Teaching, Teaching English Subject According to Competency Approach

1.2. Basic concepts of the topic

1.2.1. Management

Management is a social labor function originating from the labor nature of society.

Management was formed along with the emergence of human society. When human society developed through different methods, the level of social organization and management was increasingly improved. Management level is one of the three basic factors of social development (knowledge, labor and management level). All social activities need management activities and management activities are carried out by humans. Managers, management objects and the necessity of management were affirmed by C. Marx: "All direct labor or collective labor carried out on a relatively large scale more or less needs a direction to coordinate individual activities and perform common functions. An individual violinist conducts himself, and an orchestra needs a conductor" (cited in [23, p.34]).

Thus, C. Marx pointed out that the nature of management is a labor activity to control labor, an inevitable and important activity in the development process of human society. Management becomes a popular activity everywhere, at all times, in all fields, at all levels and is related to everyone. It is a social activity originating from the nature of community based on the division of labor and cooperation to do a job for a common goal.

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The concept of management is explained from many perspectives. According to author Nguyen Ngoc Quang: "Management is the purposeful and planned impact of the management subject on the collective of workers (generally the management object) to achieve the expected goals" (cited in [33]) .

According to authors Vu Van Dan and Vo Nguyen Du: "Management activity is the directed, purposeful impact of the management subject (manager) on the management object (managed person) - in an organization - to make the organization operate and achieve the organization's goals" (cited in [33]).

Author Tran Kiem believes that: "Management is the impact of the management subject in mobilizing, promoting, combining, using, adjusting, and coordinating resources (human resources, material resources, financial resources) inside and outside the organization (mainly internal resources) in an optimal way to achieve the organization's goals with the highest efficiency" (cited in [24, p.15]). Author Tran Quoc Thanh defines: "Management is the conscious impact of the management subject to command, control, and guide social processes, human behavior and activities to achieve the goal, in accordance with the manager's will, in accordance with objective laws" (cited in [15, p.21]).

There are many different definitions of management. But in general, the above definitions all show:

- Management is an inherent, constant attribute of every social labor process. Management labor is an important condition for human society to exist, operate and develop.

- The human factor plays a central role in management activities.

- Management is an activity carried out in an organization or social group.

- Management is both a science and an art. Therefore, in management activities, managers must be extremely creative, flexible, and adaptable to direct the organization's activities to their goals. Somehow, the managed must be willing to devote themselves, use all their abilities and intelligence to create benefits for themselves, the organization, and society.

Thus, management must include the following elements: there must be goals set for both objects and subjects as a basis for orientation for all activities of the organization, there must be content, methods, means, action plans and a certain environment. Management is the organized, targeted impact of the management subject on the management object to achieve the set goals in the changing conditions of the environment.

The management subject can be an individual or a group that has the function of managing or controlling the organization, making the organization operate and achieve its goals.

The main object of management is social people, because people use resources, technical equipment (also the object of management) and are also the subject of human society. This management object includes those who perform tasks in the organization, are influenced and directed by the management subject to achieve the goal. The management subject gives rise to management impacts, and the management object produces material and spiritual products with use value, directly meeting the needs of people, meeting the purpose of the management subject.

From the perspective of the above scientists, the thesis defines: " Management is a purposeful activity of the management subject affecting the management object in an organization by both scientific and artistic methods to achieve the set goals".

The above concept shows the content of management: The process of impact with purpose, planning, and orientation to achieve determined goals; there are management subjects and management objects; the content of functional management includes: Planning, organizing, directing and checking the implementation of the plan.

1.2.2. Competence, approach to competence

1.2.2.1. Capacity

Currently, there are many different definitions of capacity, some of the following concepts can be mentioned:

In the new comprehensive general education program of the Ministry of Education and Training, capacity is mentioned according to the activity theory approach : "Capacity is a personal attribute formed and developed through innate qualities and the learning and training process, allowing people to mobilize a synthesis of knowledge, skills and other personal attributes such as interest, belief, will,... to successfully perform a certain type of activity, achieving desired results under specific conditions" [14].

