Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Using meaningful activities to improve high school students’ spoken competence

 SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐỒNG NAI
 Đơn vị : THPT NGÔ QUYỀN
 _________________
 Mã số: 
 SÁNG KIẾN
USING MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE HIGH 
 SCHOOL STUDENTS’ SPOKEN COMPETENCE
 Người thực hiện: Trần Văn Nghĩa
 Lĩnh vực nghiên cứu: 
 Quản lý giáo dục 
 Phương pháp giáo giáo dục
 Phương pháp dạy học bộ môn: Tiếng Anh
 Lĩnh vực khác: 
 Có đính kèm:
  Mô hình  Đĩa CD (DVD)  Phim ảnh Hiện vật khác
 Năm học: 2019-2020 CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................3
 1. Backgound/context...............................................................................................3
 2. The scope of the research ....................................................................................3
 3. Rationale/ reasons for choosing the topic ..........................................................3
 4. Research aims (Purposes) ...................................................................................3
CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................3
 I. REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING ..........................3
 II. RESEARCH CONTENTS .................................................................................3
 1. Research procedures/ definitions of terms ......................................................3
 2. Advantages and disadvantages of meaningful activities. ................................3
 3. Evaluation of the research..................................................................................3
 a. Novelty of the research ( Innovations) ..........................................................3
 b. Effectiveness ....................................................................................................3
 c. Applicability of the research ..........................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................3
APPENDIX......................................................................................................................3
Appendix 1: RESEARCH DESIGN..............................................................................3
Appendix 2.......................................................................................................................3
Appendix 3.......................................................................................................................3 THÔNG TIN CHUNG VỀ SÁNG KIẾN
 1. Tên sáng kiến : Using meaningful activities to improve high school 
students’ spoken competence
 2. Lĩnh vực áp dụng sáng kiến: Phương pháp dạy tiếng Anh
 3. Tác giả: 
 - Họ và tên: Trần Văn Nghĩa Nam (nữ): Nam
 - Trình độ chuyên môn: Thạc sĩ chuyên ngành giảng dạy tiếng Anh 
 - Chức vụ, đơn vị công tác: Tổ trưởng tổ tiếng Anh, THPT Ngô 
Quyền –Biên Hoà - Đồng Nai 
 - Điện thoại: 0913130131 Email: Johnnghia5@yahoo.com.vn 
 - Tỷ lệ đóng góp tạo ra sáng kiến (%): 100% 2
methodology, anticipated outcomes and possible problems which may come up 
during the research together with a short conclusion. 
The application of meaningful activities will be carried out among a class of thirty-
five 10-graders at Ngo Quyen High School. The students will be tested on orally 
communicative ability before and after the techniques called “meaningful activities” 
are applied in the classroom in order to see how much improvement the students 
gain. Both teachers’ attitudes and students’ feelings towards meaningful activities as 
teaching and learning tools will be reflected through interviews and questionnaires 
respectively. This will prove, to some extent, the usefulness and the feasibility of 
these activities in English classrooms.
3. Rationale
Students acquire a foreign language through the four fundamental skills including 
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Proficiency in each of these skills makes a 
great contribution to becoming a competent language user, but the ability to speak 
clearly and fluently can help learners to inform, express feelings, persuade and 
interact with others. Therefore, teaching speaking plays a very important role in 
helping learners master the target language.
As a language teacher, I have recognized that real communication occurs in real-life 
contexts. By using meaningful tasks, activities and practice in classes, students will 
have opportunities to communicate with each other in the target language. It is the 
teacher’s job to create classroom environments where real-life communication takes 
place and meaningful tasks are exploited.
 ● Research Focus
The following diagram illustrates the relationship between the key variables of the 
study which serve as the research focus with the title: “Using meaningful activities 
to improve high school students’ spoken competence at Ngo Quyen High School”.
● Research Questions and Variables 4
 CONTENTS OF THE RESEARCH
I. REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING
As a teacher of English for over 25 years, I usually have discussions with a number 
of students, I have learned that most of them really want to study English for 
communication. However, they do not have strategies for developing their oral 
communication. The speaking problems that the teacher frequently deals with are 
students’ difficulty in expressing ideas and opinions. Also, students are not often, 
during the lesson, encouraged to respond to questions for real information from their 
teachers and friends.
