TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Name of the theme A.Introduction I Reasons of choosing the theme II.Purposes of the study III Scopes of the study B Contents of the theme I.Theoretical basis II.Practical basis III.Applying some activities IV.Results C.Conclusion I Conclusion II.Suggestions Reference books Page 1-2 -19 3 20 21 A INTRODUCTION I.The reasons of choosing the theme According to my teaching experiences, four language skills – listening, speaking, reading, and writing should be fully stimulated during the course of study to help the students communicate in the target language since the lack of any skills will spoil the effectiveness of communication However, learning quality is still far from being satisfactory Learners have faced many difficulties in English learning, especially in the learning of speaking skills In fact, it is undeniable that many Vietnamese students after seven years learning English at schools still feel confused when communicating with foreigners or they even could not say a simple utterance like an offer Obviously, the ability to communicate in a foreign language clearly and effectively contributes to the success of the learner in school and success later in every phase of life Like many high schools in Vietnam,at Quang Xuong high school, English has been a compulsory subject in its curriculum for many years and teaching new words always plays an important part in teaching the whole lesson Because words are the bricks that help students build their house of English However, many teachers have the habit of teaching isolated words Actually, they have used many techniques of teaching words, but the words presented by the teachers are not in the same contexts with the words in the lessons Moreover, we all know that words and phrases have different meanings in different contexts As a result, it is difficult for students to understand the true meaning of the words in the lessons In addition, students feel that it is really difficult for them to remember the words This leads to the fact that students are lack of motivation for learning new words And they feel that learning words are really boring because there is no linking between the words in the lessons and the words presented by the teachers Therefore, in each lesson I have tried my best to help my students understand the meaning of words in the lesson context There are many reasons but above are the main drivers for us to engage in this study entitled: Helping students understand the meaning of words in context for “ Tieng Anh 11 “ II In what ways were my activities carried out? In the school year 2016-2017, I was responsible for teaching grade 11 So, in this paper I would like to deal with the lessons only in Textbook “ Tieng Anh 11” Here are the description and the purpose of each activity Activity1: At this state teacher led students to the context by giving the topic of the lesson or the main content of the lesson to activate students’ background knowledge The reason for doing this was that students were motivated to get interest in the topic and had ideas of words related to the topic Activity 2: At this state students were given some suggested questions by the teacher, they were step by step led to this context to another one by the teacher’s instructions The keys words in each lesson were underlined And the lessons which I used “ the power point” to present, the keys words were both underlined and changed the colour in red to make students easier to notice In some cases, students understood the contexts and the meaning of words, but they did not know how to express in English, I myself helped them know what those words in English were As a result, their words were developed in a natural way Therefore, they were eager to learn new words because they found no difficulties in understanding and remembering Besides, this not only helped students understand the new words but also helped students have the prediction of the content of the lesson that they would learn The main technique I used for my activities were to brainstorm the ideas to fill in the “mind map” The following is the full description of how I helped my students understand the meaning of words in context in some lessons in “ Tieng Anh 11” III Scope, object and researching the method - Scope: Researching in the process of teaching English at Quảng Xương III high school - Object: This subject is concerned with ways of organizing activities in the class - Researching method: Reading reference books, discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences B Contents of the theme I Theoretical basis In reality, a textbook can never totally be an effective tool for teachers to follow without any adaptation because of its intrinsic deficiencies such as linguistic inaccuracies, out-of-datedness, lack of authenticity or lack of variety Thus, I favor Madsen and Bowen’s (1978) and Tice’s (1991) view that is the purpose of material adaptation is to compensate for those deficiencies This is important to all teachers of English because it can activate learners and stimulate their motivation, and increased motivation, in turn, is likely to create a more conductive classroom atmosphere II Practical basis Part of reading comprehension involves using the other words in a sentence or a passage to understand unknown word An author often includes hints, or clues, to help the reader expand vocabulary and crasp the meaning of the passage Skill in using context clues enables a reader to comprehend advance texts Basing on these views, an action research is to caried out on adapting some activities for the ‘Tieng Anh 11 to help the learners to understand the lessons more III.Applying some activities UNIT 1: FRIENDSHIP A READING: In this lesson, students were led to the context of “ THE FRIENDSHIP” From the context, I asked students some questions to activate their background knowledge of friendship to complete a mind map Question 1: Do you have any friends? From the word “ friend”, I taught my students the