skkn tiếng anh 10 USING GAMES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS IN GRADE 10

I hope that the result of using games in teaching grammar will bring back many practical benefits to both the teachers and the students.. - To point out the application of games in teach

USING GAMES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS IN

GRADE 10

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 Reason for choosing the topic

Teaching is said not to be a work but a mission Everyone whose job is teaching knows that teaching is definitely a hard job and to be satisfied and successful needs actually much more effort, practice and experience than hardly one could believe Nowadays everything changes rapidly, students are not as they used to be, teachers use modern methods and approaches and they can use various equipments to make the education process modern, pleasant and as exciting as possible Teachers try to motivate and involve students into the learning process in the most interesting way And we know that if students are interested in the subject, they feel comfortable and learn better in an easy way

However, teaching English in general and grammar in particular at many high schools is still a theoretical process

Traditionally, many teachers approach grammar teaching very seriously, making the lesson dull and uninteresting Teacher just stands in front of the board, leads a long speech about some grammar rules, makes a long script on the board and finally, students are expected to do all the exercises in the book passively This

is “a process of pouring knowledge into students’ mind” like the way people put water into a bottle with a funnel It also means that acquiring knowledge is just for knowing and applying, and it is called “cognitive learning” Especially for teaching grammar, as we know, in the teaching method of Grammar Translation Method, students are not required to learn anything else rather than the formulas in textbooks and then apply them mechanically for doing exercises only Or in Audio-Lingual Method, learners are asked to repeat what they have learnt until they are familiar with them But we learn that those teaching methods are

ineffective because they cannot create an interesting atmosphere for students so most of them get bored in grammar lessons in spite of the fact that they know these grammar points are necessary for them

Considering all the above situations, in this writing, I mention the application

of using games in teaching grammar at Tri An high school And this is my reason for choosing "Using games in teaching grammar for students of grade 10 for my research" I hope that the result of using games in teaching grammar will bring back many practical benefits to both the teachers and the students

2 Aims of the study

The major aims of the study are:

- To affirm the role of grammar in teaching and learning English

- To emphasize the importance of motivation in teaching and learning grammar

- To point out the application of games in teaching grammar brings many benefits

to students in learning grammar

- To contribute a small part to the improvement of teaching and learning at Tri An high school

3 Scope of the study

The benefits of using games in teaching grammar in textbook of English of grade

10 create the effectiveness of students’ motivation in learning grammar and the

10A2)

4 Research questions

The study will help to find the answers to the following questions:

1 What are the role of grammar and the importance of motivation in learning grammar?

2 What benefits can grammar games bring to teachers and students?

3 What types of games should be used to teach grammar?

PART II RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH

1 The role of grammar in teaching and learning English

According to Harmer’s viewpoint (1987:12) “Without some understanding of grammar, students would not be able to do anything more than utter separate items

of language for separate functions The expression of functional language is only possible through the use of the Grammar of the language” Therefore, it is undeniable that grammar plays an important role in learning English And in order

to communicate effectively in English, students needs to have a good foundation of grammar In fact, grammar is the basis for mastering four language skills When

we have concrete foundation of grammar, we feel easy to advance

2 The importance of motivation in teaching and learning grammar

Motivation is the desire to study Strong motivation produces good result in study, just as in everything in life

As Harmer (1998: 25) says: Most students can remember lessons at school which were uninvolving and where they were ‘switched off’ from what was being taught to them Frequently, this was because they were bored, because they were not emotionally engaged with what was going on Such lessons can be contrasted with lessons where they were amused, moved, stimulated or challenged It seems quite clear that those lessons involved not only more ‘fun’, but also better learning Motivation is a vital element and strongly related to success in language learning If a learner is motivated, she will probably decide to undertake a particular task with certain amount of energy and time needed for it When students are engaged and motivated, they learn better than they are partly or wholly disengaged Especially, in a grammar lesson, as it is often considered as a boring subject, teacher needs to arouse students’ interest, thus involving their emotions

