Foreign language survival

I cried several times during the week I entered the UK. Even with different voices in communication I don't even understand, how to go on.

It was the first time that I heard the voices of friends from different countries that I could not pronounce, from India, the Middle East to the same regions of England, America, or Europe, Asia. He gave us the book on the topic of soil erosion, and requested to read it for discussion the next day. The book is about 400 pages thick, I look stunned because I have never been trained to summarize a book in English and then discuss it. I wondered again, why the book is not related to the area of ​​education we will learn. He laughed: "See how much proficiency you guys are in English so that I have a direction to support", and that "Must understand and use language fluently to deeply analyze the problem and not cause misunderstandings" .

It was also the first time that I came to know the purely discussion method. Students have to read a lot of books, many articles to synthesize information, turn into their own knowledge, come to class to discuss with teachers and friends. The last post of each subject is also at least 4,000-6,000 words, runs through a plagiarism software that does not allow to exceed 10% of keywords, and includes presentations for each subject.

Immersed in an English-speaking environment that way, on the weekends when I went to church to listen to preaching and to integrate into the cultural world of the local people to absorb English in many corners of my life, I changed my mind. stay fully awake about teaching and learning English.

Returning to Vietnam, I aspire to provide children with a practical English-speaking environment, not towards scores like the way I used to teach students when I was a teacher before studying abroad. The basis for a language to survive is when it meets the needs of the user and permeates everyday life as an effective communication tool. But the Vietnamese education system is completely teaching points-oriented instead of the output target of practical use.

The result: very low efficiency in teaching English in schools. Approaching the results of this year's high school graduation exam, some VnExpress readers even posed a problem: if you teach English without using it, you do not need to teach anymore. This is actually a correct way of criticism.

In 2013, our team of experts proposed to the Ministry of Education and Training to bring a form of assessment of listening and speaking skills in foreign languages ​​into the national education system but failed, and so far this proposal is still im. Every language must begin with the listening reflex, turn into the speaking reflex, then read and write. If the school evaluates listening and speaking skills substantially and more often, it will promote student practice instead of testing key skills through the "eye-to-see" reflexes on paper as in current exam papers. . When conducting professional surveys in the provinces, we heard the teachers share that "technology is not a big problem". They just need a phone, a speaker and the Internet. Because teachers use language mainly in interaction, listening, and understanding skills with students. The difficulty is that, each student has different qualifications, needs and perceptions, and lacks a practical environment, so it is difficult for teachers to ensure the quality of lessons.

I believe that daily usage habits are an important part to help you master a language, but sometimes you have to create it yourself. Creating an environment where language is used is a way to develop reasoning skills and proficient expression of knowledge for learners. I have decided to completely change my English teaching style, focusing on creating an environment using English for students to practice and teach together instead of following the usual exam preparation programs.

When we rediscover the origin of a language as a means of expressing human thoughts, perception, emotions, and understanding, we will set an output target for an educational product after 9- 12 years of student. If the education designer finds suitable and effective ways for each specific group of subjects, does not equate a framework that imposes foreign language learning for all regions, the results of the subject after the semester. Exam will be different.

Language is, after all, a tool at the service of human life and creation. If the foreign language teaching program wants to be successful, there is no other way to recognize the social needs and reform towards meeting that practical need. Vietnam will be initially successful if it introduces English to everyday life. Foreign language is chosen according to the communication needs and goals of each individual, each region, so the best solution is for the educational departments to self-propose output targets for the locality according to the specifics of each place. is based on the national curriculum framework of the Ministry of Education.

It is time to see the issue of teaching and learning foreign languages ​​in the national education system as an essential need for use in the real world, a "sword" of integration, not because of the number of results on the paper. exam paper. Foreign languages ​​today are no longer passions or favorites, but survival.

Van Anh

Source: https://vnexpress.net/ngoai-ngu-sinh-ton-4156050.html