Introduction

These three-day workshops were a result of a needs analysis report in upper secondary schools, conducted by the Hue VTTN team. The workshops were run by Vietnamese co-trainers and a British Council trainer. Read on to find out what the workshops were about and what the participants have to say about them....

Content
• Addressing problems common to all the text books used in upper secondary schools
• Group discussions to share knowledge and experience on specific lessons, leading to practical teaching solutions
• Production of lessons plans for difficult units
• Peer-teaching/demonstrations of these solutions
• Techniques for follow-on training and production of action plans

During the workshop we identified and then considered common problems we face while teaching English 10, 11 and 12, and together we discussed solutions to these difficulties. We also examined each of the books individually and looked at particular exercises most teachers have problems with, then, with the help of the cotrainers, generated solutions.

Teacher, Nam Dinh

Participants' experiences:
What we did and what we learned...

As a teacher of English at an upper secondary school, I have used nine different text books for students: English 10, 11 and 12 (7 years), English 10,11 and 12 (3 years) and more recently, English for Vietnam 10, 11 and 12 (the BAVE project books). The English 10, 11 and 12 (7 year) books certainly have some advantages over previous text books, but society has developed rapidly in language, education, science, business, and especially in communication, so the content of the books and the teaching methods we use both have to change to catch up with the progress of the country. This change must proceed step-by-step, and thus takes some time. But what should we do during this phase of change?

The communicative approach of teaching English has been recognised as an effective way of helping students learn, but the items of each unit in these text books were not designed for communicative activities. Consequently, teachers encounter difficulties in conducting these activities and using techniques such as pair work, group work and discussions, especially in large classes, with the aim of making their lessons more natural, more personal and more realistic to their students' lives.

Teachers have struggled in isolation to overcome the obstacles and uncertainties of how to handle language practice and drills in a communicative manner. Fortunately, during the VTTN workshop in Hue, we, the participants, were able to bring up the issues we face while teaching the current text books and together discussed effective solutions. In the three days of the workshop, we looked into the items in each unit of the books and proposed more suitable activities closer to real life. We learned how to deal with out-of-date and out-ofplace material, and how to exploit and adapt the set texts effectively.

During the first weeks of this academic year, we have managed, in our school, to apply some of the techniques we learned in the workshop, and the students appear to be more deeply involved in the lessons, especially in roleplays. We have also discovered that our students are eager to take part in interesting conversations and in freer discussions of guided topics.

All these factors are encouraging us to get over the obstacles we encounter when we try to use communicative techniques to teach from the set text books. We hope that colleagues in our school and in many other schools will sympathize with and support us, as our ideas and opinions come from an enthusiastic heart.

Phan Canh Trong
Teacher, Nguyen Hue High School, Hue City

"Effective Use of Upper
Secondary Text Books"

This workshop was different - the participants were asked to share their experiences of teaching, and so we had an opportunity to learn from each other.

We all have seen that the current English text books have a lot of drawbacks - too long texts overloaded with vocabulary, irrelevant and uninteresting topics, uncommunicative practice, etc. To tell the truth, I used to find it difficult to follow some parts in them. But this workshop was very interesting and helpful. Finding problems and their solutions was one of the main activities during the workshop, and all participants were involved in group work and pair work and we found a lot of interesting solutions.

Although the workshop was short, most of the participants had a chance to try out the solutions in their group. In the peer teaching activities I observed, I learnt from my colleagues; either from their good teaching or from their mistakes. I see that teaching should arouse learners' interest, and instructions should be clear enough for your students to understand. I wish I had been able to observe more colleagues teaching. I wish the workshop had been a little longer. However, it was a successful and helpful one for all of us.

Now that I am back at school with the new ideas on my mind and the photocopies at hand, I have been trying to re-study them to apply them to my classes, and I hope that my colleagues will do the same.

Le An Huynh
Teacher, Semi-public Upper Secondary
School of Dang Tran Con, Hue City

More than just theory and words, we practised our solutions by peer teaching them. It was a golden chance for me to improve my teaching; my colleagues had many ideas and I learned a lot from them. Apart from the workshop itself, we were also introduced to some materials which I find very useful and practical. Now I can share them with my colleagues.
Now, with the methods of teaching that I learned in the workshop, and with the materials, I'm very confident and know how to plan a successful and interesting lesson (which used to be my everlasting problem).

Bui Bich Phuong
Teacher, Le Hong Phong Secondary School
Nam Dinh

The Network - teachers helping teachers

Back at school ...
The workshop has given me many new experiences, especially in the follow-on training process. The workshop proved to be very successful in arousing the interest of all the teachers in our school, and since then we have often talked about and exchanged ideas on designing activities and presenting lessons effectively. The photocopies of the lesson plans and ideas produced in the workshop have also generated more discussion between colleagues. As a result, those who have previously used these techniques and ideas in their teaching, now feel more confident.
The influence of the workshop also shows itself in the fact that there are many more model lessons and observations in our school.
Knowing about the workshop and its purpose, our teachers are more willing to demonstrate their ideas both in peer teaching and by inviting them to observe their class.
Moreover, it is significant to note that the process is not limited to colleagues in one school. After the workshop, some teachers from other schools phoned me and asked for my opinions on the techniques and activities they were going to use in their lessons. They also asked me to suggest solutions to certain problems which they were not clear about. This is a great improvement in that teachers are willing to express themselves, to share ideas, and to learn from one another. It is part of the workshop's success, and is one of the first links of the network.

Hoang Thi Le
Teacher, Quoc Hoc, Hue City

Exchanging ideas Sharing experiences Finding solutions

The ideas I learned at the workshops are very useful for me in my teaching, so I shouldn't keep them to myself. I had a meeting with the teachers at my school and I told them about the new and interesting points of the workshop Then we taught four classes using the new ideas and all of us agreed that the classes were more effective and interesting. And now we are trying to apply the new ideas as much as we can.

Pham Thi Minh Hanh
Teacher, Nam Dinh

I attended the VTTN workshop in Hue in late I July as a co-trainer, but actually, I myself learned a lot and gained valuable experience from the workshop. This was the first time I had the chance to meet a large group of upper secondary teachers of English in Thua Thien Hue province, and to understand the problems they have. For my part, I will report the experiences and knowledge I gained from the workshop to my colleagues and students at the university, who can obviously greatly benefit from this in their careers.

Le Thi Huynh Trang
Teacher Trainer, English Dept.,
College of Pedagogy, Hue University

Summer has gone. The new school year has just begun and every teacher has returned to their normal work. What is special about English language learning and teaching in the academic year 2000 / 2001?
On 21 September we held a meeting for all the teachers of Etrglish in our school to exchange practical teaching ideas and material to use in our classes. On this occasion. I had the chance to pass on the benefits and the ideas I gained from the workshop. First of all, I explained to them what VTTN is and why it is important for teachers. After that, I told my colleagues about the aims and objectives of the workshop. I then gave them all the photocopies of common problems in teaching the text books and solutions to these problems. In addition, I gave them photocopies of all the peer-teaching lesson plans from the workshop. We discussed the activities and how we could use certain techniques for a specific part of the lesson.
After the meeting, all our teachers agreed that we should organise classroom observation sessions. By doing this, the teachers of English in our school can learn interesting things from others and due to this, we can make our teaching more effective and our lessons more enjoyable. The colleagues who attended this meeting have promised to pass the information on to other teachers who could not attend.
I have also put a folder containing all the materials from the workshop in the teachers' room so that teachers can have a look at it when they have some free time or when they have problems in teaching.
This "group" activity involving the English teachers at my school, though small, was considered to be very useful and practical, and with this good start, I hope that the new school year will be a great success - it must be!

Ton Nu Thu Nguyet
Teacher, Nguyen Hue Upper Secondary School
Hue City

Problems ... ... solutions

During the workshops, teachers got together in groups and analysed the three main text books. Each group produced a very informative document which they photocopied for all the participants.
Here's a small part of one which was produced in Hue:

After the groups had covered all the units, each participant chose one specific problem and its solution, then produced a lesson plan. The lesson was demonstrated to the rest of the group and afterwards, analysed and discussed. This is an adapted idea from a teacher in Nam
Dinh, who teaches Tieng Anh 10:

Stage and Procedure

1. Teacher draws a chart on the blackboard: the names are from the students. Teacher asks Cuong and completes the chart:

2. Another student asks Nguyet "Can you swim?" Her answer is marked on the chart. A different student asks Nguyet "Can you dance?" and the chart is completed in this way for Nguyet, Phuc and Hien.This is a meaningful drill.
3. The students make a chart for their partner and ask their partner, then fill it in. (This provides speaking practice.)
4. One pair's charts are given to another pair of students. They write about each other. (This provides writing practice.) s For example: Hoa can swim, but she can't dance. She can draw, but she can't sing.

Interaction
T-S
S-T
S-S
SS pairs
S

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