a rule that the article “the” precedes a noun or noun phrase referring something unique, students probably write or say something like that: a The Vietnam is my sweet home country b Nothing on the earth can persuade me to believe you In the first situation, students tend to think that there is only one Vietnam in the world Also, in the second one, there is only one earth in existence Therefore, they misuse the article “the” in both cases, without noticing that proper names of such countries as Vietnam need no articles and “on earth” is an idiom used after negative nouns or pronouns to emphasize what is being said One more reason for article overuse can be that students have no thorough understanding of important features of nouns or noun phrases which decide whether the articles are used or not, for instance: a The doctors are people who treat the sick or injured b A love can cause a lot of suffering In a, the noun “doctor” refers to all doctors in general, not specific ones, so “The” Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 should not be there In b, “love” expresses a general idea and it an uncountable noun, therefore, “A” should be omitted III Confusion about the articles: One of the most problematic issues in using the English articles would undoubtedly be making wrong choices of articles The significant causes of this incorrect selection may be the following: Confusion between the and a/an: The English articles are dependent words on nouns or noun phrases they precede, hence that students confuse the with a/an is eventually the problem of distinguishing definite and indefinite nouns/ noun phrases, or specific and general ideas This confusion would lead to using the instead of a/an where needed or vice versa The examples below can clearly show students’ uncertainty about the use of the English articles a My cousin’s garden looks so nice I wish to have such the garden b Would your son like a present we have bought for him? c To attend this formal party, you need the elegant dress d I was very impressed with an omelet you made for me In the first example, the noun “garden” appears twice, so the second “garden” seems to be believed to be a definite noun while it, in fact, is indefinite In b, “present” is specific because both the speaker and the listener already know it, however, it is only used once, which makes students think they have an indefinite noun here Also, in c and d, students misunderstand definiteness and indefiniteness of the noun and noun phrase, which results in their wrong choice of articles Confusion between a and an: Nouns or noun phrases coming after the indefinite articles a and an have a number of features in common The basic difference between using a and an is that a is used in front of a noun or noun phrase starting with a consonant and an stands before a noun or noun phrases starting with a vowel Vietnamese learners are likely to think that sounds and their letters are the same It is this tendency that causes students’ Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative confusion between a and an or vice versa, for instance: School-year: 2016-2017 a A honest man always tells the truth b Linh has applied to an university in Hanoi In the previous cases, “h” in “honest” is a silent sound, so the noun phrase begins with the vowel /ɒ/, “u” in the noun “uniform” is pronounced /ju:/ Hence, the noun phrase “honest man” is preceded by an rather than a, and the noun “uniform” is preceded by a instead of an Generally, the majority of students’ problems in using the English articles are resulted from their inappropriate learning process, lack of knowledge or understanding of the English article system, including fundamental concepts and rules, and incorrect application of a rule or a set of rules in using these articles B Suggested problem solutions: Students’ mastery of using English, in general, can actually be seen as a big achievement resulted from the effective combination of multiple factors To have a multiple-part product of language with a high quality, each of constituents must be standardized, qualitative, and specially free of all the problems, even minor errors in using such little words as the English articles Hence, problem-solving would really become urgent and important to have opportune solutions to the problematic issues involved Below are some suggested ones: I Theory: I A To teachers: Teachers are believed to play a very important role in the teaching-learning process Therefore, it is necessary for teachers to find out possible solutions to achieve expected results Firstly, before class, teachers should inform students of the topic of the next lesson to draw students’ attention to the contents they are going to learn Also, teachers themselves need to make careful preparations for the lesson they are going to give Secondly, in