THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NONG CONG No3 UPPER – SECONDARY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS FOR GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT NONG CONG HIGH SCHOOL The writer: Tran Thi Thu Hien Position: English teacher Experience: English THANH HOA, 2017 APPENDIX TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION I Reasons for choosing the reseach II Aims of the reseach III Scopes of the reseach IV Reseaching methods PART II: DEVELOPMENT I Theoretical background II Practical background III Solutions 3.1 Some suggested language games in teaching speaking 3.1.1 Warm- up 3.1.1.1 Mapped dialogue 3.1.1.2 Sorting, arranging game 3.1.1.3 Cross- words 3.1.2 Pre- speaking stage 3.1.2.1 Brainstorm 3.1.2.2 Matching 3.1.2.3 Net works 3.1.2.4 Role play 3.1.2.5 Labeling game 3.1.3 While- speaking stage 3.1.3.1 Noughts and crosses 3.1.3.2 Chain story 3.1.3.3 Interviewing 3.1.3.4 Challenging game 3.1.4 Post- speaking stage 3.1.4.1 Rearrange 3.1.4.2 Picture drill 3.1.4.3 Story telling 3.1.4.4 Searching game 3.1.4.5 Guessing games IV THE RESULTS OF THE RESEACH PART III CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS Conclusion a Results of the research b Experienced lessons Suggestions: PAGES 1 2 2 3 3 6 7 10 11 11 12 13 13 13 14 15 16 16 17 18 18 18 18 18 PART I INTRODUCTION I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE RESEACH Nowadays, the trend of international integration of the country, language is an important issue, being in all sectors, all professions and all areas of interest As an international language is widely available in most countries around the world, English plays an indispensable role in communication and research in all fields Therefore, the teaching and learning of foreign languages, especially English, nowadays becoming increasingly urgent and is a compulsory subject in the curriculum at all educational levels of our country In the four skills of learning English, Lightbrown M.P,(1990) defines that speaking is a language skills that developed in child life, which is produced by listening skill, and at that period speaking skills are learned [1] Speaking is crucial and decides our idea to how convey to have best communicative purpose In teaching and learning English, speaking has necessary and important position Speaking helps learners to read better, to listen more effectively and write more accurately Speaking is surely the most effective means of communication (Ur, 1996)[2] It is widely accepted that one of the main purposes of studying English is to use it for communication Being able to speak English is an important criterion to assess a learner of English However, it is not easy to master speaking skills, there are many problems in learning speaking skills such as: the limited opportunities for students to speak in class; teachers have not used many speaking activities for students to participate in speaking; the lack of variation of teaching techniques used by the teacher in class; teacher found it difficult to control the class In reality, visual aids, use songs, use group work and pair work ect… has been applied in speaking lessons However they have not brought as much efficiency as expected Therefore, using games in teaching speaking skills is an important role in modern English than ever before In language teaching, applying language games is an important factor creating more opportunities and interest to encourage students to speak For the above reasons, I decided to carry out a research on the title “using language games to improve speaking skills for grade 10 students at Nong Cong III High school” with the hope that it will be of some help to improve students in leaning English speaking skills I hope this research will be effective for students in learning English speaking skills II AIMS OF THE RESEARCH On the basis of surveying students’ ability of speaking English at Nong Cong III High School, I have given feasible solutions including innovating methods of teaching speaking skill and ways of evaluating students’ communicating comprehension with the aim of helping them get communicative target of learning a language III SCOPES OF THE RESEACH Games are often used in language teaching However, this thesis only focus on the games to develop speaking skills Especially to improve speaking skills of the grade 10 students at Nong Cong III High School, the researcher intends to investigate the current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill, then apply some language games in teaching speaking skills in grade 10 at Nong Cong III High School, finally to make some suggestion for improving speaking skills for students through using language games activities IV RESEACHING METHODS In order to realize the above aims of the study, qualitative and quantitative methods are mainly used The data collected for the study come from three sources: The