How to motivate students to learn english at cam thuy 3 high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

CAM THUY 3 HIGH SCHOOL

EXPERIENTAL INITIATIVE

HOW TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS TO LEARN ENGLISH AT
CAM THUY 3 HIGH SCHOOL

Author: Bui Thi Nghia
Position: Group leader
Subject: English

THANH HOA, 2021


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Page
I- INTRODUCTION……………………………………………
1
1. Rationale……………………………………………………...
1
2. Aims of the study…………………………………………….
1
3. Objects of the study…………………………………………..
2
4. Methods of the study…………………………………………
2
II- CONTENTS OF THE STUDY……………………………...
3

1. Theoretical background………………………………….
3
2. Practical background…………………………………….
4
3. Applying PBL in teaching English …………………….
7
4. Results of applying method……………………………..
15
III- CONCLUSION……………………………………………
18


I- INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
It is well-known that language is the means by which we share our thoughts
and ideas with others: it is our primary source of communication.
There are thousands of languages in the world, but it is impossible for a
person to learn them all so if people who speak different languages want to
speak to each other, they need a language they both know.
Nowadays, English has become an international English and it is used in
almost all aspects of our daily life. Over the last decades English has played an
important role around the world as common language for economic, education,
scientific and entertainment exchange between nations and in particular
between people. Although it comes second to Mandarin in the total number of
speakers, English is the language you’ll be able to use most widely, as it’s
spoken in more countries than any other language. That means that English is
the language that will give you the best return for your efforts; after all,
intellectual challenge aside, there’s little point putting a huge amount of time
and effort into learning a language that you’ll hardly ever have the opportunity
to use.

As well as the UK, a whopping 60 of the world’s 196 countries have
English as their official language: the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, to
name but a few. It’s the language of diplomacy and the official language of the
European Union, the United Nations, NATO and the European Free Trade
Association, not to mention many Commonwealth countries. What’s more,
English is the commonly adopted second language of people in a great many
more countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Holland.
In total, around 1.5 billion people speak English worldwide – and another
billion are in the process of learning it.
However, for students who are in mountainous area as Cam Thuy 3 high
school, English is the most difficult subject to learn.

1


Therefore, as a teacher, I have been trying to find the way “How to
motivate students to learn English at Cam Thuy 3 high school”
2. Aims of the study
This paper endeavors to demonstrate the value of learning a foreign
language in general and learning English in particular. Therefore, my theme
focuses on making clear about some issues below:
- What are the students’ difficulties in learning English?
- How to deal with those hardships?
- What are the results?
3. Objects of the study
This study has been applied for students at Cam Thuy 3 high school since
2005 and each year the number of students who participates in the project is
increasing. After having used and adapted new methods in encouraging learners
in 14 years, the process of learning English at Cam Thuy 3 is changing a lot.
4. Methods of the study

My study is conducted by qualitative methods in order to collect a
number of information, compare, and then, analyse data. By using the
combination of these methods, my theme will make clear the questions in this
topic, and reach effectively the targets of the essay.
II- CONTENTS OF THE STUDY
1. Theoretical background
Learning a new language does not only take time and efforts but the learners
also need to put their passion in it. The students of my school at the time had
few opportunities to get used to learning English as there are not enough
numbers of teachers of English asked for and there were not many teaching aids
to make students eager to participate in the lessons.
2. Practical background

2


In almost all mountainous area in Vietnam, there has been a shortage of
language teachers, especially teachers of English. This is one of the reason why
there are many students who really want to learn it but fail because of their
cutdown time for each grade due to this lack. Look back to my first few years of
teaching, before our arrival, there were not enough teachers of English for all
classes in the school and the two or three at the time had to cover more than
twenty lessons per week, which made them exhausted and just tried to finished
their tasks without thinking of how and what students gained after each lesson.
In addition, in those days, there were almost no materials for further
study: no internet connection, few TV or radio set broacasting English channel,
no bookstore selling English books… All the things that learners of a foreign
languge could learn were from their teachers. And the role of teachers in
motivating students was very essential.
Moreover, the introduction of new mordern technology, the development

of teaching aids and the more popularity of English all over the world have
changed the perception of students and parents in every parts of the world. The
roles of language teachers change and the ways of teaching and learning
English also different from the past, too.
3. Applying motivation in teaching English
From the first years of teaching to now, I have been trying my best to be a
good model for students to follow. I have always been an excellent learner in
every contest or workshop for English teachers, which makes my students
respectful and imitative. And always tell my students, who are of different
minority groups as Muong, Thai, Dao, I myselve am a Muong teacher of
English. I can manage it, therefore, they also can.

3


Figure 1: Taking part in Thanh Hoa international school

Learning a foreign language means taking students cross the border and
making them envolve in the process of learning. Since the beginning, the
teaching materials were rare and to make my lesson more interesting, I asked
for my students’ help in creating our own collections of hand-made pictures for
learning vocabulariy. In addition, I asked my old Canadian teachers to exchange
letters for their students and mine. This way did not only make them eager to
write impressive letters but, more than that, helped them know a new culture
and made new friends as well.
I and my colleagues organized Halloween activities, from which students were
introduced a new culture and this made them curious and want to discover
more.

4

Figure 2 : Halloween 2008

I invited my old foreign teachers as well as volunteeers teaching at Hong Duc
university where I had studied to visit my school and organised short trip to
Luong Ngoc fish stream, which created real situation for speaking skill.
For those who have are gifted and/or chose English as one of their three main
subjects in the entrance exam, I have had free lessons during almost three years
at high school. I aslo have those whose house are far away stay with my family
for free meals to save time studying.

5


Figure 3 : Photo in class with Canadian teachers

6


Figure 4: Studying at teacher's house for gifted students

Time passes and the ways of learning and teaching have changed a lot.
Today, what we encourge students to learn is not simlilar to what I used to do. I
have shown my students useful free websites to follow, which fields of
workforce that need the candidate’s English ability, or who are successful Cam
Thuy 3 members with excellent degree of English. I have also had meeting with
the students’ parents to talk about how imprtant it is for students to learn
English in this open- trade world and their children’s opportunity of emloyment
in the future.

4. Results of applying motivation in teaching English at Cam Thuy 3 high
school.
In order to assess the effectiveness of applying different methods of
encouraging students to learn English, I have had the following results
The number of students who choose English as one of their three main
subjects in the entrance exam has increased years after years
7


Years

Number of

Percentage

students
2005

2

0.6 %

2006

6

1.8 %

2008

10

3.1 %

2015

16

6.6 %

2020

21

8.7 %

The highest score in the entrance exam
Years
2005
2006
2010
2016
2020

Highest score

3.5
5
7.5
8.4

8.8

From the above table we can see that English has increasingly become a
preferable choice among students and they are trying hard to beat the record of
the school results years after years.
Here, I felt the sense that what we have done is more meaningful when it
is not done only for the teacher or the test. When students and parents change
their attitude towards leaning, they change the resutls. Once again, it is the
more, the better when it comes to authenticity and even more important than
any other things, all the students could find out the core value of their efforts.
III- CONCLUSION

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1. Conclusion
Teaching motivation is a product connecting theory and practice in order to
help students acquire knowledge, practice their skills and solve the problems.
Changing attitudes of teaching and learning, according to me, firstly is changing
the phylosophy of teaching. By the end of grade , students can find out the core
value of learning English and try their best to achieve the best results. Besides,
changes is also shown as the role of the teacher from the provider into a
consultant; students will fulfil the demand of knowledge themselves. Fom what
they learn, they are able to expand their skills, evaluate their options, and think
critically. The activities in this section help students visualize how can they
imitate and adapt, which enable them to cope with the changes in mordern
society and choose the right career in the near future.
I myself find it is relaxing to be a facilitator, an adviser, a coach, a co-learner
instead of being a normal teacher and a leader, for all the activities that we have
done

Motivating students is a key in teaching in which students are encouraged to
study with all of their energy. With this, students are insprired to obtain a deeper
knowledge of the subjects they’re studying. When designing or planning
projects the work or task is meaningful if it fulfills two criteria. First, students
must perceive the work as personally meaningful, as a task that they want to do
well. Second, a meaningful project fulfills an educational purpose.
2. Suggestion
This is my little experience in finding methods to help students find
learning is acquiring actively by themselves. I hope that you will use these
hands-on, interactive strategies to motivate and engage your students, and to
foster an environment that makes learning fun. 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.
Thanks for your reading!

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THE CONFIRMATION OF

Thanh Hoa, May 16 th 2021.

THE HEAD MASTER

I hearby assure this is my experience
initiative, without copying the contents of
other people.
Author

Bùi Thị Nghĩa

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REFERENCES

Webliography:
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