(Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm) HOW TO TEACH AND LEARN ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR GRADE 6, 7 TO HELP STUDENTS EFFECTIVVELY COMMUNICATE

THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING DEPARTMENT INITIATIVE HOW TO TEACH AND LEARN ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR GRADE 6, TO HELP STUDENTS EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE Performer: Nguyen Thi Lan Position: Teacher Working place: Ly Tu Trong Junior High School Experience innovation of subject: English THANH HOA, 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Content I-INTRODUCTION 5-6 II-RATIONALE AND STATE OF THE PROBLEM Rationale Current status of the problem .6 7-11 III - PROBLEM SOLVING Steps and measures implemented in each class 1.1 Teaching vocabulary skills learned 1.2 Consolidation from a number of other activities in class 1.3 To foster vocabulary learning methods for students 12 Achievements 12 13 IV-SOME LESSONS LEARNED FROM REALITY 13 14 V CONCLUSION 14 THEMES HOW TO TEACH AND LEARN ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR GRADE 6, TO HELP STUDENTS EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE I-INTRODUCTION : School year 2005-2006 was the last year of the renewal of general school program under the Directive No 14/2001/CT-TTG dated June 16th, 2001 of Prime Minister and Resolution No 40/2000/QH10 of the Congress on the renewal of general education on the following aspects: content - textbooks, teaching methods, teaching means to evaluate the quality of students Innovative teaching method plays an important role to the success of education innovation Reforming teaching method can be understood as: "Promoting a positiveness, self-discipline, activeness and creativity of students in accordance with the characteristics of each class, subject, fostering self-learning method; training skills to apply knowledge in practical, emotional impact, bring joy, excitement for student learning” (Article 24 - Education Law) To this, teachers must teach in an innovative way towards promoting a positiveness of students as well as organize, guide students to explore, discover and occupy knowledge It is necessary for students to innovate their learning method so that they can self-study, self-discovery, self-resolve problems, dominate knowledge, exercise creatively independent thinking Besides flexible coordination between traditional teaching methods and modern ones, teachers need to choose appropriate forms of teaching method for each individual, group, class or organize educational games Moreover, foreign language requires students to grasp basic, minimal and relative knowledge of the system of modern English practice to be suitable with each students This subject also equips skills for student in order to use English as a communication tool For students of grade 6, – who initially get acquainted with junior school and with foreign language (English) with images and learning method which are different from the ones at primary school Learning and practice foreign language are effective only when learners can make communication well The communication depends on many factors in the process of learning foreign language such as smoothly practicing listening, speaking, reading and writing skill In order to complete these skills, learners must grasp grammar of that language Moreover, the potential vocabulary ought to be enough to communicate with people who know that language, especially with native people Therefore, teachers and students need to determine that understanding and using language in learning foreign language are very important, but vocabulary is more important than that Communication is considered effective when language, tone, syllable are correct, understand the content and topic in order to attract listeners Closely related to the correct pronunciation of the word, it is stress, the last syllable of the word and many consecutive consonants in one syllable In addition, words in the sentence must be used in appropriate context, so it requires students to have knowledge about the culture, customs and traditions of that country The communicators will face disadvantages when use the words with wrong semantic in wrong context, leading to unexpected isunderstandings, or disruption in business, politics, etc Conversely, the communicators will be successful if they use the correct words, even florid and smooth words which satisfying listeners will have a strong impact to the emotion of the people who are communicating The big question is how learners can better their vocabulary, pronunciation and use accurate words in each semantic situation and each context It seems that the question is easy to answer; in fact, it poses difficulty to all those who are teaching and learning foreign languages in general and English subject in particular subjects To solve the above problems, in the range of this topic I am pleased to present the teaching – learning method of English vocabulary in grade 6, to help students communicate effectively II-RATIONALE AND STATE OF THE PROBLEM Rationale : The 4th Central Resolution session (1993) gave the mission "Renewing teaching methods at all levels of education" and identified "Encouraging selflearning", to "apply modern education methods to foster student’s capacity for creative thinking and problem solution." The 2nd Central Resolution Session (12-1996) further