CC BY
18
Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc, University of Education Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam E-mail: [email protected]
DEVELOPING COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR TAY AND NUNG ETHNIC STUDENTS THROUGH THE CLUB ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOLS
Abstract: Developing communication skills for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups is one of the important educational contents of junior high schools in the northern mountainous areas of Vietnam. Due to the cultural characteristics of the ethnic community and the limitations of the communication environment, communication skills of the students are limited. It is essential to create a favorable environment for students to develop communication skills in the school. In addition to learning activities, organizing students into clubs is an opportunity for them to experience relationships with friends, teachers, and improve their ability to communicate.
Keywords: club, student, communication, development, communication skill, Tay, Nung, junior high school, education.
Developing communication skills for junior high determining the practical basis for proposing models
school students in general, for Tay and Nung ethnic students in particular is the issue that was mentioned in many earlier studies. However, researches that look for ways to develop communication skills for this special group of students need more attention in order to continue to explore more forms of education to effectively link the school education with the characteristics of cultural life ofTay and Nung communities.
Under the new curriculum, experiential learning is an educational activity that is organized throughout classes at all levels. To promote the core role of the school education in the education of Tay and Nung ethnic students, the author selected the experimental activity group of organizing clubs to create communication environments and establish communication relationships for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups, in order for them having the opportunity to improve and develop their communication skills.
1. Current situation of some communication skills ofjunior high school students ofTay and Nung ethnic groups in the northern mountainous area
There are different views and different ways in clas-
of club activity to educate communication skills for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups in the mountainous region of North Vietnam, the author conducted a survey of communication skills with the following three skill groups:
Group 1: Skills to establish relationships in communication include: understanding about communication environment; understanding about the object of communication, building favorable relationships for communication.
Group 2: Emotional and behavioural self-control group includes: handling the situation; listening; empathy, sharing and determining time in communication, ect.
Group 3: Skills to use means of communication include: using speech and language skills such as persuasion, feedback, questioning and collaboration; and using non-verbal communication skills as eye contact, gestures and carriage.
The survey on communication skills in three levels: proficient, not yet proficient and unused was conducted on 245 Tay and Nung ethnic students in junior high schools of 3 provinces: Thai Nguyen, Bac
sifying communication skills, but for the purpose of Can, Cao Bang. Specific results are as follows:
Table 1.
No Communication skills Proficient Not yet proficient unused
1. Understanding about communication environment inside and outside the school 37 (15.1%) 160 (65.3%) 48 (19.6%)
2. Understanding about the object of communication 60 (24.5%) 89 (36.3%) 96 (39.2%)
3. Building favorable relationships for communication 57 (23.3%) 96 (39.2%) 92 (37.6%)
4. Handling the communication situation 21 (8.8%) 180 (73.5%) 44 (18%)
5. Listening and empathy 176 (71.8%) 57 (23.3%) 12 (4.9%)
6. Sharing with the object of communication 153 (62.4%) 80 (32.7%) 12 (4.9%)
7. Persuading the object of communication 34 (13.9%) 195 (79.6%) 16 (6.5%)
8. Expressing briefly and sufficiently 80 (32.7%) 146 (59.6%) 19 (7.8%)
9. Determining time in communication 67 (27.3%) 141 (57.6%) 37 (15.1%)
10. Questioning and feedback in communication 56 (22.9%) 166 (67.8%) 23 (9.4%)
11. Collaborating in communication 78 (31.8%) 123 (50.2%) 44 (17.9%)
12. Eye contact 32 (13.1%) 44 (17.9%) 169 (69%)
13. Co-coordinating gestures in communication 37 (15.1%) 154 (62.9%) 54 (22%)
14. Expressing briefly and sufficiently 68 (27.8%) 141 (57.5%) 36 (14.7%)
The results of the survey show that the high rate of "proficient" level is focused on skills such as sharing with the object of communication; listening and empathy; the rate of "unused" level is relatively high in some skills as eye contact; understanding about the object of communication, building favorable relationships for communication. In general, the most common level is "not yet proficient", although junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups have had communication skills. It is important to identify appropriate types of educational activities to enable them to have conditions and experimental environments to develop these skills from "unused" into "proficient" to increase communication efficiency.
2. Developing communication skills for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups through club activities in schools
2.1. Some communication skills need to be developed for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups
Based on the psychological characteristics of junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic
groups and the typical characteristics of Tay and Nung communities, this paper focuses on a number of communication skills as follows:
- Skill to establish relationships in communication: timidity and shyness are the main obstacles for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups when establishing relationships in life. The purpose of the club models in the school is to create regular relationships for students to communicate. They are relationships with schoolmates, teachers and members in a club. Through interactive relationships in club's activities, students will gradually form skill of building new relationships themselves that match their communication needs.
- Emotional and behavioural self-control skill: The abundance of communication environment in the school's clubs makes it possible for students to experience many emotional levels of different relationships. It can be friendship, brotherhood or teacher and student. The dominance of emotion will determine the individual behavior in a positive or negative way. The communication environment of the club's
activities originates from the combination of learning and playing, which is in line with the psychological characteristics and preferences of junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups, helping them to easily integrate into the environment with positive emotions. Students thereby can form and adjust appropriate behaviors in every relationship that takes place inside and outside the clubs.
- Skill of expressing briefly, coherently and easily to understand: Communication ofjunior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups has the most prominent feature is the use of local language, the expression is short but the content is difficult to understand, limit in words. Through the tasks of clubs' activities organized in school will help students change from dutiful communication into communication to satisfy their individual needs. In the process of frequent interaction among members, students must use a more flexible and diverse vocabulary to express their ideas to perform tasks with other team members, as a result, their vocabulary will be increase. Frequent expressions also help them to accumulate the experience of expressing ideas in a clear and concise way to quickly convey their ideas to the group members.
2.2. The role of performing clubs in developing communication skills
2.2.1. Creating environment and building relationship for communication
Learning activities in junior high schools of the northern mountainous regions is mainly associated with classroom space and learning tasks in the classrooms. With the typical psychological characteristic of being timid in communication, students mainly listen to the teacher's lectures but do not show their own initiatives. On the other hand, after-class activities programs have often been held once a month follow monthly topics, so students have very limited experience in communication relationships. Building up learning clubs and extracurricular clubs in schools is a condition for creating formal learning environments that enables students to experience relationships in communication.
2.2.2. Diversifying communication content
The contents of communication activities in schools of junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups are mainly attached to learning tasks and some other contents related to habits and customs in daily life. The main material in the communications of these students is the knowledge of subjects that they were learnt and their habits in daily activities. Therefore, clubs in the school are organized in two directions: one is the learning clubs and the other is the entertainment and art clubs. The contents of the clubs' activities are abundant in topic and beyond the time limits will create communication environments with diverse content.
3. Some models of clubs to develop communication skills for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups of the northern mountainous regions
3.1. Learning clubs
- Name of the clubs: Math Club, Literature Club, English Club, ect.
- Model activity of the clubs:
Based on the student's learning situation, the school actively organizes a number of learning clubs with pairs of friends helping each other to make progress in study. Due to the timidity and lack of initiative of Tay and Nung ethnic students, the choice of initial pairs can be set up by the teacher in charge of the club (subject teacher). Through the interactive process when performing activities in learning clubs, students can identify fellows who have the same personality traits and are more helpful than the friends that the teacher in charge of the club assigned for them. Teachers should encourage students to form new pairs of friends chosen by themselves. Club members are students who love the club's subjects and want to participate in without limitation in age and grade.
The communication content of the clubs is mainly related to the content of the clubs' subjects. In order to inspire members of the clubs, teachers actively set up activities that are based on their wishes when registering for the clubs and encourage them
to continue to recommend new topics. With regular requirements assigned by the teacher in charge of the club, student must complete the assigned tasks. However, learning in a club is more open than learning in the classroom. Furthermore, the help among clubs members is made publicly in the encouragement of teachers. Learning activities in a club are very suitable for Tay and Nung ethnic students due to the influence of the habitat characteristics where taking place the contact with natural forests and mountains, the stereotype and precise quantification of time are not the strongpoint of this student groups. Freedom in living from birth is one of the major influences of these students' behaviour.
