NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHAN DANG LUU HIGH SCHOOL ------------o0o--------- INITIATIVE Using some learned-centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and self-study in the lessons Communication and Culture of Unit 3 and 4 from the new English textbook 10 Subject: English School year: 2020-2021 skkn NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHAN DANG LUU HIGH SCHOOL ------------o0o--------- INITIATIVE Using some learned-centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and self-study in the lessons Communication and Culture of Unit 3 and 4 from the new English textbook 10 Subject: English Full name: Phan Thi Thuong Group: Literature - English School: Phan Dang Luu high school School year: 2020-2021 skkn TABLE OF CONTENTS. Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.4 PART II: MAIN CONTENT.
Literature review on Student-Centered Teaching .1 What is Student-Centered Teaching?.2 What are the benefits of Student-Centered Teaching?. Common student - centered activities ………. Literature review on Learning Enthusiasm.1 What is learning enthusiasm?.3 Literature review on Self-study……………………………….4 Literature review on Communication ………………….5 Literature review on Culture ……………………. Solution for the reality of the problem…………………………………….Why can those activities stimulate learning enthusiasm and self-study?.20 PART IV: CONCLUSION.37 PART VI: APPENDIX .37 skkn PART I: INTRODUCTION Abstract Learning at least a foreign language has become almost a necessity and English is considered as the one omnipresent in all sectors and every walk of life.
The young learners should be shown the importance and the interest of learning English for their better future. However, to be succeed both the learners and teachers need to know the vital role of communication and cultures in mastering a language. Culture, communication and community are not separable from each other. In order to have proper relationships, culture plays a very important role as a means by which these relationships are expressed, but at the same time there must be adequate communication.
Reflecting on the different ways in which the human being is understood is also very important. There is, as can be seen, an almost universal tendency to judge other cultures and communities based on someone's cultural predispositions. I also see that teaching a foreign language should be an overall cover so that learners will be more confident in using that language. Thus, encouraging students to learn enthusiastically has become a target in this research.
Once they have adequate motivation, they will have self-study. I would like to guide my students into a new way of learning by conducting some centred-learners activities in Communication and Culture lessons in new English Textbook 10. Rationale In accordance with the development in all aspects of society, the changes in teaching methodology are indispensable to educational system. To meet this urgent demand, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (MOET), in the Official Document 5555 / BGDĐT-GDTrH, issued on October 8th, 2014 gave a clear guideline on implementing new teaching methods.
It is stated that teachers need to change the traditional ways in equipping students with new knowledge. As a result, the ten-year English textbook series was planned under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project. The new textbook is organized into ten Units and each unit includes eight periods: Lesson 1- Getting Started, Lesson 2 - Language (Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Grammar), Lesson 3 - Reading, Lesson 4 - Speaking, Lesson 5 - Listening, Lesson 6 - Writing, Lesson 7 - Communication and Culture, Lesson 8 - Looking Back and Project. However, to meet the demand of the new curriculum, both teachers and students must work hard as well as try to find out a more suitable way of learning the 1 skkn lessons especially the Lesson: Communication and Culture because it is totally new and covers extensive knowledge.
To solve this problem, I begin with conducting a survey related to the categories in my research. The survey is for students in the classes 10A1 to 10A6 at my school. Table 1: Result from students Items Disagree Strongly Agree Strongly Neutral disagree agree Communication skills are the key to 15% 5% 40% 30% 10% success The way teachers deliver a lesson 8% 3% 30% 45% 15% strongly affects your excitement about learning Teachers should adapt new teaching 5% 2% 50% 31% 12% methods Self-study plays a key role in gaining 5% 1% 54% 30% 10% knowledge Communication, language and 20% 10% 40% 15% 25% culture are closely connected Technology and the Internet help 5% 2% 60% 30% 3% students in learning From question number one, most of the students 40% agree that communication skills contribute to students’ success in learning, while in question five 20% of students disagree and 25% have not decided whether yes or no. This means that learners are not fully aware of the relationship between them.
Question two shows that students’ attitude towards learning depends much on the way teachers prepare the lessons. Besides that, in question three 50% agree 2 skkn and 31% strongly agree. It can be seen that learning enthusiasm must be created through what kinds of learning activities designed for the lessons. The last question states that technological devices are helpful in promoting the quality of learning in learners and 60% agree and 30% strongly agree.
This means that my students are aware of the importance of applying technology in education. To improve the situation, I decided to work on the topic “Using some learned-centered activities to enhance students’ learning enthusiasm and self- study in the lessons Communication and Culture of Unit 3 and 4 from the new English textbook 10 ”. I hold a strong belief that creating innovative methods and exciting activities are crucial in teaching foreign languages in particular and teaching other subjects in general. However, it is not easy at all to realize our expectations because there are some related objective factors that hinder our actions.
