Applying games to improve interaction skills of english majored freshmen in speaking class at tay do university

...26 5.1 .3 Student's perception toward beneJits of playing games to improve communication skills in speaking class... Games can involve all the basic language skills, i.e., listening,

TAY DO UNIVERSITY

APPLYING GAMES TO IMPROVE

UNIVERSITY

Superuisor:

M.A Tat Thien Thu

Studentos name: Nguyen Huynh Diem My

Student's code: 1 157010032

Class: Bachelor of English 6

L.003733

M"y,2015 .

gnudrue p& HQc YAY

TRUONG DAI HoC rAy o6

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arp -Leaming English is a hard process, it requires student's effort in a long time.Therefore, to make students have motivation, the researcher proposed applying games

in teaching English Games not only make students to be active, but also help them to

improve their interaction skills To evaluate students' improvement in interaction skills

via games in speaking class, the researcher uses three tools: questionnaire, interview

and classroom observation to get data from a sampling group of 54 English - majoredsophomores and 02 teachers of English at Tay Do University The findings showed

that both the teachers and students consider games are a useful tool to improve

interaction skills between learners-learners and teachers-learners.

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pp I would like first to thank TAY DO TINIVERSITY and FACULTY OF

LITERATURE for giving me favorable environment and conditions to complete this

study.

Next, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and respect to my supervisor

Ms TAT THIEN THU for her unaccountable guidance, support, help and patience.

I would like also to express my open-hearted gratitude to Ms NGUYEN THI

CAM TAM who permitted me to observe her speaking classes

Once again, I would like to express my wann thanks to Ms NGUYEN THI

CAM TAM, M.A and Ms TAT THIEN THU who accepted to complete my interview

I gratefully wish to thank all the first year English-majored students of TAY

DO UNIVERSITY for their help and seriousness in completing the questionnaire

I would also like to thank all my friends for the nice times that we spenttogether helping one other.

Finally, I sincerely thank to my family especially my parents who provide me

with advice and financial support The product of this research would not be possible

without all of them

m

LIST OF TABLES vII

CHAPTERl:INTRODUCTION 1

l.l Rationale 1

1.2 Organization 2

CHAPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 What is interaction skill? 4

2.2 Roles of speaking class in improving interaction skills 4

2.3 Common methods teaching in speaking class 6

2.3.1 Direct Method 6

2.3.2 Audio-Lingual Method 6

2.3.3 Communicative Language Teaching 6

2.3.4 Role play/simulations 6

2.4 Why games should be used in language classroom 7

2.5 When and how games should be used 9

2.6 Types of language games 1I 2.7 The advantages of using games in classroom 15

2.8 The effects of games on attitude of passive students 16

2.9 The impacts of games on students's interaction skills 17

CHAPTER 3 : RESEARCH AIM, RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESrS 18

3.1 Research Aim 18

3.2 Research questions 18

3.3 Hypothesis 18

CHAPTER4: METHODOLOGY 19

ry

CHAPTER 5 : RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

5.1 Student's perception 25

5.1.1 Student's preference toward playing games 25

5.1.2 Student's perception toward benefits of ploying games to improve interaction skills in speaking c1ass 26

5.1 .3 Student's perception toward beneJits of playing games to improve communication skills in speaking class ,,,,, , ,.,,.,,,,,.,,,29

5.2 Teacher's perception 34

5.3 Classroom observation 36

5.3 1 Classroom Observation 1 36

5.3.2 Classroom Observation 2 38

5.3.3 Classroom Observation 3 3 8 5.3.4 Classroom Obseryation 4 39

5.3.5 Classroom Observation 5 41

5.4 Discussion 41

CHAPTER 6 : CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

APPENDIX I

APPENDIX2

25

XI

LIST OF FIRUGES

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Figure 1 Students' state toward playing game

Firuge 2 Student's perception toward benefits of playing games to improve

Figure 3 Students's perception toward benefits of playing games to improve their

VI

LIST OF'TABLES

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pur -Table 1 Background information about the samples

Table 2 Student's state toward playing 9ames

Table 3 Student's perception toward the benefits of playing games to improve

CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION

In this part, the rationale and the organization are presented.