class, teachers should present the lesson contents logically, Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 scientifically, and briefly with clear explanations and positive teaching approaches such as Teaching the articles based on contexts, Teaching the articles based on real life situations, Teaching the articles using realia, Teaching the articles using pictures, and Encouraging students to speaking and writing practice regularly, … Next, teachers must suggest, guide, encourage and join students in completing as an comprehensive and adequate overview of the English articles and their rules of use as possible The collective achievement gained would probably be a useful reference document for all of them in the process of learning and using the English articles Overview of the English articles Definition of the English Articles: In English, an article is a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness of a noun or noun phrase that it precedes [1] There are two types of the English Articles: the two indefinite articles (a and an), and the definite article (the) Nouns/ Noun phrases preceded by the articles: It is necessary for students to understand the features of nouns or noun phrases because whether an article or no article is used before a noun or noun phrase mainly depends on the nature of this noun or noun phrase 2.1 Definite and indefinite nouns/ noun phrases: - A definite noun/ noun phrase is a noun/ noun phrase referring to: + a particular member of a group or class, the uniquely specified thing or the things that have already been mentioned Ex: She is the nicest girl in my village./The moon moves round the sun I have bought a new motorbike The motorbike was made in Vietnam + the person/thing or people/things that both the speaker or writer and the listener or reader have already known Ex: The computer you gave me still works well - An indefinite noun/ noun phrase is a noun/ noun phrase referring to: + a person/thing, or people/things that can be any one of several different people/things Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative or groups of people/things School-year: 2016-2017 Ex: I’ll bring a book to read in case I have to wait for the train for a long time + a person/thing or people/things that only the speaker or writer knows Ex: Yesterday, I saw a terrible accident 2.2 Countable and uncountable nouns/ noun phrases: - A countable noun/ noun phrase is a noun/ noun phrase that can be counted and used with a number It can be singular or plural Ex: computer, computers, teacher, teachers,… - An uncountable noun/ noun phrase is a noun/ noun phrase that cannot be counted and used with a number It has no plural form Ex: money, sugar, rice,… 2.3 Singular and plural nouns/ noun phrases: - A singular noun/ noun phrase is a countable noun/ noun phrase that refers to one person or thing Ex: child, book, well-behaved boy, funny story,… - A plural noun/ noun phrase is a countable noun/ noun phrase that refers to more than one person or thing A plural noun/ noun phrase is generally formed by adding “s/es” after its singular form Some have irregular forms Ex: two children, three books, well-behaved boys, funny stories,… 2.4 Specific and general nouns/ noun phrases: Nouns/ noun phrases of any kind (countable, uncountable, singular or plural) can be specific or general [3] - A specific noun/ noun phrase is a noun/ noun phrase that is used to talk about some thing or things in particular Ex: My dad's company made a profit this year (profit = countable, singular, and specific) [3] - A general noun/ noun phrase is a noun/ noun phrase that is used to make a generalization about some thing or things [3] Ex: Money is necessary to live (money = uncountable, and general) [3] Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page Teaching Experience Initiative Table of basic rules: School-year: 2016-2017 Students’ Article Rules Purposes Addition s - used before - to refer to an unspecified member of a singular countable group/ class indefinite nouns/noun phrases there’s nothing good on [6] + a: with nouns/ - to mention something for the first time noun phrases a/an I’d like to go to a concert tonight, but I’ve had a great idea! [6] beginning with - to talk about things generally (formal consonant sounds English) + an: with vowel A poet sees things differently sounds (= Poets see….)[6] Note: it is the sound - to show what group someone/ not the spelling that something belongs to, or to classify it/ is important (ex: a her/him unique experience, Liz is a modernist [6] an umbrella…) - to refer to a specified member of a - used before group/ class, someone/something already singular countable known or mentioned definite nouns/noun phrases Is that the band you were talking about? [6] - to talk about things generally (formal English) The The guitar is one of the oldest musical instruments (= Guitars are….)