Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Appying Quizlet to help grade 6 students improve their vocabulary retention

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PART A. INTRODUCTION 
 Nowadays, in the age of information technology, the application of 
technology in all areas of life is no longer strange. And the education sector in 
general and secondary education in particular have also gradually approached 
modern technology. Currently, the application of information technology in 
teaching is most clearly shown through the websites, mobile appications, online 
learning flatforms, etc. 
 And, students are referred to as "Digital Natives" since they are comfortable 
with technology, computers, and the Internet, as well as video game. In addition, 
technology has played an essential role in English teaching and learning for many 
countries in the world. It has been used to help teachers adjust to activities in class. 
Also, learners enhance the language learning process and improve their skills in a 
short time by utilizing technology and its services. Technology could help students 
learn English productively. Besides, knowledge also could learn from technology 
more easily if they took advantage of its usability. 
 However, this work seems new to the teachers, there is no uniformity in 
terms of form. Therefore, when the teachers apply technology in teaching, there are 
many difficulties. 
 Most of the secondary school teachers find difficult to learn how to use a 
new tool or an application to design or make materials for teaching. On the other 
hand, some topics they chose to apply information technology have not been 
effective. Up to now, in the school year 2022 - 2023, I am in charge of teaching 
English 6 – I learn Smart world, I still continue to study and foster the topic of 
information technology application in teaching for these students. 
 As a teacher in charge of teaching English 6 over the past three years, and 
through observing my colleagues, I have found that technology and technological 
devices can be used to motivate and engage English language learners in the 
development of literacy and language skills (Traore & KyeiHBlankson, 2011; 
Ware, 2008). Learning a new language requires incredible patience and nerves; 
therefore, if not sufficiently motivated during the long and tedious learning 
process, learners might be discouraged to try harder. Research has shown that 
technology can help motivate students to be more engaged in reading, especially 
when they interact with the text using certain interactive technological tools. By 
utilizing various kinds of technological devices, language learners gain a “sense of 
freedom, motivation, and encouragement they need for learning” (Megan Clark, 
2013). Among several ways to integrate technology with language learning, I 4 
teachers quickly access to information technology and apply in the teaching 
process. The School Board also creates favorable conditions for teachers to 
participate in extra-curricular classes to improve their expertise and techonology. 
1.2. For the teachers: 
 Teachers have knowledge and qualifications in Information Technology 
(IT). Nowadays, with the fast development of IT and networks on the Internet, it is 
very convenient for the teachers to actively exploit and search for abundant 
resources of vivid images, sounds, movies  to create account and design the 
online course on Quizlet for students. The content and teaching materials 
introduced to the students are real and diverse. The Quizlet also engage and 
motivates all students with curriculum-based materials, in-class activities and at-
home study tools on any topic. 
2. Disadvantages and their causes: 
2.1. For the teachers: 
 Although Quizlet was a highly rated vocabulary learning platform, at the 
same time, there were limitations in the user experience. Some of its features were 
only available on the website rather than in mobile apps. Like Wikipedia, Quizlet 
permitted everyone to make and share a study set, so there was no assurance the 
data was exact. One grammatical mistake in another person's cards could lead them 
to consider some wrong data, miss inquiries on a test, and get a poor quality they 
did not anticipate getting. 
 Furthermore, some students appeared distracted while learning vocabulary 
and were occupied with different applications like Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok and 
Facebook. Besides, if students used Quizlet's free version, ads would be displayed 
on each website page. A few advertisements were barely noticeable; however, they 
could be oppressive. Thus, if students need the best taking-in experience from 
Quizlet, they should pay for extra administrations. 
 In addition, as a young teacher I have to do a lot of work at school, prepare 
lesson and check students’ work at home as well, so I have limited time to design 
the tasks on Quizlet for students regularly. 
 Those are some disadvantages of Quizlet that students can face when using 
it to review the lesson or do the homework or assignments on Quizlet. 
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foreign language, is extremely important. Communication is impossible without a 
diverse vocabulary. A strong vocabulary is also required for learning to read, 
speak, write, and listen. A lack of vocabulary can be the cause of poor reading 
skills and makes learning every subject challenging. 
 Luckily this is easy to improve with the help of Quizlet. Students can quickly 
understand a wide range of words and get better grades with a great vocabulary. 
Vocabulary learning can be fun, easy, and fast with Quizlet - a software computer 
vocabulary program. A good vocabulary makes a better writer and communicator. 
 What is Quizlet? - Quizlet is a simple Website and App that allows you to 
create online flashcards and study them by playing matching games and faking 
tests over the information inputted into the app. 
 Quizlet can be a great tool to help students improve their vocabulary retention. 
Here are some steps that I have been taking to apply Quizlet to help grade 6 
students at Hoang Hoa Tham secondary school improve their vocabulary retention: 
 ✓ Interactive and engaging learning: Quizlet offers interactive and engaging 
 learning tools such as flashcards, games, and quizzes, making it more 
 interesting for students to learn new vocabulary words. 