questionnaires bring me the overview of both English speaking teaching and learning by teachers of English and students at Nong Cong III High School; the classroom observation, we can see what the participants in comparison with theoretical base of the study and an interview of teachers are going to be used to collect information and evidence for the study In addition, synthesis material of speaking and giving some suggestions for students to improve English speaking skills through language games activities PART II: DEVELOPMENT I.Theoretical background In line with Kim, Leesu (1995) also believe that through playing games, students can learn English as the way the children learn and say their mother language without being aware they are studying [3]; thus without stress, the students can learn a lot in learning the target language.Green,S.(1984) write that games can help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful[4] After a long time teaching at Nong Cong III high school, I can completely affirm that using games in speaking lesson is perfectly effective because games can greatly enrich the learning and teaching process II Practical background I have carried out the survey of real situations of teaching and learning the part- pronuonciation, intonation and rhythm in language focus classes skill in class 10B2 and 10B5 (the school year: 2016- 1017) and I have got the following result: Class Before applying innovative techniques (According to the figures at the beginning of the school- year 2016 – 2017) Excellent Good Fair Poor 10B2 0% 5% 25% 70% 10B5 0% 8% 27% 65% From the above survey, it points out that teaching and learning pronouciation, intonation, rhythm in laguage focus classes at Nong Cong III High School are ineffective and rather limited Students are not fond of learning how to pronouce They can not be able to communicate in English They are still passive learners in speaking lessons Therefore, it is extremely necessary to modernize the methods of teaching language focus classes, especially innovative pronuonciation techniques need applying well and flexibly, at the same time use various forms of testing which motivate students to become better listeners III Solutions 3.1 Some suggested games used in teaching speaking[5,6] 3.1.1 Warm – up A warm up activity is often a short and fun game which the teacher can use with his students The purpose of warms up is to prepare them to learn by stimulating their minds Warm ups should last about five minutes 3.1.1.1 Mapped dialogue Unit 2: School talk Type of games: Mapped dialogue Classroom management: Pair works Teaching aid: handouts Time: 5- minutes Procedure: Teachers give a situation and write a short conversation on the board (teachers can use a sub- board or a PowerPoint presentation) Situation: Suppose that meet a friend at the supermarket, you are very busy How will you say to spend and end the conversation? Give a short conversation: A ………… (1) B Hi, Lan, How are you? A I’m fine Thanks And you? B I’m fine Let’s go somewhere for a drink A Sorry…………… (2) B Oh yes Bye A Bye See you later Ask students to work in pairs Each pair has to make a conversation based on the information on the board After to minutes, call some pairs to practice about conversation Possible dialogue: A Hello, Hong B Hi, Lan, How are you? A I’m fine Thanks And you? B I’m fine Let’s go somewhere for drink A Sorry I’m busy I must go out with my mother now B Oh yes Bye A Bye See you later 3.1.1.2 Sorting, arranging game Unit 13: Films and cinema Type of game: Sorting, arranging game Classroom management: Pair works Teaching aids: film posters and handouts Time: 5-7 minutes Procedure: The teacher asks students to work in pairs Teacher sticks the following posters on the blackboard or alternatively print these posters and distribute them to students Teacher then gives the handout to the pairs and asks students to match the film with the correct types Film and posters: Handout Type Science fiction film Cartoon Horror film Detective film Thriller Romantic comedy War film Action film Film 3.1.1.3 Cross – word Unit 14: The World Cup Type of games: Cross- word Classroom management: Whole class Teaching aid: handouts Time: 5- minutes Procedure: Teachers prepare a cross- word which has the key word “world cup” (teachers can use a sub- board or a PowerPoint presentation).Teacher divides the class into tow teams to answer eight questions in eight horizontal to find out the key word in the vertical Who can answer the key word will be the winner W I N N E R M A R A D O N A R U N N E R U R L O N D O N E N G L A N D C A P T A I N S T A D I U M P O R T U G A L Clues: The person who wins in a competition? Who is considered the biggest football player every age? The person who fails in a competition? The city has Big Ben Tower? Which country is called the hometown of football? Who is the head of a football team? Where are football matches