According to the Vietnamese Encyclopedia Dictionary , "Competence is an individual's characteristic that demonstrates the level of proficiency - that is, the ability to perform skillfully and confidently - one or several types of activities" (cited in [23]).

According to author Tran Khanh Duc : "Capacity is the ability to receive and apply comprehensively and effectively all human potentials (knowledge, skills, attitudes, physical strength, beliefs, etc.) to perform work or deal with a certain situation or state in life, which is professional labor" (cited in [23]).

Bernd Meier and Nguyen Cuong (2012) define: " Competence is the ability to responsibly and effectively perform actions, solve tasks and problems in different situations in professional, social or personal fields based on knowledge, skills, techniques and experience as well as readiness to act " [8].

From the above concepts, the author of the thesis determines: Capacity is the ability of an individual to solve situations, complete activities responsibly and effectively on the basis of knowledge, skills, attitudes and other personal attributes formed and developed during the learning and training process.

1.2.2.2. Competency approach

* Access to capacity

In educational science, when building a subject program, there are usually two approaches: the first is the content-based approach (objectives - knowledge content); the second is the output-based approach (objectives - performance capacity).

Content approach: is the way to present a list of topics and themes of a certain field (subject). That is, focus on identifying and answering the question: what do we want students to know? This approach is mainly based on the content requirements of a subject science, so it is often "academic", heavily theoretical and systematic, especially when the designer pays little attention to the potential, stages of development, needs, interests and conditions of the learner.

Outcome approach: is an approach that clearly states the results - the abilities or skills that students expect to achieve at the end of each stage of learning in school in a specific subject . In other words, this approach aims to answer the question: what do we want students to know and be able to do?

Teaching content according to the competency approach is not limited to professional knowledge and skills but includes groups of content aimed at developing

Develop competency areas including technical competency, methodological competency, social competency and personality competency.

The teaching method based on the competency approach not only focuses on activating students' intellectual activities but also focuses on training their problem-solving skills related to life and career situations, while linking intellectual activities with practical activities. Strengthening group learning and innovating the teacher-student relationship towards collaboration are important to develop social skills. In addition to learning individual knowledge and skills of specialized subjects, it is necessary to supplement complex learning topics to develop the ability to solve complex problems.

According to Le Thao Nguyen: "competency approach" is understood as "researching and applying to some extent some theories about competency-based teaching such as philosophy, principles and some appropriate content of competency-based teaching into teaching" [35].

Competency-based approach in teaching English in high schools is where teachers research and apply theories of competency-based teaching as a philosophy and principle to organize English teaching with the desire to develop learners' competencies according to established standards of knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

According to the author of the thesis, the competency approach in teaching English is an approach based on students' competency standards and focuses on developing students in a standardized direction (defined knowledge and skill standards).

1.2.3. Teaching, Teaching English according to competency approach

From different scientific perspectives of psychology, education, cybernetics, this thesis defines: Teaching is a process of purposeful, organized, and planned impact through teaching and learning activities to impart knowledge and skills to learners to achieve the set teaching goals.

Teaching English is a purposeful, organized, and planned process through English teaching and learning activities to impart knowledge and practice English learning skills for learners in order to achieve the set goals of teaching English.

From the concepts of "teaching English" and "competency approach ", it is determined that: Teaching English according to the competency approach is a process of purposeful and planned impact by teachers to organize students to acquire knowledge and skills of English subject to meet the prescribed competency standards (Knowledge and skill standards have been determined).

1.2.4. Managing English teaching based on students' competency approach

The current educational goal is focusing on developing students' dynamism, creativity and initiative in order to create their ability to recognize and solve problems. This point of view is even more true for foreign language teaching, because no one can replace students in mastering foreign language tools and using them in communication activities with their own communication skills.

Managing English teaching activities according to the competency approach is managing the development of subject objectives, content, organization forms, teaching methods and assessment, in which innovating English teaching methods is a key activity in innovating English teaching activities according to the competency approach.

