The effectiveness of using games in teaching vocabulary for the first year english language teaching education students of foreign language faculty at hanoi pedagogical university 2 (2017)

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY TRẦN HƯƠNG THU THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GAMES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY FOR THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING EDUCATION ST

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

TRẦN HƯƠNG THU

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GAMES IN TEACHING VOCABULARY FOR THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING EDUCATION STUDENTS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: DO THI THANH DUNG

HA NOI, 2017

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Every book has a story, and this one involves lot of helpful people I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Mrs Do Thi Thanh Dung, M.A., whose insights and thoughtful comments have guided me to do this work, and who has seriously directed me with her competence, generosity, and patience I

am thankful to my teachers in the FLF at HPU2 for giving comments for my thesis, and thanks to Mr Le Huy Hoang for helping me to collect materials at other university

I also wish to thank the students of the speaking group of K42 English Language Teaching Education for joining in my vocabulary games and responding

to my questionnaires

Last but not least, I‟m truly grateful to my family, my love and my friends who are always beside me for their special help during the time I was doing the research

I am indebted to you all, who gave me energy, encouragement and inspiration for finishing my research Once thanks for all

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ABSTRACT

Vocabulary learning has always been a major concern for those who want to learn a second language One of the techniques that can be used to master vocabulary is using vocabulary games This study aims at checking the effectiveness of games in facilitating learning as well as improving vocabulary for the first year English Language Teaching Education at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 First, to learn about the current methods of learning vocabulary, the observation at two first weeks was done whereas the teacher used games in teaching vocabulary and the survey questionnaire about students‟ problems related

to vocabulary and game technique was conducted with 25 students of K42 English Language Teaching Education Second, tests were done to evaluate the quality of vocabulary studying among these students before and after using vocabulary games during five weeks of the second semester of the 2016-2017 academic school year Last, the questionnaire also was used to find the students‟ attitudes toward using games to improve vocabulary Based on the results of this thesis, the difficulties of students in learning vocabulary have been found out as well as the game technique that was introduced received positive responds from students

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: The effectiveness of using games in teaching vocabulary for the first year English Language Teaching Education students of Foreign Language Faculty at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2

I certify that no part of this study has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person‟s work without acknowledgements and that the study is originally written by me under serious guidance from my supervisor

Date submitted: April 2017

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

HPU2 Hanoi Pedagogical University Number 2

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART ONE i

INTRODUCTION 1

I Rationale for the study 1

II Aim of the study 3

III Scope of the study 3

IV Research Questions 4

V Methods of the study 4

VI Significance of the study 5

VII Design of the research 5

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT 7

CHAPTER I 7

LITERATURE REVIEW 7

1 An overview of Vocabulary 7

1.1 Definition of Vocabulary 7

1.2 Types of Vocabulary 9

1.3 The importance of vocabulary 9

1.4 Techniques of Vocabulary Teaching 11

1.5 Aspects of Vocabulary 12

2 An overview on using games in language learning 15

2.1 Definition of games 15

2.2 Advantages of using games in learning vocabulary 15

2.2.1 Games create high motivation 16

2.2.2 Games can increase student - student communication and promote active, student - centered learning 17

2.2.3 Games can act as a testing mechanism and provide immediate feedback 18

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2.3 Teacher‟s Roles 19

2.4 Drawbacks of using games in language classes 20

2.5 Game selection and steps of applying a game 23

2.5.1 Game selection 23

2.5.2 Steps of applying a game 24

2.6 Sample games 26

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY 27

Introduction of the Chapter 27

1 Subject of the study 27

2 Instruments for the thesis 27

2.1 Observation 27

2.2 Survey questionnaire 28

2.3 Tests 29

3 Procedure of a game - based activity 31

4 Data analysis methodology 32

4.1 Quantitative method 32

4.2 Qualitative method 33

5 Procedures for Data Collection 33

Conclusion of the Chapter 35

CHAPTER THREE 36

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36

1 Survey questionnaire 1 about learners' background information 45

2 Leaners‟ attitude toward vocabulary games through survey questionnaire 36

3 Tests 41

PART THREE 45

CONCLUSION 45

I Conclusion 45

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II Limitations and suggestions for further study 46

1 Limitations 46

2 Suggestions for further study 46

REFERENCES 49

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

List of figures:

Figure 1: The communication between teacher and students in the traditional

teacher - centred classroom……….20

Figure 2: The communication between teacher and students in the traditional student - centred classroom……….20