confirmed "It is necessary to innovate education and training methods, overcoming a one-way path to indoctrinate, training creative thinking for students Gradually apply advanced methods and modern facilities in the teaching process, ensuring conditions and self-study time for student" Article 28 of the Education Law (2005) writes: General education methods ought to promote positiveness, self-discipline, ativeness and creativity of students in line with the characteristics of each class, subject, fostering selflearning method, etc and training skills into practical" The objective of English subject in junior school is to establish and develop essential knowledge, basic skills of English and intellectual qualities for students to continue higher learning and come to life Current status of the problem : * The situation of students learning foreign language (English) at Ly Tu Trong Junior High school Through the teaching process, through interschool professional activities and through discussions with colleagues, I myself realized that learning English situation revealed some disadvantages as following: - For the students: + Overall, students are "scared" and "hesitant" to learn new words, the use of words shows many limitations such as misspellings, incorrect pronunciation, inaccurate use of words, inconsistent with the context Most of students just have a habit of memorizing simple word or its meaning + Some students just learn-by-heart to deal with writing new words on the board, after that, they immediately forget how to use those words Some students try to memorize all the new words so when they face too much new words, they will be in the fear of learning them That is the reason why students often not learn anymore or study yet ineffective The main culprit of the above problem is that students not know how to learn vocabulary, not to find out an appropriate method to learn vocabulary - For the teacher: + The fact of vocabulary teaching and learning in Ly Tu Trong Junior High school attracts lots of concern of English teachers A few years ago, teachers were really embarrassing when teaching vocabulary lessons They can be taught if there are dozens of words in a unit with the ignorance of the relevance between words and theme of the lesson, mood of students, even application of the words in communication + Recent years, the movements on reforming foreign language teaching has been implemented, teachers have been trained techniques in teaching vocabulary In fact, teachers have remained embarrassing for using such techniques when they want to give a hint through furniture, to give example or to explain the word briefly and easily to understand, particularly abstract nouns + Selecting vocabulary to teach in a review lesson weighs a burden on teachers, so they forget to make use of lessons which can review vocabulary Incorrect pronunciation is a sad reality for students, leading to difficulties in communication, even changing the teacher of each subject in each academic year I also want to mention to previously incorrect pronunciation of a few teachers and most of students From the above problems, I need to spend much time on preparing documents and finding methods to teach vocabulary, making students interested in learning vocabulary in particular and in learning English in general * Status of learning foreign language (English) at Ly Tu Trong Junior High school in particular: - The issues on the way to teach vocabulary to make students interested in learning vocabulary in particular and learning English in general is also clearly expressed in the process of teaching and learning English of teachers and students of Ly Tu Trong Junior high school - The initial survey to test vocabulary learning using in communication of students of Ly Tu Trong Junior school: From the 5th week of the first semester, I had a talk with the students to conduct a small survey for my grade to determine whether students learn, pronounce and use words to communicate at which level, and errors they often make to find solutions + Here is the conversation used to examine and the issues are drawn from this survey: * Survey Conversation - T: What’s this (Teacher shows students a waste basket) - S1: /weis beiskit/ - S2: /weis beikits/ - S3: /weis beiskits/ -> students answer correctly when they identify objects and object's name in English, but they pronounce wrongly and most of them not pay attention to the sound / s /, the correct pronunciation is / Weist bæskit / III-PROBLEM SOLVING : Steps and measures implemented in each class 1.1 Teaching vocabulary by learned skills : Vocabulary is one of the most important parts of learning foreign language If you want to better your English, in any skills: listening, speaking, reading or writing, we also need a certain vocabulary This vocabulary does not come suddenly, it is a long lasting process of accumulation Teaching vocabulary according to trained procedures is not easy Teachers must adhere to the principles of word suggestion: brief, understandable and attractive Curiosity of students is increasing as teachers create interesting situations along with embedding the word To ensure those word suggestion principles, teachers have to spend a lot of time on preparing lesson documents, teaching tools as well as situation question suggestion carefully Students must also prepare for the lesson at home, such as: learn vocabulary by using dictionaries