The foreign language teaching method chooses communication as the main direction, communicative competences as the basic teaching unit, considering communication as both the purpose and the means of teaching (teaching in communication, by communication and for communication). This teaching method will best promote the role of the subject, initiative, and positivity of students. Students need to be equipped with ways to learn English and the awareness of self-study and practice. The teaching method according to the competency approach is the process of changing from the teacher presenting, analyzing language - students listening and taking notes to a new teaching method, in which the teacher is the one who organizes and helps students' learning activities, and students are the ones actively participating in the learning process. The basic criterion of the new teaching method is the independent, active, and proactive activities of students in solving communication tasks in foreign languages. The main criteria for evaluating students' learning outcomes are communication skills and language skills in specific communication situations.

In summary: Managing English teaching according to the competency approach is the process in which the school management subject takes the Competency Standards that students need to achieve as a basis to strategically impact the entire process of teaching and learning English.

The relevant forces aim to achieve the defined knowledge, skills and attitudes in students.

Students' knowledge, skills and attitudes standards in English are demonstrated through learning outcomes, communication and activities, and are focused on cognitive levels, learning attitudes and skills: Listening, speaking, reading and writing.

1.3. Some issues on teaching English according to competency approach in high school

1.3.1. Characteristics and ages of high school students

High school students are in adolescence, a stage of development that begins at puberty and ends at adulthood. Adolescence is the period from 15 to 25 years old, divided into 2 stages:

- The period from 15 to 18 years old: is the early stage of adolescence.

- Stage from 18 - 25 years old: the second stage of youth (student youth).

In young adults - high school students, initiative is strongly developed in all cognitive processes.

Observation becomes more purposeful, systematic and comprehensive. The observation process is more controlled by the second signal system and is not separate from linguistic thinking. However, the observation of students at this age is also difficult to be effective without the guidance and direction of adults and teachers. Therefore, teachers need to pay attention to orienting the students' observations to a certain task, not rushing to conclusions when not fully accumulating events, etc.

At the age of high school students, intentional memorization plays a leading role in intellectual activities, while the role of abstract logical memorization and meaningful memorization increases significantly (students use better methods of memorization, summarizing main ideas, comparing, contrasting, etc.). In particular, students create a differentiated mindset in memorization. They distinguish which documents need to be remembered word by word, which ideas to understand but do not need to be remembered, etc. However, some students still memorize in a general, general way, or are subjective in their memory and underestimate the need to review documents, etc.

Due to the complex structure of the brain and the development of brain functions, the development of cognitive processes, due to the influence of learning activities, thinking activities

The thinking of high school students has changed significantly. Students at this age have developed formal thinking. They have the ability to think logically and abstractly, independently and creatively in familiar or unfamiliar subjects. The thinking of students at this age is more consistent, rigorous and grounded. They can use materials such as scientific and intellectual concepts in the form of terms, propositions, etc. to think away from matter.

The strong development of logical thinking is closely related to creative thinking. Thanks to the ability to generalize, high school students can discover new things for themselves. For them, the important thing is how to solve the problems posed, not what kind of problems are solved. Accordingly, high school students evaluate smart friends in the class not based on their scores but on how to solve learning problems: solving exercises, thinking methods, solving situations that occur in real life and study... They tend to appreciate smart friends and teachers who have positive teaching methods, always listen and respect the independent thoughts of students. At the same time, they also criticize the constraints and mechanics in pedagogical methods.

Critical thinking also develops, children are able to evaluate and self-evaluate many relationships, surrounding objects and phenomena according to established scales of value. These characteristics create conditions for children to perform complex mathematical thinking operations, analyze the basic content of abstract concepts, grasp the cause-effect relationship in nature and society, etc. That is the basis for forming a worldview and many new scales of value.

However, currently, the number of high school students who have reached the level of thinking typical for their age is still not much. They do not pay attention to fully developing their ability to think independently, making hasty and emotional conclusions, etc. Therefore, helping them develop their awareness and capacity is an important task of teachers and schools.

1.3.2. Position and role of English in general education program

English is one of the basic subjects in high school, an important and indispensable part of general education, and also an effective means of exploiting information, a communication tool and updating social knowledge.

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