(SKKN 2022) applying some language games to create excitement for students and improve efficiency in reading part of unit 3 in grade 10 at yen dinh 1 high school

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ TRƯỜNG THPT YÊN ĐỊNH SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM APPLYING SOME LANGUAGE GAMES TO CREATE EXCITEMENT FOR STUDENTS AND IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN READING PART OF UNIT IN GRADE 10 AT YEN DINH HIGH SCHOOL Người thực hiện: Lê Thị Huyền Chức vụ: Giáo viên SKKN thuộc môn: Tiếng Anh THANH HOÁ NĂM 2022 INDEX TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 1.2 Reasons for choosing the research 1.2 Aims of the research 1.3 Object of the research 1.4 Researching method MAIN CONTENT 2.1.Theoretic basis of the problem 2.2 Realistic basic of the problem 2.3 Solutions to the problem 2.3.1 Types of games are used in the English classes 2.3.2 The Advantages and Disadvantages in Using Games 2.3.3 Some common language games used in English classes 2.3.4 Suggestions on using games 2.3.5 Applying the research to teaching 2.4 Result after applying the research in teaching CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 3.1 Conclusion 3.2 Recommendation REFERENCES 1 1 2 2 3 15 17 17 17 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Reasons for choosing the research It is undeniable that English, in recent years, has been considered as one of the most popular languages in the world It is now the key factor of globalization - of political views, international business as well as education As we know nowadays Vietnam expands more and more relationships with foreign countries, the need in studying a foreign language is growing steadily In fact, English is taught as a compulsory subject from primary schools to universities in Vietnam Hence, teaching English has become a phenomenon in Vietnam, especially to young learners However, in most public and private schools in Vietnam, teachers who are in charge of giving instructions are the center of the classroom, while students are interested in taking notes rather than speaking up their ideas and taking part in the lessons As a result, students aren’t really active and creative, which makes English class become boring and passive Many children are afraid of English subject, and then study ineffectively, which leads to low quality of the subject This requires teachers to teach English in variety ways to allow students to accurately and clearly express their ideas in English Teachers should change their role from instructors who dominate the class into educators whose role is to help, guide and support the students to acquire the foreign language There are many good ideas about English teaching It is not out of date to discuss the using games in the English classes, which is often considered as one of the best way to get the students involved in the classroom activities in which their communicative ability is practised and improved Thus, it is necessary to carry out such a study in English in order to improve students' achievement by applying language games, and offer observations or evidence proving whether games are helpful to the English language learning in Yen Dinh All the above-mentioned reasons and factors have inspired the writer to conduct a research titled “Applying some language games to create excitement for students and improve efficiency in Reading part of Unit in Grade 10 at Yen Dinh High School ” 1.2 Aims of the research -To introduce the role of games in teaching and learning English - To introduce some basic games to help teachers and students find interest in teaching and learning English -To introduce the method as well as some basic tricks to make the game in each lesson in a flexible, diverse and effective way - To show how to use language games effectively - To contribute a small part to the improvement of teaching and learning at Yen Dinh high school 1.3 Object of the research This subject is concerned with providing some language games and applying them for some activities in Reading lesson in Unit in English 10 1.4 Researching method Multi-methods are integrated to conduct this research, including mainly methods of observation and analysis Besides, the research is undertaken as a result of the reality of the long-time process of my daily teaching at school MAIN CONTENT 2.1 Theoretic basis of the problem “A game is an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun There are two kinds of games: competitive games, in which players or teams race to be first to reach the goal, and co-operate games, in which players or teams work together towards a common goal The emphasis in the games is on successful communication rather than on correctness of language” (Toth 1995) Additionally, games have teaching value, especially in second language learning and teaching Most of the experienced scholars have argued that games are not just a vital part of teaching English as a foreign language but have a great educational value Also, many scientists say that any game is one of the most important means of intellectual and moral education of children “Games can increase motivation to learn the language as students, especially the weaker ones, feel a real sense of achievement when they manipulate a game” (Hubbard 1987) In addition to the practice of English, the game is a teaching tool that activates the mental children’s activity, allows to make educational process more attractive and interesting, makes them worry in order to create a powerful stimulus in language acquisition The application of games in the teaching process enhances students’ motivation to learn and stimulates their interest in learning English, so that they can be actively engaged in learning by themselves “You want me to learn English” changes into “I want to learn English” They will be engaged in improving their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills Thus, games provide motivation for language learners, relieve their pressure in the learning process and provide them with a real opportunity to exchange ideas In other words, games prompt motivation so that students effectively learn the language (Amato, 1996) Games can be used at any stage in a lesson: at the beginning to diagnose what the students can or cannot do; during the lesson for language practice purposes; or at the end as reinforcement To summarize it all, we can say that, basically, game is one of the fundamental learning activities They are useful and effective tools for teachers to apply in language classes Using games helps to make the lessons more interesting, enjoyable, and effective 2.2 Realistic basic of the problem As can be seen, English is a rather difficult subject to students particularly the ones in rural areas In reality, a lot of students not have clear awareness of the importance of studying English; therefore they think it is not as stimulating as others subjects Most students, for the sake of the university entrance examinations, consider some other subjects, such as: maths, physics, chemistry, even biology more important than English As the result, they learn English with a rather ignorant attitude Some other students feel a little bored with English classes because they have to remember vocabularies or structures mechanically Additionally, most students at Yen Dinh High school have a low starting point with the average entrance score of English is about points or a bit lower Moreover, lots of them come from poor families, so learning conditions are limited They not have dictionaries, reference books, video tapes of machine support for the children the skills of listening, speaking, practice more These have affected the quality of their learning Therefore, learning English for them is really a challenging Using language games in English classes is an effective solution to motivate students, to make them interested in the lessons and to love English 2.3 Solutions to the problem 2.3.1 Types of games are used in the English classes - Competitive games: The aim of this type of games is to finish the game as soon as possible before others - Communication games: They are used to exchange information Students get information and they must react on it - Cooperative games are a form of play in which players work with one another in order to achieve a common objective The goal of a co-op game is to reduce emphasis on competition and increase emphasis on the social aspects of play or sport - Code-control games: students must not make mistakes when playing these games because they are controlled If not, they will lose points 2.3.2 The Advantages and Disadvantages in Using Games 2.3.2.1 Advantages - Games may cause learners to engage in their classroom more while creating an environment of learning with experience - Games are fun and can motivate and/or encourage the learner to continue playing - The interaction involved in games can help learners understand better - Games may improve critical thinking skills as well as reading comprehension - Games can be a source of stress relief for some people 2.3.2.1 Disadvantages - If games aren’t designed correctly, it could be a disadvantage to the learner’s thinking - Games may be a source of distraction and waste of time - If teachers aren’t familiar with technology (aren’t tech-savvy) the way students are, there could be a gap between teaching and learning - Games could lead to student addiction, thus causing physical/psychological problems 2.3.3 Some language games used in English classes (Applied for Unit 3: PEOPLE'S BACKGROUND- Reading) Games, as stated before, are interesting methods to teach and learn English They help students in learning foreign languages effectively without boredom and they will acquire the lessons easily For the reason of space, the games that will be discussed in this section are Who, About me, Face to face, and Who is quicker 2.3.3.1 Who “Who” game is one of my students’ favorite games and is always at the top of the list when I ask them what they want to play It is a variation of the Accelerator part of the old version of Quiz: “Road to mount Olympia” The aim of this game is to create initial inspiration for students and lead them into the lesson, so it needs to be concise, right focus of the lesson and effective This activity lasts about to minutes It is used to lead into the lesson: PEOPLE'S BACKGROUND To conduct this game, the teacher will divide the class into teams Each team has an extra board and a pen to write the answers The teacher plays a video with consecutive facts about a famous person for the students to watch and find the answer Students will watch the video and write answers as quickly as possible (video runs for only 40 seconds) The team with the correct answer in a shortest time will get points The team having the answer in the second fastest time will get points; points for the third fastest and the one with no answer will get no point (Video about Barack Obama) After playing the game, the children were very excited and engaged in new lesson eagerly After the class, I had a survey about the students' interest in the class and the results were very positive (results table is in the appendix) 2.3.3.2 About me “About me” often consists of Yes/No questions The main purpose of this game is to give students preliminary information about the text, specifically about Marie Curie It is useful in helping students develop speaking skills The information given should be concise and right focus of the lesson The game can be conducted from to minutes Questions should be short and should be in the form of Yes/No questions This activity is suitable for the Before You Read section The teacher provides keys about Marie Curie (for example: 1867, Paris, professor, Nobel Prize – the teacher can change other information as well), then divides the class into teams and asks the members of the teams to give Yes/ No questions about the above information for the teacher or administrator to answer Yes or No Example: Was Marie Curie born in 1867? The members of the two groups take turns to ask Yes/No questions until the information is clear (all the answers are Yes) The team with more “Yes” answers from the teacher will win the game After organizing the game, I did a survey about the effect of the game on the students by asking them to tell a little about Marie Curie's biography and the result was that most of them were interested in the lesson and grasp the initial basic information about the content of the lesson Many children confidently raised their hands to give a brief biography of Marie Curie based on the information the teacher gave 2.3.3.3 Face to Face “Face to Face” is an excellent way for students to consolidate information about the reading, specifically about Marie Curie, and inspires them after the While you read part This game also helps develop pronunciation skills for children, helps them have quick reflexes and grasp the lesson better The teacher writes the topic on the board (MARIE CURIE), then splits the class into teams facing each other and asks the members of the teams in turn to say the right words related to Marie Curie (for example: woman, professor, Nobel Prize, ) Students work in groups to the task given in - minutes If the team can say more words without repeating words, without hesitation, will be the winner (Ask students in each group should participate in the game) After applying this game, I found that students remembered more information, remembered more words and understood the lesson better, and their pronunciation skills improved significantly 2.3.3.4 Who is quicker This is a game that helps children consolidate information about the reading passage, specifically on the topic "BACKGROUND" and inspires them after the While you read part This game also helps develop children's ability to memorize vocabulary by topic This is a game that can be played instead of Face To Face above, but the difference is that in this game the children will write words related to the topic on the board The teacher writes the word BACKGROUND on the board in a vertical column Then, he/she divides the class into teams and asks the members of the teams to write a word containing the letter in the word BACKGROUND on their team's board The words written must relate to the biographical topic of Marie Curie Students work in groups to the task given in 5-7 minutes In turn, group members will write words on the board as required (example: BRILLIANT, ATOMIC, RADIUM, ) The winning team is the team that can write more words without repeating words, without getting the wrong topic, and can complete all the letters in the word sooner After organizing the game, students remembered more words related to the topic "BACKGROUND" and understood the lesson better 2.3.4 Suggestions on using games There are four elements which should be taken into consideration when playing games in English class Teachers should keep them in mind and apply the above discussed games to the practical situation appropriately in order to achieve the best results 2.3.4.1 Time The amount of teaching time devoted to games depends on the individual teaching content, but it will probably be a relatively small proportion of the total teaching time They can be used to open or close a lesson in a stimulation way, to punctuate a lesson, to relieve tension after a test or concentrated practice session, or at any time that the teacher feels appropriate It is important that they are used positively, to give students enjoyment and useful practice 2.3.4.2 Choice In each category of game mentioned above, there are different kinds of games So the teacher must take many factors into account when deciding which game would be most appropriate and most successful with his or her students at any time He or she should consider the level of the students, the main aim of having a game, the interest of the students, the appropriate time to use a game and the availability of aids and materials 2.3.4.3 Preparation Games may be good fun but they need to be carefully prepared and organized The teacher must be sure that the necessary facilities are available An overhead projector smart TV can be very useful if one is available If not, cards and the objects needed should be prepared in advance Also, the teacher should ensure clear handwriting on paper or cards so that the students will take the teacher's intentions seriously He or she must work out how the game is to proceed, what the students will need to and how they will be instructed in what to It is important to try to anticipate any logistic or linguistic problems that may occur in order to be able to deal with them effectively 2.3.4.4 Management The teacher must decide in advance how to organize the students and the classroom so that the setting up of a game can be carried out as quickly and smoothly as possible It is advisable to encourage pair and group work where possible, as this will increase student participation and the amount of language practice offered to each student will be much greater While the students are working, it is useful for the teacher to keep a close eye on pairs or groups to help, correct or stimulate less active students The teacher should stop a game and change to something else before the students become tired of it In this way, their willingness and concentration are retained 2.3.5 Applying the research to teaching (Lesson plan) UNIT 3: PEOPLE’S BACKGROUND A - Reading STAGE 1: DESIRED OBJECTIVES/ OUTCOMES A OBJECTIVES By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: get some information about Marie Curie by scanning and skimming a passage recognize the meaning of the words based on the text (words related to scientific aspect) use the information they have read to discuss the topic should try their best to pursuit their dreams B LANGUAGE FOCUS Key terms/ Vocabulary: humanitarian, brilliant, mature, harbour, atomic, tragic death, radium, background, obtain ……………… Key grammatical structure(s): Present simple tense, past simple tense, some phrasal verbs C INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES - Textbook - Pictures - Handouts - Audio file (reading text), computer, smart TV, speaker STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE Performance Tasks Identify the meanings of the words from the context (task 1) Performance products Assessment tools Student’s answers Answer keys & observation Read and decide whether the Answer key Student’s answers statements are true or false (task 2) observation & Students’ Read the questions and find out the interaction/ answer (task 3) discussion Observation Talk about Marie Curie Observation/ Peer observation, reflection, report Students’ talks STAGE – LEARNING PLAN/ LEARNING EXPERIENCES I Warm-up: Activity 1: Game: Who - Divide the class into groups with extra boards - Explain the rule of the game - Play the video with consecutive facts about Barack Obama - Ask students to watch the video and answer who the video is about - The group with the fastest and correct answers will get points, the second group will get points, points for the third and the last will get point The group with no answers or wrong answers will not get points 10 11 - asks students to give comment on other groups’ work - compares the answers and gives the comment Answer: Barack Obama Lead-in: We’ve known about some information of a famous president and now we will know about another famous person’s life Let’s move to our new lesson today: PEOPLE BACKGROUND (Part A - READING) II Pre - Reading Activity 2: Game: About me - Provide keys about Marie Curie - Divide the class into teams and ask the members of teams to ask Yes/No questions about the above information for the teacher to answer Yes or No - Students from each group take turns to ask Yes/No questions - The teacher will answer students’ questions - The team with more Yes answers will win the game Possible answer: Was she born in 1867? Was she the first woman to receive a PhD in Paris? Was she the first woman professor in France? Was she awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry? 12 - asks students to give comment on other groups’ work - compares the answers and gives the comment Activity 3: Matching (task in the textbook) - Explain the requirement - Ask students to read the passage individually and match the words or phrases in A with their meaning in B - Call on some students to read and explain their answer aloud in front on the class - Correct and conduct the correction Possible answer: c e Activity 4: Teach some more words + humanitarian (a/n) + mature (adj) + atomic (n) + death (n) + background (n) a d b + brilliant (adj) + harbour (v) + tragic (adj) + radium (n) + obtain (v) - Let the whole class read the new words twice or three times - Call 2-3 students to read new words again - Ask students to give more examples with these words to make sure they understand all of them III While-Reading Activity 5: Read and decide whether the statements are true or false (Task in the text book) - Explain the requirement - Have students read the passage more carefully and decide whether the statements are true or false - Walk round the classroom and correct mistakes - Get students to answer and give information - Ask students: Why is it true or false? Can you give me the information in the passage? Possible answer: T F (Her dream was to become a scientist) T F (She married Pierre Curie in 1895) T 13 Activity 6: Read the questions and give the answer: (Task in the text book) - Ask students to read the questions and find out the answers - Ask students to look through the passages then try to answer the questions in right way - Walk round the classroom and correct mistakes if necessary Possible answer: Marie Curie was born in Warsaw on November 7, 1867 She was a brilliant and mature student She work as a private tutor to save money for a study tour abroad She was awarded a Nobel prize in chemistry for determining the automatic weight of radium No , it wasn’t Her real joy was ‘easing human suffering” IV Post-Reading Activity 7: Game: Face to face - Write the topic “Marie Curie” on the board - Break the class into groups facing each other - Ask the members of the two groups in turn to say the words related to Marie Curie - The group which has more words will win the game Possible answer: - woman - professor - Nobel Prize - radium - scientific career - private tutor - Chemistry - interrupt - abroad - Paris - degree - flying colour - atomic weight - Warsaw ….…………………… Activity 8: Wrap-up & Homework: - Ask students to answer the following questions: -What have you learned today? -What have you gained today? 14 2.4 Result after applying the research in teaching Specific results Before applying language games Class The number of students Very Interested in English Rather interested in English A little interested in English Not interested in English 10A9 42 (9.5%) (14.3%) (21.4%) 23 (54.8%) 10A11 41 (7.3%) (12.2%) (19.5%) 25 (61%) Total 83 (8.4%) 11 (13.3%) 17 (20.5%) 48 (57.8%) Chart 1: Before applying the game After applying language games Class The number of students Very Interested in English Rather interested in English A little interested in English Not interested in English 10A9 42 12 (28.6%) 13 (30.9%) (16.7%) 10 (23.8%) 10A11 41 10 (24.4%) 12 (29.3%) (19.5%) 11 (26.8%) Total 83 22 (26.5%) 25 (30.1%) 15 (18.1%) 21 (25.3%) 15 Chart 2: After applying the game Chart 3: Students’ interest in English class before and after the Applying of Games 16 From the above results, it can be seen that the application of language games to foreign language teaching has yielded higher results than traditional teaching methods That motivated me to constantly strive bad luck to always achieve higher results in teaching It can be concluded from the results that the application of the teaching methodology above is appropriate, I realize that students are more eager and excited during English lessons The results show that this initiative is highly feasible and can be applied not only to students in the same class at Yen Dinh High school but also widely applied to high school students in the province CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 Conclusions From the above analysis, a conclusion can be drawn that teaching and learning English by means of language games is effective and efficient in improving students’ communicative ability Admittedly, there are many difficulties in using games in most English classes, but it is possible to use them as long as both teachers and students appreciate their value and function When using games, such factors as the time, choice, preparation and management should be put into consideration, which is the guarantee of successful use of language games in class In a word, using games in English teaching very well represents the theme of the communicative language teaching approach – “Communicating to learn” and “learning to communicate” Although the application of language games takes teachers a lot of time to prepare for the design of games in the class, anyway we also try to help young generation, for the country in the future, we try to our best to invest in a certain language knowledge for each student, help students use their capital basic language and application for their practical life Due to the limitation of time, references, practical experience and ability, mistakes are also inevitable in the thesis Comments and recommendations would be highly appreciated to better the thesis both in content and in the form 3.2 Recommendations Based on the above, the researcher offers the following recommendations: - Curricula designers, educators, and experts should include sufficient language games in the syllabus in order to encourage and motivate the students in learning the foreign language - Teachers should change their role from instructors who dominate the class into educators whose role is to help, guide and support the students to acquire the foreign language - School authorities should invest more consulted documents for teachers, to have abundant library for students to study documents - Special subjects should be organized more regularly to innovate teaching methods for all teachers of English to attend and they can have themselves the 17 best teaching method 18 Xác nhận thủ trưởng đơn vị Thanh Hóa ngày 30 tháng năm 2022 I hereby declare that this is my innovative experience and that no parts of the initiative have been copied and reproduced by me from any other’s work without acknowledgement Writer Lê Thị Huyền REFERENCES Sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh 10 – NXB Giáo Dục Thiết kế giảng Tiếng Anh 10 Hubbard, J (1987) A Training Course for ELT Oxford: Oxford University Press Hadfield, J (2007) Elementary Communication Games.Longman https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/cooperative-games https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/10-best-games-esl-teachers http://www.academypublication.com/issues/past/jltr/vol03/04/28.pdf 8.http://www.asrjetsjournal.org/index.php/American_Scientific_Journal/article/v iew/3508 https://ibn.idsi.md/sites/default/files/imag_file/333-336_7.pdf 10.https://saraaugust.wordpress.com/2016/05/08/pros-cons-of-game-basedlearning/ ... games to create excitement for students and improve efficiency in Reading part of Unit in Grade 10 at Yen Dinh High School ” 1. 2 Aims of the research -To introduce the role of games in teaching... interested in English Not interested in English 10 A9 42 12 (28.6%) 13 (30 .9%) (16 .7%) 10 ( 23. 8%) 10 A 11 41 10 (24.4%) 12 (29 .3% ) (19 .5%) 11 (26.8%) Total 83 22 (26.5%) 25 (30 .1% ) 15 (18 .1% ) 21. .. Very Interested in English Rather interested in English A little interested in English Not interested in English 10 A9 42 (9.5%) (14 .3% ) ( 21. 4%) 23 (54.8%) 10 A 11 41 (7 .3% ) (12 .2%) (19 .5%) 25 ( 61% )