Action Research Initial Cycle Report

 by Ermolaeva Natalia Evgenyevna

ACTION RESEARCH

by Ermolaeva Natalia Evgenyevna

 How to make my silent pupils work at the English lesson?

I teach a small English group ( 14 students) in a secondary school. Almost all the students in my group are very clever, hard-working, active and disciplined. They are always ready to answer, to ask and to experiment. But at the same time there are two students in this group, who are not interested in learning English and always keep silent during the lessons. Sometimes they hamper the work in class, working and thinking slowly and lazily. The other students refuse to work in pairs with them, because they are passive and not enthusiastic in this activity. I feel that sometimes a lot of precious time is wasted with these students.

 I decided I needed to make a plan of action to help my silent pupils work, think and speak. I  planned to do several things. First, with the help of our school psychologist I prepared some questionnaires and methods for silent students to determine their attitude to learning the language and to assess the level of anxiety at the English lesson. Next, I decided to interview the teachers working in this class about the learners who were silent or afraid of answering during their lessons. I also asked the silent pupils’ parents to answer my questions to clear their children’s difficulties in learning the English language. Then I asked my colleague to come and observe my silent students in different activities during the lesson.

 From a review of these questionnaires and methods I understood that one of my learners wasn’t afraid of the English lesson, but he had some difficulties in learning of the material and that’s why he preferred to keep silent during the lesson. The other learner was afraid of the lesson because she had a great gap in her knowledge. I thought they needed my help. Besides, they hoped that their English would be better in the nearest future.

 I made up my mind to be friendly and to provide quite support: a smile, one or two encouraging words, praising their efforts, achievements and accuracy. Then I began to urge them to join in different activities little by little. For example, once I asked my reluctant students to play the role of the teacher pronouncing the words in class and impelling the other students to repeat the words after them. The following lesson, to revise the English tenses I gave the task to my silent pupils and two active pupils to prepare the game “The theatre of mimicry and gestures” for their classmates. They got the idea with doubt, but they coped with the task well.

 Two weeks later I asked my colleague to come and observe my silent students again. I organized a project work in groups. The task was to make a spooky story and to draw a spooky creature. Amazingly, these students were very active discussing the project in their groups. I and my colleague saw them arguing, making suggestions. We saw them taking an active part in a project and they were not indifferent.

 To my mind I had achieved the first results of making my silent students work and be active during the lessons. But I realize that I must be patient, because these learners need a slow approach. I decided to give them some optional lessons (I’ve already given one) to bridge the gap in their knowledge. I planned to involve them into the English club and to suggest them roles in our performances. At the end of the year I’m going to repeat some questionnaires and methods to assess students’ achievements in learning the English language.