word “ acquaintance” Question 2: What qualities are necessary for true friendship? Students gave some qualities of true friendship However, some words were only given in Vietnamese, I helped my students understand what those words in English were • The mind map friends acquaintance FRIENDSHIP mutual understanding qualities for true friendship give-and-take not suspicious loyal unselfish UNIT 2: PERSONAL EXPERIENCES A READING: From the fact that teenagers tend to have their own idols, I led students to the context by asking questions: 1.Do you have your own idol? Do you immediate his/ her in different ways? Students answered my questions about her/ his own idol and in what ways they liked to immediate her own idol After that I said that in this lesson they would read a story about a girl who wanted to have a hat like her idol’s one Her father knew this and gave her some money so that she could buy the one for herself Next, students were divided into groups and were asked to build a story based on the pictures in the textbook Each student in the group who was chosen to tell the story completed the story they had built During the time students told the story I helped them to understand the meaning of some new words based on the pictures Picture d: > idol Picture b: > floppy cotton hat Picture f: > glance > sneaky; not making a fuss > take the money back C LISTENING: In this lesson students were led to the context of a fire They were told to listen to Christina who would tell the audience about her unforgettable experience that she had witnessed The experience was that her house caught fire during the night time when she was very small Then students were asked to look at the picture in the textbook and to answer some questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: What you think were the causes of the fire? Question 2: How did she feel when she saw the fire? Question 3: Who you think she was the first person that she called when she saw the fire? Question 4: What did her mother to save her? Question 5: Was the fire a forgettable experience? * The mind map terrified scream memorable experience her feeling A HOUSE CAUGHT FIRE protect her gas stove causes of the fire electricity problems her mother help her to escape UNIT 3: A PARTY A READING: In this lesson, students were led to the context by looking the pictures in the textbook and answering the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: On what occasions are parties held? What is the relationship between the people in the pictures? What are they doing? * The mind map a birthday party A PARTY celebrate a wedding anniversary silver anniversary golden anniversary C LISTENING: In this lesson, students were led to the context by answering the questions in the textbook to complete the “mind map” Question 1: What you usually to prepare your birthday party? Question 2: What foods and drinks are often severed at your birthday party? Question 2: What activities you often have at your birthday party? * The mind map preparing the birthday cake with icing putting flowers decorating the house prepare for a birthday party prizes for winners inviting guests games A BIRTHDAY PARTY sing songs activities birthday cake fruits foods and drinks candies saying “ happy birthday to the host” cutting the birthday cakes into slices coke open presents wine UNIT 4: VOLUNTEER WORK C LISTENING: In this lesson, students were told to listen to a talk about a school for disadvantaged children in Ho Chi Minh city Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: Who are students in Spring School? 10 Question 2: How is money raised to support charities in Spring School? Question 3: Who set up classes in Spring School? * The mind map fund-raising activities disadvantaged children SPRING SCHOOL Organisation for Educational Development co-operates with Spring School set up the classes 11 UNIT 6: COMPETITIONS A READING: In this lesson, students were told that they would read a passage about an English competition in a high school Then students were led to the context by answering the questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: How often is the English competition held in your school? Question 2: What is the purpose of the competition? Question 3: What we call in English the students who are chosen to take part in the competition? * The mind map to stimulate the spirit of learning English among students the purpose ENGLISH COMPETITIO N representatives every two years students chosen to take part in the competition how often every year ( yearly) 12 UNIT 7: WORLD POPULATION A READING: In this lesson, students were told that they would read a passage about WOLRD POPULATION Then students were led to the context by answering the questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: Do you know what the population of the world in 1850, 1950, 1985, and 2000? Question 2: Can women in the world limit the size of their families? Question 3: How does the government help them in family planning? 13 * The mind map 6,600,000,000 1,300,000,000 in 1850 safe birth-control methods the population reached the figure of 2,510,000 , 000 in 1950 WORLD POPULATION the government help the women limit the size of their families 14 B SPEAKING: In this lesson, students were told that they would talk about WOLRD POPULATION Then students were led to the context by answering the questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: What are the causes of population explosion? Question 2: Can you list the problems facing poor and overpopulated countries? Question 3: Can you suggest the solutions to the problems of overpopulation? 