1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, English has an important role in life It is one of the key means of

communication for connecting people throughout the world In addition, it also has a

critically important in business because most cross-border business communications

are in English Therefore, understanding and learning English can actually change

ones' life However, learning English is a hard task for those who lack patience because it requires continuous effort that must be maintained over a long period of

time Moreover, the structure of traditional classrooms can be quite boring Knowledge

is mainly imparted by the teacher Students usually just listen and write, thus they are

not motivated or given the opportunity to express their ideas As a result, they becomepassive in class Because of the objective and subjective reasons above, teaching andlearning English in general and teaching and learning speaking-skills in particular does

not always achieve the desired outcome Although teachers make efforts to provide

students opportunities to develop their communicative skills, knowing how to teach and learn speaking-skills effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many universities in Viet Nam

At Tay Do University, the situation is similar to that of freshmen majors who have just graduated from high school They did not have frequent

English-opportunities to participate in an English speaking environment before They have no

time to focus only in English because they have to learn others subjects such as

Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology or social subjects such as Literature,History and Geography Moreover, in one period of English class at high school, 45minutes is not much time for teachers to teach all four skills, especially speaking skills.Therefore, when entering university, for most freshmen English-majors perceivespeaking skills as especially important and yet the most challenging In particular, for

freshmen English majors at Tay Do University, they encounter some problems when

they are in speaking in class for example: They aren't brave enough to practicespeaking with their peers or teachers due to a fear of making mistakes, others are

passive, shy and only give their opinions when they are invited to speak Manystudents lack working-group skills such as cooperation, competition, making

conversation or asking for help when they have a problem with a particular task.

Furthermore, because studying English is a long process, students feel boredand have no motivation Therefore, it is necessary to find a supplementary techniquethat can be used in teaching English speaking skills

In language teaching, games have proved themselves not as merely time fillingactivities but as an important catalyst which can generate more opportunities and interest to motivate students to speak.

All the above-mentioned reasons and factors have inspired me to conduct a

research project entitled: " Applying gomes to improve the interaction ond speakingskills class offreshmen English majors at Tay Do UniversiQt "

1.2 Organization

This research is divided into six main chapters:

Chapter I is the INIRODUCTION In this part, the rationale and the

or ganization are pre sented.

Chapter II is the LITERATARE REVIEW which includes 9 parts:

Part I deals with theoretical background that is relevant to the purpose ofthe study: what are interaction skills?

Part II presents the role of speaking class to improve students's interactionskills

Part III outlines some common methods of teaching speaking class.

Part IV lists the reasons why we should apply games in speaking class.

Part V When games are used in class? And how to use them? These questions are answered in this section.

2

Part VI helps us to understand about two kinds of language games And

then, giving examples of some typical games which are usually used in speaking class.

Part VII lists some advantages of games for students as well as teacherswhen applying them in the classroom.

Part VIII is the effects of games on the attitudes of passive students.

Part IX presents the impacts of games on students's interaction skills

Chapter III this presents research aims, research questions and hypothesis

Chapter IV is the METHODOLOGY.IT is the proper way to test if students'sinteraction skills increase or decrease when playing games in the classroom.

Chapter V is the RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Chapter VI is C ONCLU TI ONS-LIMI TATI ONS-REC OMMENDATIONSREFERENCES andAPPENDICES are presented in the last pages of the study.

CHAPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW

Interaction skill is one of the ways to develop the language skills In this port I

will deal with the concept of interoction as a strategt that takes place in classrooms.

Then, I will explain the role of speaking class to improve interaction skill

2.1 What is interaction skill?

The notion of interaction is defined as "reciprocal events that require at leasttwo objects and two actions Interaction occurs when these objects and events

naturally influence one another" (Wagner, 1994:8) According to Wagner (1994),

interaction does not occur only from one side, it must be mutual effect through giving

and receiving messages in order to get achievement communications

In the other hand, "Interaction comes from Latin inter, meaning between, andago meaning to do or to act-any "action between" is considered an interaction, like

the interaction between a teacher and a sfudent, two countries, or even baking soda and

vinegar", or "The activity of being with and talking to other people, and the way thatpeople react to each other"

In other ways, interaction may also define as "the act of communicating with

somebody, especially while you work, play or spend time with them", or "if one thing

has an interaction with another, or if there is an interaction between two things, the

two things have an effect on each other" according to oxford learners dictionaries , or

"If you interact with someone-by talking, looking, sharing, or engaging in any kind

of action that involves the two of you-you can be said to have had an interaction with

that person."