and learn the reading content by their own ways to understand Teachers have to teach words which are used several times in class, closed to the subject that students are learning and applied to communicate Words for teaching must be chosen carefully and belong to: active vocabulary, not taught from spreading and imposing The number of words is moderate (5-8 words); if the amount of words is too much, teachers need a little activity done in about 2-3 minutes to guess words from context with the appropriate form of exercise Students can learn more about the lesson content without feeling boring or stressful Unit - A closer look (English class: 6) The theme of related words is Road signs and rules of the road Teacher’s selected words are popular and close to students Preparing for teaching: - Word suggestion (the technique used to introduce words) - Teaching tools (cards, sub board) - The card to practice sounds (/ z /, / t /, / s /) - Techniques to review word (check vocabulary) - The number of words selected: word + dangerous (a): (translation) + (to) go fast (antonym) opposite + an accident: (picture) with “slow down” + an intersection: (B picture) + (to) warn us (realia) + (to) slow down (mime) (T plays + (to) help us (translation) in a motorcyciler’s role) As for preparation teaching documents, teachers need to prepare necessary utensils such as picturesque about crash, a teacher must draw a street intersection in the fastest way in order to not waste time: teachers can write a card of words to save time from writing on the board and removing words in the process of teaching vocabulary Review vocabulary: wordsquares - Sub board will be prepared economically, and one more sub board to write the answer of vocabulary review - To make sure students read well, the teacher let them read the word without sample and edit wrong sounds when using cards / s / / z / / t / Unit 3: A closer look (English class: 6) Preparation: * Number of words to be taught in the subject: Body Head shoulder hands feet toes Chest arms legs finger * Teachers use the technique named "mime" to teach those nouns Teachers can use the body pictures but I want to use this image in "check vocabulary" - The items are prepared: word cards, an image of human body - Training sound card / s / / z / / st / Teachers use cards to "check vocabulary" as well as using combining procedure between words and body parts on drawings Unit 11: (English class: 6) This is the lesson contained lots of vocabulary Vocabulary themed "thing to buy" and (number) "quantifiers" and "containers" has 17 words With selected words to teach themed "thing to buy", I prepare for the activity as following: - some eggs (picture) - some beef (realia) - some chocolates (realia) - some soap (realia) - some oil (picture) - some tooth paste (B picture) Supplies: - word cards / card fix: / s / / st / / z / - Chocolate, beef, soap bar - Images: 12 eggs, cooking oil bottle In addition, teachers should draw a toothpaste with small tube of cream to be put out to save time I can use real objects to teach but I draw to make the lesson more attractive for suggestions as well as creating excitement for students The number of remaining words can not be ignored because they are used to say the measurement unit or container objects, the number of remaining (10 words), I let students work in 2-3 minutes to match words with objects After connecting, teachers let students read the word to practice pronunciation, moreover, teachers should pay attention to linking syllables /græmz ar / /three (r) ar / When students pronounced correctly, they are completely confident to communicate and attract the listener Unit 12: (English class: 6) Spring Warm Summer Hot Fall Cool Winter Cold The theme of vocabulary in this lesson is weather and seasonal temperatures, selected words: words written on cards Preparation: - word cards (additional cards: cold, hot) - paintings of seasons - trained sound card / SPR / + the spring (picture) + the summer (picture) + the fall (picture) + the winter (picture) + the seasons (example: the spring, summer, winter, fall, are…) + warm (opposite with cold) + cold (opposite with hot) To remember vocabulary, students will be practiced with exercises "pelmanism" b) Consolidation by other activities in the class Word consolidation aims to help students remember words by themselves, pronounce more accurately, use words better in communication Word memorizing in the lesson or revision words according to family words, topics through different activities in many different tricks: Bingo, brainstorm, chain game, crossword puzzles, dictation, hangman, Jumbled worlds, Kim's game, lucky numbers, matching, chill mime, realia drill, drill picture, networks, noughts & crosser, gap fill, vocabulary ordering, pelmanism, what & where, rub out and remember, simon saids, slap the board, shark attack, snakes & ladders, wordsquare, substitution boxes Teachers can use these procedures in accordance with activities in one class, including: warm up, checking vocabulary, vocabulary for further exercise c) To foster vocabulary learning methods for students * Which words need to be learnt? 