15 * The mind map a large family is a form of insurance not aware of the problem of overpopulation religion causes of population explosion WOLRD POPULATION raise awareness solutions implement reward and punishment policies poor conditions use birth-control method problems facing lack/ shortage of school/ hospital/ teacher/ doctor 16 C LISTENING In this lesson, students were told to listen to a world population expert talking about the world population Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: Which country has the population ranked the first? Question 2: What problem does population explosion cause to the world? * The mind map China ranks the first illiteracy problems population explosion cause to the world WOLRD POPULATION lack of hospitals and schools/ shortage of food / poor living conditions particularly in developing countries UNIT 8: CELEBRATIONS A READING: In this lesson, students were watched to a video clip about Tet Then students were asked to answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: When is Tet? 17 Question 2: What activities people usually at Tet? Question 3:What are special things at Tet? Question 4: What people prepare for Tet? • The mind map visit relatives activities for agrarian people, the start of a new year eating special foods receiving lucky money when go to pagoda to pray between 19th January and 20th February TET flowers ( apricot blossom, peach blossom) streets decorated with colored lights and red banners preparations decorating the house grandest and most important occasion special things Banh chung candied fruits ( sugared apples, plums 18 B SPEAKING: In this lesson, students were told that they would talk about popular holidays and celebrations in Vietnam and in the world Then students were asked to look at the pictures in the textbook and answer the teacher’s questions to complete the “mind map” Question 1: What are the holidays and celebrations? Question 2: What is the purpose of each celebration? Question 3: What are main activities in each celebration? 19 * The mind map Thanks giving a large meal with roast turkey celebrate the harvest celebrate the largest full moon POPULAR CELEBRATIONS IN VIETNAM AND IN THE WORLD Mid- Autumn Festival children wear masks, parade in the streets valentine’s Day express their love give chocolates, flowers or gifts to the people they love 20 IV RESULTS In order to assess the effectiveness of applying this method to teaching reading, I have compared my work with many classes (10D3, 10 A2 school year 2014-2015, 10 D3, 10A2, school year 2015-2016) for many years Before using this method, most of my students find it difficult to complete all the taks in the text book It is a matter of fact that after applying Helping students understand the meaning of words in context for “ Tieng Anh 11 “ , my students and I felt it very interesting , they seemed to be very eager for speaking lessons During the lessons, all the students were involved in the activities After each lesson, students remember the words more thoroughly Besides, they had many chances to practice many other skills like speaking and listening Chart Students’ feedback towards applying the meaning of words in contexts and their effectiveness Most children love to learn English with the following results: Beginning of the year After 1st term After 2nd term Good 10% 20% 34% Quite good 12% 28% 32% Medium 40% 32% 20% Quite bad 28% 20% 14% 21 C CONCLUSION I Conclusion Through many lessons which were carried out in classes 11A2,11D3, 11A6, I found that the way I suggested actually helped my students to understand the meaning of new words better Because they were led to the context step by step, it was easier for them to understand and remember So, they were motivated to learn new words Therefore, I continued using this method for my teaching However, after each time implementing, I adjusted some changes so that each lesson would be the most effective II Suggestions Basing on practical teaching English text book 10, 11, 12 Education Publishing House, I suggest : First, the communicative activities presented in some tasks in reading lesson in ‘Tieng Anh 11’ are not effective because they are not varied and interesting enough to attract the students’ concentration or some topics are not familiar to them due to the low background knowledge of rural students, generally Therefore, to motivate students to learn English, it is vitally necessary to adapt these activities Secondly, the students’ favorite activities except for games are also highly appreciated by the teachers Moreover, these activities get them not bored and make them more confident This is my little experience in finding methods to help students find learn English more interesting I hope to receive your reading and comments as well as contribution to make this theme more perfect so that it can be applied widely Validation, evaludation,classification of the school ………………………………………… ………………………………………… ………………………………………… ………………………………………… ………………………………………… HEAD MASTER (sign,affix) Sam Son, April 15th,2017 I assure that the writing above is mine,not copying ( sign and write your full name) Cao Thị Thúy Chung 22 REFERENCE BOOKS Bailey, K.M and Savage, L (1994) New Ways in Teaching Speaking.USA Byrne, D (1991) Teaching Oral English Longman Hadfield, J (1985) Elementary Communication Games Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd Jones, L (2002) Let’s Talk 2: Teacher Support Site Cambrigde University Press Ellis, M (1986: 47) Making and shaping games How to adapt University of Technology, Loughborough Madsen, K.S., &Bowen, J.D (1978) Adaptation in Language Teaching Rowley, MA: Newbury House Nunan, D (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Cambrigde University Press Watcyn-Jones, P (1995) Grammar Games and Activities for Teachers Penguin Books 23 ... between the words in the lessons and the words presented by the teachers Therefore, in each lesson I have tried my best to help my students understand the meaning of words in the lesson context There... are the main drivers for us to engage in this study entitled: Helping students understand the meaning of words in context for “ Tieng Anh 11 “ II In what ways were my activities carried out? In. .. understand the meaning of words in context for “ Tieng Anh 11 “ , my students and I felt it very interesting , they seemed to be very eager for speaking lessons During the lessons, all the students