2.2 Roles of speaking class in improving interaction skitts

Speaking or oral communication is typified as an activity involving two or morepeople in whom the participants are both and speaker having to react to have what theyhear and make theirs contributions at high speed Each participant has an intentions or

sets of intentions goal that the wants to achieve in the interactions M.J Sudrajat and

Nano Sukandar in a book how to master in English conversation mentioned three tips

to master in English conversation skill In the last tip, the students have to practice

English conversation They have to be brave enough to practice it without afraid of

making mistake The students can practice English conversation with English teacher

in the class or out of class with friends or with foreigners and can practice with self by

speak loudly (Sudrajat and Iskandar, 1997: l) Because of this reason, the role ofspeaking towards enhancing interaction skills is shown through practicing with their

teachers and peers.

For effective communication, especially in speaking class, some of the essential

interaction skills are needed by students that they should be able to direct the dialoguewith one another, comment immediately on what another speaker has just said, disagree with or challenge another speaker's statement, should not have to be invited

to speak or speak when there is a short silence indicating the end of someone else'sturn, intemrpt one another to include an opinion or question, and finally use

appropriate paralinguistic features (Counihan,l998) Lam & Wong (2000:245) contendthat without adequate peer support, learners might lack the confidence and motivation

to use such interaction strategies effectively This show that the importance ofspeaking class to encourage students confidence showing their opinions or feedbackthe teacher confidently

In addition, to have a successful conversation in classroom, it requires exchange between instructors and sfudents:

- Students should feel free to ask questions of the instructor and their peers.

- Students should feel free to answer questions.

- Students should not feel threatened by giving an incorrect response.

Moreover, teaching speaking is a very important part of second language

learning The ability to communicate in a second language clearly and efficiently

contributes to the success of the learner in school to develop their interaction skill and

success later in every phase of life Therefore, it is essential that language teachers pay

great attention to teaching speaking Rather than leading students to pure

memorization, providing a rich environment where meaningful communication takesplace is desired With this aim, various speaking activities such as those listed abovecan contribute a great deal to students in developing basic interactive skills necessary

5

for life These activities make students more active in the learning process and at the

same time make their leaming more meaningful and fun for them

2.3 Common methods teaching in speaking class

In teaching speaking, we can use some methods there are:

2.3.1 Direct Method

Teacher does much of the talking, students engage in many controlled speaking

activities centered on specific topics of situations (Butler,2003: 98).

2.3.2 Audio-Linguol Method

Focus on speech with heavy reliance on repetitions and oral drills (Butler, 2003: 98).

2.3.3 Communicotive Language Teaching

Focus on speech for communication, use of variety of authentic speaking

activities (Butler, 2003: 98).

2 3 1 Role ploy/simulations

Role-playing/simulation is and extremely valuable method for second languagelearning (Tompkins [at] pgh.nauticom.net) It encourages thinking and creativity, letsstudents develop and practice new language and behavioral skills in a relatively no

threatening setting, and can create the motivation and involvement necessary forlearning to occur This part will examine this technique in detail Many of the

classrooms speaking activities, which are currently in use, fall at or near thecommunicative end of communication continuum There are:

There are many communication games, all of which aim to get students talking

as quickly and fluently s possible (Harmer, 1984: 352).

2.3.4.3 Discussion

Discussions range from highly formal, whole group staged events to informalsmall group interactions Student can design questionnaires on only on topic that is

appropriate

As they do so, they teacher can act as a resource, helping them in the design process (Harmer, 1984: 352).

2.3.4.6 Simulation and role-play

Many students derive great benefit from simulation and role-play Simulation

and role-play can be used to encourage general oral fluency or to train students forspecific situations (Harmer, 1984: 353).

Simulations are very similar to role-plays but what makes simulations different

from role-plays is that they are more elaborate In simulations, students can bring

items to the class to create a realistic environment For instance, if a student is acting

as a singer, she brings a microphone to sing and so on Role-plays and simulationshave many advantages (A'la, 2010,2010:93) First, since they are entertaining, theyincrease the self-confidence of hesitant students, because in role-play and simulationactivities, they will have a different role and do not have to speak for themselves,

which means they do not have to take the same responsibility

2.4 Why games should be used in language classroom

Games have long been recommended for assisting language learning Here are

some of the reasons:

1 Games add interest to what students might not find very interesting.Sustaining interest can mean sustaining effort (Thiagaraj an, 1999; Wright, Betteridge,

& Buckby, 2005) After all, learning a language involves long-term effort

2 Games provide a context for meaningful communication Even if the game

involves discrete language items, such as a spelling game, meaningful communicationtakes place as students seek to understand how to play the game and as theycommunicate about the game: before, during, and after the game (Wright, Betteridge,

& Buckby,2005)

7

3 This meaningful communication provides the basis for comprehensible input(Krashen, 1985), i.e., what students understand as they listen and read, interaction toenhance comprehensibility, e.g., asking for repetition or giving examples (Long,

1991), and comprehensible output, speaking and writing so that others can understand

(Swain, 1993).

