Tải bản đầy đủ (.doc) (28 trang)

SOME WAYS TO ENHANCE HA VAN MAO HIGH CHOOLS 10 TH FORM STUDENTS ACTIVENESS IN LEANING ENGLISH

Bạn đang xem bản rút gọn của tài liệu. Xem và tải ngay bản đầy đủ của tài liệu tại đây (163.61 KB, 28 trang )

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HA VAN MAO HIGH SCHOOL

INNOVATIVE EXPERIENCE

SOME WAYS TO ENHANCE HA VAN MAO HIGH
SCHOOL'S 10 TH FORM STUDENTS' ACTIVENESS
IN LEANING ENGLISH

Researcher: Vu Phuong Mai
Occupation : Teacher
Organization : Ha Van Mao High School

THANH HOA, 2016

1


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

PAGE

PART I. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Reasons for choosing the research
1.2. Aims of the research
1.3. Scope, object and researching methods
PART II. CONTENT
Chapter 1. Theoretical background


1.1. Active Learning
1.2. Promoting student's activeness in learning activities
Chapter 2. Practical background
2.1. Ha Van Mao High School's 10th form students' activeness in learning

1
1
2
2
3
3
3
4
6
6

English
2.2. The learning activities developed in the English 10th textbook
2.3. Teacher's role in enhancing students' activeness in English Language

6
8

Learning
Chapter 3. Solutions to the problems
3.1. Textbook Renovation
3.2. Making Writing Activities much more Meaningful and Interesting
3.3. Improving the Teacher's Classroom Management
3.4. Other Suggestions
Chapter 4. Effectiveness of the teaching experience

PART III. CONCLUSION
REFERENCES

11
11
14
15
17
18
18
20


PART I:

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale
English nowadays has become more and more popular and has been widely
used in Viet Nam. It is one of the major subjects in many schools and an
indispensable means of communication at present. With such a trend of
development, learning English is, therefore, more important than ever before. All
learning is active in a certain sense, but some kinds of learning are more active than
others. Here, active learning is defined in one sense to mean that the learner uses
opportunities to decide about aspects of the learning process. The stimulation of
learning activities and regulation processes, or teaching students how to learn, is
likely to lead to the best performance in the long run.
It is of great importance that we should take students' English language
learning into consideration. However, at Ha Van Mao High school, many students
are not fully interested in learning English in class. On the one hand, they seem to

be shy and fearful of making mistakes. On the other hand, we lack a language
environment and sufficient learning activities. In that reality, there have many
problems catching pedagogues' attention, i.e, how to organize learning activities
effectively, how to develop interesting study atmosphere in the classroom in order
to enhance students' activeness in English language learning. Being aware of this
urgent problem, I have a great desire to study the current activeness of students
especially the 10th form students at Ha Van Mao high school and to investigate the
learning activities in the English textbook which contribute an important role in
enhancing students' activeness in learning English. That is the reason why I choose
the topic "Some ways to enhance Ha Van Mao High School's 10 th form
students' activeness in learning English" for my experience initiative. I wish
friends and colleagues would refer to additional comments .

1


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.2. Aims of the study
The study aims at studying on how to enhance Ha Van Mao High School's
10th form students' activeness in learning English through some learning activities
in the English textbook.
This paper is intended to:
- Investigate the activeness of 10th form students at Ha Van Mao high school.
- Suggest some learning activities in the English 10 textbook for enhancing
students' activeness in learning English.
1.3. Scope, object and researching methods
- Scope : Researching in the process of teaching English at Ha Van Mao high
school.

- Object: This subject is concerned with ways of enhancing students'
activeness in learning English.
- Researching methods: Reading reference books , discussing with other
teachers, applying in teaching, classroom observation, questionnaire and drawing
out experiences.

2


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART II.