[6] Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 10 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 - to refer to specific people/things, or - used before plural people/things already known or countable definite mentioned nouns/noun phrases The scales are balanced to symbolize equality [6] - used before - to refer to something specific, or uncountable definite something already known or mentioned nouns/noun phrases Who did the publicity for the show? [6] - used before some - to talk about things generally (formal adjectives to mean English) groups of people Pop music has always appealed more to the young more than the old.[6] Note: - used with physical things that are unique (the moon/ sun/ …) - used with the superlatives (the best/ the most interesting…) and cardinal numbers (the first/ second…) - used to mean the well-known or the famous I bumped into Damian Hirst, the artist, in the supermarket (= the well=known artist) [6] - used before plural - to talk about things generally countable indefinite nouns/noun phrases No - used before Article uncountable Don’t let your young child use scissors unsupervised [6] An artist always needs inspiration [6] indefinite nouns/ noun phrases Note: often used for concepts (not physical thing): society, space, nature… Table of the articles in particular phrases and expressions: Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 11 Teaching Experience Initiative Indefinite Definite article School-year: 2016-2017 No article Students’ articles in an hour, in a in the 1990s, in the In 2000, in winter second [6], in winter, in the [6], in January, a minute morning/ on Friday, at Time Addition afternoon/ evening/ noon, at night, at night, on the first/ dawn second/…of the 8th have a job, month [6] the King, the Americans/ work as a Principle, the Russians, become teacher, I met President, the President/ People, work a very nice British [6], the Chairman, go to and activities American last washing-up/ work, be at work, night [6], take/ cleaning-up have work to have a rest, [6], go shopping, me a favour have/eat breakfast/lunch/ Is there a the Himalayas, the dinner Mount Everest, beach near Pacific Ocean, the Berlin, America, here? [6] Sein, the earth, the Antarctica, Antarctic, the Jupiter, Fleet USA, the UK, the Street, Wall Scilly Isles [6] Street, Lake Places Michigan, Mykonos [6] Public Le Thi Lan Anh Is there a bank the bank, the post go to school/ near here? [6] office, go to the hospital/ prison Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 12 Teaching Experience Initiative buildings school/ hospital/ School-year: 2016-2017 (as a student/ prison (as a visitor) patient/ prisoner) [6], the university [6], Cambridge Play us a of Cambridge play the guitar, the university play football, song!, I have media, on the listen to music, radio, go to the on TV, watch TV ball [6] cinema [6], the [6] Does World Cup, … the BBC, the NATO [6], Switzerland police, the NATS, FIFA, … Entertainmen got a tennis t and sports Organizations have an army? Education Travel Health emergency [6] services, the UN have a lesson, [6] be in the Maths, Music, be take an exam, first/second/… in class/ grade/ a test, [6] take a taxi, year [6] in the car/ taxi, on year/ form 10 [6] on foot, go/ get/ catch a bus/ the bus/ plane reach/ come train [6] home, go by bus/ have a cold/ have the flu/ car/ train [6] have flu/ measles/ cough/ measles [6] toothache/ headache/ stomachache [6], stomachache/ mumps/ shingles/ toothache [6], blood pressure/ sore throat/ gout/ hepatitis What is more, teachers should always pay special attention to observing, interacting with students to find out students’ problems or difficulties or obstacles in their learning process as early as possible Sometimes, too much trouble can discourage students, even teachers However, teachers should have a positive attitude Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 13 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 towards these obstacles to offer timely and effective solutions to help students overcome their difficulties I.B To students: Nowadays, in student-centered education, students are a key factor that helps produce expected achievements To the perception of any unit of knowledge in general and learning how to use the English articles correctly and effectively in particular, students must always try to keep their decisive role Firstly, students should prepare for the lesson before going to class by finding information and documents involved with the topic of the lesson Secondly, students should be active and positive in perceiving definitions or concepts as well as other theoretical points related to the English articles which are presented in class Thirdly, students need to make every effort to understand, memorize and consolidate