REFLECTIVE REPORT

Lesson: Teaching vocabulary - Topic “Zoo Animals” for Grade 3 (A1 level)

Students’ names:
V. T. T. D. - 8A18 - 1707010066
N. T. T. - 5A18 - 1807010260
N. L. T. - 5A18 - 1807010310

STRENGTHS:
In our rehearsal, there were some points that we considered as the strengths of our
performance. Firstly, at the beginning of the class the teacher greeted the students and also had
small talks with them. By doing this, the teacher stabilized the class and gave the students a chance
to prepare themselves before the lesson. Next, the video about the Zoo in Australia succeeded in
attracting students’ attention and raising their interest and curiosity about the topic of the lesson.
They watched the video to guess the topic which was a clever way to lead the students into the
lesson.
Moreover, all teachers had a calm and soft voice, authentic materials (audio and pictures), and
clear instructions during the lesson. These were essentially practical for students to follow and
understanding. We also included games and activities with sound effects, time announcements,
colorful animals, and funny sayings in the lesson. For example, the teacher said “Hello, I’m ,,,
(animal’s name). Nice to meet you” at the stage of practice. This not only stimulated students’
engagement but also let them enjoy the learning process.
Another good point was the activities about choosing the name of zoo animals from their
shadow. Teacher installed sound effects and time announcements to create a competitive
atmosphere. After students’ answer, the teacher immediately explained and described the special
features of that animal. Therefore, the students had a chance to observe and revise the name and
also some features of the animal again. In addition, the last game expected the students to point
out the differences between two animals in the same shape. In fact, this task encouraged the
students to speak a whole sentence in English by describing the differences. It also required
students to apply the familiar vocabulary related to color, body part, and clothes in their answers.
The teacher in this part did a great job when giving the hints for the students whenever they had
difficulties giving their answers.
 Another strength of our group should be the time management skills. We covered all parts
that we had in the lesson plan in the required time. Each teacher had enough time to deliver the
knowledge or conduct activities as well as give feedback and correction for the students.
Finally, we thought we managed the class quite effectively. The students followed the rules
well and enjoyed the activities. All teachers showed facial expressions, hand gestures, body
language and praised students during the lesson. This created a friendly and comfortable
environment which encouraged students to participate in and express themself.

WEAKNESSES:
Beside all these strengths mentioned above, there were also several weaknesses that should
be put into consideration. Firstly, the speed of the video shown at the beginning of the class seems
to be inappropriate for A1 level students. It was relatively challenging for the students to catch up
with. As a result, only two students raised their hands to answer the after-watching-questions.
The next limitation was rooted in the pronunciation of the teachers. We mispronounced some
new words such as flamingo, monkey or zebra. Pronunciation plays a vital role in teaching
vocabulary, especially for students at a young age. Therefore, incorrect pronunciation by teachers
would negatively impact the students' second language acquisition.
Additionally, the pace during the presentation phase was quite slow. It might trigger boredom
and distract students from the lesson. At the end of the first stage, the students were required to
write down all the zoo animal names that they had learned in their notebooks. However, writing
down Vietnamese names of these animals was not assigned. This might cause confusion for some
students about the meaning of new words because there is no picture in their notebooks to
demonstrate the words.
In the stage of practice, the students had to guess the name of the animal through its shadow
in the limited time (10s). However, these were multiple choice questions and students just needed
to choose one out of three. They could immediately come up with the answer. Ten seconds for
each question was a bit too long. Furthermore, the teacher gave several ambiguous explanations
when correcting answers. This confused the students and led to unclear understanding.
Another weakness of our rehearsal is the usage of L1 by teachers. In the last phase, after
giving instructions, the teacher immediately provided explanations in L1 without checking
students’ comprehension. It was unnecessary because the instructions given in L2 were clear and
simple enough for the students to understand.
Although the students followed the rules and answered all the questions of teachers, the class
was fairly quiet. The problem partly lay in the insufficiency of sound effects which is a significant
factor in stimulating students’ interest.
Finally, teaching only eight words in the period of forty-five minutes was inadequate
compared to the competence and capability of the students. When the students find it not
challenging at all, they might be demotivated.

SOLUTION:
After considering all these weaknesses above, we decide to divide our solutions into two
minor parts that need to be focused on:
In this part, we find the answer for the question of how to make the learning contents more
adequate to students’ capabilities, therefore, more challenging. It is too simple teaching 8 words
which are likely already known by the students. As a result, we decided to provide more new
knowledge about distinguishing features of some animals by teaching more vocabulary such as
hump, scales, and feathers.
We also realized the crucial problem underlying the pronunciation of the teachers. We
understand that incorrect pronunciation can lead to flaws in students’ second language acquisition.
Therefore, we need to provide students with the correct and authentic pronunciation by adding as
well as playing the audio of native speakers pronouncing the new vocabulary on the slides while
introducing the words.
We decide to decrease the speed of the warm-up video (from Normal to 0.75) so that students
can follow the content of the video. Moreover, at the end of the first stage, besides requiring
students to write down the new words, the teacher may need to provide the Vietnamese meanings
of those vocabulary to help students learn the vocabulary and to revise at home.
At the practice stage, the teacher should be clear while explaining and correcting the students’
answers. Teacher can also use more visual effects like arrow, circles in order to visualize the
explanation on the screen to avoid confusion from students. In addition, with the multiple-choice
questions activity, giving students 10 seconds for each question is unnecessary. Therefore, the
teacher should reduce the time by 5 seconds for one question.
 Moving to the production stage, the biggest downside of this stage’s activity was the lack of
sound effects. The game was designed mostly with visual contents only, as a result, the quietness
in the class may trigger boredom and distraction. To fix this problem, teacher wants to add more
audio or sound effects in the activity. Moreover, it is essential for teachers to check students’
comprehension before switching between L1 and L2 or it may create unnecessary L1 usage which
happened in the last two stages.