The use of language games to motivate 10th form students to learn writing at Kim Anh High School

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES HỨA THỊ THANH HÀ THE USE OF LANGUAGE GAMES TO MOTIVATE 10TH FORM STUDENTS TO LEARN WRITING AT KIM ANH HIGH SCHOOL VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRỊ CHƠI NGƠN NGỮ NHẰM TẠO ĐỘNG LỰC THÚC ĐẨY HỌC SINH LỚP 10 HỌC VIẾT TẠI TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG KIM ANH M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 60.140.111 HANOI – 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES HỨA THỊ THANH HÀ THE USE OF LANGUAGE GAMES TO MOTIVATE 10TH FORM STUDENTS TO LEARN WRITING AT KIM ANH HIGH SCHOOL VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRỊ CHƠI NGƠN NGỮ NHẰM TẠO ĐỘNG LỰC THÚC ĐẨY HỌC SINH LỚP 10 HỌC VIẾT TẠI TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG KIM ANH) M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 60.140.111 Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Dr HANOI – 2013 DECLARATION I, Hứa Thị Thanh Hà , declare that the thesis entitled “The use of language games to motivate 10th form students to learn writing at Kim Anh High school” reports the result of the study conducted by myself The minor thesis is submitted to the Faculty of Post-graduate studies, ULIS, Hanoi for Degree of Master in TESOL It has not been published anywhere Hứa Thị Thanh Hà i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the first place, I would like to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor – Dr Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Vice - Director of Institute for Education Quality Assurance, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for all her valuable guidance, helpful advices, recommendation, and encouragement during the time I tried to complete this minor thesis Without her, I would not have followed the right direction for the accomplishment of this research Second, my deepest thanks go to ten teachers of English and 89 tenth form students at Kim Anh High school who were so generous and willing to help me with the questionnaires and interviews Third, I would like to thank all the teachers of the Faculty of Post-Graduate studies for their valuable lectures on which my minor thesis was laid the foundation Last but not least, I would like to express my biggest love and thankfulness to my family for their unconditional contributions during my thesis Hứa Thị Thanh Hà ii ABSTRACT In ELT, language games have long been proved to be a valuable source of motivation, one of the keys to success of language acquisition Aiming at investigating the use of language games as a motivator to students' learning writing, this study was conducted with two sets of survey questionnaires and interviews as the main instruments The study looked at the current situation and difficulties when teachers applied language games to stimulate students to learn writing Ten teachers and 89 tenth form students at Kim Anh High school took part in the study The result reveals positive attitudes from the participants toward the use of language games to motivate students to learn writing Language games are applied frequently to motivate students, mostly in warm up stage within to 10 minutes Students often play games in two teams or groups with the common ones such as crossword, hangman and matching Most of the teachers are pleased with their use of language games and most of the students take part in the activities enthusiastically However, there remain some difficulties facing the teachers and students while language games are used as a motivator in writing lessons Based on the findings, some pedagogical implications are provided for the improvement of writing teaching by motivating students via language games iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table The benefits of using language games to motivate students to learn writing Table Teachers' preparation for the use of language games in writing lessons Table Students' performance in the games according to the teachers' viewpoint Table The difficulties facing teachers when using language games to motivate students to learn writing Table Teachers' suggestions on how to use language games to motivate students to learn writing Table The benefits of using language games as a motivator in writing lessons according to students' viewpoint Table The difficulties students meet when playing language games in writing lessons Table Students' suggestions for teachers' using language games to motivate students to learn writing Figure Teachers‟ keenness on using language games to motivate students to learn writing Figure The usefulness of using language games to motivate students to learn writing in teachers' viewpoint Figure The frequency of using language games to motivate students to learn writing Figure Stages at which language games are used in writing lessons Figure Time for using language games to motivate students to learn writing Figure Kinds of language games to stimulate students to learn writing Figure Class organization when language games are used to motivate students to learn writing Figure Teachers‟ activities before conducting the games iv Figure Teachers‟ activities while students are playing the games Figure 10 Teachers‟ activities in the post playing stage Figure 11 Teachers‟ feeling pleased with their use of language games to motivate students to learn writing Figure 12 Students' interest in teachers' using language games in writing lessons Figure 13 Students' attitudes towards the usefulness of language games in motivating students to learn writing Figure 14 Teachers' frequency of using language games to motivate students to learn writing according to the students Figure 15 Students' participation in language games in writing lessons Figure 16 Stages at which language games are used in writing lessons according to the students Figure 17 Time for using language games to motivate students to learn writing according to the students Figure 28 Class organization when language games are used to motivate students to learn writing according to the students Figure 19 The teachers' using other teaching aids when they apply language games in writing lessons v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT English Language Teaching EFL English as Foreign Language TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language VNU Vietnam National University, Hanoi ULIS University of Language and International Studies vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Declaration i Acknowledgements .ii Abstract iii List of tables and figures iv List of abbreviations vi Tablle of content .vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study Aims of the study Research question of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Writing and writing teaching 1.1.1 Definitions 1.1.2 Approaches to writing teaching 1.1.3 Processes in teaching writing 1.1.4 Factors affecting students' performance in writing lessons 1.1.4.1 Student factors 1.1.4.2 Teacher factors vii 1.1.4.3 External factors 10 1.2 Language games 11 1.2.1 Definitions 11 1.2.2 Roles of language games 12 1.2.3 Types of language games 13 1.2.4 Methods of using language games 14 1.2.4.1 When to use a game? 14 1.2.4.2 Which games to use? 15 1.2.4.3 How to run a game? 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 The context of the study 18 2.2 Participants of the study 18 2.3 Data collection instruments 19 2.3.1 Survey questionnaires for teachers and students 19 2.3.2 Interviews with teachers and students 19 2.4 Data collection procedure 20 2.5 Data analysis methods 20 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 3.1 Survey questionnaires .21 3.1.1 Survey questionnaire for the teachers 21 3.1.1.1 The attitudes of the teachers towards using language games to motivate students to learn writing 21 3.1.1.2 The current situation of teachers‟ using languagegames to motivate students to learn writing at Kim Anh High school 22 3.1.1.3 Teachers‟ difficulties when using language games to motivate students to learn writing 28 viii Mong muốn em giáo sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ làm động lực thúc đẩy học sinh học kĩ viết 12 Để phát huy tính hiệu việc sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ làm động lực thúc đẩy học sinh học kĩ viết, theo em: a Giáo viên nên chọn trò chơi phù hợp với trình độ học sinh b Các trò chơi cần đa dạng c Giáo viên nên nhận xét để học sinh rút kinh nghiệm d Giáo viên nên giải thích luật chơi rõ ràng tiếng Việt e Các trò chơi nên đƣợc tổ chức thƣờng xuyên f Ý kiến khác: Nếu em chưa chơi trị chơi ngơn ngữ tiết học viết, trả lời câu hỏi sau 13 Tại em chƣa đƣợc chơi trị chơi ngơn ngữ tiết học viết? (Em khoanh trịn HƠN MỘT LỰA CHỌN) a lớp khơng có hoạt động b giáo viên có tổ chức trị chơi nhƣng em khơng tham gia ngại khó c em khơng thích chán 14 Nếu thầy sử dụng trị chơi ngơn ngữ làm động lực thúc đẩy học sinh học kĩ viết, em có muốn tham gia khơng? a Có b Khơng c Có thể Cảm ơn giúp đỡ em! XIV APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS A Questions for teachers: What are difficulties you often cope with when stimulating students to learn writing via language games? Why? How can you deal with those problems? Give examples B Questions for the students: What you think of the effectiveness of using language games to motivate students to learn writing? What would you like your teachers to when they use language games as a motivator in writing lessons? XV APPENDIX INTERVIEW WITH THE TEACHERS Questions and answers: What are the difficulties you often cope with when stimulating students to learn writing via language games? Why? T1: Difficulties? They belong to the kinds of language games and the students' characteristics Normally, most of the students are fond of playing games But sometimes, when the games are too familiar or not of students' favor, they seem to be uninterested About the students, some of them are very excited while some are so quiet It means that the participation in the games is uneven with only a few bright students dominate the activities T2: I have troubles in finding suitable games which can create a comfortable atmosphere and deliver the language items of the lessons as well If the games are mainly for fun, students can learn little from them They may think that time is wasted and their teacher does not prepare for a real lesson Choosing games to suit students' levels is also a matter Both too easy and too complex activities can demotivate students While easy ones cannot challenge them, the difficult may make them feel reluctant to join in the games Those with not very good language proficiency are afraid of losing face They fear that not only will they fail in the task of learning the language, but may also find themselves underperforming in a game T3: For me, the class management is the most difficult My students make a lot of noise during the games I have told them so many times but they seem to forget after that They usually get out of control when playing the games and even after the games are over Besides, they use mother tongue rather than English to communicate although the games are designed to create a context for them to practice the foreign language Additionally, some students not obey the rules of the games so the result may be inaccurate XVI T4: I find using language games costs a lot of time and effort to prepare And when carrying out the games in class, it is hard to control the time spent as it depends on students' performance Once my students had the answer to the key word in my crossword immediately and the game turned out to be a failure In other times, the games lasted for too long, which made us tired and bored and there was little time left for other parts of the lessons How can you deal with those problems? Give examples T1: Sometimes I have to stop the activity in the middle to warn the overexcited students and encourage the shy ones I apply different methods of forming groups or teams in stead of basing on their seats in the classroom only This may help mix students of many levels and the bright ones can share with the rest About the kinds of the language games, I use various kinds to find out the suitable ones for each class or the most wanted by majority of the students T2: In order to choose an appropriate game, I usually read reference books which appear to contain many useful suggestions However, I would like to design the games myself so that I can modify what I think is suitable to my students When the games are finished, I often conclude the language items used in the games Students thus can realize that they still learn something while playing Sometimes I ask my students to find out the language items themselves to check if they know the real aim of the games T3: I walk around the classroom while students are playing I go quickly from groups to groups to observe them as well as to control the class I set rules before conducting the games and make sure that students understand and no one breaks the rules during the games T4: Working as a teacher of English for more than years, now I have a collection of games to apply into many lessons So it does not take me much time and effort to design a game now I have ever instructed my students to design games themselves and they had some precious contribution I also assume XVII anticipated problems and think of suitable solutions beforehand For instance, when the cassette player could not play the disk for students to guess some songs, I might try singing the songs myself or I provided students with cues about the songs for them to find out the answers XVIII APPENDIX INTERVIEW WITH THE STUDENTS Questions and answers: What you think of the effectiveness of using language games to motivate students to learn writing? S1: I find language games useful in stimulating students We have a good time to play and after that we feel cheerful, relaxed and comfortable so that we can learn and remember things better S2 Our class is always excited about playing games Games are good to warm up the writing lessons, which are usually boring S3: We like playing games but most of us just play for fun and care about the prize rather than the language items S4: My teacher often has many interesting games and we are never bored as the games even if used again still have something new S5 I think language games are effective because students can relax and learn at the same time They can revise old words or structures and learn the new ones S6 Whenever we play games, we are provided with something related to the writing lessons, for example, the topics or the useful expressions However, games sometimes consume too much time and we have to finish writing tasks at home S7 I can hardly take part in language games as I don't know how to play the games and I cannot speak English fluently S8: I usually play games in my group and we have won many games What would you like your teachers to when they use language games as a motivator in writing lessons? S1: It would be better if teachers changed the kinds of language game I'm fed up with hangman, matching and crossword XIX S2: I want to hear teachers' comments on how well we have done and correct our mistakes if any This encourages us to try more and win the games the next times S3: Teachers should ask students to prepare for the activities in advance For instance, students are required to find out at home as many words about a certain topic as possible So they may get their best performance in the games after that And after the games are over, teachers should summarize the language items used in the games and students can remember them better S4 I would like my teachers to conduct language games more often S5: Why don't teachers have students design games and organize for the rest to play? It may be funny and exciting S6: I think teachers should not have the games played in a long time 10 minutes may be the maximum S7 I don't understand the rules Teachers should translate them into Vietnamese S8 I like playing games with my group But I would also prefer working with different students each time we play a game Changing partners helps me to know more about my classmates XX APPENDIX 6: DATA COLLECTED FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS No Questions Answers Have you ever applied language games to stimulate 10th form students to learn writing? Yes No No of teachers 10 100 very much much quite much not very much not at all 10 30 40 20 0 very useful useful quite useful not very useful useless 10 20 60 10 0 % How you like using language games to motivate students to learn writing? No of teachers % What you think of the usefulness of using language games to motivate students to learn writing? No of teachers % What are the benefits of language games to motivate students to learn writing in your viewpoint? get the students involved easily encourage introduce and help the build up the students to help the consolidate children students' self- use English children feel the content of other ideas learn while confidence to comfortable the writing playing communicat lesson e XXI No of teachers % 90 50 70 50 30 20 10 How often you use language a in very few b in few c in some games in writing lessons? lessons lessons lessons No of teachers % 10 50 40 Which stage you often use While Warm up Pre writing language games? writing No of teachers 10 % 100 30 20 How long you often conduct a 11-15 language game? 1-5 minutes 6-10 minutes minutes No of teachers % 20 60 10 What kinds of language games jumbled hangman you often use to warm up crossword words/ game sentences writing lessons No of teachers % 30 70 50 How you often organize work group work pair work teams in class? No of teachers XXII d in every lesson 0 Post writing Wrap up 20 10 16-20 minutes more than 20 minutes 10 0 role play ordering pictures matching Others 10 30 40 20 whole class individuals % What you to prepare for the language games used to stimulate students to learn 10 writing? No of teachers % 11 What you often before conducting the game? No of teachers % What you often while students are playing the game? 12 50 decide the language items to be used in the game 40 Read out the rule of the game 80 30 design the suitable language game to practice the items 50 70 10 assume prepare the anticipated aids and problems materials for while the game playing the game 20 30 30 nothing 10 Explain the Announce the rule and Organize the scoring Do nothing make class system examples 30 80 60 Take notes of Walk around Help Provide students' to control the students with students with Do nothing mistakes class new words suggestions others 0 others 10 others No of teachers % 90 60 10 50 10 XXIII Give comments on Announce how well the What you often in the post and praise the students playing stage? winner have played 13 No of teachers % No of teachers % 80 Summarize the language Give marks Do nothing items used in or presents the game 70 Some Students use Students use students are Most students English to How your students often play the language not interested enjoy playing communicate the game? items to play in the game the game during the 14 the game and game private thing No of teachers % 80 20 40 50 How you feel about your motivating students to learn 15 writing via language games? 10 100 Correct students' mistakes very pleased pleased 10 60 XXIV 10 pleased to some extent not pleased at (i.e slightly all pleased) 30 0 20 Students pay attention to the score rather than the language items 20 0 Others 10 others 10 What are your difficulties in your choice using language games to of game is motivate students to learn writing not various 16 ? No of teachers % What should the teachers to deal with these problems? 17 20 language games take much time 30 give clear and choose simple appropriate instructions games for and make majority of examples students the content your of the the students level of the instruction is writing get out of game is not clear and lesson is too your control inappropriate leads to hard to be when playing to all students students' adapted into the game confusion language games 60 40 10 30 have students always play use teaching in their ask students manage the aids and team or to prepare for class as a materials to group to the game in whole or big help conduct make them advance teams the game feel comfortable and selfconfident others 10 others No of teachers 10 5 % 100 80 40 30 50 50 20 XXV APPENDIX 7: DATA COLLECTED FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS No Questions Have you ever played language games in writing lessons? No of students % How you like when teachers use language games to motivate students to learn writing No of students % What you think of the usefulness of using language games to motivate students to learn writing? No of students % What are the benefits of language games to motivate students to learn writing in your viewpoint? No of students % Answers Yes No 89 100 0 very much much quite much not very much not at all 30 34 41 46 10 10 0 very useful useful quite useful not very useful useless 24 27 42 48 I have chance to play games and my homework won't be checked 22 25 19 21 4 0 Our class become more cheerful and exciting 80 90 XXVI I can revise some topics and structures through games 64 72 Games make the I feel I usually lessons more get good more selfmarks and interestin confidenc presents g and less e sleepy 14 16 24 27 44 49 others 10 11 How often your teachers use language games in writing lessons? No of students % a in very few lessons 4 When the teacher organize language games in writing lessons, you often like and join in 10 33 37 only join in when you are called on c in some lessons d in every lesson 51 57 join in depend on not like whether and you like or reluctantly not like join in at that time 12 14 While Post writing writing 26 13 29 15 not like and not join in No of students % At which stage your teachers often use language games? No of students % Warm up 75 84 10 11 Pre writing 41 46 How long your teachers often conduct a language game 1-5 minutes 6-10 minutes 11-15 minutes 16-20 minutes 36 40 26 29 17 19 0 At anytime 22 25 more than 20 minutes 2 group work pair work teams whole class individual s 60 67 52 58 78 88 11 15 17 always usually sometimes rarely never No of students % How your teachers often organize work in class when using language games in writing lessons? No of students % Do your teachers use other teachings aids such as pictures, 67 75 b in few lessons XXVII cassette player, overhead projector, etc when they apply language games in writing lessons? No of students % 11 What are your difficulties when teachers use language games to motivate students to learn writing? No of students % 12 What should the teachers to deal with these problems in your view point? No of students % 3 46 52 I don't understand the rule games are too difficult 15 17 12 13 choose appropriate games to students' level use various kinds of games 70 79 50 56 XXVIII 35 39 0 other our class students in teachers' become the group unwell very noisy not preparatio when cooperate n leads to playing the enthusiasti problems game cally 30 34 comment students' performan ce for better result next time 40 45 23 26 clearly explain the rule in Vietnames e 54 61 use language games more often in writing lessons 60 67 it takes time to get the class under control when the game is finished 40 45 Others others