10 For students, English words can be divided into groups: - Unnecessary words - Words using only in reading and listening - Words must be used Students not need to learn unnecessary words For words using only in reading or listening, students just know their meaning For words must be used, students should learn systematically Students should: * Pay attention not only to word’s meaning but also spelling, pronunciation, word usage and determining the kind of word * Buy a dictionary with moderate number of words, easy to learn * Think of an image related to the word when learning new words so that students can quickly remember its meaning Sometimes while learning new words, students will meet others word with the same meaning, they also need to review and give the comparison between words * Learn vocabulary frequently, at everywhere, every time with many different forms at school as well as at home Students should arrange the number of words for an appropriate amount of time given, aiming to help students remember, review the word before learning other words * Have a notebook to take note words, the teacher can periodically collect to give additional points Achievements In 2017-2018 academic year, I was assigned to teach English for grade 6, Through teaching and practical learning of students, I found that students understand and make use of words as well as supplement more words into their vocabulary Through comparison the academic performance of students in grades 6B where I taught, the quality before implementing the topic can be seen: Total 34 pretty good No % medium No % weak No % less No % 10 27 0 29,4 79,4 20,6 11 After applying the method of developing thematic vocabulary in each lesson (Applying theme), the results of several test reach higher Specifically: Total pretty good No % medium No % weak No % less No % 34 15 44,1 29 85,3 14,7 0 From the above results, we can see that the application of vocabulary teaching methods in grade 6, promotes effectively and positively in improving the quality of teaching and gives students a necessary vocabulary to enhance communication skills of students IV- LESSONS LEARNED FROM REALITY * Through practical teaching vocabulary in grades 6, and the achievement, I myself have precious experiences as following - Teaching vocabulary in grades 6, is an urgent need to frequently use and effectively promote On the other hand, it not only applies in Reading lesson but also in: writing, listening, speaking not only for English grade 6, but also for the program in grade 8, - Teaching words is used after the Warm-up before a lesson Therefore, teachers need to carefully study words and use procedures in a flexible manner, in order to help students guess the word, to know how to read word, write down and remember word, apply to situations in the sentence * In the process of teaching, teachers need to give suggestions, guidance and inspiration to students as well as remind students to prepare for the lesson specifically - Frequently motivate and encourage students with limited vocabulary to participate in group activities, creating comfortable psychology and opportunity for them - To take full advantages of comments of experts, of the team, the professional group to find out suitable solutions, applying effectively in teaching To give students chance to practice vocabulary, teachers should enhance the visual forms such as: paintings with simples drawing (picture black board), combining various colors to make students more interested in learning 12 English, students desires to learn, to know and to communicate English in the lesson V CONCLUSION : Innovation of teaching methods is a very important task in the renewal strategy of education sector The target of teaching English in particular has contribute to promote positiveness, creative thinking of students in learning Through this manipulation, students explore and learn the lesson by themselves more carefully As a teacher I always wish to bring students with attractive lessons, creating favorable conditions for them to learn well These are my thoughts and my work in the teaching process which I boldly made, when presented in this chapter, there remains many deficiencies which are not scientific and tight I look forward to receiving comments from colleagues about my topic to help me better in teaching From bottom of my heart, I want to say Thank you sincerely and promise to try my best in teaching Thanh Hoa, March 20th, 2019 Confirmation of Head I here by declare that this is my experience innovation, not copying from other people's content Written by Nguyen Thi Lan 13 REFERENCES Age education newspaper No (1/11/2003) Education magazine No 43/2002 Teaching English - Trainer's handbook (Author Adrian Daff) Psychology documents for secondary school students (Compiled by World School Published by Hanoi National University, 1998) Education Law: the National Political Publishing - Ha Noi/2006 Document on training Legal Education in 2006 by the Department of Education and Training of Quang Binh Regular refresher material for English teachers cycle (2004-2007) Educational Publishers 14 ... problem is that students not know how to learn vocabulary, not to find out an appropriate method to learn vocabulary - For the teacher: + The fact of vocabulary teaching and learning in Ly Tu... checking vocabulary, vocabulary for further exercise c) To foster vocabulary learning methods for students * Which words need to be learnt? 10 For students, English words can be divided into groups:... their own ways to understand Teachers have to teach words which are used several times in class, closed to the subject that students are learning and applied to communicate Words for teaching must