Some ways of guiding to listen well for students in grade 4

THANH HOA TRAINING AND EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
THANH HOA CITY TRAINING & EDUCATION OFFICE
 INITIATIVE
SOME WAYS OF GUIDING TO LISTEN WELL 
FOR STUDENTS IN GRADE 4
The implementer: Le Thi Hien Luong
Position: Teacher
School: Ly Tu Trong Primary School
Subject: English
THANH HOA YEAR 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION	1
1.1. The reason for selecting topic.	1
1.2. The purpose of research.	1
1.3. The subject of research.	2
1.4. The methods of research.	2
2. CONTENT	2
2.1. Rationale	2
2.2. The situations of the problem	2
2.3. The solution and implementation	3
2.3.1 To achieve the target related to listening skills, the teacher plays a very important role. 	3
2.3.2 Some techniques to help students in the process of listening test.	4
2.3.3. Developing listening skill for students (in conjunction with speaking skill).	5
2.3.4. Some ways of teaching listening in textbook 	5
2.4. Implementation results	8
3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS	8
3.1. Conclusion	8
3.2. Recommendations	8
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. The reason for selecting topic.
	Since the late 20th century, humanity has entered a new period of revoluntary science and technology, has created a profound change in all aspects of social life in the whole world. And today’s the 21st century, the world is at the threshold of civilization informatics, people not only know that work by hand but also use mind to work, people have to know to conquer the pinnacle of wisdom and apply sciences to life. All aspects of social life are now linked to the achivements of scietific progress. To achieve this, requires human interaction to learn the international friends. For this we must know the foreign language and use it compentently. Therefore, I see the teaching and learning foreign language in schools eapecially in primary schools is a nescessity and imperative.
	One of the foreign language is taught and learnt popularly in primary and secondary schools now is English. The learning of foreign language now not only to know but also to work, to communicate with international friends.
	For any language, when communicating we need to have a certain vocabulary for expressing presentation. On the other hand, with elementary age students, it acquiring a deeper essence of language is too difficult. We just ask them to understand and know what is “the English”, what do English words mean in Vietnamese meaning? In addition, students must also learn the skills well: Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writng. In the four skills, Listening skill is one of the most difficult for students who are learning English, to hear and to understand the language is not your native language is not easy, so that students must also follow the inquirements of all listening skill. This skill is considered to be difficult because students always feel pressed, however it is not necessary to understand everywords in the listening content.
	This is also the reason I think and choose the topic “Some ways of guiding to listen well for students in grade 4” for the purpose of giving the ways to help students, especially the elementary students are no longer afraid of learning the periods which have the listening skill, even listen more effectively.
1.2. The purpose of research.
	English is a language that is used in many countries around the world. This is a period of intergration, communicating with foreign friends so knowing and understanding this language is extremely important. The purpose of this topic is to contribute to improving the quality of teaching and learning English, help students learn better four skills in English in general and in particular listening skill. Listening well, understanding English will help students be interested in studying and learn better. Good listening skill will help students use this language compentently, help them be confident in communicating with international friends.
	Moreover, the research also helps improve my own pedagogical. After a period of teaching in primary school and learning from friends and colleagues, I have found that my students are often afraid of listening and achieve weaknesses a lot when they do listening skill test. So I’ve done a number of ways to help students learn to listen better.
1.3. The subject of research.
- Apply within grade 4 in Primary School year 2016-2017.
- Documentation of textbooks, reference books, documents and games, tapes, pictures, photos (bears, cats ...), CD, radio, projectors, computers............
1.4. The methods of research.
	To research the topic, I refer to the actual process of teaching myself, discuss with my colleagues and I made some surveys. In addition, I also rely on a number of specialized materials such as: English Book 3-4-5, Let’s Learn English Book 1-2-3, Teacher’s Book, Work Book.
2. CONTENT	
2.1. Rationale
	This is a narrow issue, with the aim to promote positive, creative abilities of students, to creative the ability to identify and solve problems for students, help students who are the subjects work actively, creative initiative strong in communication and good use of foreign language in reading and searching.
Through the teaching of English in primary schools. I noticed a common reality is that most students have not realized the importance of learning English. There are many students who neglect, pay no attention to of English in primary schools so during learning they do not concentrate on learning to reach a high result.
In the four skills, Listening skill is one of the most difficult for students who are learning English, to hear and to understand the language is not your native language is not easy. On the other hand, listening well, understanding English will help students be interested in studying and learn better. Good listening skill will help students use this language compentently, help them be confident in communicating with international friends.	
2.2. The situations of the problem
	Education has an important role in the development process of human society. In the current situation, the country on the path of innovation, the open door policy of relations with the countries of the world has been further developed. Communication with countries all over the world in English, the international language, is increasingly being viewed. That is why English has been added to the program of primary education in order to help these children have the ability to understand and communicate with foreigners. With the goal of English education program is to help primary school pupils on the basis of work out the four skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing. 
	One of the common difficult realities is that the level of students is limited but duration for this course is too little. In addition, classes in Viet Nam is generally over crowded, so focusing on training and practicing is limited.
