(SKKN HAY NHẤT) using games in teaching vocabulary

Using games for learning and teachingvocabulary has been applied in many countries in the world; however, not manyVietnamese language teachers as well as learners employ the effectivenes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 The reason of selecting the topic 1

1.2 Aim of the research 2

1.3 The research method 2

1.4 Scope of the research Error! Bookmark not defined. 2 CONTENTS 3

2.1.Definition of the game 3

2.2 Effect of using game in teaching vocabulary 3

2.3 Types of the game in teaching vocabulary……… 5

2.4 Sample game used in teaching vocabulary in English 11 14

2.5 Results 17

3 CONCLUSION 19

REFERENCES 21

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The reason of selecting the topic

In the trend of globalization today, the importance of English cannot bedenied and ignored because it is widely used everywhere in the world Alongwith the development of technology, medicine, engineering and education,English plays a very important role It has been used for the Final Examinations

to evaluate students’ level of knowledge Therefore, it is neccesary to haveteaching and learning English methods and techniques

In the initial stages of learning a language, vocabulary plays a primaryrole in acquisition and communication Vocabulary is a core component oflanguage proficiency and provides much of the basic for how well learnersspeak, listen, read and write Vocabulary acquisition is increasingly viewed ascrucial to language acquisition Yet, learning vocabulary is often perceived as atedious and laborious process Therefore, many methods helping languagelearners to improve and learn vocabulary have been given such as listening toforeign music, watching foreign cartoons or films with subtitles, reading books,newspapers, and playing games Using games for learning and teachingvocabulary has been applied in many countries in the world; however, not manyVietnamese language teachers as well as learners employ the effectiveness of thekind of methodology for vocabulary teaching and learning

In reality, in Viet Nam vocabulary has not been considered as a majorsubject which should be taught separately and officially instead of teachingtogether with lessons of listening, speaking, reading and writing Besides,vocabulary lessons were not paid enough attention in order to help students learnnew words more interestedly and effectively As a result, though Vietnamesestudents 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 Moreover, 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 loudseveral times, and so forth These above seem not to be very effective and

no longer the "hardship" of the student, standing in front of the porters that

prompted me to do the subject: "Using games in teaching vocabulary".

According to this research, I myself will get experiences to improve skills andteaching methods

1.2 Aim of the research

To make students interested in learning English at high schools

1.3 The research method

Observation method

1.4 Score of the study

The study focuses specifically on using games in teaching vocabulary to

the study limits itself to the teaching vocabulary only, and the subjects of thestudy are students from two classes (11B1,B2 and 11B6) studying “Tieng Anh11” textbook at Nguyen Quan Nho high school

2 CONTENTS 2.1 Definition of the game.

Games are forms of entertainment derived from a set of artificial rules,typically with a known goal to be reached Games can be in the form of physicalactivities, mental, or a mixture of the two Also, games can be classified ascooperative, solitaire or competitive Hadfield (1987) defines “a game is anactivity with rules, a goal and an element of fun” Similarly, according to Rixon(1981), “a game consists of governed by rules” This is summed up very well inGibb’s definition (1978) of a game as “an activity carried out by cooperating orcompeting decision markers, seeking to achieve, within a set of rules, theirobjectives”

Different the definitions are, they share the same opinion that a game hasthree main characteristics They are: a goal or objective, a set of rules whichgovern a game and games involve a contest either between players or betweenplayers and the goal

2.2 Effect of using game in teaching vocabulary.

Games help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is usefuland meaningful Even though games are often associated with fun, we shouldnot lose sight of their pedagogical value, particularly in foreign languageteaching and learning Games are effective as they create motivation, lowerstudents’ stress, and give language learners the opportunity for realcommunication

According to J Haldfield , “a game is an activity with rules, a goal and anelement of fun.… Games should be regarded as an integral part of the languagesyllabus” This definition highly evaluates the importance of games in teaching

It shows that games serve not only as an ‘amusing activity’, but also as atechnique to carry out many pedagogical tasks

Classifying games into categories can be difficult because categories oftenoverlap J Hadfield proposes two ways of classifying language games First,language games are divided into two types: linguistic and communicativegames Linguistic games focus on accuracy, such as supplying the correctantonym Communicative games presuppose successful exchange ofinformation and ideas

J Hadfield also offers to classify language games into many morecategories: sorting, ordering, or arranging, information gap games, guessing,search games, matching games, labeling, exchanging games; board, role playgames According to W Lee , games can be classified into ten categories:

structure games which provide experience of the use of particular patterns ofsyntax in communication; vocabulary games in which the learners’ attention isfocused mainly on words; spelling, pronunciation games; number games; listen-and-do games; games and writing; miming and role play; discussion games

Let’s discuss some of the common advantages of using games in foreignanguage teaching and learning

Games promote learners’ interaction Interaction comprises the nature of

classroom pedagogy and classroom behavior Pair or group work is one of themain ways to increase cooperation Many games can be played in pairs or insmall groups, thereby providing an opportunity to develop their interpersonalskills such as the skill of disagreeing politely or the skill of asking for help Inthe classroom learners will definitely participate in the activities Therefore, ingroups or in pairs, they are more willing to ask questions, communicate anddiscuss topics with their partners and think creatively about how to use foreignlanguage to achieve their goals The competition in the games gives students anatural 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 moreeffectively than by other means Games can stimulate and encourage students toparticipate in the activity since they naturally want to win Apart from havingfun, students are learning They acquire a new language Students begin torealize that they have to use the language if they want others to understand whatthey are saying

Games can motivate learners, promote learners’ interaction, and improvelearners’ acquisition As a result, games can increase learners’ achievement,which means that learners’ test results, ability of communication, knowledge ofvocabulary, or other language skills can improve

C Riedle emphasizes the advantage of games in improving learners’

achievements: “We are teaching a new generation of students, which requiresunconventional teaching strategies to be put into practice in the classroom Andwhen schools use games, student benefits speak for themselves – a greater desire

to learn and higher test scores.”