4 The emotions aroused when playing games add variety to the sometimes dry,serious process of language instruction ((Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000) Ersoz,2000; Lee, 1995).

5 The variety and intensity that games offer may lower anxiety

(Richard-Amato, 1988 ) and encourage shyer learners to take part (fberman, 1998), especiallywhen games are played in small groups.

6 Games can involve all the basic language skills, i.e., listening, speaking,reading, and writing, and a number of skills are often involved in the same game (Lee,

rees)

7 Games are student-centered in that students are active in playing the games,

and games can often be organized such that students have the leading roles, with

teachers as facilitators

8 Many games can be played in small groups, thereby providing a venue for

students to develop their skills in working with others, such as the skill of disagreeing

politely and the skill of asking for help (Jacobs & Kline Liu, 1996) Other advantages

of games played in groups include:

a The team aspect of many games can encourage cooperation and build team

two people from shutting out others.

9 As many games can be played outside of class, they provide a means for

students to use the language outside of class time (Ellis,2005)

10 Games can connect to a variety of intelligences (Gardner, 1999), e.9.,

a Games played with others involve interpersonal intelligence

b Games involving drawing connect with visual/spatial intelligence

c Games often have a hands-on element, such as cards, spinners, or pieces,

which connect with bodilyikinesthetic intelligence

To achieve the above-mentioned benefits some thought needs to be given to hen

and how to use games That is the focus of the next section.

2.5 When and how games should be used

Games can play a range of roles in the language curriculum Traditionally,

games have been used in the language class as warrn-ups at the beginning of class,

fill-ins when there is extra time near the end of class, or as an occasional bit of spice

stirred into the curriculum to add variety All these are fine, but games can also

constitute a more substantial part of language courses (Lee, 1979; Rixon, 1981,

Uberman, 1998) In the Presentation-Practice-Production framework (Mauer, 1997),

(in which language items are first presented for students to listen to and/or read, thenpracticed in a manner in which the language used is controlled, e.g., students read out

a dialogue from the textbook in which the two characters compare study habits, andthen produced by students in a less controlled manner, e.g., two students discuss theirown study habits), the games can be either for practicing specific language items orskills or for more communicative language production Similarly, gilmes can also be used as away to revise and recycle previously taught language (Uberman, 1998).

On the other hand, there is number of situations, in which using a game or a fun

activity may be of a great help in both developing good conditions for language

acquisition itself, as well as helping to improve or create learning environment andoverall positive atmosphere in the class.

Some of such situations are described hereby.

Vocabulary - it is usually difficult to learn and live the new words, which the

on-going process of studying process requires It is then useful to introduce games as

an opportunity to re-use the desired vocabulary During a gamq repetition of the target

words can be executed repeatedly The sfudents get personally involved, therefore, in

addition to avoiding boredom as it often happens when repeating words; it is also more

likely the vocabulary will get internalized

Lack of interest - this is a common situation in teen-age classes, where the students are often not motivated enough to take the learning process seriously In such

cases, it can help to employ games and fun activities, where they need the targetlanguage in order to succeed The games can be a springboard for the serious language

work, or vice versa, the language work can become a precondition to a success in the

language students The teacher should be aware of that Games may be used as a tool

to overcome the crisis and yet bring an educational benefit, too.

The students do not co-operate - there may be classes where the students are

not very close to each other, do not feel comfortable when asked to co-operate on an

activity A game has a great potential bringing the students together The reason is thatsuch activity is not viewed as extremely serious; the students can relax and find a way

to communicate better This skill is then also transferred to other activities too, and,

needless to s&y, other subjects may also benefit from the newly learned

communication skill, especially if the students are required to work on projects or

otherwise as teams.

Time left - short games or fun activities may serve as time fillers, for instance

at the end of a lesson, when all planned work has been finished This way the timeremaining is not 'wasted', it is used for the language practice too Regular use of shortgames at the end of lessons also motivates the students to work harder and have theirwork finished earlier, in order to save time for an enjoyable activity

Children often are very enthusiastic about games, but precisely for that reason,

some older students may worry that games are too childish for them Teachers need to

explain the purpose of the game in order to reassure such students that there is such a

phenomenon as "serious fun." Also, older students can be involved in modiffing and even creating games Furthermore, adults have long participated in games on radio and

television, not to mention the fact that popular board games, such as Monopoly, are

played by adults.