taken place? Which national team does Cristiano Ronaldo play for? 3.1.2 Pre- speaking stage This stage is carried out before students actually speak The pre-speaking activities are aimed at preparing students with everything necessary for speaking They also involve thought and reflection, and provide opportunities for students to plan and organize for speaking Normally, pre-speaking stage often lasts from five to fifteen minutes depending on each lesson 3.1.2.1 Brainstorm Unit 1: A day in the life of……… (Task 2) Type of games: Brainstorm Classroom management: Whole class Teaching aid: handout Time: 15 minutes Procedure: Teachers ask each person in the class recall their activities in a day from morning to night After minutes ask students talk about their activities Teachers can give some examples: The activity’s Lan was take place in a day from morning to night At o’clock Lan gets up after her mother called At 6.30 a.m Lan has a breakfast with her mother Then she goes to school by bus at o’clock She plays football with her friends She gets home at 11 o’ clock .This is a typical day of Lan Then asked students write the activities, the teacher asks each person stand up to read about their activities 3.1.2.2 Matching Unit 2: School talk Type of games: Matching Classroom management: Group work Teaching aid: big sheet of paper and 10 pieces of expressions Time: minutes Preparation: prepare a big sheet of paper with 10 movable pieces of expression which are put in random, use magnets to hang on board Starting a conversation Closing a conversation Good morning.\ Hi Great I’ll see you tomorrow Sorry I’ve got to go Talk to you later Hello How are you? Well, it’s been nice meeting you Hello What are you doing? How’s everything at school? Catch you later? Goodbye See you later? Hi How is school? Procedure: - Three tables will be a group So there will be groups in total - Students will discuss in groups to put sentences to the right columns - The fastest group can go to the broad and match - Teacher will check and give the key 3.1.2.3 Net works Unit 3: People’s background Type of games: Net works Classroom management: Group work Teaching aid: card Time: 15 minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of eight students (two rows of tables) The teacher asks students to work in groups to write about their topic The teacher wrote on the board from the network After teacher asks students work in group then students in each on the board and write the information on topic Then teacher asks students use information on this topic to talk about this topic For example: Bother/ sister Family Parent Punishment Experienc e People’s background Primary school Method of study School work Educatio n Secondary school The students can talk about the topic such as: Family: In my family, there are four people They are father, mother, brother and me My father is a doctor and my mother is a teacher ………… 3.1.2.4 Role – play Unit 14: World Cup (speaking task 1) Type of games: Role- play Classroom management: Group work Teaching aid: handout Time: 7- 10 minutes Procedure: The teacher asks students to name four national football teams in the photos on page in the textbook They are: The English national football team (photo1), the French national football team (photo 2), the Italian national football team (photo 3) and the German national football team (photo 4) Then the teacher divides the class into groups namely: The English team’s fans, the French team’s fans, the Italian team’s fans and the German team’s fans respectively The teacher will take turns to read the questions to each group and the students in each group are supposed to answer them One point is given for each correct answer And if all the members in one group fail to give correct answer, the other groups can score points by raising their hands to answer the questions The winner is the one that gets the highest point Finally, the teacher can call the representatives from four groups to talk about their favorite teams, using the information they have gained via the quiz They are encouraged to add some further information that they know to the talk 10 World Cup quiz for each national football team Questions for the English team’s Questions for the German team’s fans fans How many World Cup tournaments How many World Cup tournaments has England participated in up to has German participated in up to 2006? 