In brief, games prove to be a useful tool in language teaching Games notonly motivate learners and create a friendly atmosphere, they are aimed atdeveloping all language skills Consequently, games can motivate, promotelearners’ interaction, improve their acquisition and increase their achievement.

Let's summarize why we should use games in language teaching

- Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the languageclass;

to make and sustain the effort of learning;

reading, and writing, and a number of skills are often involved in the samegame;

interpersonal skills;

more attention, better attendance, better participation;

general principles

Games can be a very worthwhile teaching element A successful game issuccessful because of the reason that it is based on specific time allocation, ithas clear relevance to the material, there is appropriateness to all members of theclass, and ultimately, the enjoyment of the learners is increased through theiractive engagement with the language

2.3 Types of the game in teaching vocabulary

Classifying games into categories can be difficult, because categoriesoften overlap Hadfield (1999) explains two ways of classifying languagegames First, she divides language games into two types: linguistic games and

communicative games Linguisticgames focus on accuracy, such as supplying thcorrect antonym On the other hand, communicative games focus on successfulexchange of information and ideas, such as two people identifying thedifferences between their two pictures which are similar to one another but notexactly alike Correct language usage, though still important, is secondary toachievethe communicative goal.

The second taxonomy that Hadfield uses to classify language games hasmany more categories As with the classification of games as linguistic games orcommunicative games, some games will contain elements of more than onetype

* Game “ Pass The Ball ”

This classic classroom game is incredibly fun and a great activity to get yourstudents motivated and energized It’s also a fun way to introduce or reviewvocabulary with students All you need is a soft ball and some flashcards

How To Play:

Students will pass the ball around the class and when the music stops, thestudent with the ball must answer a question from the teacher For example, ifyou are teaching vocabulary to do with colors, the teacher might ask ‘Whatcolor is it?’

Another way to play is, when the music stops, the student with the ballcan ask the question and all the other students must answer This way allstudents get to practice the vocabulary while playing the game.

* Game “ Line Bingo ”

This ESL vocabulary game is a great alternative to regular bingo Mosttextbooks these days come with small picture / word cards at that back that

page where you can download and print these ‘student cards’ for free

How To Play:

Give each student or pair of students one set of vocabulary cards Askthem to place them in a horizontal line in any order they want Once studentshave placed their cards in a line, the game can begin

The teacher should say one of the words and if that word is on the left end

or the right end of the line then students can turn that card over If the card is inthe middle of the line, students cannot turn it over

tense you can ask students to shout out ‘What are you doing?’ Then the teachercan answer using one of the words on the card (e.g ‘I am painting.’) Thenstudents should look at their line of cards and check if ‘painting’ is on the left orright end of their line

The first student / pair of students to turn over all their cards is the winner

To make this vocabulary game more fun, invite your students one by one to thefront of the class to choose the next word

*Game “ Hot Seat ”

This simple no prep game is a great way to get students to utilize all theirexisting vocabulary while learning new words at the same time

How To Play:

To play this game, you can divide the class into 2/3 teams or you can justplay as a whole class Choose one student to sit in the ‘Hot Seat’ This is a seat

at the front of the class facing the other students

Then from behind the student in the hot seat, show the other students aword from the lesson The other students must try to describe what the word iswithout saying the actual word And the student in the hot seat must guess

Kids absolutely love this game and it is a great way to review vocabularythat your students have learned that lesson

* Game ‘1 2 3 Go!’

the words on the board

How To Play:

Put the flashcards (or write the key words) on the board in a line 6-8words is the best When the teacher says ‘1, 2, 3, Go!’ one student must jump upand shout the first word Then another student must jump up and shout thesecond word Then another student must jump up and shout the third word And

so on until all 6/8 words have been called out

Any student can jump up and say any word at any time, but if 2 studentsjump up at the same time, then they lose

This game can be played as a whole class, or if you have a large class,divide the class into teams

* Matching Games

games are simple to make and great for reviewing vocabulary

The game becomes more and more fun as it progresses because studentsstart to remember where they saw the words

* Game “The 4 Corner ”

This no prep classroom game is great to review vocabulary and as alistening activity

How To Play:

Assign a word to the 4 corners of the classroom Then, choose one student

to come to the front and close their eyes Then the other students have 5 seconds

to move to one of the corners of the classroom After the time is up, the student

at the front will choose one of the words while keeping his/her eyes closed Thestudents standing in the corner with assigned with that word are out, and must sitdown

The game continues like this until one student is left That student is thewinner, and can be the next student to come to the front and close their eyes

TIP: Many students moving around the class can be quite dangerous Forsafety, instruct students not to run and make sure there are no bags, coats, books,etc, on the floor that the student can trip on

* Game “ Printable Board ”

Printable board games are easy to prepare and a great way to get kidstalking using the vocabulary from that lesson

*Hangman

If you’re not familiar with hangman, its a game where the teacher wouldthink of a word and then draw a line for each letter of that word Then studentsmust try to guess what the word is by guessing letters of the alphabet

In the traditional hangman game, if students guess wrong too many times,then the teacher would draw a man hanging from his neck on the board Eventhough it is just a stick figure drawing, the idea seems quite gruesome and