Figure 3: The role of organizer………22

Figure 4: Result of 2 pre-tests……… 45

Figure 5: Result of the post-tests……….46

List of tables: Table 1: What is involved in knowing a word……….14

Table 2: Checklist of assessing a game……… 28

Table 3: Planning of using tests in the thesis……… 36

Table 4: Survey questionnaire result on the students‟ attitude toward vocabulary games……… 42

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PART ONE

INTRODUCTION

I Rationales for the study

English is an international language used by a lot of people in the world It also has a role as a mean to learn about science and technology in facing globalization era Any sources of science using English as their language, so if people do not master English, difficulties will be found By mastering this language, the number of misunderstanding of communication with others can be reduced So English plays an important part in creating mutual understanding, promoting science and technology development as well as reinforcing foreign affairs among countries Therefore, there is a special need for teaching and learning English all over the world In Vietnam, English has been taught at every education level

In English language learning, vocabulary is extremely important so vocabulary is always received a great deal of attention Vocabulary is one of linguistic features which influences the communicate competence Teaching vocabulary is important to make students are able to communicate by using language that learnt Learners have to master English vocabularies before improving other English skills They will be not able to express themselves clearly and effectively if they do not master vocabulary before McCarthy and O‟Dell (2001:6) state that English has very large words, which adds greatly to our opportunities to express the meaning in different styles The teachers must be able

to choose good technique to improve the students‟ vocabulary The students will be easy to express all in their mind if they have a very large vocabulary Therefore, vocabulary plays an important role in learning a foreign language It is one element

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that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together In order to communicate well in a foreign language, students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them accurately

In reality, in almost universities in Viet Nam, vocabulary has not been considered as a major subject which should be taught separately and officially instead of teaching together with lessons of listening, speaking, reading and writing Besides, vocabulary sections were not paid enough attention in order to help students learn new words more interestedly and effectively As a result, though Vietnamese students realize the importance of vocabulary, most of them have formed a habit of only learning new words found in their text books or through teacher‟s giving or explanation Nguyen and Khuat (2003) have shown that most Vietnamese students normally learn vocabulary by such methods as listing new words on a notebook and learning them by heart, writing new words repeatedly down on papers, reading new words out loud several times, and so forth These above seem not to be very effective and interesting ways for acquisition In fact, from the interview of Do Thi Van Trang (2016), the first year students in FLF at HPU2 said that they find it difficult to find ways to improve their vocabulary They realized that it is not easy to deal with new words or how to use a word in a context In addition, it is hard for them to remember these new words for a long time Consequently, their vocabulary knowledge is not rich enough to improve other skills in studying the second language (L2)

In recent years, communicative language teaching (CLT) has been applied in Vietnam and from our own experience, it has shown its effectiveness in teaching and learning language CLT is an approach that helps students be more active in real life situations through the means of individual, pair and group work activities

It encourages students to practice the language they learn in meaningful ways In a

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CLT classroom, playing vocabulary games is one of the activities which requires students to actively communicate with their classmates, using the foreign language There are so many researches about using games which were chiefly applied in the kindergarten, secondary and upper secondary school However, there are not many countries applying games to study in the university Therefore, there is a gap in research of using games for adults as well as students in the university

For all reasons listed above with my own enthusiasm in vocabulary, I would decide to choose “The effectiveness of using games in teaching vocabulary knowledge for the first year English Language Teaching Education students of Foreign Language Faculty at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2“ as the title of my thesis

II Aim of the study

Throughout this study, the general purpose is finding more effective methods to improve vocabulary knowledge for students of Foreign Language Faculty (FLF) at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 (HPU2) To be more specific, the aim is to attain the following objectives: To test the effectiveness of using games in improving vocabulary for students of FLF at HPU2; To investigate the experimental student‟s attitudes towards learning vocabulary through using games

III Scope of the study

The main purpose of the study is to find out how much students can improve vocabulary through using games The general research area of the study is vocabulary The phenomenon is strategies for improving vocabulary by using games for the first year English Language Teaching Education students of FLF at HPU2 in the academic year of 2016-2017 Other aspects of vocabulary and games are also mentioned

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The study only focuses on K42 English Language Teaching Education

students at HPU2

IV Research Questions

To achieve the objectives of the thesis, the following research questions were proposed:

1 In what ways does the use of games affect vocabulary learning of the first year English Language Teaching majored students at HPU2?