2006? How many times has Germany won How many times has England won the trophy up to 2006? the trophy up to 2006? Who was the captain of the German Who was the captain of the English team in World Cup 2006? team in World Cup 2006? Who was the top scorer in German Who was the top scorer in English team in World Cup 2006? team in World Cup 2006? Who was the head coach of the Who was the head coach of the German team in World Cup 2006? English team in World Cup 2006? Questions for the Italian team’s fans Questions for the French team’s fans How many World Cup tournaments How many World Cup tournaments has Italy participated in up to 2006? has France participated in up to 2006? How many times has Italy won the How many times has France won the trophy up to 2006? trophy up to 2006? Who was the captain of the Italian Who was the captain of the French team in World Cup 2006? team in World Cup 2006? Who was the top scorer in Italian Who was the top scorer in French team in World Cup 2006? team in World Cup 2006? Who was the head coach of the Who was the head coach of the Italian team in World Cup 2006? French team in World Cup 2006? 3.1.2.5 Labeling games Unit 9: Undersea world (speaking task2) Type of games: Labeling games Classroom management: Whole class Teaching aid: pictures Procedure: Time: minutes 11 The teacher prepares a set of pictures of sea problems (See the pictures above) Then the teacher gives out one by one and asks students to tell what it is about The students raise their hands to describe the pictures and the teacher will write these ideas on the board Then the teacher states that they are some threats to the health of the oceans They are: Oil is spilled from tankers (picture 1); whales and sharks are still hunted for food, medicine and other products (picture 2); explosives are used to catch fish and other sea animals (picture 3); beaches are filled with plastic bags, pieces of glass and cigarette butts (picture 4) The teacher requires students to discuss the consequences that might occur and offer some possible solutions to these problems 3.1.3 While-speaking stage This stage is the main part of a speaking lesson in which students use language input provided in pre-speaking stage to express personal feelings, 12 ideas, or viewpoints, to converse and discuss or to describe one event, to tell a story, etc…Time spent on this stage is nearly twenty to thirty minutes 3.1.3.1 Noughts and crosses Unit 10: Conservation (Task 2) Type of games: Noughts and crosses Classroom management: Work group Teaching aid: handout Time: 15 minutes Procedure: Teachers explain to students that this game is the same game “caro” but only need “O” or “X” on a horizontal, vertical, diagonal is the winner Teacher guys cells on the board, each cell contains vocabularies, one the number of one the picture … For example: Leopard Boa Elephant Tiger Adder Bear Lion Fox Camel Teacher works one sample sentences with students using a word in any of the boxes For example: Tiger is an animal may suffer from dangerous diseases Then teacher divides the class into two teams One team is Nought (O) and one team is Cross (X) Two teams respectively collected words from the box and put sentences Public teams set of correct answers will be an “O” of “X” Public teams has “O” or “X” on the on a horizontal, vertical, diagonal is the winner 3.1.3.2 Chain story Unit 11: Nation parks Task 3(While- speaking) Type of games: chain story Classroom management: Pair works Teaching aid: handouts Time: 12 minutes Preparation: Prepare handouts: one for Nga and the other for Nga’s friend Nga’s friend Nga 13 - Ask what Nga did last Saturday - Ask about the means of transport Nga’s class used to go to Huong Pagoda - Ask about food and drinks Nga’s class brought - Ask about the duration of the excursion - Ask what they did in Huong Pagoda - End up the conversation - Answer - Answer and express regrets - Answer and express regrets - Answer and express regrets - Tell what they did and express regrets Procedure: - Ask to work in pairs first and give each pair handouts: one for Nga and the other for Nga’s friend - Each pair has to make a conversation based on the information on the handouts - After to minutes, call on students to make a story about Nga’s excursion Each student talks only one sentence The other takes turn and continues the story to the end of the excursion story If time is spare, make another story about Nga’s excursion 3.1.3.3 Interviewing Unit 12: Task (While-speaking) Type of games: Interviewing Classroom management: Group work Teaching aid: Pieces of paper Time: 12 minutes Preparation: Prepare some pieces of interview paper for all students: Partner Partner Kind of film Reason for watching to film Favorites film Favorites film / piece of film When to watch to film Procedure: - Divide class into small groups of three One of them will be a journalist who wants to interview high school students about their music taste The journalist has to ask students some questions and fill in the table for his\ her later article - Students can change the role if time permits 14 - After minutes of interviewing, the teacher calls on some groups to make presentations on what they have done in their group Teacher gives comments and corrects errors 3.1.3.4 Challenging game Unit 16: Historical place (Task 3) Type of games: Challenging game Classroom management: Work group Time: 15 minutes Procedure: The teacher split the class