	Although the textbook is very mordern in structure, thematic lessons, close to daily life with the aim of monitoring the needs of students’ interest, but through the lectures and contact with students I always think how to teach and learn more effectively, more creatively for students both to understand and to be excited, lessons are taught in better quality in depth. A lesson is divided into several periods, intergrated in vocabulary, grammar and practice in a period of forty minutes. But here I only mention particular listening teaching in one period appropriate to each object with students and teachers are also easy to implement.
	I have made a survey with students in grade 4 by doing a test in five minutes for the task (Listen and Tick - Unit 2 - Grade 4). And here are the results I obtained:
Input table
Extent
4A (33)
4B (31)
4C (32)
Very good
7
21,2%
3
9,7%
0
0%
Good
13
39,4%
9
29%
4
12,5 %
Average
10
30,3%
17
54,8%
12
37,5 %
Weak
3
9,1%
2
6,5%
16
50 %
	The result shows that the number of excelent students is low and the number of weakstudents is still high. This requires the use of teaching methods to improve the quality. Here are some solutions that I have applied in my teaching process. 
2.3. The solution and implementation
2.3.1 To achieve the target related to listening skills, the teacher plays a very important role. 
* First, the teachers need to prepare for student before they listen. The teachers must ensure that:
	- Students must understand the requirements (in English) to complete the listening task assigned.
	- Students have to know exactly what to do.
	- Students should be able to determine that they do not need to hear all the words in the listening test.
* The next important step is that the teacher should encourage students to predict what they prepare to listen.
	- Teachers should introduce the topics by using situation/ content of the lessons.
	- This activity will help student to predict the content of the answers.
	- Teachers can help student by:
	+ Asking some questions related to the subject of listening test.
	+ Using pictures to remind students to guess the answers, even before they hear the listening content.
* While listening, students should focus on listening to understand the information from the listening test. Teacher should give a chance to listen again regularly, especcially for those who do not have the ability to perform task at the last listening time (have not listened and understood all to complete assigned task).
* Finally when students finish listening exercises, teachers should check listening comprehension by asking students to answer questions.
NOTE THAT:
- Teachers should not force students to answer individually when they are not ready.
- Teachers should ensure that an answer which is right or wrong needs to be checked by aking students to listen to the tape again.
- Teachers list all the students’ answers on the board, then play the recording for students to listen again to choose the correct answer.
- Even if all students answer the questions correctly, teachers still should encourage students to listen to the entire test to check their answers.
2.3.2 Some techniques to help students in the process of listening test.
* Teachers should guide the principles of listening test.
- Students do not know how to listen, of course they need to be guided to know.
- Many students can not concentrate on what the speaker is saying, they are easy to “interfered” by other things happening around.
- Students do not know that when they focus on listening they must separate from the surrouding confounders.
- Teachers need have specific instructions (presented, listed on a large-sized paper) the main principles of active listening.
- The essentials for good listening:
	+ Look directly into speaker while listening.
	+ Try to keep quiet.
	+ Focus on what the speaker is saying.
	+ Think about what the speaker is saying.
	+ Make questions when you don’t understand.
	+ Respect and appreciate of what the speaker has to say.
- Every time, the listener should focus on a principle. Discuss what does that principle means and why it is important.
- Applying that principle to practice in pairs (For example: “work in pairs to ask your partner what he/ she did last weekend” and report the result in front of the class after the survey).
* Teachers try modeling as a good listener.
* Organizing listening games.
* Teachers read for students to listen.
- Teachers avoid reading directly from the textbook having the pictures illustrated. Students should have the opportunity to “imagine about these pictures by themselves” while they listen to a poem or a story.
- Teachers begin with a poem/ prope piece, then talk about the “pictures” to help students understand more clearly about the content they’ve heard.
* Using music and songs.
- Music helps training audio according to the standard’s quality.
- The song is particularly important bacause the rhythm of the songs help students remember words easily.
* Using tape/ CD
- Using tape/ CD needs to be inmultiple different voices.
- Sometimes note before so that students know that they will not be listening to the tape again (listen only once).
- If students know they listen to the tape many times, they will not listen carefully from the beginning.
* Using spelling
- Spelling helps train the students phonectic, correct spelling and hand writing practice.
- Spelling allows students to focus on listening to words and rewrite on paper.
- Articles should be short spelling, simply following the content of the topic.
Teacher comments the errors of students.
2.3.3. Developing listening skill for students (in conjunction with speaking skill).
* Organizing students to participate in daily conversation.
* When reading aloud for students to listen, teachers should encourage students:
- Guess what is going to happen in the story which they are going to listen.
- Listen and comment about the story they’ve heard.
- Contact the content of the story they’ve heard with personal experience.
* Organize games to help students focus on the important part while listening carefully. For example:
- Head down and closed eyes.
- Listen carefully.
- Do you hear the lawn mower outside?
- Do you hear dripping faucet?
- Do you still hear other noises?
* Consolidate and strengthen students’ listening and speaking skills through daily activities.
* Teachers should take advantages of every opportunity for studenhts to practice listening and speaking in conjunction with the guidance of teachers.
2.3.4. Some ways of teaching listening in textbook 
 	LESSON 1: PART 3: LISTEN AND TICK
	LESSON 2: PART 4: LISTEN AND NUMBER
- In essene, the target of teaching these two items is the same: both items train and develop listening skill for students.
- The difference between the two sections is: length requirement and the level (degree of difficulty of the listening content):
	+ The listening test in Listen and Tick has the short content, the sentences are usually simple, seperate, to test the ability to listen and reccognize vocabulary they have learned in the previous lesson. This test is a simple form , usually used and easy for students to understand and effective in the teaching process.
	+ The listening test in Listen and Number has content longer (at least 4 sentences), the questions in this test are from the small context and conversations. This type of exercise is more difficult because it is used to test about vocabulary, this type is also examine the sentence structures and the content of the topic. Furthermore, all students must listen the whole text, understand the text following the logic, finally they could provide the answers (numbered 1-2-3-4). Example: Unit 9- Lesson 2- Grade 4.
* The process of teaching for two sections
	“LESSON 1: PART 3: LISTEN AND TICK
	LESSON 2: PART 4: LISTEN AND NUMBER”
- Specify task (ask students what going to do).
- Introduce the theme, situations of the listening test
	+ Take pictures, photos, from the textbook which are enlarged.
	+ Use simple English for presentation and introduction.
	+ Suggestive questions should be raised, leading to student self-evaluation and comment (based on personal knowledge of them).
	+ Individual student guesses the answer (whether the answer is right or wrong does not matter because the purpose of this work is to interest the initiative for students before listening).
- Play the tape twice:
	+ The first time: Listen to encompass and understand the content of the entire text.
	+ The second time: Students not only have to listen but also to select information to answer following specific requirements (listen and tick or listen and number the pictures).
- Individual student compare the result with the predictions of their answers before listening and then report the results of his/her work to the class. Another student comments (students can discuss and compare individual assignment in pairs).
- Teachers have students listen the third to test the result (to confirm the answer and understand why it is right or wrong). Students can listen to the sentences or the paragraph relating to the questions.
- After listening: Ask students to look at the pictures and repeat the listening content. The purpose of this activity is just to check out the comprehension of the text , just to reinforce the knowledge of language they’ve learnt.
NOTE: Students can relate the topic of the listening test to their own reality.
* The process of teaching in lesson 3
	 “SAY IT ALOUD” (PART 2)	
This combines teaching listening and speaking. The purpose of this section is that teachers help students practice the sounds (vowels, dipthongs, semi-vowels, consonants, consonant clusters) according to the requirements of each unit. It should be noted that: this section focuses on teaching phonics practice so teachers do not need a more detailed explanation of phonilogical theory (not focus on analysics, introduces, articulation location).
 Steps:
- Give students requirements of exercises (practice the sounds of letters given).
- Students identify the letters in the given words are in different colors.
- Have students look at the books, listen first to know how to pronounce and do not need to repeat.
- Students listen and repeat after the tape/ dish.
- Students notice how sounds are pronounced in different colors, stress on the accented syllable. 
- Teachers can compare pronunciation with the Vietnamese equivalent if there is, or can explain more about how to pronounce the sounds not found in Vietnamese.
- In pairs or groups, students practice reading aloud in pairs from the textbook.
- Representatives of some students to read before the class. The rest of the class listen and comment. 
NOTE:
- Teachers should correct the errors and ask students to pronounce the words that most students don’t pronounce correctly.
- If time allows, teacher can ask students to make questions with the words they’ve practised.
2.4. Implementation results
	These are the results obtained through a test in grade 4.
	By applying the tips that I mentioned above, I have found students’ listening learning is no longer fearsome and achieves better results. I gave them five minutes to do the test:
	Exercise: Listen and Tick - Unit 8 - Grade 4
Output table
Extent
4A (33)
4B (31)
4C (32)
Very good
18
54,5%
10
32,2%
5
15.6%
Good
14
42,4%
12
38,7%
9
28,1 %
Average
0
0%
9
29,1%
18
56,3 %
Weak
0
0%
0
0%
0
0 %
3. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1. Conclusion
	Through the process of teaching, I summarize some of the experience and the results obtained. The number of students reading wrongly, reading slowly in class hours has dropped so much, the number of students who have had progress in listening has remarkably increased. The lesson was so engrossed in reading, not the read aloud, it is clear that many children rehabilitation is great.
And the first step in learning English has already flourishes. So has the key factor to the children in the different programs.
Above is the “Some ways of guiding to listen well for students in grade 4”. This is also an issue of great interest in English primary schools. We wish the comments will be contributed by teachers to cultivate professionally in the process of teaching.
3.2. Recommendations
	From the actual situation shows that the majority of students in primary schools in general and in particular grade 4 students prefer to study in English, complete achievements in the process. There are some limitations on teaching English, such as:
+ The school's facilities are scarce.
+ Equipment such as machinery, loudspeakers, tape is incomplete, there are no classrooms specially dedessigned for English.
+ Awareness of the subject of a number of students and parents is still limited, they do not really see English as a main subject. 
+ The life of an English teacher has some difficulties and low income levels should also equip themselves with perso