2 What are the perspectives of students about using games to learn vocabulary in class?

V Methods of the study

To achieve the mentioned objectives, data will be collected by three main research tools:

Survey questionnaire is a tool of gathering data about learners‟ background information and learners‟ attitude toward vocabulary games through asking written questions It was designed for collecting data from the first year English Language Teaching Education at HPU2

Observation was used to find the current method of learning vocabulary in the class

Tests for students (pre-tests and post-tests)these tests helped the researcher associate the improvement of students before and after learning vocabulary through games

Moreover, the data analysis methodology used in the thesis are quantitative and qualitative data analysis

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VI Significance of the study

The thesis was conducted with high desire that using games for teaching and learning vocabulary will be widely used in L2 program in Viet Nam Simultaneously, Vietnamese students can either find interest or entertainment in acquiring new words instead of boredom thanks to the useful games It is hoped that this final project report will give advantages to both teachers and students in

terms of English language as following ways:

Students: They can find interesting and active in learning vocabulary by using games It creates an atmosphere for students communicate and practice L2 so games improve their vocabulary knowledge

Teachers: It is hoped that this thesis can be an additional reading and additional trick in teaching vocabulary, helps teachers to vary their teaching techniques

Readers: As an input for readers who want to improve their language vocabulary, using games can help them to enrich their vocabulary

VII Design of the research

The research includes three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

Part 1: “Introduction” is about all primary knowledge required for an essay

namely rationale for the study, research presupposition, research objectives, research scope, research methods, design of the research work

Part 2: “Development” consists three main chapters Chapter 1 that

concludes things about literature review, an overview of vocabulary, and overview

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of games While the second chapter covers all about the methodology used in the research The last chapter in this part is Findings and Discussion It has data collected from the surveys above and then gives the limitation and some suggested solutions of using games as a way of learning vocabulary

Part 3: “Conclusion” is mentioned with limitations of the study as well as

some suggested solutions for further study

1 An overview of Vocabulary

1.1 Definition of Vocabulary

Vocabulary is one of language elements which is important in English Vocabulary is very essential for people, especially the students, in the process of learning, mastering and using language for communication In his book Vocabulary and Language Teaching, McCarthy says, “Vocabulary is the biggest component of any language If you do not know enough vocabulary you will not be able to express yourself adequately.” (1990:2) It is obvious that the more words

we know, the more we can say and understand the others

According to Cambridge Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary Online, vocabulary

is defined as a) all the words that a person knows or uses, b) all the words in a particular language, c) the words that people use when they are talking about a particular subject and d) a lists of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning a foreign language

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Vocabularies are used to express our ideas, felling, motivation and information to the people clearly Vocabulary is each one of English subject at school that learnt with listening, speaking, reading, writing skills by students In this study, vocabulary means the students‟ ability in mastering any kind of words

or stock of words such as: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and others in teaching and learning process and the students know how to use vocabulary in a particular situation and regularly in their daily life

We notice that vocabulary, lexis and word are used to refer to the same thing However, according to Scrinever (2005), vocabulary and lexis are different terms He stated that vocabulary “typically refers mainly to single words (e.g dog, green, wash) and sometimes to very tightly linked two-or three word combinations (e.g stock market, compact disc, sky blue, go off” However, he defined lexis as “

… our internal database‟ of words and complete „ready-made‟ fixed/typical combinations of words that we can recall and use quite quickly without having to construct new phrases and sentences word by word from scratch using our knowledge of grammar” And word is a single unit of language which means something and can be spoken or written (Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary) So, in this paper, there is no difference in use between words and vocabulary to refer all the words that existed in a language, which can transmit and express ideas

fixed/semi-We can make a conclusion that vocabulary is the starting step to acquire any language, because without understand vocabulary they will have difficulties in the next learning process Vocabulary is used to express ideas, feeling, motivation and information to the people clearly, and it is each one of English subject at school that learnt by students

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1.2 Types of Vocabulary

It is very important when defining vocabulary to know its types Elfreida and Micheal (2005, p 3) clearly stated that vocabulary can be presented in different types according to different purposes

According to NadiaYahoui (2012, p.8), vocabulary is defined as the knowledge of word meaning in its different forms (oral or print) or types (receptive

or productive) Oral vocabulary items are those words that we know their meaning through speaking or oral reading; however, print vocabulary refers to those vocabularies that we know their meaning while writing or silent reading Moreover, receptivity and productivity are another criterion of vocabulary distinction Receptive vocabularies are words whose meaning is known when individuals listen or read In contrast, productive vocabularies are set of words used in speaking and writing