 ✓ Spaced repetition: Quizlet's spaced repetition feature presents vocabulary 
 words at specific intervals, which helps students better remember the words 
 and retain them in their long-term memory. 
 ✓ Personalized learning: Quizlet allows students to create their own study sets 
 and customize them based on their learning style, which can help improve 
 their retention of new vocabulary. 8 
➢ Play games: Quizlet offers various games, such as Match, Gravity, and 
 Learn, that help students practice vocabulary words in an interactive and 
 engaging way. 
➢ Take quizzes: Students can take quizzes to test their knowledge of 
 vocabulary words, track their progress, and receive feedback. 
➢ Listen to audio: Quizlet offers an audio feature that allows students to listen 
 to the pronunciation of vocabulary words, helping them improve their 
 pronunciation and listening skills. 
➢ Study offline: Students can download study sets and access them offline, 
 allowing them to study even without an internet connection. 
3. How teachers and students interact by using Quizlet: 
 Quizlet provides a platform for teachers and students to interact and 
collaborate in various ways, enhancing the learning experience and improving 
students' retention of vocabulary words. Teachers and students can interact on 
Quizlet in several ways, including: 
▪ Teachers can create classes: Teachers can create classes on Quizlet and 
 invite their students to join. This allows teachers to monitor their students' 
 progress, assign study sets, and provide feedback. 
▪ Students can join classes: Students can join their teacher's class on Quizlet 
 by entering the class code or accepting an invitation. This allows them to 
 access study sets and participate in class activities. 
▪ Teachers can assign study sets: Teachers can assign study sets to their 
 students to practice and review vocabulary words. They can also set due 
 dates and monitor their students' progress. 
▪ Students can create study sets: Students can create their own study sets and 
 share them with their classmates or their teacher. This allows them to 
 collaborate and learn from one another. 
▪ Teachers can provide feedback: Teachers can provide feedback on their 
 students' study sets and quizzes, helping them improve their understanding 
 of vocabulary words. 
▪ Students can take quizzes: Students can take quizzes created by their teacher 
 or by other students in the class. This allows them to test their knowledge of 
 vocabulary words and track their progress. 
▪ Teachers can monitor progress: Teachers can monitor their students' 
 progress using Quizlet's analytics feature, which provides data on how well 10 
 For all of my students, this routine of having a weekly quiz along with 
 opportunities to use the vocabulary in speaking and writing activities is enough to 
 boost their study time at home using Quizlet. 
 After each reading lesson, I always summarize the vocabulary in the text and 
create a new study set for students on Quizlet. Therefore, students not only review 
the vocabulary in the lessons in class but also expand their vocabulary through 
additional reading materials. 
 3.3. Experencing Quizlet Live: 
 After quite a few comments about Quizlet, I decided to try this over the 
weekend. It’s really easy to use – it generates a multiple-choice game for your 
learners which involves working as a group. My classes have three different study 
sets at present, and we tried the Quizlet Live game with each. My students left 
class wanting to play again – it was very addictive and motivational. This is 
probably the best feature of Quizlet and I am pleased other teachers encouraged me 
to try it. 
 Quizlet can be used for students to play individually or in groups during 
online classes. Setting up a Live game is very simple, the teacher just needs to go 
to the study set, select Live => Start => Individual/Team play => Select the type of 
gameplay (Answer with the term or definition). 
 The teacher requires students to access www.quizlet.live and enter the 
corresponding code. Or students who have installed the Quizlet app on their 
phones can scan the QR code to join the game. 12 
 There are also various fun ways to learn and review on Quizlet, which allows 
students to effectively study at home on their own. For each lesson, students can 
use: 
 ▪ Flashcards: Memory cards (one side displays the term, the other side 
 shows the definition). 
 ▪ Learn: Sequential learning of words. 
 ▪ Write: Writing practice to avoid rote memorization and promote writing 
 proficiency. 
 ▪ Dictate: Spelling practice that helps students recognize words by 
 listening and writing. 
 ▪ Test: A quiz section that is useful for evaluating the percentage of 
 vocabulary that students have memorized. 
The terms come with native speaker pronunciation. 
 All terms have accompanying audio pronunciation. Therefore, since Quizlet 
has been used for teaching and learning, my students (and parents) no longer have 
to worry about whether they are reading correctly or not. I also rarely hear parents' 
concerns about their children not remembering how to read anymore. Parents who 
accompany their children at home also know how to read, write, and memorize 
words with their children. 
 During the teaching process, teachers can also check the pronunciation of the 
vocabulary they are preparing. When teaching, I sometimes encounter words that I 
am quite unsure about how to pronounce. Besides looking up reliable dictionaries 
like Cambridge or Oxford, the vocabulary list on Quizlet also helps me quickly 
remember these words.