theoretical points, specially rules of use and exceptions, to be able to master their using the English articles Fourthly, in class, also after class, students should frankly share their problems with teachers and ask for help if necessary Getting well-timed assistance and useful tips of advice in need will promote students’ spirit in learning English Last but not least, students must raise their awareness of self-investigating, selfteaching and collecting more useful details related to the topic to contribute to creating as an adequate and comprehensive source of shared reference documents as possible II Practice: It is said that Practice makes perfect The acquisition of the theory is undeniably important, however, practice is really a key to the mastery of students’ performance in using the articles To encourage students to regular practice with much enthusiasm, beside some gap-filling tasks in the textbooks, a system of supplementary exercises in various forms has been designed for students’ further practice in class as well as after class Below are typical forms of tasks (See APPENDICES-I Supplemental Exercises and Answers): Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 14 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 EX1 Fill in each blank in the following sentences with a/ an/ the/ no article(Ø) EX2 Complete the short story below with a/ an/ the/ no article(Ø) EX3 Complete the following interview with a/ an/ the/ no article(Ø) EX4 Complete the following paragraph with a/ an/ the/ no article(Ø) EX5 Choose the correct option EX6 Decide which word or words are correct EX7 Choose the best option to complete each blank in the following sentences EX8 Underline the extra word in each sentence EX9 Read the story There is a word missing in some lines Write a(n) or the where necessary Write “OK” if the line is already complete EX10 Find out a mistake in each of the following sentences and correct it EX11 Choose the letter of the underlined word or group of words that is not correct EX12 What you say in these situations? EX13 Complete each of the dialogues and role-play to practise it EX14 Interview your partner about one of the following topics EX15 Make a dialogue or conversation about one of the following topics EX16 Talk about one of the following topics EX17 Say something to describe the following pictures EX18 Build up sentences, using the prompts given EX19 Rewrite each of the following sentences, using the word(s) given EX20 Write sentences to describe the pictures given EX21 Translate the following sentences into English EX22 Match each word with the right explanation and write sentences with a/an EX23 Replace the sentences containing an underlined word Use a/an or the with the word in brackets EX24 Create a story based on the group of words or phrases given EX25 Write a paragraph or an essay on a certain topic In the teaching process, to warm up the learning atmosphere and to avoid the students feeling that lessons are too difficult and complicated, types of the previously Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 15 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 mentioned exercises are designed in the form of games such as Lucky Numbers, Who will be the Millionaire?, Role-plays, Picture-description, articles-pelmanism-game, articles-once-upon-a-time-game,… Thus, the students seem to learn the lessons at their ease, and acquire knowledge better PART III: CONCLUSION I Study results: In my English teaching process, I have gradually provided my students a system of knowledge of the English articles and useful suggestions for practice that step by step help them get familiar with and consolidate their theoretical knowledge as well as improve their practical skills Various goals have been set for different students based on their own levels of English After applying the previously mentioned solutions to English teaching for some time, it is quite encouraging that most of the students have had a more thorough grasp of basic knowledge and certain skills to solve problems related to the articles However, it is quite difficult for weak students to understand and to apply these skills in practice because to practise well with these skills, the students must have a wide range of knowledge covering various contents in English Thus, through my lessons, I constantly help the students revise and consolidate the knowledge that they have learnt and improve their practical skills Below are some achieved results of the study after being applied to English teaching and revision in classes 10G and 10M at Mai Anh Tuan High School in the school-year 2016-2017 These statistics are based on the 10 question tests (See APPENDICES, II Tests and suggested answers) on using the English articles at different levels of difficulty at different points in time during this school-year The results the 1st test (before applying the initiative): Class No of sts Le Thi Lan Anh No of students with correct answers Mai Anh Tuan High School 10 Page 16 Teaching Experience Initiative 10G 42 10M Class 42 School-year: 2016-2017 0 9 No of Incorrect 0 Problems Answers (%) Omission Overuse Confusion 10G 250 / 420 75 50 125 10M 59.52 % 270 / 420 17.86 % 80 11.90 % 60 29.76 % 130 64.29 % 19.04 % 14.29 % 30.95 % The results the 2nd test (after applying the initiative for a semester) Class No No of students with correct answers of sts 10 10G 42 7 3 1 10M 42 7 7 Class No of Incorrect Problems Answers (%) Omission Overuse Confusion 10G 213 / 420 64 40 109 10M 50.71 % 237 / 420 15.24 % 71 9.52 % 47 25.95 % 119 56.43 % 16.91 % 11.19 % 28.33 % The results the 3rd test (after applying the initiative for a semester and a half) Class 10G No No of students with correct answers of sts 10 42 0 10 5 2 Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 17 Teaching Experience Initiative 10M 42 0 Class 11 No of Incorrect School-year: 2016-2017 10 1 Problems Answers (%) Omission Overuse Confusion 10G 172 / 420 52 34 86 10M 40.95 % 185 / 420 12.38 % 55 8.09 % 37 20.48 % 93 44.05 % 13.10 % 8.81 % 22.14 % The results the 4th test (after applying the initiative for the whole school-year) Class No No of students with correct answers of sts 10 10G 42 0 0 7 10M 42 0 0 10 Class No of Incorrect Problems Answers (%) Omission Overuse Confusion 10G 120 / 420 36 24 60 10M 28.57 % 140 / 420 8.57 % 42 5.71 % 28 14.29 % 70 33.33 % 10 % 6.66 % 16.67 % The tables show that the number of students who have had more correct answers to the questions related to the English articles has been gradually increasing through time and the number of students who have had a few correct answers has been declining The problems facing students that have negative effects on students’ mastery fall into three main categories: omission, overuse and confusion Among these problems, article confusion is the most problematic, making up to nearly 50% of the total number of problems, omission around 30%, and overuse about 20% The table Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 18 Teaching Experience Initiative School-year: 2016-2017 also indicates that the rate of each type of problems has steadily increased Although the initial results seem not to be very impressive, I would like to share this teaching experience initiative in the hope that it could help contribute a little to improving the quality of teaching English at the upper secondary education Moreover, I wish that the study would be of some value to both teachers and students in their English teaching and learning process II Suggestions: Obviously, the study still has certain limitations Thus, it would be my pleasure to get as many pieces of contributive advice or suggestions as possible to better and help my teaching initiative become more productive in the English teaching and learning process at high schools in the future I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for all the constructive ideas! Thanh Hoa, June 8th, 2017 The author Le Thi Lan Anh REFERENCES [1] Wikipedia (EN) [2] Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary [3] www.ntid.rit.edu [4] Destination B1, Malcolm Mann - Steve Taylore-Knowles [5] Destination B2, Malcolm Mann - Steve Taylore-Knowles [6] Destination C1-C2, Malcolm Mann - Steve Taylore-Knowles Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 19 Teaching Experience Initiative [7] www.Teach-This.com School-year: 2016-2017 [8] www.britishcouncil.org/learnerEnglishkids [9] Essential Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises, Helen Naylor with Raymond Murphy, Cambridge University Press [10] English Grammar in Use, Raymond Murphy [11] An Intensive Preparation Course fot the TOEFL.ITP, NEU [12] Ôn tập kiểm tra Tiếng Anh 10, Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn – Lê Văn Canh – Lương Quỳnh Trang, Nhà xuất Giáo Dục [13] Tiếng Anh 10, Nhà xuất Giáo Dục [14] Tiếng Anh 11, Nhà xuất Giáo Dục [15] Tiếng Anh 12, Nhà xuất Giáo Dục [16] The internet [17] Advanced Grammar in use, Martin Hewings [18] Oxford Practice Grammar, John Eastwood, Oxford University Press Le Thi Lan Anh Mai Anh Tuan High School Page 20 ... for Mastering Uppersecondary Students’ Performance in Using the English Articles? ?? has been studied to find out more suitable teaching techniques and approaches in teaching the articles so that the. .. useful reference document for all of them in the process of learning and using the English articles Overview of the English articles Definition of the English Articles: In English, an article is... article Students’ articles in an hour, in a in the 1990s, in the In 2000, in winter second [6], in winter, in the [6], in January, a minute morning/ on Friday, at Time Addition afternoon/ evening/