SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT THỌ XUÂN EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE RENEW WARM UP ACTIVITY TO MOTIVATE THE 11th GRADERS IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS BY APPLYING SOME LANGUAGE GAMES EFFECTIVELY Người thực hiện: Đỗ Thị Sen Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực (môn): Tiếng Anh THANH HOÁ NĂM 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………… Introduction…… ………………………………………………………… 1.1 Reasons for choosing the research……………………………………… 1.2 Aims of the research…………………………………………………… 1.3 Object of the research…………………………………………………… 1.4 Methods of the research………………………………………………… Content… …………………………………………………………………… 2.1 Theoretical background………………………………………………… 2.2 The reality of the problem………………………………………… … 2.3 Measure implementation………………………………………………… 2.3.1 Guessing games (10 Yes/No questions)……………………………… 2.3.2 Search games (Find someone who)…………………………………… 2.3.3 Labeling games……………………………………………………… 2.3.4 Matching games…… ……………………………………………… 2.3.5 Rearranging games….………………………………………………… 2.3.6 Word snake………… ………………………………………………… 2.3.7 General knowledge quiz (Who is millionaire?)……………………… 2.3.8 Word square…………………………………………………………… 2.3.9 Guessing games (guess hidden picture)……………………………… 2.4 Result…………………………………………………………………… Conclusion and Suggestions………… ………………………………… 3.1 Conclusion……………………………………………………………… 3.2 Suggestions……………………………………………………………… REFERENCES……………………………………………………………… Page 2 3 3 5 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18 18 19 Introdution 1.1 Reasons for choosing the research Nowadays, English assumes as a more and more important part as a means of international communication than ever It is also a "useful tool" and a "masterkey" to discover the world of science, technology, education, culture, business and diplomacy With such a trend of development, therefore, improving the quality of education in general and quality of the subject English in particular is one of the concerns leading the current educational policy Specially, in some recent years, the focus of teaching has been promoting oral skills in order to respond to the Students’ needs for effective communication However, due to some objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning English in general and teaching and learning in particular does not come up to the study aims In spite of teachers’ efforts to provide students with opportunities to develop their communicative skills, how to teach and learn speaking effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many high schools in Vietnam At Tho Xuan high school, most students are not aware of the importance of speaking skill It has been proved that some students got into a habit of learning “mute English” which obviously harmful to a language learner Therefore, it is necessary to find a supplementary technique used in teaching speaking Games can help teachers to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful Games bring a relaxed atmosphere and create more opportunities for students to practice so they are highly motivating, competitive and fun With games, students will enjoy themselves, be stimulated and get involved in speaking As a result, they can learn new lexical items faster and remember better With so many advantages, games seem to be an effective way in teaching and learning speaking a foreign language All the above – mentioned reasons and factors have inspired me to conduct a research titled “Renew warm up activity to motivate the 11th graders in English speaking lessons by applying some language games effectively.” 1.2 Aims of the research The aims of the research are: - To investigate the situation of teaching and learning speaking to the 11 th graders in classroom - To investigate the effectiveness of using games in teaching speaking to th the 11 graders at Tho Xuan high school - To provide some suggestions and implications for the improvement of speaking teaching at Tho Xuan high school by using games in addition to other techniques 1.3 Object of the research The research focuses specifically on using games in warm up activity in teaching speaking to the 11th graders at Tho Xuan high school, namely, classes 11A1 and 11A4 1.4 Methods of the research In the process of carrying out this research, the survey questionnaire is used to collect data The survey questionnaire including pre-task and post-task survey questionnaire is for 80 11th form students from classes 11A1 and 11A4 at Tho Xuan high school Content 2.1 Theoretical background Speaking Speaking, as Bygate (1997) definites, involves not only the use of the right sound in the patterns of rhythm and intonation, but also the choice of words and inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning Common speaking activities A variety of activities can be used to develop speaking skills Below are some common ones: * Role play * Information gap activity * Problem – solving * Other picture card activities Warm up activities A warm up activity is a short, fun game which a teacher or trainer can use with students The purpose of a warm up is to encourage the students and prepare them to learn by stimulating their minds and/or their bodies Motivation Motivation is generally defined as an abstract concept used to describe the willingness of a person to expand to reach a particular goal For language learners, mastery of a language may be a goal In linguistic, sociolinguistic and second language acquisition, a number of language learner motivation models have been postulated Oxford and Shearin (1996) points out: “Motivation is important because it directly influences how often use L2 learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers, how much input they receive in the language being learnt (the target language), how well they on curriculum-related tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain L2 skills after language study is over…” Language games Language games mean games related to language Hadfield (1987) classifies language games into may categories as follow: + Sorting, ordering, or arranging games + Information gap games + Guessing games + Search games + Matching games + Labeling games + Exchanging games + Board games + Role play games 2.2 The reality of the problem The research was carried out at Tho Xuan high school with the participation of 80 the 11th form students All of the surveyed students have learned English for years However, most of them have difficulties in mastering four language skills Of the four skills, as many of them revealed, they find speaking especially important yet challenging one That was the reason why most of the students feel bored and unmotivated in speaking classes English 11 textbook consists of 16 units for two terms Speaking lessons are under the tendency theme-based approaches In general, the textbook provides students with a variety of topics and speaking activities with the aim of helping students improve their speaking skill However, there are some speaking topics that are far unfamiliar with the students’ background knowledge such as nature in danger (unit 10), sources of energy (unit 11), space conquest (unit 15), the wonders of the world (unit 16),… The survey questionnaire used for 80 students from classes 11A1 and 11A4 at Tho Xuan high school Table 1: Students’ attitudes and perspectives towards speaking lessons Options Questions Question 1: How is speaking skill important to you? A Very important B Important C Normal D Not important at all A (%) B (%) C (%) D (%) 17 25 50 Question 2: How you find speaking topics introduced in 10 English 11 textbook? A Very interesting B Interesting C Normal D Boring Question 3: How you find speaking activities introduced 62 in English 11 textbook? A Very difficult B Difficult C Normal D Easy Question 4: Are you willing to speak in speaking classes? A Yes, I like speaking very much B Yes, sometimes C No, I’m never willing to speak 21 23 46 27 11 28 71 As can be seen clearly from the table 1, a lot of the surveyed students think that speaking is the most difficult skill meanwhile there are only % consider speaking very important More specifically, 46 % find speaking topics introduced in English 11 textbook boring and 62% find speaking activities introduced in English 11 textbook very difficult Moreover, there are so many students who are never willing to speak in speaking classes (71%) In summary, the students are losing their interest during the lesson Therefore, an effective technique should be exploited to motivate students in these speaking lessons 2.3 Measure implementation To stimulate the students’ minds before studying a new lesson, a short and fun game should be used for warm up activity The following are some sample games for each unit in English 11 textbook 2.3.1 Guessing games (10 Yes/No questions) Classroom management: Whole class Time: minutes Procedure: The teacher calls one student to go and stand in front of the class The student thinks of a friend in the class and other students can ask 10 Yes/No questions to find clues in order to guess who the student is thinking of The person finds the correct name will be the winner Example: Unit 1: FRIENDSHIP Student A: (stand in front of the class) Student B: Is he/she tall? Student A: Yes Student C: Does he/she have short hair? Student A: No Student C: Is that Lan? Student A: No Student D: Is he/she thin? Student A: No Student E: Is that Nga? Student A: Yes That’s correct (Student E is the winner) Unit 16: THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD Student A: Is it in China? Teacher: No Student B: Is it in Asia? Teacher: No Student C: Is it in Africa? Teacher: Yes Student D: Is it believed to have been built over a 20-year period? Teacher: Yes Student E: Did it consist approximately millions blocks of stone? Teacher: Yes Student E: Is it the Great Pyramid? Teacher: Yes That’s correct (Student E is the winner) 2.3.2 Search games Classroom management: Group work Material: Grids Time: minutes Procedure: Students are given a grid The task is to fill in all the cells in the grid with the name of a classmate who fits that cell Students ask and answer questions to complete their own grid and help classmates complete theirs Example: Unit 2: Games: Find someone who Grid: PERSONAL EXPERIENCES Name being late for school being punished by the teacher failing an exam speaking English to a native English speaker being seriously ill traveling to other parts of the country talking to a famous pop star 2.3.3 Labeling games Classroom management: Whole class Material: Pictures Time: minutes Example: Unit 3: A PARTY Procedure: The teacher prepares a set of pictures of parties such as: birthday party, Christmas party, wedding party and thanksgiving party The teacher asks students to label the names of the parties And then let them tell about the party Using some questions: What you often at the party? What kind of presents you often bring to the party? What kind of clothes you often wear at the party? Pictures: Unit 10: NATURE IN DANGER Procedure: The teacher prepares a set of pictures of animals such as: tiger, panda, cheetah, elephant, tortoise and rhinoceros The teacher asks students to label the names of the animals Pictures: 2.3.4 Matching games Classroom management: Group work Material: Pictures and cards Time: minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of four or five students The teacher gives each group a set of pictures of activities and cards containing the names of the volunteer works Students work in group and quickly match each picture with their names Which group finishes first and has the correct answers will be the winner Example: Unit 4: VOLUNTEER WORK Pictures: A B C D E F 10 Cards: Visiting the old people Teaching the poor children Taking care of the disadvantaged children Unit 6: Collecting the rubbish Taking part in a directing the traffic Building the road COMPETITIONS Pictures: A B C D E Cards: General Knowledge Quiz English Competition Art Competition F Poetry Reading Competition Singing Contest Athletics Meeting 11 Unit 11: SOURCES OF ENERGY Pictures: B A C E Cards: Solar power Biogas plant Water power D F Wind power Nuclear power Geothermal heat 12 2.3.5 Rearranging games Example: Unit 7: WORLD POPULATION Classroom management: Whole class Material: Extra-board or power point Time: minutes Procedure: The teacher hangs an extra-board or shows power point which has jumble words The teacher asks students to rearrange these letters into the correct words and write them on the board Extra-board SOUCESRE-> BOLEUD-> LYMIFA NAPLIGN-> GEURIF-> CERSEANI-> RAESDEC-> LWORD HITRD-> RILDENCH-> IMLTI-> 10 LORTONC -> Unit 9: Suggested answer Resources Double Family Planning Figure Increase Decrease Third World Children Limit Control THE POST OFFICE Type of games: Rearranging games Classroom management: Pair work Material: Extra-board or power point Time: minutes Procedure: The teacher hangs an extra-board or shows power point containing the sentences of a letter The teacher asks students to work in pairs in order to rearrange the clues to complete the letter Which pair finishes first and has the correct answer will be the winner Perhaps due to their stressing work, sometimes they seem a bit cold and not very helpful The last point I would like to comment on is the attitude of some of your staff 13 Secondly, although the parking area is large, it has no security guards and I sometimes fell insecure leaving my motorbike there Firstly, the lobby inside the post office is too cramped and the seats are not enough Furthermore, I think it would be much better if the post office is open until 11:00 p.m so that customers can have more access to your services Our customers often have to stand while waiting for our transactions, causing an unpleasant scene of disorder Suggested answer: 4–6–3–5–2–1 2.3.6 Word snake Classroom management: Whole class Material: Extra-board or power point Time: minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups and asks them to split the letters to have verb phrases by putting a line between the phrases in the word snake Which group finishes first and has the correct answers will be the winner Example: Unit 8: CELEBRATIONS Word snake Suggested answers: grow cash crops build a medical centre build a village ground widen the school resurface the roads 2.3.7 General knowledge quiz Example: Unit 12: THE ASIAN GAMES Game: Who is millionaire? Classroom management: Individually Material: Power point Time: minutes 14 Procedure: The teacher calls representatives of groups to stand in front of the class and gives each of them cards containing letter A, B, C, and D The teacher shows the questions on power point and asks students to give their answers by raising the cards The student with the quickest and correct answer will get 10 points Which student has the highest score will be the winner Questions: Which sport is aquatic? A skiing B swimming C wrestling D A and B The first Asian Games were held in: A Manila, Philippine B Tokyo, Japan C New Delhi, India D Busan, Korea The 14th Asian Games attracted 9,919 participants from……countries: A 32 B 11 C 44 D 45 The 3rd Asian Games were held in: A Manila, Philippine B Tokyo, Japan C New Delhi, India D Bangkok, Thailand What is the sport? A Wrestling B Skiing C Squash D Rugby 2.3.8 Word square 15 Example: Unit 13: HOBBIES Classroom management: Group work Material: paper Time: minutes Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of four or five students The teacher gives each group a paper containing a word square and asks them to find the names of hobbies in the square The words may go across, down, up, backwards or at an angle Which group finishes first and has the correct answers will be the winner 10 11 I O W A T C H T V E H Y H C A O P F G A T D N E O R E A D D S I R A N L A B C D I E O A P U L A D X R Z E P C M T E T R A T G A O S O T C H T T P A I X I C E T I O S G H K F D C W U M I N D U L G E 10 A G P L A Y C H E S S 2.3.9 Guessing games (guess hidden picture) Classroom management: Whole class Material: Power point Time: minutes Procedure: The picture is hidden with pieces of paper numbered 1, 2, and To open a piece of paper, students have to answer a question correctly The first student can guess what the picture is will be the winner Example: Unit 15: SPACE CONQUEST 16 Hidden picture: Questions: What is the missing word in this sentence? It only takes me about hour to………from Hue to Ho Chi Minh city A go B fly C flew What is the missing word in this sentence? Gagarin was a well-known…………… A boy B people C cosmonaut What is the missing word in this sentence? Gagarin became the first person to eat and drink in zero…………… A gravity B weightless C weightlessness What is the missing word in this sentence? Spacemen travel into space at great……… A speed B space C success Keys: B C A C SPACECRAFT 2.4 Results After applying the above language games in warm up activities in speaking 17 classes for the 11th graders, I realized that there have been some considerable changes such as: + The atmosphere of the class became more ebullient; the students were eager to practicing speaking and active to contribute their ideas to the lesson + The students were more confident and less afraid of making mistakes The progress of the students can be seen through the following tables comparing the data collected from the survey questionnaire before and after applying this experience initiative: Table 2: Questions Question 1: How is speaking skill important to you? A Very important B Important C Normal D Not important at all Options A (%) B (%) C (%) D (%) Before 17 25 50 After 53 29 11 10 21 23 46 21 45 26 62 27 11 24 19 45 12 28 71 13 62 25 Question 2: How you find speaking topics Before introduced in English 11 textbook? A Very interesting B Interesting After C Normal D Boring Question 3: Before How you find speaking activities introduced in English 11 textbook? A Very difficult B Difficult After C Normal D Easy Question 4: Are you willing to speak in speaking Before classes? A Yes, I like speaking very much B Yes, sometimes After C No, I’m never willing to speak Conclusion and Suggestions 3.1 Conclusion 18 This research is done with the purpose of seeking one effective teaching technique to improve students’ speaking skill And as there are many teaching techniques exploited by the teachers to teach speaking, the study limits itself to use language games to motivate students to speak The literature review has been made in the hope of demonstrating the scope of the research theoretically in terms of speaking skill and language games The findings from the data analysis show that many students have low motivation towards speaking classes They find speaking activities either challenging or boring Thus they show their unwillingness to raise their voice Language games are used for warm up activities to motivate students in speaking classes and are applicable as a motivator in speaking lessons It is hoped that the research will prove worthwhile to those who want to motivate students in speaking classes and who are concerned about the problem 3.2 Suggestions Although the research has accomplished the objectives set at the beginning, it can not avoid some limitations Due to the time is short; limit of knowledge and the scope of the research, the research can not cover all the uses of language games in four skills and language elements Therefore, further study can focus on the use of language games as a motivator in reading classes, writing classes, listening classes and language games as an effective technique to teach vocabulary and grammar Obviously, mistakes are unavoidable, all comments and remarks on this research will be highly appreciated Xác nhận hiệu trưởng Thọ Xuân, ngày 20 tháng 05 năm 2019 Tôi xin cam đoan SKKN viết, khơng chép nội dung người khác Người viết SKKN Đỗ Thị Sen REFERENCES 19 Hoàng Văn Vân (2007), Tiếng Anh 11, NXB Giáo dục Nguyễn Thủy Minh – Lương Quỳnh Trang (2009), Thiết kế giảng tiếng Anh 11, Tập Tập 2, NXB Hà Nội Lưu Qúy Khương (2006), A practical course for teaching English as a foreign language Bygate (1997), Speaking, Oxford University Press Wright, A; Betteridge, D&Buckly, M (1983), Games for language learning, Cambridge University Press Rixon, S.(1981), How to use games in language teaching, London, Macmillan Publishers http://www.call.org/resources/digest/gallow01.html http://www.languagegames.org/ http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/ 20 ... activity to motivate the 11th graders in English speaking lessons by applying some language games effectively. ” 1.2 Aims of the research The aims of the research are: - To investigate the situation... teaching and learning speaking to the 11 th graders in classroom - To investigate the effectiveness of using games in teaching speaking to th the 11 graders at Tho Xuan high school - To provide some. .. 2: How you find speaking topics introduced in 10 English 11 textbook? A Very interesting B Interesting C Normal D Boring Question 3: How you find speaking activities introduced 62 in English 11