Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Some techniques to teach the lesson culture in the textbook to the students at Do Luong 2 upper secondary school

Nội dung tóm tắt: Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Some techniques to teach the lesson culture in the textbook to the students at Do Luong 2 upper secondary school

1. lessons become more interesting to students More than 90% of the students agree that Cultural activities adapted from the lesson Culture make it livelier, more interesting and stimulate students to learn English and love the language they are learning. As mentioned in the comparison between the results of the pre-test and post-test, the students have considerable progress thanks to the use of the techniques. Through these activities, knowledge of culture is presented in a natural way and therefore is easily absorbed by the students. The responds received from statement 4 prove that English lessons become more lively and interesting.Most of the students then not only learn about the target culture but also perceive more about themselves and their own cultural perspectives. However, the number of students who disagree, strongly disagree or don’t know is still many (8.5%, 6% and 3.5% respectively). Perhaps, these activities have not satisfied all students’ needs and desires. Nearly 80% of the students are stimulated to explore cultural elements of Vietnam as well as other countries in the world. During the application of culture-based activities in experimental classes, the researcher find that most of the students are eager to join the activities not for the purpose of fulfilling teacher's requirements but to experience new cultures. It is clear that culture- based activities have motivated them in learning about cultures. This proves that there has been an attitudinal changes among students. With reference to the assistance of culture-based activities to language knowledge, language skills and working skills, more than 80% of students agree that Cultural activities should be used more often in all Culture lessons. Some students also claim that they feel more confident to talk to foreign tourists that they meet on the streets or at beaches. The graph reveals that most of the students have found cultural activities useful and helpful in their English learning. 4.2. Findings From the above discussion and data analysis, we have found that the application of cultural techniques in the experimental classes brings many benefits to students. Teaching English with the integration of these activities not only assures the knowledge required in the textbook but also supplies more open cultural knowledge to students. When using some cultural questions, situations or quizzes related to culture to ask the students from the control classes, we received mostly wrong responses or inadequate answers. Considerably, the experimental students got higher marks when doing the quizzes. The result is below: 39
2. Here are the statistics from the quizzes that the students from four classes have done: Mark Mark Mark Mark Total ≥ 8 6.4 ─ 8 5.0 ─ 6.4 < 5.0 04 student 10 students 20 students 48 students 82 students accounting accounting accounting accounting for accounting K55B3, for 5% for 13 % for 24% 39 % for 100 % K55B4 9 students 16 students 30 students 26 students 81 students accounting acounting for acounting for acounting for 0 accounting K55B1, for 11 % 19 % 37.5 % 32.5 % for 100 % K55B2sss These outcomes have proved the effectiveness of cultural activities in raising cultural awareness for the students at Do Luong 2 high school. With the help of modern technology, teachers have many ways to search for effective materials. Basing on the theoretical background and findings of study, the researcher would like to provide some implications for culture-based activities to enhance students' cultural awareness. 40
3. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS CONCLUSION: This study has checked and investigated the attitudes of learners towards the use of some techniques in teaching and learning the lesson Culture. Firstly, the activities contribute a lot to teaching and learning a foreign language if learners are given chance to practice the target language through its culture in a pleasant and friendly warm atmosphere. Secondly, the activities involve learners in the task-based activities where the goal is to set and students do their best in order to compete with each other and the language is used effectively. Last but not the least: the main factor of using these activities is that they bring real world context into the classroom, and enhance students to use English in a flexible and communicative way. The main results of this research have implications for learners and teachers in the realm of teaching ‘real’ English. The results of the survey obtained from the data collection instruments showed that the techniques applied in the lessons Culture have an effective influence on the development of linguistic competency of learners as well as communicative competency. Certainly, the activities would be successful if they are presented to students in understandable way which means that they must be planned step by step. It cannot be denied that they bring good result in students’ cultural knowledge. SUGGESTIONS: As mentioned above, this study has shown its good impact on the teaching and learning of the lessons Culture in textbooks. The techniques we have used in this study can be applied in Tieng Anh10, Tieng Anh 11, Tieng Anh 12. In addition, they can be used in other lessons. The important point to consider is the different cultural background of students. Before implementing some aspects of culture of a foreign language, in our case English, it is important for the teacher to take into consideration that some customs, traditions can be rude, humiliating or can be considered as abnormal by some students depending their origin, especially if we compare Christian and Muslim culture. With the help of modern technology, teachers have many ways to search for effective materials. Basing on the theoretical background and findings of study, the researcher would like to provide some implications for techniques to enhance students' cultural knowledge. Hopefully, this teaching experience will make a small contribution to the teaching of learning English. 41