In my limited capability, this initiative is an evidence for my great attempts in making changes for the better. Aims of the study The study aims at stimulating the spirit of learning and self-study ability as well as investigating the roles of culture in spoken English as a foreign language and how teaching can reflect that roles - to help students understand more about the close relationship between culture and communication. It means how culture influences a good communication. - to develop students’ ability to use technological devices to support their learning.
- to build up a fun environment of learning English among learners. - to shifted from teacher-centered classes to student-centered classes - by the end of the lessons, the students will know more about the importance of culture and self-study in mastering a foreign language I. Scope of the study The study was going to be conducted at my school for every student in Grade 10 starting with the new textbook curriculum. Due to the limited time, I concentrate my work on students in class 10A1 who are majoring in science subjects but they are also interested in how to improve their English in this globalized world.
Most of the teachers at my school also give strong support for my study following national curriculum to finish the semester on time. Thus, there must be a careful plan to carry out my initiative from September to February of this school year 2020 – 2021. Research methods 3 skkn Reading the materials related to the topic and working with students to find out the obstacles they meet are the key elements to help me reach the most potential ways in dealing with the problem. The long lessons as well as the high levels in the book really encourage me to design another activities suitable for my students.
Moreover, I made some reference to the study about new methodology in teaching languages. I found out many changes that were made in order to give the young learners as many interesting lessons as possible. Besides that, I also get my students more familiar with applying technology into their study. It can not be denied that technological skills play a major role in every aspect of life.
Therefore, both teachers and learners can make a good use of the devices to supplement their knowledge. I always follow and collect the results from my students to prove that technology really helps. More importantly, students can depend on it to form the habit of self-study. Carrying out the teaching procedure in class 10A1, I would like to show the effect of my research.
From the theoretical principles and practical lessons, I have gradually completed this research paper. Significance of the study The study is conducted with a view to making some changes in the teaching method of Communication and Culture. I hope that my study would be a contribution to the new trend of education- that is how to make an interesting lesson and how to engage students more in their learning process. In other words, this would make students more enthusiastic about their academic duties.
Obviously, once they have enough enthusiasm and motivation, they will have the habit of self-study to gain knowledge. Moreover, I truly carried out the lessons in accordance with a learner - centred class, which meets the requirements for the changes in the modern education. Our public schools will use student-centered approaches to give students the skills they need to succeed after high school and participate in their communities. Student-centered approaches to learning highlight four key tenets, drawn from the mind/brain sciences, learning theory, and research on youth development that are essential to students’ full engagement in achieving deeper learning outcomes.
PART II : MAIN CONTENT II. Theoretical background II.1 Literature review on Student-Centered Teaching II.1 What is Student-Centered Teaching? 4 skkn Student-Centered Teaching is an approach to teaching that focuses on the learners and their development rather than on the transmission of content; it addresses the balance of power in teaching and learning, moves toward learners actively constructing their own knowledge, and puts the responsibility for learning on the learners. (IGI Global Publisher of Timely Knowledge) A teaching approach where students are required to take on active learner roles and responsibilities beyond listening passively to instructors’ lectures and taking notes. Students learn information by systematically examining the subject and critically assessing the situation.
Students are active members of this learning process.What are the benefits of Student-Centered Teaching? If student-centered teaching is going to impact the learning process positively, it must produce real-world results. This naturally leads to an important question: Is there evidence to support the benefits of switching to a student- centered approach? As it turns out, researchers have already done a significant amount of work on this subject. In April of 2020, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Nellie Mae Education Foundation reported a large-scale review of SCL-related studies. This review concludes that student-centered learning does indeed produce measurable benefits.
In one study, researchers looked at 62 schools that implemented SCL-based teaching practices. The schools with SCL-based teaching practices experienced substantial improvements in their students’ performance in math and reading. In some schools, these improvements were relatively small. However, in other schools, students saw more significant gains in their reading and math skills.
From the review of SCL-related studies, we can draw the conclusion that SCL - based teaching practices bring about some benefits below: ● Fitting education content to student interests ● Allowing students to gain competency and mastery at their own pace before moving on to other topics ● Teaching students how to devise their strategies for learning ● Teaching students how to monitor their progress as they learn new material ● Improvements in students’ communication and collaboration skills ● Advances in students’ ability to think and work independently ● Increased student interest in school activities and education in general ● Stronger relationships between students and teachers in shared activities II. Common student - centered activities 5 skkn How to apply SCL -Teaching effectively in a lesson is a big question to all of us who are responsible for the final result of the learners.