Using games in teaching warm up activities for non major english students to improve their english language

Contents PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study Research Subjects Method of study Participants PART II: DEVELOPMENT An overview of using games in teaching English 1.1 What is a game 1.2 The advantages of using Games in teaching English 1.3 Major issues of the English teaching Applying games to teach 2.1.Game: Slap the Board 2.1.1 The aim of the game 2.1.2 The general steps 2.2 Game: "If I " 2.2.1 The aim of the game:"If I " 2.2.2 The general steps 2.3 Game: Kim’s game 2.3.1 The aim of the game Kim’s game 2.3.2 The general steps 2.4 Game hangman 2.4.1 The aim of the game 2.4.2 General Steps 2.5 Game: Number matching 2.5.1 The aim of the game 2.5.2 General Steps 2.6 Game: Lucky number 2.6.1 The aim of the game 2.6.2 General Steps 2.7 Compared to the amount of the initial survey 2.8 Effectiveness of the study for educational activities, colleagues and the school PART III: CONCLUSION Summary of the main findings Conclusion Recommendations REFERENCES page 1 1 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 7 9 10 10 10 12 13 14 14 15 15 16 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays English has become an international language because it is widely used in many parts of the world In the tendency of integration of the global economy, English is one of the effective communicative tools for everybody The role of English is considered to be very important in the fields of economics, politics, science, culture and education Especially, Vietnam’s official membership of WTO on 7th November 2006 opened a new door for integrating into the world economy, and more and more people want to learn English for communicating with foreign partners, tourism, study tours, etc In VN, English is taught at school for students of different levels It is a fact that students usually have difficulty in mastering their English language, which forces teachers to find out different ways to better their English lesson According to some researchers Mr Numan, Mrs Bernard James., Mr Chistopher Brumfit, using games in the pre-teaching stage helps students and teachers complete their lesson in an effective way So, the writers try to offer them such games as: chairs game, guessing game, Hangman, lucky numbers, Noughts and Crosses Rub out and remember, Slap Board, Square Word, Networks, game Kim ) When teaching non – major English students at Nhu Xuan High School, I found out that using games is very important in teaching English and it also has significant effects on the students’ skills If students not have chances to apply games into English lessons, they can not understand them perfectly Aims of the study The major aims of the study are: - to improve the quality of the lessons - to help students understand themes and memorize new words, structures more easily - To contribute a small part to the improvement of teaching and learning at Nhu Xuan high school Research subjects This subject will help students interested in accessing new words, structures to improve their little skills now Method of study - Research in the teaching of English at Nhu Xuan High School - School year 2016 - 2017 - Grade 11A1, 11A8, 12B5, 12B7 - Using hangman game, If I game, lucky number game; using questions to promote students’ answers - Using comparison in percent before and after studying to assess the quality of teaching and study Participants The subjects chosen for the research include students in class 11A1, 11A8,12B5, 12B7 of Nhu Xuan High School with the survey questionnaires, and teachers who are currently teaching English Their experience of teaching English varied from one year to 20 years The research was carried out during the first term of the academic year 2016 – 2017 at Nhu Xuan High School PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT An overview of using games in teaching english 1.1 What is a game? (Internet sources) First, we should know what exactly a language game is According to Toth (1995) “a game is an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun There are two kinds of game: competitive games, in which players or teams to be first to reach the goal, and co- operate games, in which players or teams work together toward a common goal The emphasis in the game is on successful communication rather than on correctness of language” [2] Obviously, language games help learners know how to use the language instead of just thinking about learning the correct forms ( Lee 1979)[] 1.2 The advantages of using Games in teaching English Many experienced scholars have argued that games are not just timefilling activities but have a great educational value It is used to be thought that games are only used for warm- up activities or when there is some time left at the end of a lesson Nevertheless, games can more than that Games have a lot of advantages “Firstly, I want to emphasize that games help students to reduce stress during their studying Games make them funny, happy, interesting and comfortable when they are played games, which will help students concentrate on the lesson and learn better Moreover, pupils will remember English words, structures according to games the most effectively In addition, games help students to interact with other members in the class In fact, games create the opportunity for them to make friends with other members in the class They become friendly and have a close-knit relationship After playing games, they will learn experiences, share knowledge and exchange skills with their friends, which makes children learn well Furthermore, when the students are played games they will have the chance to increase the cooperation They will cooperate with your friends to try their best to win the games In addition, at the end of game, the children have the opportunity to evaluate other groups, which rises the cognitive ability of children To sum up, games are very effective in teaching English for non- major English Being an English teacher it is very necessary for you to use games in teaching English for students in the future”[1] 1.3 Major issues of the English teaching Nhu Xuan district is a mountainous area It is considered a poor district As the school has 1250 students, but the quality is not very high Teachers used simple method, they often give new words, structures and ask students read and learned by heart at home Results before using games in teaching School year: 2015-2016 Class 10A1 10A8 11B5 11B7 Number of students 40 38 38 35 Good Rather Amoun (%) Amoun (%) t t 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10 12 20.0 23.7 26.3 34.3 Average Amoun (%) t 22 24 22 19 55.0 63.2 57.9 54.3 Weak Amoun (%) t 10 25.0 13.2 15.8 14.3 You can see the above table, good students accounted for zero percent for four classes in term of being interested in learning English, the weak students accounted for high percent ( from 13 to 25) Applying games to teach 2.1.Game: Slap the Board (Internet sources) 2.1.1 The aim of the game: It helps students to understand and remember new words 2.1.2 The general steps: For unit 1: Home Life – Language Focus ( English12) Teacher’s activities & content Students’ activities Warm up: (5’) Two teams of Ss from sides go Divide the whole class into two teams to the board Have Ss play a game called Slap the board, Write down some words on the Play the game board: looks, doors, knives, texts, kids, flights, leftovers, rules, secrets, chores, Listen boys, parents, enjoys [4] Listen and open the textbooks knives doors flights leftovers secrets rules parent s Read aloud the words Introduce the way to distinguish the pairs /s/ and /z/ Introduce the new lesson 2.2 Game: "If I " 2.2.1 The aim of the game:"If I " It helps students understand condition one sentence easily 2.2.2 The general steps: For unit 8: The story of my village ( English 10) Teacher’s activities & content Students’ activities Divide the class into two equal Each team member will take out a teams, each team member will take small piece of paper to write on their out a small piece of paper to write on dreams their dreams The first team writes whole sentences in English begin with the words "If I " Do the instruction Team A The second one writes whole Student A: If I am good at English, sentences in English begin with the Student B: If I am famous for singing letter "I will " Beneath each sentence contest, … must enroll to vote or write a pair, which means most funny, witty as well Team B as worst sentences Student C: I will pass the exams Student D: I will be an English teacher After writing, the paper will be put in hats, a section containing "If I " and a section containing "I will " Choose a best sentence that winner: “If I am good at English, I will be an English teacher” 2.3 Game: Kim’s game 2.3.1 The aim of the game Kim’s game: It helps students understand or realize exact jobs 2.3.2 The general steps: For Unit 6: FURE JOBS – Speaking ( English 12) (Internet sources) Teacher’s activities & content Have Ss play the game called Kim’s Game Explain the rule of the game Post the poster on the board containing some jobs: Doctor, farmer, taxi-driver, policeman, teacher, worker, footballer, nurse, manager, waiter… Put the poster down the table and give Ss one minute to discuss the answers Call on four members from four groups to go to the board and write their answers Repost the poster to check the answers Announce the winners, comment and introduce the speaking lesson Students’ activities Listen to T’s instruction Look at the poster and try to remember Discuss to write down as many songs as possible Four representatives go to the board and write in limited time Look a the poster and check Listen and open the textbooks 2.4 Game hangman 2.4.1 The aim of the game It helps students easily to understand and remember the new word in the reading lesson 2.4.2 General Steps For unit 5: Computer - Reading English 10 (Internet sources) Teacher’s activities & content Students’ activities Divide the class into two teams and Work in teams prepare for two different groups of teams, which team has more than the correct answer will win; or you can divide the class into four teams, teams and quiz each other buffet from (team word- puzzle team 2, Team wordpuzzle Team 3, Team word- puzzle team 3, team word- puzzle team 1) Suggests letters of the words Picture 1: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Picture 2: _ _ _ _ _ Picture 3: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Picture 4: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Picture 5: _ Picture 6: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Picture7: D _ I_ S_C Picture 8: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Look at the picture and try to guess all new words Work in groups Group A: guessing word for Picture7 C - false Group B: guessing word for Picture7 D true I- true S true C true DISC: Group B won Check groups’ answers Expected answer: Picture 1: COMPUTER Picture 2: MOUSE Picture 3: PRINTER Picture 4: KEYBOARD Picture 5: CPU Picture 6: PLOPPY DISK Picture 7: DISC Picture 8: SPEAKER 2.5 Game: Number matching (Internet sources) 2.5.1 The aim of the game It helps students easily to remember the vocabulary, grammatical structures: because of, in spite of 2.5.2 General Steps For unit 7: The mass media ( Language focus – English 10) Teacher’s activities & content Students’ activities Divide the class into two teams: Team A Work in teams and team B Ask each team to choose couples Choose couples Ask couples in two teams to come the black- board and stand on two sides Number two teams: Team A:1- a, 2-b, 3c,4- d, 5- e Team B: 1- a, 2- b, 3- c, 4- d, 5- e Students in numbers Because the cold weather In spite of the cold weather 2.Because of the Come to the board to this exercise Expected answer: 1- c, d 2- a 3- g 4- h Students in letters a We could not see what was going on b We had to cancel appointment c We kept the 10 large crowds In spite of the large crowds Because of the meat shortage In spite of the meat shortage Because of his illness In spite of his illness fire burning all day d We all wore shorts e They enjoy living there f The council demolished it g We have managed to get some beef h He kept fire burning all day I We managed to go to class 2.6 Game: Lucky number (Internet sources) 2.6.1 The aim of the game is helped students to understand the new word in reading lesson easily 2.6.2 General Steps + For unit 1: Daily routine - Reading - English 10 Teacher’s activities & content Students’ activities 11 Explain the rule: In eight of the box, Listen to the rule I will have one or two cells are fortunate not to answer questions that still reward (bonus, gift or applause is due to teachers) The remaining cells are students selected questions are then answered any questions (questions related to the lesson) Answer the questions Elicit from Ss what kind of question used to talk about your A day in the life Expected answer: of • I often get up at 5.30 • What time you often get up? • I usually have breakfast at 6.00 • What time you go to school? • I have breakfast at home with • What time you have my family breakfast? • I usually have lunch at 11.30 • What time you have a bath? • I usually have dinner at 6.30 • What time you go to bed? • I often have breakfast and go to • Lucky number school • What you often in the • I often learn my lesson and play evening? football with my friends • What you often in the afternoon? • I often have dinner and watch news or films • Lucky number • A present • • What time you usually go to bed? I usually go to bed at 11.00 + For unit 9: Undersea World – Reading- English 10 (Internet sources) Teacher’s activities & content Students’ activities 12 Explain the rule: In eight of the box, I will have one or two cells are Pay attention to the rule fortunate not to answer questions that still reward (bonus, gift or applause is due to teachers) The remaining cells are students selected questions are then answered any questions (questions related to the lesson) Elicit students to look at the map and Look at the map and give the give the Vietnamese names for the Vietnamese names oceans on the map • • • • • • Expected answer: • Pacific Ocean: Thái Bình Dương What does the Pacific Ocean (Đại dương lớn giới) mean? • Atlantic Ocean: Đại Tây Dương What does the Atlantic Ocean (Đại dương lớn thứ nhì mean? giới) What does the Indian Ocean • Indian Ocean: Ấn Độ Dương mean? (Đại dương phía đông Phi châu What does the Artic Ocean phía Nam châu Á) • Artic Ocean: Biển Bắc Cực mean? What does the Antarctic Ocean • Antarctic Ocean(Southern mean? Ocean): Vùng biển quanh Nam Lucky number cực Antarctica 2.7 Compared to the amount of the initial survey Result before applying games to teach School year: 2015-2016 Class 10A1 Number of students 40 Good Rather Amoun (%) (%) Amoun t t 0.0 10A8 38 0.0 11B5 38 0.0 10 11B7 35 0.0 12 20 23 26 34 Average Amoun (%) t 22 24 22 19 55 63 57 54 Weak (%) Amoun t 10 25.0 13.2 15.8 14.3 13 3 Results after applying the research in teaching School year: 2016-2017 Class 11A1 Number of students 40 Good Amoun (%) t Rather Amoun (%) t 10.0 14 11A8 38 2.6 10 12B5 38 10.5 16 12B7 35 5.7 20 35 26 42 57 Average Amoun (%) Weak Amoun (%) 20 5.0 2.6 2.6 0.0 t 26 27 15 50 68 71 42 t The above tables disclosed that the good students accounted percent after applying the research in teaching helps students interested in increased 1% to 4%, rather students accounted from 8-12 percent increased 10-20 percent and bad students decreased just -2% 2.8 Effectiveness of the study for educational activities, colleagues and the school Through the study of methods to help students interested in all new lesson as soon as the game on I realized that English is not boring and hard like a long time it was thought by each class of students to be examined break, to relax after stressful periods other Each lesson has the game to help students more interested, motivated and vitality Through students have found it more effective lessons And it is easy to see the effectiveness of this right in the learning outcomes of the children from the rate of excellent and good students are increasing and the rate of weak students no more This experience initiative has good effect to the education movement in local school and it suits rural students and the facilities of the school 14 PART III: CONCLUSION Summary of the main findings We can see that it is necessary to use games in teaching because games help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful Even though games are often associated with fun, we should not lose sight of their pedagogical value, particularly in foreign language teaching and learning Games are effective as they create motivation, lower students’ stress, and give language learners the opportunity for real communication Games promote learners’ interaction Interaction comprises the nature of classroom pedagogy and classroom behavior Pair or group work is one of the main ways to increase cooperation Many games can be played in pairs or in small groups, thereby providing an opportunity to develop their interpersonal skills such as the skill of disagreeing politely or the skill of asking for help In the classroom learners will definitely participate in the activities Therefore, in groups or in pairs, they are more willing to ask questions, communicate and discuss topics with their partners and think creatively about how to use foreign language to achieve their goals The competition in the games gives students a natural opportunity to work together and communicate with each other a lot Games improve learners’ language acquisition Thanks to the motivation and interaction created by games, students can acquire knowledge faster and more effectively than by other means Games can stimulate and encourage students to participate in the activity since they naturally want to win Apart from having fun, students are learning They acquire a new language Students begin to realize that they have to use the language if they want others to understand what they are saying Furthermore, games can lower anxiety In the easy, relaxed atmosphere which is created by using games, students remember things faster and better The meaning of the language students listen to, read, speak and write in will be more vividly experienced in a game and, therefore, they will better remember the language they learn 15 Games increase learners’ achievement Games can involve all the basic language skills, i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and a number of skills are often involved in the same game Games can motivate learners, promote learners’ interaction, and improve learners’ acquisition As a result, games can increase learners’ achievement, which means that learners’ test results, ability of communication, knowledge of vocabulary, or other language skills can improve Conclusion Through the process of applying new teaching methods in the teaching departments, namely the application of the language games were predecessors in the same field so creative, I draw some lessons In the process of applying the familiar game, need to take measures to change or modification to suit each lesson and each object to avoid boredom Recommendations In Vietnam, it is normal that there are 40 to 50 students in a language classroom at high school This makes the teachers meet many difficulties in conducting a language lesson However, the situation can not be changed in a short period of time so the teacher should get over all these difficulties by making sure that the classroom facilities are comfortable enough before the Choosing techniques is the day – to – day business of every English teacher Games play a very important role in lessons because if the teacher conducts this stage successfully, the classroom atmosphere will change and also the students’ performance will be much better Therefore, the teacher should make sure that the following things are done perfectly First of all, preparation is necessary for English teacher with a list in details of activities prepared with useful language knowledge, good time management for each activity, effective visual aids usages and clear instructions giving One more thing is that the teacher should know how to motivate the students by changing the activities day by day or take care of the quiet students in the class by using different games in teaching THE CONFERMATION OF THE HEADMASTER Thanh Hoa, May 10, 2017 I declare that this is my writting, not copy the content of other people Written by: 16 LE THI THUONG REFERENCES [1] Abbott,G & Wingard,P.et.al (1981) The teaching of English as International Language Collins Sons and Co Ltd-Glassgow [2] According to Toth (1995): Definition of games in teaching [3] Internet sources [4] Oxford Dictionary 17 ... effective in teaching English for non- major English Being an English teacher it is very necessary for you to use games in teaching English for students in the future”[1] 1.3 Major issues of the English. .. door for integrating into the world economy, and more and more people want to learn English for communicating with foreign partners, tourism, study tours, etc In VN, English is taught at school for. .. table, good students accounted for zero percent for four classes in term of being interested in learning English, the weak students accounted for high percent ( from 13 to 25) Applying games to teach