CONTENT

Chapter 1. Theoretical background
1.1. . Active Learning
Like many terms used to describe teaching or learning, active learning is
defined in many different ways. This notion has developed over the last dozen
years or so.
"Learning is conceived of us something a learner does, not something that
is done to a learner" [Johnson, Johnson and Smith, 1991, P7].
"Learning is an action in which students act on object and interact with
others' ideas and events to construct new understanding"[Luckner and Nadle,
1997, P13].
According to Meyers and Jones (1993), active learning has been defined
as providing opportunities for students to meaningfully talk, listen, write, read
and reflect on the content, ideas, issues and concerns of an academic subject.
There are two basic assumptions of active learning:

* That learning is by nature an active endeavor.
* That different people learn in different ways.

This definition was modified by Silberman(1996):
- What I hear, I forget.
- What I hear and see, remember a little.
- What I hear, see and ask questions about or discuss with someone, I begin to
understand.
- What I teach another, I master
To learn something well, it helps to hear it, see it, ask questions about it and
discuss it with others. Above all, students need to do it by themselves, try out skills
and do assignments that depend on knowledge they already have or must acquire.

3


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Silberman also states that "When learning is active, students do most of the
work. They use their brain...to study ideas, solve problems and apply what they
learn. Active learning is fast - faced, fun, supportive and personally engaging"
In addition, in an active learning environment, students are individually
encouraged to engage in the process of building their own mental models from the
information they are acquiring. In such an environment students become active
participants who engage in a dialogue with their teacher.
Moreover, active learning is an approach to learning that involves the student
as his/her own teacher and involves putting students in situations which force them
to read, speak, listen, think and write. In an active learning, knowledge is directly
experienced, constructed, acted, tested or revised by the learner working together

in and outside of class. Most important, to be actively involved, students must
engage in higher - order thinking tasks as analysis, synthesis, evaluation of
information within the context, students also are expected to do things and think
about what they are doing.
In short, in order to help learners participate in the learning process actively,
the role of the teacher is of paramount importance to organize learning activities
appropriately since it is a great opportunity for students to practice English
effectively.
1.2. Promoting student's activeness in learning activities.
a. Climate variables: creating a motivation environment
As students spend time in classroom, they get feelings about whether they are
safe and welcome and whether the classroom is a desirable place to learn.
Classroom climate refers to "teacher and classroom characteristics that promote
student's feelings of safety and security, together with a sense of success, challenge
and understanding. Raviv and Riesel (1990) stated that climate is important
because it creates an environment that encourages both motivation and
4


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

achievement. Students learn best in a safe and orderly environment that promotes
success on meaningful task. According to Brophy (1987) and Clifford (1990), in a
healthy climate, students are treated as competent people. They understand the
requirements and learning tasks and perceive them as challenging and believe they
will succeed if they make reasonable efforts.
b. Instructional variables: Developing interest in learning activities.
In learning activities, interest is very important. According to Krapp, Hidi and
Renninger (1992) quoted by Eggen and Kauchak, the Interest like engagement, has

been linked to learner attention, comprehension, elaboration and the seeking of
additional information. From an instructional perspective, Stipek (1996) stated that
a motivated student can be viewed as "...someone who is actively engaged in the
learning process". But how to promote and maintain active engagement?. Eggen
and Kauchak suggested that teachers have to think about engagement using the
concept of Interest. In order to increase learners' interest, our goal is to initially
capture learners' attention and then maintain their involvement in the learning
activity.
c. Teacher characteristics: Personal qualities that increase motivation
According to Eggen and Kauchak (1999) teachers create learning
environments, implement instruction and establish learning _ oriented or
performance _ oriented classrooms.
Moreover, Eggen and Kauchak indicate four personal qualities including:
teacher's modeling, teacher's enthusiasm, teacher's caring and teacher's expectation.
Hence, teachers have an important positive effect on students.

5


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2. Practical background
2.1. Ha Van Mao High School's 10th form students' activeness in learning
English
Classroom observation is carried out at 8 classes in two school- years during
my weeks of teaching time.
It can be easily realized from table 2.3 (appendix 3) that students now are
quite active. Half of the teachers (40%) agree with this. According to the teachers,
many students now tend to be more active in the lesson because of their awareness

of the importance of learning English and its benefits. With this extrinsic
motivation, the students seem to learn English better.
Also from the table 2.3, it can be seen that among 76% of the students who
show their activeness in learning English, 26% of them are highly active. They
always show their interest in the lesson during the learning process. They pay
much attention to the teacher's lesson and are enthusiastic to raise their hands to
answer the teacher's questions or contribute their ideas to the lesson. They also tend
to work in pairs or small groups and really want to interact with other students.
However, there are still some students who are a little active or not active at
all. Those students are often passive in the classroom. They rarely take part in
classroom activities and prefer to work individually. Moreover, these students often
show their unwillingness and shyness when being asked to do the tasks or answer
the questions; they just do what are required, listen and write down. They do not
want to cooperate with others.
2.2. The learning activities developed in the English 10th textbook.
* Learning activities:
The learning activities in the

English textbook are divided into three

categories: controlled activities (lead- in, setting situation, role- play demonstration,
question- answer...); partly controlled activities (brainstorming, story- telling, cued
6


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

narrative/ dialogue, information exchange....); free activities (role- play, game,
problem- solving, simulation, discussion...). Among these activities, asking and

answering questions, lead- in, language skill activities are the most frequently
designed learning activities since they focus on four main language skills
(speaking, writing, reading and listening) and initiate interaction between teacher
and students and among students as well. Following these, small group discussion,
cued dialogue, matching and gap- filling exercises are also designed at the high
frequency, and then come to information exchange and role- play. Language
games, problem- solving, interview, and story- telling are also designed, though
not much because they are quite new and difficult for students to do.
* Skill focus:
Different from the old textbook, this English textbook mainly focuses on
four main language skills. Speaking, listening, reading, writing activities are
designed in all the lessons. Speaking skills are developed through some learning
tasks such as discussion, interview, role- play, etc. Listening tasks are designed
based on theme/ topic. One of the most important strategies of listening in this
textbook is selective listening. Students often listen to a text or dialogue, sometimes
a song for relaxation. Reading and writing tasks also appear frequently in the book.
Activities for reading are varied such as brainstorming, answering questions,
discussing, etc. Writing is paid much attention in this textbook. This kind of
activity is rather new to students. Many kinds of writing activities are designed, for
example writing a letter (letter of invitation, letter of requirement, etc), writing a
report, an announcement, etc. However, these activities seem to be difficult for
students at grade 10th, thus they are not very effective.
* Interaction patterns:

7


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Pairwork and groupwork are designed frequently in almost every lesson. In
this way, students have a chance to interact with each other and with teacher as
well. Individual work and whole- class work are also designed, though not much.
2.3. Teacher's role in enhancing students' activeness in English Language
Learning
The first and most important characteristic that students expect their teacher to
show is "having an interesting and flexible method" . It can not be denied that
the teaching method of the teacher is extremely important. Students will be
motivated or demotivated depending on the teacher's ways of teaching and
organizing the activities in the class. If students find the method boring they will
probably become demotivated. But what is a good teaching method ?, what can
teacher do to enhance motivation and activeness in the learners? See the values
from the Miller's statement, we see that an effective method consists of such four
criteria: arouse students' interest, explain the tasks clearly, encourage patience and
let students be themselves. They are very necessary and indispensable for a good
language teacher. Hence, the teacher should take these criteria into consideration.
The second expected characteristic is that teacher cares students' learning. It
means that teacher should pay attention to students' needs, interests,expectations,
etc and listen to their concerns so that students have a feeling of comfort and
friendliness between teacher and students and their studying will be more effective.
What is more, students expect their teacher to have a rich source of
knowledge. It can be easily seen that, knowledge is very necessary for making the
lesson more interesting and understandable. This will create an active and
productive class that makes students learn more actively. Thus, teachers should
build up not only specific knowledge but social knowledge as well.

8


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last but not least, teacher is expected to help students to become more
independent. This reveals that teacher plays an important role in helping students
do the work by themselves. Some students, who are active in learning, have a
consciousness of independence in order to learn better. Hence, teacher should be
flexible in teaching to the mobile activeness of students.
With regard to the teacher's management, teacher plays an important role in
enhancing the students' activeness. One of the most expected roles that the teacher
takes over in the class is "organizer". This role seems to be widely played by most
of the teachers because the success of many activities depends on a good
organization and such a good class organization plays an important part in creating
an active class. Students cannot perform the tasks satisfactorily if the tasks are not
well- organized or they do not know what and how to do. Students need help and
clear instructions from the teacher so that they can do the tasks easier. Thus, a good
organizer is very important to increase the students' activeness.
Another expected role of the teacher to enhance the students' activeness is
facilitator. Students need teacher to help them to develop a positive self- concept
and teach them how to work with themselves. This means that as a facilitator, the
teacher maintains a low profile in order to make the students' own achievement of
a task possible.
Other functions like learner, counselor, prompter, manager and an
assessor are also expected. However, these roles seem less important than the roles
mentioned above in enhancing the students' activeness.
However, the information from classroom observation about the teachers'
activities shows that the teachers just sometimes give clear instructions or feedback
to students. This makes students feel confused and demotivated because they do not
understand the tasks clearly and they are not very satisfied if their teachers do not
give any feedback. Moreover, although the teachers often organize pair works and
9



Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

group works, they are not active when the activity is going. They do not move
often. As the result, some students do not do their task; they take time to chat and
make jokes or do exercises of the other subjects. What is more, the teachers still
talk a lot. In other words, they still dominate class. This does not create interest in
the learners.
Obviously, the role of teachers is very important to students' language
learning. Hence, teachers should be flexible to play the roles that stimulate the
interest in students and enhance the students' activeness in learning English
language.

10


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3. Solutions to the problems
In this part, I would like to suggest some solutions that I have applied in the
teaching different units in the textbook " Tieng Anh 10" at Ha Van Mao High
school .
3.1. Textbook renovation
The English 10th textbook is applied for 10th form students in high schools.
This textbook is designed on the basis of a task-based syllabus for the purpose of
developing students' communicative competence and language skills. The
communicative approach and learner- centered approach are dominant. Students are

supposed to play an active role in the learning process. They are often put in pairs
or small groups to do the tasks and to practise communicative activities. In
addition, the textbook consists of a variety of contents of culture, history,
geography, etc to aim at expanding and improving the knowledge of the high
school students. However, 10th form students still keep in their mind an old method
of learning - teacher - dominated. Furthermore, the old syllabus in previous school
years mainly focuses on Grammar, vocabulary rather than on language skills and its
language content is at low level. What is more, some learning activities in the
English textbook need much time to carry out, so a 45- minute period is not long
enough for those activities to be implemented successfully. Consequently, this
English textbook seems to be new, difficult and "overloaded" to students at grade
10th .
Following are some things that need to be taken into consideration to improve
the English textbook.
The first thing is time allocation. In high schools, the learning time is not
sufficient for teachers to carry out the learning activities effectively and
satisfactorily. It should thus be allocated appropriately for each kind of learning
activities so that teachers can implement these activities more effectively.
11


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Secondly, most students are fond of listening to English songs; it is
recommended that more English songs should be taught in listening periods. This
not only creates a relaxed class but helps students learn English language through
these songs as well.
What is more, since some learning activities in the English textbook are new
and at the high level while 10 th form students' knowledge of English language is

insufficient; it is suggested that the learning activities in this textbook should be
designed at the right level and be more varied to meet learners' need, abilities and
learning styles.
Furthermore, the textbook should include meaningful real- life dialogues
which allow students to be familiar with different situations outside the learning
situation rather than mechanical ones so that students can express their ideas and
their thoughts better with their personal experience and they will feel more
interested in language learning.
The last thing to take into account is that Games which have learning value
should be added and should be employed frequently to enhance students'
activeness.
* Suggested Games;
Due to the fact that Game is one of the activities which makes students learn
more actively. If properly organized, game helps and encourages many students to
sustain their interest and provides the key feature "drill" with the opportunity to
sense the working of language as living communication. However, game now is
used as a supplementary activity for relaxation rather than for language learning in
class. It is neither designed much in the textbook nor used frequently in the class. It
is recommended that more good and appropriate language games should be applied
to the lesson and implemented more often in the class. However, sometimes
students may make use of games to talk nonsense, to make jokes and chaos.
12


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Therefore, teachers should organize games in pairs or in whole- class rather than in
groups because it is believed that pairwork is better for discipline problems. And if
games are organized in groups, teachers should go from group to group listening

to, contributing and controlling. What is more, it is necessary to use the mother
tongue to explain the aims and rules of games clearly so that students can
understand fully the meaningfullness of the games. In addition, teachers should
write key language/ instructions on the board in order that students can follow
easily.
Here I would like to introduce some of the games that I applied from the
"game show" on TV that students responded very positively.
Game "face to face": This game can be applied to Unit 13: part E.Language
focus. The purpose of this role is to review the adjectives of attitude they studied.
Teachers select 8 students to play games and ask them to stand in a circle. They
will be the order of the draw and start playing. Who does not have an answer or
answered repetition will be excluded from the game. The rest will eventually win.
amusedamusing

bored-boring

depresseddepressing

excitedexciting

disappointeddisappointing

embarrassedembarrassing

tiredtiring

exhaustedexhausting
13



Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The game "Who is a millionaire ?". This game may be as follows: Teachers
ask questions and offer possible answers to four students selected. The teacher can
divide the students into two small teams and ask them to compete between the two
teams. Each correct answer is 10 points. The team with the highest points will be
the winner.
The game "magic hat". This game is to guess the word, either the topic of
discussion.
Example: Unit 5: Computers.
Teachers for 9 crossword to pair up, "computers".

3.2. Making writing activities much more meaningful and interesting.
From the findings in the discussion, we see that although writing activities
are frequently designed in the English textbook, they do not enhance students'
activeness at all. One reason is that writing activity is quite new and difficult for
students at grade 10th because in the secondary school, students are hardly taught
to write. Besides, writing activity takes a lot of time, a 45- minute period is only
enough for teachers to explain and make an outline for a writing task so students
are often asked to write at home. Moreover, the way of organizing a writing task of
some teachers is not effective enough. They often read a model, explain new
vocabulary and give some structures for writing task, then ask students to write as
the given model. Consequently, students feel bored and embarrassed; they do not
know how to write a task successfully. It is the teachers that should guide students
to write. They are as follows:
- On the basis of the given task, the teacher should encourage students to work
orally to give their ideas and suggestions for the task. In this way, students have to
think and brainstorm to contribute the ideas to the task. This will stimulate the
14



Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

interests in the learners. However, it is not always good for shy and passive
students. These students do not want to say and they will do their private work.
Therefore, the teacher should put these students in pairs or in small groups to
discuss with other students.
- After collecting the ideas for the writing task, the teacher should make an
outline or a list of key expressions so that students can follow easily, then put the
class in pairs or small groups for peer writing or cooperative writing.
- When students finish the task, the teacher should organize correction in
pairs. In other words, peer correction is a good way for students to transfer
information and learn from each other. This creates an active class because all
students have to work at the same time. The teacher then should give feedback so
that students know at which level they are.
- After giving feedback, writing activity should be integrated with other
activities such as role- play or discussion. In this way, the writing task is more
meaningful and interesting.
All in all, teaching writing is in large part directed to the new approach to
writing. Therefore, writing work needs to follow some certain techniques of notetaking, open- ended frame work in order to develop writing skills and make
students to be more active.
3.3. Improving the teacher's classroom management.
In classroom, besides active students some of them are still passive in the
learning process. It is the teachers' duty to evoke these students' interests,
encourage their involvement in classroom activities.
To lessen the students' fear of making mistakes and shyness, teachers
should increase students' confidence by encouraging them to contribute their
ideas to the lesson. Teachers may give them some cues for the answers and express

satisfaction and excitement about their ideas even silly answers. It is essential that
15


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

teachers should use open- ended questions as much as possible that many
answers are acceptable. This makes students to be more confident and less afraid of
making mistakes.
Flexibility in method is essential to stimulate students to get fully involved in
the learning process. Teachers should be more active and creative to arouse
interest in learners. They need to explain the tasks clearly and give concise
instructions for the tasks so that students can understand and know what they are
going to do. If necessary, teachers may explain the tasks in mother tongue but try to
use English as much as possible. Also, they should teach the students the language
necessary for the tasks. While the activity is in progress, teachers should walk
around the class and listen to discreetly in order to find out how the students are
getting on. Sometimes, teachers may join in and give advice or suggestions.
The attitude and behavior of the teachers have great impact on classroom
atmosphere. In order to create a comfortable environment, teachers should be fair,
fun and understand their students. Moreover, they should show sincere and
friendly attitude towards the students during the learning process.
Teachers are expected to care students' learning. They should listen to
students' concerns, expectations, difficulties, etc and should be available in the
class so that students will feel more motivated. This also creates a close
relationship between teachers and students.
Teachers are expected to help students become more independent in learning.
Teachers should give students authority to choose and decide what they are
going to learn and let them be free to contribute their ideas to the lesson.

Teachers should not dominate the class.
Teachers also should spend time on giving students feedback effectively.
Giving feedback helps students to learn how their efforts are evaluated and at what

16


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

level they are. Without feedback, students will be easy to be demotivated because
they do not know they are right or wrong.
3.4. Other suggestions:
On the basis of what are found, the following are some suggestions that the
study attempts to offer.
 It is important for teachers to use more interesting and useful topics to
evoke students' interest in the lesson.
 Teachers should adapt the learning activities in the English textbook to
students' level, needs and interest.
 Teachers should teach students strategies for effective learning.
 Teachers should help students challenge themselves
 There should be much time for learning activities.
 Students need to become active participants in the classroom.
 Role- play should be more interesting and meaningful.
 Role- play may be conducted in front of the entire class and should be
evaluated.


Students should be told the situation or problem and instructed as to


the various roles.


Lead- in should be varied and used more effectively and frequently

to attract students' attention and stimulate their interest.


Brainstorming should be more applied in the lesson especially for

reading a text.


Story- telling should be implemented in the class in order to

maintain students' attention or arouse interest in learners.

17


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4. Effectiveness of the teaching experience
These suggested measures have been applied in my teaching to 10 th form
students at Ha Van Mao High shool and they seem to be useful to the students.
Most of the students become more active and creative in learning English. This is
shown through their high motivation and interest in learning English lessons, their
active participation in activities and many students at low levels can cary out tasks
by themselves.

RESULT:
Class
T

Before applying the research

After applying the research

t

Excellent-

Excellent-

a

good

(school o
year)

l

Am

Average

Weak

Amo


Amou

Average

Weak

Amou

Am

good
%

ount

%

unt

%

nt

Amou

%

nt


%

nt

%

oun
t

10A3

36 8

22.2

20

55.6

8

22.2

21

58.3

14

38.9


1

2.8

33 0

0

25

75.8

8

22.2

14

42.4

18

54.5

1

3.1

(2014-2015)


10A8
(2015-2016)

(The data collected from Ha Van Mao High school's learning outcomes.)
PART III:

CONCLUSION

Students' activeness in learning English has become one of the most
concerned issues of methodologists and linguists. Especially, in recent years, there
have been many changes in learning and teaching method with the purpose of
enhancing students' activeness, creativity and self- study in English language
learning. Learner- centered approach and communicative approach are more and
more emphasized and appreciated. Realizing the importance of this issue, the
English textbook for 10th form students has been designed in order to meet the
students' needs and interest as well as to enhance the effectiveness of learning
18


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

English. Although there are still some limitations, this book is a great contribution
to language teaching and learning at present.
In this experience initative, we have studied some ways to enhance students'
activeness at grade 10th in learning English through some learning activities in the
English textbook at Ha Van mao High school. Moreover, the learning activities in
the English textbook are also quite interesting and widely used in real classes. Of
these activities, guessing game, asking and answering questions, small group

discussion enhance students' activeness the most. Paiwork and groupwork occur the
most frequently. The role of the teacher and classroom atmosphere are important to
students' language learning. Teacher is not a controller but an organizer instead. In
this paper, I share my experience with you, the teachers of English, with the hope
that we can help the students be more active and creative in English language
learning.
THE PRINCIPAL'S CONFIRMATION

Thanh Hoa, May 10th, 2016
I guarantee that I myself drew out
this innovative experience and
didn't copy its contents from
others'.
The writer of the innovative
experience

Vu Phuong Mai

REFERENCES
19


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Dang Thi Kiem, (2003), Sử dụng một số Kỹ thuật và hình thức tổ chức đọc hiểu
Tiếng Anh nhằm phát huy Tính tich cực của sinh viên Trường Cao Đẳng Sư
Phạm,Tạp Chí Giáo Dục, (65), Tr. 26.
2. Eggen, Paul and Kauchak, Don (1999), Educational Psychology, Merill,
Prentice Hall, Inc, New Jersey.

3. Haycraft, John (1978), An Introduction to English Teaching, LongMan.
4. Hoang Van Van (2006), Ti ếng Anh 10, NXB Giáo Dục.
5. Ivrine, V. and Montgomerie, T.C. (2000), Helping Passive Learners to
Become Active Learners,Odyssey Conference Presentation, March, 18, 2000.
6. On line: http://www. Active learning.
7. Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, R.T. (1999), Learning Together and Alone,
Allvn and Bacon.
8. Miller, Darcy (1998), Enhancing Adolescent Competence, Strategies for
Classroom Management, Washington State University, USA.
9. Nguyễn Văn Viễn, (2003),Thiết kế bài giàng theo hướng phát huy tính tích cực
học tập của sinh viên trường Cao Đẳng Sư Phạm,Tạp Chí Giáo Dục,(65),Tr. 19.
10.Richard, J. C. and Rodgers, T. S. (1986), Approach and Methods in
Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press.
11.Rubin, Lois, Hebert, Catherine, (1998), Model for Active Learning, College
Teaching, 87567555, winter98, vol.46, Issue 1, p. 26.
12.Sax, G. (1997), Principles of Educational and Psychological Measurement and
Evaluation, Thomson Publishing Company.
13.Silberman, M. (1996), Active Learning, Strategies to Teach any Subject.
14.On line: />15.Wright, A., Betteridge, D. and Buckby, M. (1984), Game for Language
Learning, Cambridge University Press.
APPENDIXES
20


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDIX 1
QUESTIONNAIRE


(For teachers)

This questionnaire is designed to survey for a study on how to enhance Ha Van
Mao 10th form students' activeness in learning English through some learning
activities in the English textbook. Your contribution is of great importance to my
experience initiative. I would be very grateful for your contribution.
Please read carefully and answer the questions below.
1. Do your students often involve actively in your lesson?
□ Very active
□ Quite active
□ Little active
□ Not active at all
2. What are the reasons if your students do not involve in English classroom
activities?
□ Nervousness and shyness
□ Inefficient learning activities
□ Insufficient English knowledge
□ Not speaking English fluently
□ Others__________
3. Do your students want to communicate or discuss the task with others?
□ Yes
□ No
4. Do your students often find chances to practise English inside and outside
classroom?
□ Frequently
□ Sometimes
□ Rarely
□ Never
5. What types of learning activities in the English textbook do you often
organize in your classroom? (Tick more than one)

□ Lead- in
□ Information exchange
□ Reading for information
□ Role play
□ Writing an essay/ report
□ Small group discussion
□ Listening to a text/ a dialogue/...
□ Guessing game
□ Asking and answering questions
□Cued- dialogue
□ Problem- solving
□ Interview
□ Others_____
6. How do the learning activities in the pilot English textbook enhance your
students' activeness?
□ A lot
21


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

□ Quite a lot
□ A little
□ Not at all
7. Which learning activities make your students learn actively?
□ Lead- in
□ Information exchange
□ Reading for information
□ Role play

□ Writing an essay/report
□ Small group discussion
□ Listening to a text/ a dialogue/...
□ Guessing game
□ Asking and answering questions
□ Cued- dialogue
□ Problem- solving
□ Interview
□ Others_____
8. What roles do you often play in classroom?
□ A facilitator
□ Prompter
□ An organizer
□ A manager
□ A learner
□ A resource
□ A counselor
□ An assessor
9. How does classroom atmosphere affect students' activeness?
□ Very important
□ Important
□ Not important at all
10. What do you often do to enhance the activeness of learners? (Tick more
than one)
□ Use interesting and useful learning activities
□ Teach the students the language necessary for the tasks
□Give clear instructions when you give learning tasks to students
□Explain the usefulness of those learning tasks.
□Give students strategies to learn more effectively
□Help students challenges themselves and overcome those challenges

□Organize cooperative learning.
□_________________Other ideas
11. When are your students interested in learning English? (Tick more than one )
□ Involving in the learning process actively
□ Paying attention to your lesson
□ Perceiving meaningful tasks
□ Giving challenges to students
□ Receiving your feedback
□ Others____________
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION.

APPENDIX 2
22


Some ways to enhance the 10th form students' activeness in learning English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BẢNG TRƯNG CẦU Ý KIẾN HỌC SINH
Bảng trưng cầu ý kiến này nhằm giúp cho việc nghiên cứu “ Làm thế nào để nâng
cao tính tích cực của học sinh lớp 10 Trường THPT Hà Văn Mao trong viêc học
tiếng Anh qua các hoạt động học trong sách Tiếng Anh lớp 10.
Xin vui lòng đọc kỹ và trả lời các câu hỏi dưới đây : đánh dấu ( x) vào những ô mà
bạn cho là đúng nhất .
1. Bạn có thích học Tiếng Anh không ?
□ Có
□ không
2. Theo bạn học Tiếng Anh :
□ Rất quan trọng
□ Ít quan trọng

□ Không quan trọng
3. Lý do học Tiếng Anh của bạn là gì ?
□ Là môn học bắt buộc
□ Hiểu biết về nền văn hóa khác
□ Để có nghề nghiệp tốt trong tương lai
□ Là môn học ưa thích của bạn
□ Ý kiến khác
4. Trong quá trình học Tiếng Anh của bạn như thế nào ?
□ Rất tích cực
□ Ít tích cực
□ Khá tích cực
□ Không tích cực
4. Lý do nếu bạn không tham gia vào các hoạt động học trong lớp ?
□ Lo lắng e thẹn
□ Các hoạt động học không hiệu quả
□ Kiến thức về ngôn ngữ Tiếng Anh ít
□ Nói Tiếng Anh không trôi chảy
12. Bạn có muốn giao tiếp hay thảo luận bài tập với các bạn khác trong lớp hay
không ?
□ Có
□ không
13. Bạn có thường tự tạo cơ hội cho mình để thực hành Tiếng Anh trong và ngoài
lớp học không?
□ Thường xuyên
□ Hiếm khi
□ Thỉnh thoảng
□ không bao giờ
14. Các hoạt động học trong sách Tiếng Anh nào thường được tổ chức trong lớp
học Tiếng Anh của bạn ?
□ Khởi động

□ Đóng vai
□ Đọc để lấy thông tin
□ Thảo luận nhóm nhỏ

23


×