Teaching English in 10-year program: Weak and lacking

(Baonghean) - In Nghe An, by the end of the 2015-2016 school year, the 10-year English program had only been implemented in more than 28% of high schools in the province.

Foreign language class of students at Thanh Khai Secondary School (Thanh Chuong).

The National Foreign Language Project was launched in 2008 with the aim of comprehensively reforming foreign language teaching and learning in the national education system. The specific goal is to implement a 10-year education program, starting from grade 3 with compulsory foreign language at all levels of general education. At the same time, gradually reform teaching and learning, improve foreign language proficiency and capacity of foreign language teachers at all levels of education and training; invest in building foreign language teaching and learning rooms, audio-visual and multimedia learning rooms for schools at all levels...

In Nghe An, by the end of the 2015-2016 school year, the 10-year English program had been implemented in 44 schools (358 primary schools, 83 secondary schools and 3 high schools) - accounting for just over 28% of the total number of general schools in the province (1,575).

In addition, the quality of teachers is still limited. In 2015, the Department of Education and Training cooperated with the Foreign Language Center to organize training to improve foreign language skills for 210 English teachers, including 46 primary school teachers, 104 secondary school teachers and 60 high school teachers.

However, the number of English teachers certified is too low, less than 50%. Only 18/60 teachers at the high school level are recognized. In fact, it is difficult to organize training courses because many teachers find ways to avoid participating in training courses to improve their capacity of the department. On the contrary, teachers register to take exams to obtain foreign language proficiency certificates at universities to meet the degree requirements.

Tra Lan High School is a school with top educational quality in Con Cuong district and the western mountainous districts of Nghe An. In particular, English has been the school's strength for many years. However, although it is considered a "key" school, up to now, the school has not yet implemented English teaching according to the 10-year program under the National Foreign Language Project 2020.

According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training, English teachers at secondary level must have at least a B2 certificate in English. However, 2 teachers at Tra Lan School only have a B1 certificate. Teacher Trinh Dang Khoa - Vice Principal of the school shared: In the current conditions, improving the qualifications of English teachers is very difficult because there is not much time for teachers to go for training. In addition, the communication skills of teachers in mountainous areas are limited, so they often have difficulty taking exams to improve their qualifications.

In addition to the lack of teachers, the facilities for teaching English are also a difficult problem. When it comes to English class 7A2, although students are taught in a separate classroom for English, the classroom is different from a normal classroom only in the projector and speaker system mounted on the wall. Otherwise, there is no cabin to practice listening and speaking skills, no pens and interactive boards for students to interact with the lesson...

Teacher Pham Quoc Hung - English teacher said: "Currently, Tra Lan school only has one English classroom, so it is often overloaded. There are many periods where the schedules overlap, so students still have to study without permission.

Foreign Language class of students at Chi Khe 1 Primary School (Con Cuong).

In the whole Con Cuong district, although there are 34 schools (14 secondary schools and 20 primary schools), currently only 17 schools organize English teaching for students (including 14 secondary schools and 3 primary schools) and only Mau Duc Primary School teaches English to students according to the 10-year program (learning English from grade 3).

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - in charge of English, Department of Education and Training of Con Cuong district: Currently, the district's English teachers are both lacking and have not met the required standards. The exam to get the certificate is also difficult and so far only 10/29 English teachers have B1 or B2 certificates. This also affects the quality of teaching and learning when the number of secondary school students taking the entrance exam to grade 10 has an average score of only about 4 points. The students are quite good, mainly in key schools and favorable areas.

In Thanh Chuong district, although it is in a favorable area, investing in equipment for teaching and learning English is still difficult. At Thanh Khai Secondary School, to organize practical English lessons for students, teacher Nguyen Thi Hoai had to equip herself with a mini speaker, a phone that can play Bluetooth, and a spare battery charger. But even though the speaker was turned on at full volume, because the classroom was large, the class was crowded, and the quality of the transmission and reception was not guaranteed, it was very difficult for students to listen, making it difficult to ensure teaching and learning.

According to the current statistics of Thanh Chuong district, only 15/81 schools are equipped with language classrooms according to the standards. Besides, only 21/42 primary schools teach English according to the 10-year program. One of the reasons for this is that the district's English teachers only meet about 50% of the demand, the number of teachers with B1 and B2 certificates is still low, and the physical facilities are not guaranteed.

The above shortcomings have also led to low results in teaching and learning foreign languages ​​in our province. In recent years, the average score of the 10th grade entrance exam and the National High School Exam are much lower than other subjects (the average score of the National High School Exam is only about 10%), and there are many differences between regions. This result also shows that achieving the goals set out in the foreign language project is still very difficult and if we do not really make efforts, the goal of improving the quality of teaching and learning foreign languages ​​is difficult to achieve.

My Ha