3 The application of games in teaching grammar

Games are said to be the most natural way to learn something Playing is an effective method for students of all age Through playing, students understand many principles of how things work and they can remember those structures longer since they connected with pleasure, fun and interesting To do this, teachers have

to make students get excited in the lessons and help them learn grammar English in

a relaxing and joyful way The class atmosphere is very important It makes students more eager and more interested in the lessons Broughton et al (1980: 87) pointed out that teachers should save room for songs, puzzles and games beside the lessons Therefore, games or grammar games are very useful and effective It makes the learning process a good deal more interesting And it is teacher’s duty to set up a system of various and attractive games to get students’ curiosity, interest and participation

4 Why use games in teaching and learning grammar?

Using games in teaching and learning grammar brings many benefits

Firstly, they are very motivating, even for those who are shy or are afraid of making mistakes

Secondly, games support using new grammar rules unconsciously

Thirdly, games teach students to communicate, cooperate so they learn not only grammar but other four skills- speaking, listening, writing and reading

Students may like to play games just for fun so teachers must be careful with which games to use, when to use and how to link the games with the grammar points in the English textbook grade 10

5 Types of games used to teach grammar

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: these games are very important They create the

cooperation among students

Code-control games: students must not make mistakes when playing these

games because they are controlled If not, they will lose points

PART III THE STUDY

1 Tri An high school and current situation of teaching and learning English

at the school

Tri An high school was established 15 years ago In spite of being located in a rural area, it has many good students who gets high prize in the exam of Dong Nai

Activity: Scramble game

Aim: to use the grammar point “present perfect passive”

Interaction: the whole class

When to use: When teaching Unit 5, part E- Language Focus

Time: 10 minutes

technology, which helps to create its success However, most of the students are good at natural subjects and like to learn those subjects so the school is trying to look for new methods which engage students in both natural and social subjects, especially English

2 The 10th form students in class 10A2

They are both male and female Lots of them come from large and poor families so their learning condition is not high Although they have learnt English for four years at lower secondary school, their knowledge of English in general and grammar in particular is still limited, just some students are good at English

3 Analyzing results of class observation

The researcher observes 4 different lessons and carry out 4 experimental lessons in class 10A2 ( 36 students), 2 lessons with grammar games and 2 lessons without games

* Using grammar games

UNIT 5- PRESENT PERFECT PASSIVE

Game:

+ Teacher asks students to work in groups of 5

+ Teacher prepares 15 sentences using passive voice, each sentence is cut up and put into a separate numbered envelope

+ Teacher tells students that they are going to unscramble and write the sentence in their notebooks, and then return the envelope to the teacher

+ The first group to unscramble all 15 sentences is the winner

Teacher’ sentences

made

satellit e

11 The computer has been repaired by the technician

s

UNIT 10: THE PASSIVE VOICE

Activity: Passive description

Aim: to practice the first conditional

Interaction: the whole class

When to use: When teaching Unit 8, part E- Language Focus

Time: 15 minutes

Procedures:

- Teacher divides students into 2 groups.

- Teacher writes the verbs they will need on the board:

Is /Are made of / in

Is / are found in

Is / Are grown / in

Is / are used to / for

- Teacher cut up the following pictures and put them face down on the table Each group takes turns to pick up one card and describes the object to the other group using the present perfect passive

- If the student fails to describe the object, this group misses a turn

- The group guessing the object wins a card

- The winner is the group with the most cards at the end of the game

* Findings

Students’ English speaking time

Most of the students in class work during the grammar games From the beginning until the end of the games, they try to complete the task given as soon as possible by answering and discussing with their peers As a result, the time for them to speak English is much (60%-70%)

Class atmosphere

When the teacher gives signals to stop, some students still try to answer the questions so the class atmosphere is very lively and noisy The cooperation and competition is about 70%- 75%

* Not using grammar games

Like an ordinary day of teaching, teacher introduces the new grammar point and teacher writes its name, its formation and rules Most of the time, students just listen and write down in their notebook Then they do the exercises in the book

Teacher calls on some students to do the exercise on the board and then teacher checks and gives feedback.