In my teaching experience, I have learnt that teaching speaking, a productive skill, is 
particularly vital because my students’ achievements in speaking will increase their 
intrinsic motivation to learn other language skills.
I also hold the belief that speaking is one of the most important parts of English 
language learning and teaching. However, its significance is underevaluated by some 
students and teachers in the school. They teach speaking just as a repetition drill for 
memorizing dialogues, useful expressions or language functions. In fact, the goal of 
our teaching speaking is to improve students' communication skills, and through 
speaking with meaningful activities students can learn how to follow the social and 
cultural aspects appropriate for any situational context
II. RESEARCH CONTENTS
1. Research procedures/ definitions of terms
 ● The Subject
The sample includes two groups of year 15 students belonging to two different 
classes. Each group has 35 students. The group engaged in meaningful activity 
lesson will form the experimental group, while the other, which carries on with 
normal lessons will form the control group. A speaking pre-test will be carried out 
so as to show that the two groups have the same level of proficiency. I will teach 
both groups for the second term of the school year 2020, using meaningful activities 
with the experimental group and the control group will be taught as usual. The two 
groups will be orally tested at the end of the second term so that I can get the scores 
for each student. The test scores will be analyzed and considered as useful data for 
the findings. The three teachers and I will make comparisons between the control 
group and the experimental group on their learning achievements in order to see the 6
I have designed 16 statements which describe the students’ learning styles, views 
and the teacher’s methods of teaching. The observer will observe and record 
concrete details of what the teacher does in the lesson, methods of teaching and 
meaningful activities will be utilized in the classroom.
DATA ANALYSIS
 All the data will be analyzed by the four teachers. The findings will be shared with 
the teaching group leader and the school administrators. A workshop will soon be 
held in order to widely disseminate the findings of the research.
 ● Questionnaire Analysis
There are five items in the student survey, I will do a tally count, then change it into 
percentages, using the tables about the students’ learning styles and views on 
meaningful activities. The data will be carefully analyzed.
 ● Class Observation Data Analysis
Observations will be used to gain in-depth understanding and to avoid 
misinterpretation. I will double read to gain the teacher’s views or beliefs about 
meaningful activities in teaching speaking, and the relationships among views and 
practices.
● Interview Data Analysis
Each interview will be recorded, coded and then transcribed and analyzed critically. 
In looking across cases, I will look for themes and patterns which emerge from the 
data and code for the emerging themes. Each teacher’s data analysis includes 
classifying, categorizing, labeling and organizing the emerging classifications. 8
event in their discussion groups. Before the discussion, it is essential that the 
purpose of the discussion is clearly stated to the students. In this way, the discussion 
points are relevant to the purpose. Each group works on their topic for a given time 
period, and then presents their opinions to the class. It is essential that the talking 
time should be equally divided among group members. Finally, the class decides on 
the winning group that can express the idea in the best way. This activity fosters 
critical thinking and quick decision making.
 ● Simulations 
By definition, role plays and simulations are forms of experiential learning (Russell: 
2009). Learners take on different roles, assuming a profile of a character or 
personality, and interact and participate in diverse and complex settings. He also 
defines that simulations are similar to role-plays, but what makes simulations 
different from role-plays is that they are more elaborate. In simulations, students can 
bring items to the class to create a realistic environment. For example, if a student is 
allowed to act as a journalist, he or she can bring a microphone to interview people. 
Simulations bring benefits to the teacher and students. They are entertaining and 
motivate the students to learn
Harmer (1984) stresses that simulation activities increase the self-confidence of 
hesitant students, because in simulation activities, they will have a different role and 
do not have to speak for themselves, which means they do not have to take the same 
responsibility. 
● Lessons with meaningful activities (Adaptation)
The following questions and activities are redesigned to help students make good 
use of referential questions in helping students exchange real information. These 
referential questions make the learning of speaking more meaningful for high school 
students.
 Display questions Referential questions
 1. Which lower-secondary school did → What was the name of the lower-
 you go to? (Students fill in the blank secondary school did you go to? (To 
 with the right question for the ask for personal opinions-real 
 answer already printed )-English 10, information)
 Page 47.
 2. What did Hanh like best about her → Who was your favourite teacher? 
 school then?( Students fill in the Why did you like him/her? ( A more 
 blank with the right question for the