Time and rules of clubs: extracurricular classes are outside the formal classrooms, lasting about 2 hours, activity frequency: once a week.
The fund of the clubs' activities is mobilized from these sources: Funds of the school; the support of teachers; funds of organizations and individuals inside and outside the locality; parent support and small club membership plans.
3.2. Extracurricular activities clubs
- Name of the clubs: Ethnic minority language, Then singing, poetry (folk poetry of Tay and Nung ethnic groups), sports club (selecting some strong and favorite sports of students).
- Model activity of the club:
Step 1: In order to encourage and attract the participation of junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups, the extracurricular clubs should be organized according to the following steps: Step 1: Building up the core force of the club is members of the movements and the art teams of the school, the Youth team leader is in charge of the club. The club's activities at this stage are to make good gymnastics, athletic and artistic performances inside and outside the school to create a hallmark to spread the influence of the club to students and parents.
Step 2: The club is expanded with the addition of members who are the nuclei of the gymnastics, athletic and artistic movements of the classes. The main
activity of the club during this period is to continue to contribute to the movements of the school. On the other hand, there should have activities to promote the movement of each class through the admitted members. These activities will generate a diffusion of the club model to all members of the classes, stimulate the participation of students in the school.
Step 3: The club model is fully expanded by calling on the participation of members enjoying the club's activities. At this stage, the club sets up various forms of activity. In addition to participating in planned educational activities of the school, the club also maintains regular activities with a diverse content and suitable for the purpose of the club.
- The main communication content of club: extracurricular activities have diverse content up to criteria of the club's object. In the process of regular training and activity, the main communication content at first relates to common tasks, then it gradually opens in both breadth and depth. Students can find congenial companions to share emotion, though and aspiration. For a long time, the friendships in club could become even closer than classmate. In Tay and Nung ethnic culture, when friendship become close the friends could be considered as brothers by birth and publicized to all family members (the making friend custom "tong"). It is the broad-mindedness of communication content in extracurricular activities of clubs created opportunities for forming close friendships which play an important role in emotional life of junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups.
The time of extracurricular club's activities obeys the school's plan of educational activities, also maintains regular activities of members twice a month to create motivation and stable communication environment for students.
The fund of the clubs' activities is mobilized from the educational funds of the school, parent support, the fund of non-governmental organizations for mountainous education and the support of organizations and individuals inside and outside the locality.
4. Conclusion
Each individual has different vocabulary and different ability to flexibly transform the vocabulary into verbal language. By communicating with many people in topics of club's activities, junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups will have opportunities to open their own vocabulary. Communication of Tay and Nung ethnic students has the feature of using local language with limited communication environment. This is also a disadvantage of junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups in comparison with urban students, that make them afraid to communicate. Language is a main means of communication. In order to successfully express an idea, students need to be able to use and arrange their vocabulary. Having a di-
verse vocabulary is a condition for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups to be more confident in communication.
Organizing creative experiential activities in junior high schools in the mountainous region of North Vietnam is creating diverse experiential living environments for junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups to communicate with many different people and approach many positive cultures. This helps students to develop and improve their own communication skills - a crucial skill to bring about a successful life. Developing communication skill is also an educational content to fully develop personality of junior high school students of Tay and Nung ethnic groups in the mountainous region of North Vietnam.
References:
1. Pham Tat Dong. Some theoretical and practical issues in fundamental and comprehensive reform of education according to Central Resolution XI. Education Publishing House, Hanoi.- 2014.
2. Phung Thi Hang. Some communication characteristics of Tay and Nung ethnic students. Vietnamese Education Publishing House, Hanoi.- 2015.
3. Nguyen Thi Lien (chief author). Organizing creative experiential activities in the junior high schools. Education Publishing House, Hanoi.- 2016.
4. Tran Thi Viet Trung. Ethnic identity in modern poetry of ethnic minorities of Vietnam. Thai Nguyen University Publishing House, - 2010.