* Findings

Students’ English speaking time

Compared with lessons with games, here students have less chance to speak English, only about 30%- 40% because they spent more time on doing and rewriting the correct answers

PART IV EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GAMES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING GRAMMAR

1 Real situation of teaching and learning grammar at Tri An high school

The researcher finds that most students at Tri An high school spend much time on doing the exercises in the book passively Therefore, they can do exercises but not use the language in activities and real situation

Moreover, most of the teachers at this school find the benefits of using games in teaching grammar but only a few teachers use grammar games during their lessons

A large majority of students cannot make out immediately the grammar structure taught in class This is due to the fact that they often wait for their teacher to write

it on the board and then they note down and learn it by heart at home

Through teacher’s observation, it is very clear that most of the students like grammar games and would like their teacher to give them more games so that they can learn more quickly, remember longer and enjoy the lessons with so much fun.From observing, the researcher finds that the effectiveness of using games in teaching and learning grammar is beyond what one expects

2 Benefits gained through using games in teaching and learning grammar

The researcher finds that in grammar lessons that games were used, most of the students use English to discuss, to communicate so they can develop their 4 skills gradually Besides, when using games in teaching grammar, the teacher can create the active, lively and meaningful environment with high motivation for students to practise and use the target language So using games in teaching and learning grammar is a method that brings not only the effectiveness but also the attractiveness

In summary, the motivation of students in the lessons with grammar games is higher that of the lessons without grammar games.

games

Not using grammar games

Students’ English speaking

Table: Comparison of students’ motivation through lessons

PART V GAMES DESIGNED TO TEACH GRAMMAR POINT IN TEXTBOOK OF ENGLISH GRADE 10

The grammar points in textbook of English grade 10 are in part E- Language Focus after each unit When finishing the pronunciation part, the teacher goes straight to the grammar points

The examples of games below are chosen to teach grammar structures in the textbook of English grade 10 by the researcher

* UNIT 1: THE PRESENT SIMPLE, ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY AND

SIMPLE PAST

Activity: Verbs listing

Aim: to review the grammar point “simple present”

Interaction: the whole class

When to use: When teaching Unit 1, part E- Language Focus

Time: 10 minutes

Procedures:

- Teacher divides the class into 2 groups

- Teacher distributes handouts printed in large scale and asks them to underline the present verbs in the handouts The first member of the group pass the handout

to the second one and so on so that all the members in the group have a chance to underline the verb

- Teacher plays a piece of music when students play the game, after 5 minutes, teacher stops the music and students hand in their handouts

- The group that underlines many verbs in a limited time is the winner

- Teacher checks and leads into the review of the simple present

- Then teacher calls on 2 students to write the form and the usage of the simple present

The story:

Mary’s hobbies and interests

Activity: Adding and Matching

Aim: to practice the use of adverbs of frequency

Interaction: the whole class

When to use: When teaching Unit 1, part E- Language Focus

Time: 10 minutes

Mary has a lot of hobbies and interests She usually gets up early so she can run before work She doesn't often have time to ski, but she occasionally goes on Saturdays during the winter

Mary often rides a horse at a stable near her home She sometimes goes after work, but she usually goes horse riding on Sundays She loves music She always goes to choir practice on Wednesday evenings and sings in church on Sundays She doesn't have much extra money, so she rarely goes to concerts in the city She seldom watches TV because she likes doing things outside She usually goes to the gym if it's raining outside She isn't often alone because she has a lot of friends She occasionally does something alone, but she usually does her activities with one

of her friends She's a happy woman!

Game 2: ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

Procedures: