Applying some language games in "Language focus" part to create excitement and enhance learning Engl...

Applying some language games in "Language focus" part to create excitement and enhance learning English for grade 10 students 1 CONTENT PART I INTRODUCTION 1 I Reason for choosing the study 2 II Aims of the study 2 III Objects of the study 3 IV Methods of the study 3 PART II CONTENT 3 I Theoretical back ground 3 II Real situation of teaching and learning English at Tho Xuan 4 high school 4 III Some language games applied in teaching “language focus” part English 10 (basic) 6 1 Circle 6 2 Twenty[.]

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

I Reason for choosing the study 2

II Aims of the study 2

III Objects of the study 3

IV Methods of the study 3

PART II: CONTENT 3

I Theoretical back ground 3

II Real situation of teaching and learning English at Tho Xuan 4 high school 4

III Some language games applied in teaching “language focus” part - English 10 (basic) .6

1 Circle 6

2 Twenty Questions 6

3 Tongue twisters 7

4 Find The Other Halves 8

5 Noughts And Crosses 9

6 Reported Speech Soccer 11

7 Miming Game 11

8 Bring Me Something 12

9 The Jewel Game 12

10 Find someone who? 14

11 Table Completion 14

12 Lucky Animal 16

IV Result 17

PART III: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 18

I Conclusion 18

II Suggestions 18

REFERENCE 20

PART I: INTRODUCTION

I Reason for choosing the study

Recently, teaching English has improved in method in the light of the communicative, learner-centered approach which is adaptable to required objectives and helps students have many opportunities to communicate in English However, at many high schools, teaching English still has not developed students’ ability, activeness and motivation, especially teaching grammar

I agree with Mario Rinvolucri (1984: 3): “Grammar is perhaps so serious and central in learning another language that all ways should be searched for which will focus student energy on the task of mastering and internalizing it One way of focusing this energy is through the release offered by games.” Games in general and grammar games in particular are very useful in teaching and learning English grammar because it not only encourages, but improves and teaches students’ ability

in using English fluently as well Therefore, I think this study is necessary and the result of using games in teaching grammar will bring many practical benefits to the students

As an English teacher, I really want to clarify the topic here with my knowledge to analyze, understand the situation of teaching and learning English at high school; the application of games in teaching English at the school Thanks to

it, I will find out lessons, experience for myself and make a small contribution to enhancing the effectiveness in teaching this subject So in this writing, I present the study entitled:

"Applying some language games in " Language focus " part to create excitement and enhance learning English for grade 10 students".

II Aims of the study

The aims of this study are:

- To introduce some language games in “language focus”

- To show how to organize games effectively and how to deal with initial problems that may arise

- To create excitement and enhance learning English for students

III Objects of the study

This subject is concerned with ways of using some language games as well

as their effectiveness on teaching grammar

IV Methods of the study

Reading reference books, discussing with other teachers, applying in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences

PART II: CONTENT

I Theoretical back ground

There is an interesting movement towards teaching grammar with games It creates students’ motivation in learning English, especially English grammar Just immage when coming in class the teacher annouces that it is time for grammar lesson with games instead of moans and whinning, the teacher and the students get smiles and excitemment

Arif Saricoban and Esen Metin, authors of "Songs, Verse and Games for Teaching Grammar" explain how and why games work for teaching grammar in an ESL classroom They say, "Games and problem-solving activities have apurpose beyond the production of correct speech, and are examples of the most preferable communicative activities." They go on to explain that grammar games help

children not only gain knowledge but be able to apply and use that learning

Additionally, games have the advantage of allowing the students to "practice and internalize vocabulary, grammar and structures extensively." They can do this through repeated exposure to the target grammar and because students are often more motivated to play games than they are to do deskwork Plus, during the

game, the students are focused on the activity and end up absorbing the grammar

Aydan Ersoz, author of "Six Games for the ESL/EFL Classroom" also

explains more reasons why games do work for teaching grammar Learning a

language requires constant effort and that can be tiring, but Ersoz outlines two good reasons why games should be included in the classroom:

* Games that are amusing and challenging are highly motivating

* Games allow meaningful use of the language in context

Students may wish to play games purely fo fun Teacher, however, need more convincing reasons “ Teacher need to consider which games to use, when to use them, how to link them up with the syllabus, textbook and programme and how, more specially, different games with benifit student in different ways” (Khan, J,1996) The key to a sucessful language games is that the rule is clear, the ultimate goal is well designed and the game must be fun

II Real situation of teaching and learning English at Tho Xuan 4 high school

From applying new English teaching methods, "language games" have been become main activity in teachers' lesson plans Some teachers have paid attention and prepared careful game They know how to make the classtime pleasant and comfortable so they create excitement and motivate learning English for their students However, some others are not aware much about the importance of language games They still think that these games waste time and make class noisy Thus, instead of having better preparation for language games, they often explain the grammar rules and ask students to do exercises This makes students stressful and the classtime boring

Moreover, for students at Tho Xuan 4 high school, they have approached new teaching methods, but they seem to be embarrassing when they take part in To know exactly about this problem, I have investigated 90 students in 2 classes 10A5

and 10A6 by asking them the following questions:

Please tick your choice in the square to answer the question:

1 Do you like playing games in “language focus” lessons?

A Very like C Normal

B Like D Dislike

2 Why do (don't) you like warm-up activities in English lesson?

And I get the bellow result:

Total

As can be seen from the result that most of good students are interested in language games while lower students are shy because they have no ability to take part in Student's level of understanding is unequal in a class to cause difficulty for teachers to choose activities which are suitable for whole class Many activities can

be applied well in this period but they also are boring in the other ones Lots of games make good students excited while bad students could not participate in And vice versa, some activities attract lower students but make good ones bored

Besides, my school is located in half-plain and pure agricultural area so students `have less chance to communicate in foreign language in daily life They are so shy to speak as well as express ideas, thought in language games so they seem not to want to take part in

From those reasons, the study entitled "Applying some language games in

"language focus" part to create excitement and enhance learning English for grade 10 students" has been conducted with the hope to make teachers and

students more aware of the importance of language games in teaching and learning grammar

III Some language games applied in teaching “language focus” part - English

10 (basic).

1 Circle

a Procedure

- T divides class in to group of 4-5

- T gives a word and asks Ss to make a full sentence

- each student in groups gives one word to make a full sentence

b Applying

Unit 1: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF… – Pronunciation

Teacher gives the first word: THREE and asks students to give words containing the sound /i:/ or /I /

Ex: Three sleepy sheep and a bee see Bill kick a big tin under the kitchen sink

Unit 3: SCHOOL TALKS - Grammar

Teacher gives the first words (The) and asks students to give words to make complete sentence having To infinitive or Gerund

Ex: The manager asked me to finish the report by lunchtime

Unit 4: SPECIAL EDUCATION… – Pronunciation

Teacher gives the first word: PAUL and asks students to give words containing the sound : và 

Ex: Paul wants to call his daughter not to pour water on the floor and watch out the dog

2 Twenty Questions

a Procedure

- T divides class into three teams

- T gives some pictures on the board and asks Ss to make questions about them

- Students in each team make questions and write on the board in 5 minutes

- Which team has more right questions will be the winner

b Applying

Unit 2: SCHOOL TALKS - Grammar (WH - Questions)

Unit 12: MUSIC- Grammar (WH - Questions)

The teacher gives a picture of a famous person ( My Tam singer)

The teacher can ask the students to work in groups of 4 In 5 minutes, the group make more questions will be the winner

Ex: What is her name?

Where is she from?

What is her job?

3 Tongue twisters

a Procedure

- T writes some English tongue twisters on the board or on pieces of paper to distribute to students

- T asks them to read the tongue twisters aloud Then faster Then three times in a row

b Applying

Unit 3: PEOPLE’S BACKGROUND – Language Focus

/ e / and / æ /

How many cans can a cannibal nibble if a cannibal can nibble cans?

How many berries could a bare berry carry if a bare berry could carry berries?

Unit 10: CONSERVATION – Language Focus

/ b/ and / p /

1 If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

2 Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Unit 14: THE WORLD CUP – Language Focus

/ g / and / k /

How many cookies could a good cook cook if a good cook could cook cookies?

A good cook could cook as much cookies as a good cook who could cook cookies

4 Find The Other Halves

Aims: practice conditional sentence type

a Procedure

- T divides class into groups of 4-5 students

- T hangs on 3 pieces of paper on the board and delivers the 3 other ones to groups

- Ss read the sentences in pieces of paper carefully and then couple with pieces of paper on the board to make meaningful sentences in the fastest time

- Each group chooses a representative to run quickly to the board to couple pieces

of paper Which group complete fastest with more answers will be the winner

- T checks answers

b Applying

Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE (Grammar )

Unit 9: UNDERSEA WORLD (Grammar)

Unit 11: NATIONAL PARKS (Grammar)

Ex: Teacher takes 2 pieces of paper 1 If I have much money

2 I will buy a new dress

If I

I have will buy much a new bike money dress

5 Noughts And Crosses

a Procedure

- Divide the class into 2 groups : one is Noughts (0) and one is Crosses (X)

- Each team has to make a question correctly before they can place their symbol into an appropriate place on the board

- The winning team is the one who gets a line of three of their symbols on the grid

b Applying

Unit 2: SCHOOL TALK - Grammar (WH- questions)’

Unit 12: MUSIC - Grammar (WH- questions)

Ex 1.What do you do in your free time?

2.What is your favourite sport?

3 How often do you watch TV?

4.Where do you usually go on a Sunday?

5 Who do you often spend your free time with?

If I hadn’t my parents

failed wouldn’t

the final have been

exam so sad

If I

I were would

a marry a

Princess Prince

6 Why do you morning exercises everyday?

7 Where do you go on holiday?

8 Where do you have free time?

9 Which sport do you prefer football or swimming?

UNIT 5: TECHNOLOGY AND YOU – Gramar ( Relative Clauses)

Divide the students into two teams, the noughts and the crosses, and give out a worksheet like the one in the photo It consists of the nine squares of the noughts and crosses diagram, each containing the photo of an object or a person that the students will not know in English, but will be able to describe within the limits of the grammar (relative clauses ) and vocabulary that they have already learnt

6 Reported Speech Soccer

a Procedure

- T can choose some students to play the games

- T can flip over a quotation card

- Ss whose turn it is reads the quote and reports what was said, heard, read, or thought

- If the student correctly reports what was in the quotation, the soccer ball advances one space (one player) closer to the opposing net If the student makes even the slightest mistake then the ball moves one space closer to his or her own net

b Applying

Unit 8: THE STORY OF MY VILLAGE - Grammar

For example, if the card says it's a beautiful day then the student will say:

He/she said that it was a beautiful day Every card has been designed so that the

student can easily identify the pattern that is required

Ex:

said that thought that

b.

7 Miming Game

a Procedure

- Teacher can divide the students into small groups

- Students use their bodies to convey the meaning of an action or an expression which the others have to guess

- One of the students in the group has to mime and the other groups have to guess

b Applying

Unit 6: AN EXCURSION - Grammar ( The Present Progressive)

Students stand in front of the class and mime actions The other students must guess what the student is doing: She's driving a car

We are writing some letters

He's opening an umbrella in the rain, etc…

8 Bring Me Something

a Procedure

- T divides class into group of 4-5

- T asks Ss to put some school objects on the table

- T stands in front of class and makes request

- Ss listen and bring the teacher items that fit the request

b Applying

Unit 16: HISTORICAL PLACES - Grammar –( making comparison)

Example:

- something smaller than a pencil

- Something bigger than the textbook

- Something older than the desk

- Something newer than a new notebook

- Someone better looking than the teacher (That always gets some laughs)

9 The Jewel Game

This game promotes the development of memory and observation skills

a Procedure

- T divides the class into small groups Make sure that all desks are cleared and no student has pen or paper to write anything down

- T prepares some flashcards or pictures