Although vocabulary is differently defined, it commonly refers to the

knowledge of word and its meaning

1.3 The importance of vocabulary

As we know vocabulary is foundation or a basic of a language According to CristopherFowers (2000), a large vocabulary can help language learners communicate clearly and effectively, and the positive repercussions are endless such as writing understandable emails and letters, communicating their thoughts in business meetings, writing better research papers, giving memorable speeches that make long–lasting impressions and more

Rasinski (2008: 13) suggests that vocabulary is knowledge of word meanings We cannot improve our English without mastering vocabulary Words

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mastery is not only to support the for skills namely: listening skill, speaking skill, reading skill, and also writing skill, but also the existence of words mastery is very crucial in learning English as a foreign language Students with poor mastery of vocabulary cannot communicate in the target language well; consequently they will not be able to infer any ideas transmitted to them

According to the book of How to Teach Vocabulary, Thornburry (2002:13) explains, “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” This is how the linguist summed up the importance of vocabulary learning, his view is echoed in this advice to students from a recent course book Allen (1983), in her book entitled Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary says, “Students who do not learn grammar along with vocabulary will not be able to use the language for communication”

This means that vocabulary is also important as well as grammar If you spend most of your time studying grammar, your English will not improve very much You will see most improvement if you learn more words and expressions You can say very little with grammar, but you can say almost anything with words

Acquiring a large vocabulary can benefit us in school, at work, and almost anywhere It will enable us to understand the others' ideas better and to have the satisfaction or getting our thoughts and ideas across more effectively While there are not any magic shortcuts to learning words, the larger our vocabulary becomes, the easier it will be to connect a new word with words we already know, and thus remember its meaning

In conclusion, vocabulary which is a bridge connecting speaking, listening, reading and writing skills together plays a very important role in learning English

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Mastering vocabulary makes the learners be easy to understand the meaning of words when they listen, speak, read and write in English

1.4 Techniques of Vocabulary Teaching

According to OshaSaeed Al Neyadi (2002), there are two main approaches

to vocabulary teaching: the grammar translation method and the audio-lingual method The first method focuses more on memorizing lists of vocabulary for translation tasks and for final assessments The main feature of this approach is that lists of vocabulary are learnt to illustrate grammatical rules The other method

is the audio–lingual approach, which focuses on attention to pronunciation and intensive oral drilling (OshaSaeed Al Neyadi , Cited in Richards and Renandya ,

2002)

In a traditional way, vocabulary has not been a particular subject for students

to learn, but has been taught within lessons of speaking, listening, reading and writing During the lesson, students use their own vocabulary and are introduced to new words provided by the teacher and classmates which they apply to classroom activities

For many learners of English, whenever they think of vocabulary, they think

of learning a list of new words with meanings in their native language without any real context practice A number of learners may share the same experience of

looking up words in a bilingual dictionary to find their meanings or definitions when they encounter new words They may even write down lines of new words without any idea of the real use of them in context Working this way, after a short period of time, many learners may find out that learning vocabulary in lists does not satisfy themselves (Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, 2003) Decarrico (2001) states that words should not be learnt separately or by memorization without

Unlike the traditional method of learning and teaching, in a CLT approach, learners are required to take part in a number of meaningful activities with different tasks This is to improve learners' communicative competence by encouraging them to be a part of the lessons themselves Newton (2001) refers to this approach as a way that can enable learners to manage their vocabulary meaning and develop their communicative skills at the same time Many experts of language teaching methodology also agree that playing games is a good way to learn vocabulary, especially in CLT class

With the use of games, the teacher can create various contexts in which students have to use the language to communicate, exchange information and express their own opinions (Wright, Betteridge and Buckby, 1984)

1.5 Aspects of Vocabulary

One of the main goals of foreign language learners is to know, use and expand their vocabulary knowledge Pavicic (2008) stated that knowing a word

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refers to knowing its different features; For instance, knowing its “phonological, orthographic, morphological, syntactic and semantic” characteristics (p 10) Similarly, Nation (2000) identified a number of factors needed in knowing a word, and he summarized them in the following table (p 40-41)

P

What does the word sounds like?

How is the word pronounced?

P

What does the word look like?

How is the word written and spelled?

P

What parts are recognizable in this word? What word parts are needed to express the meaning?

Meaning Form and meaning R

What is included in the concept?

What items can the concept refer to?

as a consolidating factor because it deals with the application of its meaning in context For example, what are the different grammatical functions that the word can take? Or how it can behave in a sentence; or what type of words it can be used with; and when, where and how it is usually used (Nadia Yahoui, 2012, p 12)

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To sum up, knowing a word does not just simply know its equivalent in one‟s mother tongue but there are a lot of aspects to cover Therefore, the teacher when presenting a new word needs to start by defining its form and its available derivations Next, he tries to separate between words that represent single referent from those which represent many referents And students should not only learn vocabulary meaning, but also remembering it and using it as well

2 An overview on using games in language learning

2.1 Definition of games

The teachers always need to choose the best technique to teach students especially in teaching vocabulary We have to be able to make the activities which can make students improve their vocabulary Wilga Rivers in Thornbury, (2002: 144) states that vocabulary cannot be taught It can be presented, explained, included in all kinds of activities, and experienced in all manner of associations but ultimately it is learned by the individual So playing games is a good way to learn vocabulary

Educational language games are not activities mainly aimed to break the ice between students or to kill time Byrne (1995) gave the definition to games as a form of play governed by rules They should be enjoyed and fun They are not just

a diversion, a break from routine activities, but a way of getting the learner to use the language in the course of the game Similarly, in his book entitled Elementary Vocabulary Games, Hadfield (1998:4) says, “A game is or activity with rules, a goal, and element of fun, which is divided into two kinds; competitive games, in which players or teams race to be the first to reach the goal, and cooperative games, in which players or teams work together towards a common goal”

2.2 Advantages of using games in learning vocabulary

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Neil A Mckelvie raises his voice in guidelines (June 1986:p67) that “It seems to me that it is more important to look at why people play games than to consider what games are or how they can be classified”

2.2.1 Games create high motivation

Kelly Franklin, an American professor of Chio University, states in guidelines (June 1986: p25) that “From their first year, public school students become accustomed to sitting quietly and listening, rather than acting” There are many reasons for this situation Salfnil lists two main reasons in guidelines (December 1990; p67) Firstly, students are afraid of making mistakes so they do not want to express any ideas Another possible reason is that they lack the words and phrases to express their idea in English Games can be a great help to bring them more words or motivations to talk According to ShelaghRixon (1981: p5):

”The first thing that many people think of in connection with games is competition among players…” Thus, players are highly motivated in participating in game playing

As a result, games can reduce memory load of vocabulary when students‟ heads are stuff with a lot of new words They can enrich their vocabulary quickly

by learning from their partners Besides, many interesting situations in games can help learners get rid of stress in learning new words Games enable students to gain vocabulary in very exciting and effective way as Michael Carrier (1990: p5) concluded “games can be used to change the pace of a lesson and so maintain motivation”

To sum up, Neil A Mckelvie accounts in Guidelines (June 1986: p67) that there are five main motivations which games can stimulate They are: the desire to

“In the traditional teacher - centred classroom, the main communication is from the teacher to student with some communication from student to teacher and virtually

no communication from student to student” He quotes the illustration of Hawkin (1976: p26) about this pattern of communication

Teacher

Student Student Student Figure 1: The communication between teacher and students in the traditional

teacher - centred classroom (Hawkin, 1976: p26)

He also quotes a new model of communication which grouping builds up

Teacher

Student Student Student

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Figure 2: The communication between teacher and students in the traditional

student - centred classroom (Hawkin, 1976: p26)

It can be seen that, students have more chance to interact with each other, and the domination of teacher decreases In the other words, as ShelaghRixon (1981: p70) claims that “Students would have more time to talk and would be talking to more purposes if they were given a game to be played in pairs or small groups with the teacher no longer the controller or judge but more of an adviser and language informant”

2.2.3 Games can act as a testing mechanism and provide immediate

feedback

As mentioned above, students have more chance to express their understanding during game - playing According to ML Tickoo (Guidelines June 1991: p45) “It is easy to test students‟ understanding by sitting at the back of the classroom” Thus, games are considered as the means of classroom testing

John A.S Read states in Guidelines (June 1983: p1) that “The primary purpose of a classroom test is to provide the teacher with information on how effective his teaching has been” John A.S Read also mentions “A classroom test provides feedback for the learners” Thus, feedback is a vital part of the learning process ShelaghRixon (1981: p.60) gives his own comment in game - playing that

“A quick effective feedback is essential”

In conclusion, thanks to advantages that have been discussed, language games are really helpful for students They (students) are highly motivated, success

is more likely to obtain They have more chance to practise language skills generally and vocabulary items particularly

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2.3 Teacher’s Roles in the classroom applying games

According to Hedge (2000, p 26), the teacher‟s roles in the classroom refers to the set of activities that the teacher and learners may perform in the class

As far as the teacher is concerned, he/she has different roles to play For example, Karavas-Dukas (1995, in Hedge, 2000) asserts that the teacher‟s roles can be categorized into four main types: “a source of expertise, management roles, source

of advice and facilitator of learning” (p 27) But Harmer (2001) sees that the teacher can act as: a controller of the class environment; an organizer of activities;

an assessor of the students‟ improvement; a prompter in group work; a participant

or a source of a help However, Barnes, Hines and Weldon (1996) state that in classroom games, the teacher can act as organizer, facilitator and enthusiasm generator

2.3.1 As an organizer

Harmer (2001) declares that organizing students to do an activity is one of the teacher‟s functions Harmer summarizes the role of teacher as an organizer in the following figure

Figure 3: The role of organizer (Harmer, 2001, p 59)

Through this figure, before doing an activity, the teacher should first get students attention Then, it is necessary to make an introduction to the task so that learners know their responsibilities clearly

In the classroom applying games, during game play the teacher can observe what is going on in order to make a feedback after the game finishes and give things that are learned form the game

Engage instruct (demonstrate) initiate organize feedback

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2.3.2 As a facilitator

While students play games, the teacher can help students by providing different solutions to expected problems or difficulties For instance, students or groups sometimes face some difficulties while playing games; they do not know how to express an idea or how to say a word In this case, the teacher can help them by guiding them to the right way As Harmer (2001) agrees that the teacher can help his/her students but with limits, and his/her responsibility is just encouraging them to work on their own

2.3.3 As an enthusiasm generator

According to Karavas - Dukas, during the class the teacher has many roles

to play Some of them are: “entertainer, motivator and source of inspiration (1995,

in Ibid) Supporting this idea, Harmer (2001) emphasizes the teacher‟s ability to motivate his/her learners in classroom applying games by telling them the usefulness and the helpfulness of the game in improving their language level; As a result they will be well prepared

2.4 Drawbacks of using games in language classes

Although using games in language teaching have many advantages, there still exists some disadvantages As the researcher observe the class during 2 weeks

of the study, the main teacher didn‟t use games to teach vocabulary Because the time was limited, the researcher cannot interview the main teacher of the class But they have had some informal talk with each other, the main teacher shared the reasons that she did not apply game method are lacking of time for the lesson, may

be lack of materials, and game requires much preparation Firstly, the teacher has little time to teach vocabulary in a lesson Secondly, the teacher has to prepare the lessons carefully before coming to class, teachers may be really in fear of having to

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prepare other things like games or extra materials because these take them a lot of time Moreover, other teachers doubt the effectiveness of games because of the following reasons

2.4.1 If the teacher cannot control, games will make the class noisy

While playing games, students compete with each other to receive awards, noise is unavoidable and it will certainly affect other classes around It is also one

of the practical problems given by ShelaghRixon The only reason is that students always share their knowledge and ideas by discussing or arguing while playing game Subramaniyan A Nambiar (Guidelines June 1985: p.84) also gives his comment “The third problem is noise The neighbouring classes may be disturbed and the teachers in these classrooms far from being colleagues may soon become enemies.” If teacher controls students not to make noise, students will feel unexcited and the game, therefore easily failed

One type of games that can be applied is one in which players do not have to say anything but can respond silently or signal their choice between two possible ones For example, with the pronunciation game “Ship or Sheep”, players will put

up their hands if they hear the [i:] sound and put their hands on their desks if they hear [i] sound

2.4.2 In playing games, students tend to use their mother tongue more

This has actually happened in classes where students get involved and too excited in playing games They do not know how to express in English and they want to finish the game as fast as possible

However, this may be not a big problem Mac Whinney (2005) demonstrates that the second language is parasitic on the first language with regard to vocabulary

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learning This is due to the large amount of interference from the first language to the second language At the early stages of learning the second language system whether at the phonological, semantic or grammatical level, the language learners

do not establish a detached structure but depend on the first language forms to access second language vocabulary meanings Therefore, the mother tongue is very help for foreign language learners, particularly English language This is because it helps them achieve an obvious view concerning the meaning of new vocabulary This may advance their vocabulary learning deposits and help them use the language effectively

2.4.3 Lack of material

Given the fact that most language teaching situation will be dependent upon

a certain set of materials Subramaniyan A Nambiar affirms the game problem in Guidelines (June 1985: p.84) that: The fourth problem is the availability of games Some teachers may not have a selection of games.” Because, as Jayne Moon States

in Guidelines (December 1991: p.42) that “Resources are very limited in many primary schools in developing countries” Consequently, students have a little information about games They only play such common games like hangman or crosswords In summary, Chin Tiang Moon raises his voice in Guidelines (June 1991: p.79) that “There must be sufficient materials to meet the learners‟ need”

All things considered, there were also some obstacles in using games in teaching English vocabulary Therefore, the teacher must find suitable techniques

to overcome this problem such as need to consider the learners‟ levels and styles, the course content and objectives to design a suitable game He/she needs also to follow properly the different steps and stages of playing a game that is showed in part 2.5 of this paper

According to Millano and Ullius (1998, in El Shamy,2001), good learning activity should be suitable to the objective, the course content and the participants level to help in learning transfer In other words, it should contain these characteristics in order to facilitate for learners grasping the meaning from the activity and then using it In addition, it must be appropriate to the time constraints and it has to add a variety to the course, suit the different types of learners as well

so that it conforms to their competencies (p 95) Tyson (2000) assumes that a game must have a balance between fun and education and involve a friendly competition It should also attract all the learners and make them focus on the use

of the language more than on the language itself Additionally, it provides opportunities to learn, practice, or Jung, 2000)review language skills (in Yin

and Jung, 2000)

In order to make learning more engaging, a game should have the following characteristics (Jones 1998, as cited in Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2004): (i) It is something learners can complete; (ii) it is something learners can concentrate on; (iii) it has clear goals; (iv) it provides immediate feedback; (v) it encourages deep but effortless involvement; (vi) it helps learners exercise a sense of control over

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their actions; (vii) concern for self disappears during flow, but sense of self is stronger after flow activity; and (viii) sense of duration of time is altered El Shamy (2001) summarizes all the factors needed to assess the usefulness of the game in the appendix E

Through checklist of assessing a game in the foreign language classes, the teacher can consider these characteristics to choose and introduce simple and effective game that can achieve the main aim that is improving learners‟ vocabulary

2.5.2 Steps of applying a game

After choosing the appropriate game, the next step is applying it in the class There are three main steps involved in playing a game: introducing the game, managing the game, giving feedback

2.5.2.1 Introducing the Game

The first step in playing a game is introducing the game It is so important because it informs learners about what is going to happen The outcomes depend

on the manner in which the game is introduced More specifically, if the teacher introduces the game in an appropriate way, he/she may achieve the desired objectives As a result, for effective game, the teacher tries to make a clear and attractive as well as motivating introduction (Nadia, 2012)

According to El Shamy (2001), the introduction involves four main elements The first one is the teacher‟s style which means showing his enthusiasm through his introduction He said: “If you [the teacher] are positive and enthusiastic, the participants will respond accordingly” (p 103) The second element is the set up of the game It means that the teacher needs to stimulate

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learners‟ curiosity to play and learn by stating the reasons behind playing the game For example, he can say: “through this game you will practice what have been studied and you will enjoy it” (Ibid) The third element is explaining the instruction This step involves identifying the theme of a game, the roles given to the participants and the rules The final step before starting the game is managing the groups

In conclusion, the introduction of a game includes all the information needed

to play a game After stimulating learners, identifying the objectives, setting the rules and dividing the groups, the teachers can ask them to start playing the game

2.5.2.2 Managing the game

The teacher‟s role during the game play is observing what is happening As

El Shamy (2001) said “You [teachers] do want to observe how players play” (p 110) However, it does not mean that the teacher does not have any role As it is mentioned above, he/she may act as a facilitator of learning or enthusiasm generator For example, if there is any problem occurs during the game, the teacher can stop it and solve the problem, and then allow them to continue When the time

is over, the teacher asks learners to stop in order to give them the feedback

2.5.2.3 Giving the feedback

The last step in playing a game is providing a feedback It is important because it is a kind of evaluation Moreover, it creates opportunities for discussion

so that students use the language Westwood (2008) agrees on the importance of immediate feedback while playing a game He states that enjoyable activities make students react actively and get their immediate feedback During this step, the teacher discusses with learners the outcomes of playing this game More important, providing a feedback must include teacher‟s evaluation as well as students‟