4. APPENDIX 1 (KEYS FOR THE QUIZZES) Question 1: Choose the sentence that best describes the picture. A. The man is taking out the rubbish. B. Rubbish should be thrown away every day or it may cause awful smell. C. The child is setting the table for dinner. Question 2: Which food group is good for our health? A. coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, alcohol, refined sugar, white flour, salt, and processed foods such as junk foods and fast foods B. caffeine containing drinks, alcohol, sugar, fatty or spicy food, food additives C. fruits, vegetables, milk Question 3: What type of family is popular in Viet Nam? A. Nuclear family B. Extended amily C. Both A & B Question 4: Who looks after children when their parents are at work in Singapore? A. Mother B. Father C. Grandparents D. Child-minder Question 5: What are traditional health belief and practices in Indonesia? A. Illnesses are caused either naturally or personally B. Traditional treatments, herbs and therapies used to treat the sick C. Goals to restore normal, proper and comfortable condition D. all of the above Question 6: Who often shops for the food in Viet Nam? A. father B. mother C. sons
5. D. grandparents Question 7: What enterteinment format is global smash hit in 2001? A. Who is milionaire? B. Idol C. Britain got talent Question 8: Who wrote the national anthem of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam? A. Nam Cao B. Phu Quang C. Van Cao D. Trinh Cong Son Question 9: Who invented the instrumental ballade? A. Chopin B. Tchaikovsky C. Elvis Presley D. Michael Jackson Question 10: When was Quan Ho recognised by UNESCO ? A. 2008 B. 2009 C. 2010 D. 2011 Question 11: What type of music is popular in Indonesia? A. country B. pop ballade C. Dangdut D. hiphop Question 12: Where is country music popular? A. India B. America C. China D. Russia Question 13: What kind of music was Michael Jackson famous for?
6. A. classical music B. pop music C. rock ballad D. country music Question 14: What are volunteer activities? A. Helping old or sick people B. Helping disadvantaged or handicapped children C. Helping old and childless people D. of all the above Question 15: What is the important invention from King Bhumibol Adulyadej? A. Chaipattana Aerator B. rain-making techniques C. biodiesel oil project D. of all the above Question 16: What is the English proverb that has similar meaning as "Nhập gia tùy tục": A. Diamond cut C. In Roma do as the Romans do D. So far so good Question 17: What is the benefit of a digital camera? A. make phone call B. listen to music C. surf the web D. store and transfer photos to a computer Question 18: Match the country names with the invention: A. China -3 1. medical incubator B. Japan- 4 2. PC sound card C. Singapore-2 3. chopsticks D. The Philippines-1 4. instant noodles Question 19: Who were in the fisrt power flight in 1903? A. Percy Pilcel B. the Wright brothers
7. C. King Bhumibol Adulyadej Question 20: The first time Apple was lauched was in : A. February,2004 B. April, 1976 C. April,1975 D. July, 1994
8. APPENDIX 2 QUESTIONNNAIRE Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly Don’t Options agree (%) (%) disagree know Statements (%) (%) (%) 1. Learning culture is an important part in English learning. 2. The lesson Culture in textbooks are quite similar to Reading lessons, so they are boring. 3. Cultural activities adapted from the lesson Culture make it livelier, more interesting and stimulate students to learn English and love the language they are learning. 4. Cultural activities adapted from the lesson Culture inspire me to explore and compare Vietnamese cultures with other cultures in the world. 5. After taking part in Cultural activities adapted from the lesson Culture, I feel more confident when using English in class and in real-life situations. 6. Cultural activities should be used more often in all Culture lessons.
9. REFERENCES 1. Bayyurt, Y. (2006) Non‐native English language teachers’ perspective on culture in English as a foreign language classrooms. Teacher Development, 10(2), 233-247. 2. Brody, J. (2003) A linguistic anthropological perspective on language and culture in the second language curriculum. In: Lange. D.L. and Paige R.M. (eds.), Culture as the core: Perspectives on culture in second language learning. Greenwich, London: Information Age Publishing, (pp.37-51). 3. Byram, M. (1989) Cultural studies in foreign language education. Clevedo, Avon: Multilingual Matters. 4. Byram, M. and Grundy, P. (ed.) (2003) Context and culture in language teaching and learning. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 5. Cortés, N.C. (2007) Language meeting culture in the foreign language classroom: A comparative study. Interlingüística, 17, 230-237. 6. Farnia, M. (n.d.) Contrastive pragmatic study and teaching culture in English language classroom – A Case Study, pp.242-257. 7. Genc, B. and Bada, E. (2005) Culture in language learning and teaching. The Reading Matrix, 5(1), 73-84. 8. Soran Karim Salim (2017), Teaching Language and Teaching Culture, Language Centre/ Salahaddin University, Erbil-Iraq 9. Textbooks: Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11