into two teams The teachers gives topic has the key words “citadel of the Ho dynasty” Two teams huddle within 30 seconds to give words related to this topic and turn to challenge your team Which team is more challenging than the number of words spoken before If say enough and the right amount of challenge is scored point If you say one wrong word or saying one word that does not belong or not say enough times, it will lose the challenge and points will belong to the other team For example: Some words are relation with Ho citadel such as: Vinh Loc district, 1400- 1407, 2011 ect… After asks students give words then asks writes report to the class what have learnt about that place Then asks students read a low their report 3.1.4 Post- speaking stage It is the last step of a speaking lesson so it is time for students’ production The activities in this stage are for students to reflect upon their performance Post-speaking stage should last ten to twelve minutes 3.1.4.1 Rearrange Unit 2: School talk (task 4) Type of games: Rearrange Classroom management: Group work Time: 10 minutes Procedure: The teacher asks students to work in groups Ask students rearrange these sentences to make two meaningful conversations according to the topics “the weather and last night’s TV program” The teacher then can ask students to practice about two topics Oh, really? I love it, too 15 The weather Hi, Minh how was your trip to Vung Tau What was the weather like in Vung Tau? It was warm I prefer the weather in Vung Tau to Nha Trang 11 Hi, Nam I feel tired because I stayed up late to watch TV last night 13 No, I didn’t I did my homework until 11 p.m I feel hungry now What about going to the cinema? 15 What did you like most in Vung Tau? What was on TV last night? Yes, that’s a great ideal Let’s go Sure By the way, you want to see my photos? 10 Hello, Ba You don’t look happy What’s the matter with you? 12 Hi, Hung It was wonderful I really enjoyed it 14 Oh, there was an international football match on TV at p.m and a good film at 11 p.m Did you watch TV last night? Feedback: The weather: 12 15 Last’s night TV program: 11 10 14 13 3.1.4.2 Picture drill Unit 5: Technology and game (Task 4) Type of games: Picture drill Classroom management: Group work Teaching aid: Pictures and cards Time: 10 minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of four or five students The teacher prepares from to pictures on the board From this picture, the student asks questions based on drawings were used structure learning Pictures: RICE COOKER TELEVISION 16 It is used to …………… WASCHING MACHINE It is used to……………… CELL PHONE It is used to…………… RADIO It is used to…………… FRIDGE It is used to…………… It is used to ……………… 3.1.4.3 Story telling Unit 11: National Parks Type of games: Story telling Classroom management: Group work Time: 10 minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of eight students (two rows of tables) The teacher asks students to work in groups to tell about their imaginary excursion The teacher can begin the story with one clause of the third conditional sentence Then the students in each group one by one add more sentences using the third conditional sentences After the last student in each group finishes the story, all groups are asked to tell their excursion in front of the class The teacher will decide which the most interesting story is For example: The teacher can begin: If yesterday had been Sunday……… 17 Student A: If yesterday had been Sunday, I would have gone a picnic to Cua Lo beach Student B: If I had gone to Cua Lo beach, I would have gone with some of my friends Student C: I had gone with some of my friends; we would have gone there by motorbike Alternatively, it can be made more interesting and amusing by replacing the third conditional sentences with the story using “fortunately” and “unfortunately” For example: The teacher can start: Yesterday it was nice, so I decided to go for a walk Student A: Unfortunately, it began to rain Student B: Fortunately, I had an umbrella Student C: Unfortunately, it was broken 3.1.4.4 Searching game Unit 15: Task (Post- speaking) Type of games: searching game Classroom management: Whole class Teaching aids: copies of tables Preparation: make copies for the table below Time: 10 minutes SURVEY: WHICH CITY DOES YOU PREPER? Name \ Opinion Prefer New York Prefer Lon Don Why Procedure: - Get students to move around and interview many other students as possible about which city they prefer and why in a limited time - Remind them to take notes while interviewing - The students who have more names in the survey will be the winners - Call some to report their finding 3.1.4.5 Guessing games Unit 15: Cities Type of games: Guessing games Teaching aid: card Classroom management: Whole class Time: 10 minutes 18 Procedure: The teacher prepares a set of cards on which some famous cities in the world are written Students will take turn to