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comments The teacher can ask students about how they find the game, how they

feel, and what they have learned

2.6 Sample games

In the classroom, most of teachers cannot play games all the time The reasons are not simply because of the lack of time, but there is not a wide choice of games for teachers and there are too much other things to do To help teachers to have a variety of choice, there are some sample vocabulary games commonly used

in language teaching On the whole, these games are applied to present new words, practice as well as revise vocabulary

There are some vocabulary games that were applied in the thesis such as crossword games, picture games, dominoes, guessing games, bingo and so on To be more specific, look at appendix at the end of the thesis paper

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CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY

Introduction of the Chapter

In this chapter, the study aims to research questions related to vocabulary and Game Technique In detail, the researcher uses three main research tools as a methodology to measure the effectiveness of using language games on learning vocabulary: observation, survey questionnaire and tests

1 Subject of the study

The participants in the thesis are 25 students from K42 in English Language Teaching Education Class whose major is English Following the result received from questionnaires, the number of the years that each student has studied English

is mostly more than 7 years

In the experiment, there are 25 students at aged 19-21 These students were taught in the speaking class by the same teacher and text book named Speak Out, Pre-intermediate level

2 Instruments for the thesis

There are three main tools used in this thesis as the way to evaluate the result

of the thesis: observation, survey questionnaire, and tests

2.1 Observation

Observation is the most popular method of data collection because it does not require any technical knowledge but viewing activities Observation entails the systematic noting and recording of events, behaviors, and artifacts (objects) in the social setting chosen for study The biggest advantage of Observation Method is

In this research, Observation was conducted two first weeks with 25 students

of K42 English Language Teaching Education when the teacher teaches vocabulary in a normal way By doing it, the researcher can find the current method of learning vocabulary in the class that teacher whether using vocabulary games or not

And as the researcher observed, teacher didn‟t use vocabulary games and lacked of reinforcing vocabulary, teacher only taught vocabulary through vocabulary exercises on textbook, then she moved to teach other skills Therefore, the researcher applied games to teach vocabulary in the class

2.2 Survey questionnaire

Survey is a very popular form of data collection, especially when gathering information from large groups The questionnaire is a list of questions answered by participants for the researcher to collect the data Using survey questionnaire enables people to feel more comfortable responding to a survey than participating

in an interview Questionnaire 1 about the learners‟ background information is used to know general data to measure quantitatively the changing learning behavior of the subject in learning vocabulary by using games The purpose of survey questionnaire was to show the learner‟s background information including years of learning English, the current technique of learning vocabulary, problems related to vocabulary and game technique as well The questionnaire had 11

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questions which were written in English Question 1 and 2 were asking about particular‟s general information Question 3 and 4 were about vocabulary and the current ways of learning vocabulary And question 5 to 11 mentioned to game technique The questionnaire was carried out at the first week of the survey for 25 students in the class

Survey questionnaire 2 was conducted at the last week to check the learners‟ attitude toward using games in the classroom after 5 weeks The questionnaire included 7 questions The result received from this method used as an effective evidence to estimate the benefit of using vocabulary games in improving vocabulary

2.3 Tests

Tests are used when one wants to gather information on the status of knowledge or the change in status of knowledge over time So the test is a significant method to measure the development of students In the thesis, the researcher gave students 2 pre-tests and 5 post-tests: pre-test was administered to measure the initial achievement of the students‟ ability in mastering vocabulary before the researcher applies game method, 5 post-tests were administered to know the students‟ achievement after action, after learning vocabulary by using language games in the next 5 weeks All the tests about vocabulary would be taken out from the Speakout Pre-intermediate published by Antonia Clare JJ Walson The topics that were chosen in the tests are all about social ones such as Travel, Changes, Money, Nature, Society, Technology and Fitness In each 30 - minute lesson, researcher gave students 8-15 new words appearing in the topic of that day

In detail, in the two first weeks, researcher spent 20 minutes to observe the teacher introduce vocabulary in a traditional way without using games Then,

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researcher spent next 15 minutes for students finishing their two pre - tests related

to the current method of learning vocabulary

From week 3 to week 7, the researcher spent 15 minutes introducing new words and reinforcing vocabulary by using game method and then, spending next

20 minutes for students to do their tests to check their ability of mastering vocabulary

The planning of the tests will be shown clearly in the following table: