The role of games on language lessons.

Language learning is hard work.  Effort is required at every moment and must be maintained over a long period of time. Games help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work.Games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. The learners want to take part and in order to do so must understand what others are saying or have written, and they must speak or write in order to express their own point of view or give information.The need for meaningfulness in language learning has been accepted for some years. A useful interpretation of 'meaningfulness' is that the learners respond to the content in a definite way. If they are amused, angered, intrigued or surprised the content is clearly meaningful to them. Thus the meaning of the language they listen to, read, speak and write will be more vividly experienced and, therefore, better remembered [10]. Games have a great educational value and it can be used in the classroom to make learners use the language instead of just thinking about learning the correct forms. Games encourage learners to interact, cooperate, to be creative and spontaneous in using the language in a meaningful way. Learners want to take part in activities; to play games and are generally quite competitive. In order for them to take part they must be able to understand and communicate in the target language. Games also encourage learners to keep interested in the work and a teacher can use them to create contexts in which the language is useful.

Games are used as methods or techniques to involve students in learning. Well-chosen and designed games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow learners to practice language skills. The benefits of games range from cognitive aspect of language learning to more co-operative group dynamics and as a result games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging. Ersoz [2000] states that games can be used to give practice in all language skills and they can be used to practice many types of communication. Huyen [2003] identifies the advantages of using games to learn vocabulary in the classroom: a) Games add relaxation and fun, so the learners retain words more easily. b) Games involve friendly competition, so it keeps learners interested and motivated. c) Vocabulary games bring real world context to the classroom. Mei [2000] emphasizes similar points by saying that it encourages active learning, as well as collaboration and interactivity. Interactive learning techniques also hold memory, performance and social benefits. According to I-Jung [2005] the benefits of using games in language-learning include that games are learner centered, encourages creative and spontaneous use of language and foster participatory attitudes of the learners[11]. Kim [1995] states more general advantages of using games in the classroom and they include:

1.Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class.

2.They are motivating and challenging.

3.Learning a language requires a great deal of effort. Games help students to make and sustain the effort of learning.

4.Games provide language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing, listening and reading.

5.They encourage students to interact and communicate.

6.They create a meaningful context for language use.

Students learn through experimenting, discovering and interacting with their environment. Students need variation to increase their motivation. By using games students already have a context in which the use of the target language is immediately useful. This learning situation is similar to how mother tongue speakers would learn without being aware they are studying.

§ A game must be more than just fun.

§ A game should involve " friendly" competition.

§ A game should keep all of the students involved and interested.

§ A game should encourage students to focus on the use of language rather than on the language itself.

§ A game should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review specific language material.

Using games is one of the most  important  way to teach efficiently in a language class[12]. Games mean the world to children. Nothing is more fun than playing games for them because they feel happy and free while playing. Remember when you were a child, you will remember the games you played and the happiest moments of your life. It does not matter indoor or outdoor, we can  not deny the importance of games. If students learn with games, have fun, feel happy and free, it means that you have reached your goals. Games strengthen language skills, besides, learners develop social skills and good relationships while they interact with each others. Do not only get learners to play indoors games. It is useful to try outdoor games whenever the weather is nice. For example even we know board games as indoor games, you can use them in the open air. If there are garden seats outside in the playground, you can use them as desks. Even the idea of going out will make the students excited. They have already got tired and bored of sitting and being in the same class and desks.

As soon as you say ’’Let’s go to the playground, it’s game time ’’they will go down the stairs two by two. Whatever your goal is (speaking, grammar points, vocabulary ) you must believe that every game you have students play, is much more useful than tons of exercises and worksheets and you get more positive results than anything else. If you ask how often I should use games, do not worry about this. You should not put a fixed time for games.Most teachers keep songs and games for Fridays.You should always have a ready-to-use game in your pocket.When you feel that children are bored and tired, take them out and use them. You can get students to play short games (for 10 or15 minutes)to refresh your little ones. You do not lose time, on the contrary you win.Another thing you should remember, if you put the games you use for each unit in your yearly plan, it will be helpful for you. Generally group games are more useful. They are competitive and children come closer with each other. With the feeling of coming first they often have a look at their books or notebooks before a game. Sometimes you should mix the groups during a game so they can play with different ones.But you should be careful about the dose of the rivalry, if the feeling is high, you  may start The World War III. Because young learners are more energetic and active they enjoy exciting games. But teenagers do not like childish games. They prefer more challenging ones such as word games. I would like to give an example of the word games I used. At the end of a unit to consolidate the vocabulary you taught, take your students outside to the basketball field. The whole class should join the activity. If there are 20 or 25 students, this game works well. Write the revised vocabulary items on small cards. (One word for one card) Put these cards into a hat or a bag. Have the students make a line in front of the basket- ring. Give the basketball to the first student.Let him/her draw a card out of the hat. First ask him/her the meaning of the word. (Either in English or in their native language, it is up to you.)If you get the correct answer give him/her one point.  Then want him/her to make a sentence with the word. If she/he knows again, give another one point.The last step: Let him/her pass the ball through the basket-ring. You should give one point for one of the three tasks. Whoever gets the highest point, he/she wins. Of course there may be more than one winner. One important point in teaching English with games is rewarding. You should not neglect this point. Everyone who succeeds a hard task would like some praise or a gift. I know you always praise your students. But giving small presents motivates them. They do not have to be expensive ones. According to your learners’ ages you can give them different presents. For your teenagers you can make CDs which have popular pop songs or another suitable gift can be a second-hand graded reader. If you play English games with young learners very often, you should think of your budget. They can be happy with small things. Have a  beautiful, colorful bag with some sweets, candies and small chocolates in it to give to the winners. One problem with using games in the classroom is that some teachers feel lazy. They often complain that they do not enough time to prepare the games. Surely, some games need preparation and time. If a game needs some stationery (such as some cardboard, paste crayons, etc.), it really takes some time. On the other hand there some easy games that do not need any preparation.If you have an archive with instructions of games in your personal file, you do not have to look for them when you need[13].

In conclusion, using games is an efficient way to teach English in the classroom. This way you get the best results in the classroom.It arises students’ motivation. Games prepare young learners for life and they acquire positive social attitudes. Games teach sharing, helping each other and working as a team. A child learns by doing, living, trying and imitating. So this kind of learning is lasting. During games some feelings such as the pleasure of winning and the ambition of losing may arise. This gives to the teacher an idea about student’s character.So games are must-have activities for hardworking teachers.

Conclusion

  The question for teachers is how to create classrooms where students will be motivated and engaged, where they can communicate using English with others, and where they become more independent and interdependent in their learning. Creating student-centered classrooms can significantly increase the probability of accomplishing this task. Students are provided with an opportunity to expand their knowledge beyond the original context and beyond the classroom. These classrooms focus on more than what Hall (1989) refers to as simple classroom situational language and allow for more cultural and contextual knowledge which makes for more accurate use of the language in context. It is important for teachers to keep in mind the following. First, not all speaking or writing is truly communicative. Students reading a dialogue in front of a class or performing a role-play or describing a picture in a textbook is not necessarily a communicative production. Effective communicative tasks need to have a problem that needs to be resolved or a task that needs to be complete students’ critical thinking skills. The task should have some consequence or relevance to the students working on it and preferably this relevance should be beyond the “grade” for completing the exercise. These are the types of tasks that produce the most learning (cf. Pica and Doughty, 1985). Further, students should be engaged in the tasks through the use of higher-order thinking skills. Going beyond the “read, recognize, and remember” aspects of language suggests that students will be able to retain language and structures longer and will be able to generate useful language in unfamiliar situations. This happens because a need is created when students move into the stages of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Such tasks cannot normally be done with “canned” speech. These provide the opportunity and necessity for all students to participate and learn. Remember to choose an objective that can actually be accomplished in a day. Present small chunks of material each session making sure that students have enough time to practice and reflect on that material. Give students a variety of tasks to perform and make sure that the tasks are specifically related to the objective, contain little if any new material beyond that presented in the lesson, employ a variety of activity types, and include at least one production activity. You may not be able to have true production activities every day but there should be at least one for every unit.

On the basis of the literary sources studied we can come to the following conclusions that learner-centered teaching engages students in the hard, messy work of learning. We  believe teachers are doing too many learning tasks for students. They ask the questions, they call on students, they add detail to students answers. They offer the examples and organize the content. They do the preview and the review. On any given day, in most classes teachers are working much harder than students. We are not suggesting teachers never do these tasks, but we don't think students develop their learning skills without the chance to practice and in most classrooms the teacher gets far more practice than the students. That's why, we think that we should use learner-centered methods of teaching.

 An important goal in language teaching is to create opportunities for students to participate in authentic uses of language in order to facilitate 

their language learning. Learner-centeredness is an approach which emphasizes on creating opportunities and giving optimum time and space to the students to participate in authentic classroom activities. Similarly,

learner-centered teaching refers to teaching that reflects learners individual differences in cognitive styles, motivation needs and interests

Teachers have sole authority in teacher-centered teaching however such authority is deliberatively handed over to the students in learner-centered

teaching. Developing a learner-centered focus to our teaching involves

drawing on students life experiences, creating opportunities for students 

to interact and co-operate, and to develop a sense of shared interests

and concerns. If we can engage out students in our classroom

activities in real sense, we can ensure effective teaching and learning.

     

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Bains, 2012, p47.

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Appendix

Types  of Games

Elementary GRAMMAR GAMES

Introducing  yourself

Give each student a role card and a table to complete. Look at the categories on the table: name, where from, age and job and practise the questions students need: (What’s your name? Where are you from? How old are you? What do you do? ) Ask the class to stand up and walk around talking to other students to complete their table.

Richard Lewis United States 22 Police officer	Chiara Marinetti Italy 28 Artist	Xiao Ming Chen Taiwan 35 Teacher
Amelie Leblanc Switzerland 27 Banker	Pierre Duchamps France 32 Pilot	Katrin Jonsson Iceland 22 Librarian
Pablo Perez Mexico 41 Managing Director	Antonia Gomez Spain 24 Doctor	Mehmet Uslu Turkey 25 Pilot
Suzy Grant Australia 19 Student	Andrew Wright Britain 41 Writer	Saleh Al-Fulani Saudi Arabia 32 Computer engineer
Takanori Sato Japan 35 Chef	Kaeun Park Korea 23 Athlete	Helga Klein Germany 31 Politician

 

 

NAME?	WHERE FROM?	AGE?	JOB?
Richard Lewis
Chiara Marinetti
Pierre Duchamps
Amelie Leblanc
Antonia Gomez
Pablo Perez
Suzy Grant
Andrew Wright
Takanori Sato
Kaeun Park
Saleh Al Fulani
Mehmet Uslu
Katrin Jonsson
Xiao Ming Chen

© ELTgames.com

                                         

2)Question words (Who…? What? etc.)

Cut up enough cards for one per student. It doesn’t matter how many students there are in the class. They complete the questions in writing in any way they like. Quickly check their questions are OK. Then the students stand up and circulate, asking each other their questions..

 

Who __________________________________?

Where do you __________________________________?

When __________________________________?

How do __________________________________?

What time __________________________________?

How much __________________________________?

How many __________________________________?

Which __________________________________?

Why __________________________________?

© ELTgames.com

                                                   31

2) Simple past with was/were

Divide the class into teams of 2 to 5 students. Each team receives a handout, and completes the questions with their own ideas. Briefly check the questions are OK. Then have a class quiz – Team A ask team B as question, then Team B ask team C a question, and so on. Keep the score on the board.

Was/were Quiz Complete the questions, then ask other teams. 1. Who was the first _______________________? 2. What was the real name of _______________________? 3. Where was _______________________ born? 4. What nationality was _______________________? 5. Who president of the USA in _______________________? 6. Where were the _______________________ Olympic Games?

© ELTgames.com 2007

 

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