choose one card from this set and try to use their knowledge to describe this city so that the other students can guess which the city is To make it more challenging, the students are not allowed to use proper name And the game can be played until time is up For example: The student takes up a card on which “Amsterdam” is written He can use the typical features to talk about it: It is the city which is famous for tulips and windmills So the other students may find it easy to guess correctly Set of cards HONGKONG TOKYO NEW DELI ROME SYDNEY LONDON MEXICO HANOI BEIJING PARIS BERLIN BANGKOK MOSCOW VIENNA CAIRO SINGAPORE IV THE RESULTS OF THE RESEACH To conclude, my study has provided teachers with some applicable and affective games exploited in all stages of a speaking lesson With the aim to help the teachers exploit language games fully and successfully, some suggestions when running a game are also mentioned It is hoped that it can help to enhance students’ improve in speaking lessons I directly experimented the above method in using games to improve speaking skills for grade 10 students at Nong Cong III high school in different classes with the flexibility of communicative methods Besides, I have still been applying the traditional methods As the result showed that 80% of students at class 10B5 acquired firmly the content of each lesson to express the ideas naturally with clear rhythm and intonation so that they gradually pay more attention to what the teacher expect them to Therefore, they learned very well what teacher taught I have got the following detail result through these techniques: 19 After applying innovative techniques (According to the figures at the end of the school- year 2016 – 2017) Excellent Good Fair Poor 10B2 7% 26% 43% 24% 10B5 8% 28% 44% 20% PART III CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION I Conclusion The important of speaking for grade 10 form students is undeniable It is obvious that both teachers and students often encounter difficulties when dealing with English speaking To better the situation, the study has presented some useful techniques for improving teaching and learning to speak English From the results of the study, it can be clearly shown that the teaching and learning English speaking is still far from satisfactory The students are not equipped with necessary speaking skills or strategies to become successful English speakers It is hope that the study will prove worthwhile to those who want to improve students in speaking classes and who are concerned about the problem II Suggestions: For all the above experiences, I hope that it can be useful in some way to my colleagues and be applied by students and carried out effectively in teaching English From this desire that I propose to have phonetic textbook for both teachers and students which should be used in high school curriculum This is the realistic requirement and the necessary need of teacher and student to improve quality of learning foreign languages at higher level, to meet the practical requirements and proposed curriculum Thus, in order to make the study more practical, some suggestions on using language games as well as a variety of language games applied in all stages of a speaking lesson have also been mentioned 20 The confirmation of the Head – Master Thanh Hoa, 5th May in 2017 I assure this my experience Initiative, not copying the Contents of other people The writer Trần Thị Thu Hiên 21 REFERENCES Lightbown M.P, Spada N (1990), How language are learned, OUP[1] Ur, P (1996) A course in Language Teaching Cambridge: CUP[2] Kim, Lee Su 1995 Creative Games for The Language Class.[3] 4.Greenal, S (1984) Language games and activities Great Britain: Hulton Educational Publication[4 http://iteslj.org/ Lesson/Ersz-Games.html[5] http://iteslj.org/ Techniques/ Deesri-Game.html[6] http://images.google.com.vn/impress 22 DANH MỤC CÁC ĐỀ TÀI SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG ĐÁNH GIÁ XẾP LOẠI CẤP SỞ GD&ĐT Họ tên tác giả: Trần Thị Thu Hiên Chức vụ đơn vị công tác: Giáo viên môn Tiếng Anh – Trường THPT Nông Cống TT Tên đề tài SKKN Một số kinh nghiệm công tác chủ nhiệm nhằm Kết Năm học Cấp đánh đánh giá đánh giá xếp giá xếp loại xếp loại loại Cấp sở C 2011 - 2012 GD&ĐT Thanh Hóa nâng cao chất lượng giáo dục học sinh 23 ... 3. 1.2 .3 Net works 3. 1.2.4 Role play 3. 1.2.5 Labeling game 3. 1 .3 While- speaking stage 3. 1 .3. 1 Noughts and crosses 3. 1 .3. 2 Chain story 3. 1 .3. 3 Interviewing 3. 1 .3. 4 Challenging game 3. 1.4 Post- speaking. .. interest to encourage students to speak For the above reasons, I decided to carry out a research on the title ? ?using language games to improve speaking skills for grade 10 students at Nong Cong III... on the games to develop speaking skills Especially to improve speaking skills of the grade 10 students at Nong Cong III High School, the researcher intends to investigate the current situation