As with other learning activities, teachers need to pay careful attention to the

difficulty level of games Part of the appeal of games lies in the challenge, but if the

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challenge is too great, some students may become discouraged The challenge can be

of two kinds: understanding how to play the game and understanding the languagecontent Some suggestions for promoting both types are understanding are:

a Demonstrations of how the game is played The teacher can demonstrate with

a group of students or a group can demonstrate for the class.

b A kind of script of what people said as they played or a list of useful phrases.

Similarly, key vocabulary and concepts may need to be explained

c Clear directions Demonstrations can accompany directions, and directionscan be given when needed, rather than explaining all the steps and rules in one go.

Also, some student-initiated modifications can be accepted.

d Games already known to students.

e Games used to revise and recycle previously studied content, rather than

involving new content.

f Groups are heterogeneous in terms of current language proficiency, so thatthe more proficient members can help others.

g Resources, online or print, such as dictionaries and textbooks

2.6 Types of language games

It is really difficult to classiff and name all the types of games Moreover manygames are difficult to label In the following, I will introduce some notions of writers

to classiff games.

Gordon Lewis and Giinther Bedson (1999) state that classification of the games

includes:

Movement games: the type of game when learners are physically active (e.g.

Find your partner) All children can be involved and the teacher usually just monitors

the game Movement games have clearly given rules and they can be either

competitive or cooperative; it depends on the concrete game or how the teacher designs it It is the same with the materials, for example you do not need any material

for movement game called "Direction game" (one child tells a blindfold child how toget to a specific place) Whereas the game "Find your partner" requires prepared cards.

While playing movement games children practise all skills

Board games: games played on the board in this case (e.g Hangman) Teacher

needs whatever kind of boards (black, white or interactive board) They can be played

1l

in all types of grouping and teacher needs to prepare some material in most of boardgames Learners can practise all language skills and they are expected to obey given

rules This type of the game can be either competitive or cooperative; it deals with the

type of grouping Teacher can operate as a controller, organizer, participant and

facilitator

Guessing games: based on the principle when one holds the information andanother tries to guess it (e.g Back writing) There exists a wide variety of guessinggames with teacher as a participant or facilitator Teacher needs to prepare none or

some material and learners practise their speaking and listening skills while

cooperating Learners follow given instruction and rules which do not have to be strict

Matching games: games involve matching correct pairs (e.g Vocabulary

Scramble) They need to have material prepared Learners cooperate to reach the goal

of the game The goal of the game and the type of grouping can make the game

cooperative (leamer in pair, learners of one group, whole class) or competitive(pairlgroup vs pairlgroup) Reading and speaking games are practiced the most Theteacher's role is to be a facilitator

Card games: familiar game with board game The cards have an important

value in the game (e.g what is that card?) so material is required in this case.

Desk games: these games can be played as an individual work game (e.g.puzzle) or pair and group game (e.g scrabble) Desk games need material and they can

work both competitively and cooperatively For example scrabble or memory game

(pexeso) are competitive games whereas puzzle is cooperative game It can be the

competitive game thus (the rule for puzzle as a competitive game is: the winner is who

finishes the puzzle first) Teacher can be a controller and facilitator

Role-play games: it can be either the game itself or an element of other games.

It needs active performing of the learner (e.g at the shop) cooperating in pairs or

smaller groups Material is not necessary but can be useful The teacher is a controller

and facilitator, he gives the instruction but strict rules are not necessary They practisespeaking writing and listening skills

Task-based games: belongs to popular games nowadays, especially because ofits connection with cooperative schooling Usually pairs or groups work on meaningfultask in the way they enjoy Learners obey clear rules and they have got a chance to

t2

practise all language skills Teacher is an organizer and facilitator Teacher prepares material for the game or learners prepare it themselves later.

pre-Computer games are a very popular type of the games nowadays It can be

played either at school or at home It requires individual or pair work and learnerspractise their reading and writing skills The teacher can be tutor or play none role.There are usually given clear rules and the computer is necessary here.

Different writers have different classification of games Lee (2000, p 65)

classifies games into ten kinds: structure games, vocabulary games, spelling games,

pronunciation games, number games, listen-and-do games, read-and-do games, games and writing, miming and role-play, and discussion game.

However, McCallum (1980) categorizes games for language learning intoseven kinds: vocabulary games, number games, structure games, spelling games,

conversation games, writing games, and role-play and dramatics.

The last one, According to Hadfield (1999) she divides language games intotwo types: linguistic games and communicative games Linguistic games focus onaccuracy, such as supplying the correct antonym On the other hand, communicativegames focus on successful exchange of information and ideas, such as two people

identifting the differences between their two pictures which are similar to one another

but not exactly alike Through the interaction skills is indicated obviously by the

situation between two persons.It shows that the importance of communicative games

towards people who are passive in speaking English

The second classification that Hadfield uses to classiff language games has

many more categories such as

1 Sorting, ordering, or alranging games For example, students have a set ofcards with different products on them, and they sort the cards into products found at a

grocery store and products found at a department store.

2 Information gap games In such games, one or more people have information

that other people need to complete a task For instance, one person might have a

drawing and their partner needs to create a similar drawing by listening to the

information given by the person with the drawing Information gap games can involve

a one-way information gap, such as the drawing game just described, or a two-wayinformation gap, in which each person has unique information, such as in a Spot-the-

13

Difference task, where each person has a slightly different picture, and the task is to

identifr the differences

3 Search games These games are yet another variant on two-way information

gap games, with everyone giving and seeking information Find Someone Who is a

well known example Students are given a grid The task is to fill in all the cells in the

grid with the name of a classmate who fits that cell, e.g., someone who is a vegetarian Students circulate, asking and answering questions to complete their own grid and helpclassmates complete theirs

4 Guessing games These are avariation on information gap games One of the best known examples of a guessing game is 20 Questions, in which one person thinks

of a famous person, place; or thing The other participants can ask 20 YesA.{o questions to find clues in order to guess who or what the person is thinking of

5 Matching games As the name implies, participants need to find a match for a

word, picture, or card For example, students place 30 word cards, composed of 15

pairs, face down in random order Each person furns over two cards at a time, with thegoal of turning over a matching pair, by using their memory This is also known as thePelmanism principle, after Christopher Louis Pelman, a British psychologist of the

first half of the 20th century

6 Labeling games These are a form of matching, in that participants matchlabels and pictures

7 Exchanging games In these games, students barter cards, other objects, or

ideas Similar are exchanging and collecting games Many card games fall into thiscategory, such as the children's card game Go Fish

involve students playing roles that they do not play in real life, such as dentist, while

simulations can involve students performing roles that they already play in real life ormight be likely to play, such as customer at a restaurant Dramas are normally scripted

14

perfonnances, whereas in role plays and simulations, students come up with their own

words, although preparation is often useful

It has many ways to classiff games, but I think the first concept of Hadfield is easy to understand and close with us than other notions Thus, in the next pafi, I willrepresent some games which are used in speaking class belong to communicative

games.

2.7 The advantages of using games in classroom

There are many advantages of using games in the classroom:

Games are used as methods or techniques to involve students in learning

Well-chosen and designed games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the

same time allow learners to practise language skills The benefits of games range fromcognitive aspect of language leaming to more co-operative group dynamics and as a

result games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time

challenging Ersoz (2000) states that games can be used to give practice in all language

skills and they can be used to practice many types of communication

Huyen (2003) identifies the advantages of using games to learn vocabulary in

the classroom:

a) Games add relaxation and fun, so the learners retain words more easily

b) Games involve friendly competition, so it keeps learners interested andmotivated

c) Vocabulary games bring real world context to the classroom.

Mei (2000) emphasizes similar points by saying that it encourages activelearning, as well as collaboration and interactivity Interactive learning techniques alsohold memory, performance and social benefits According to I-Jung (2005) the

benef,rts of using games in language-learning include that games are learner centered, encourages creative and spontaneous use of language and foster participatory attitudes

of the learners.

Kim (1995) states more general advantages of using games in the classroom

and they include:

1 Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class.

2 They are motivating and challenging

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3 Learning a language requires a great deal of effort Games help students to

make and sustain the effort of learning

4 Games provide language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing,

listening and reading

5 They encourage students to interact and communicate

6 They create a meaningful context for language use Students learn through

experimenting, discovering and interacting with their environment Students need

variation to increase their motivation By using games students already have a context

in which the use of the target language is immediately useful This learning situation is

similar to how mother tongue speakers would leam without being aware they are

In addition, relaxed atmosphere w&! isjlelgd by usi@".i

remember things faster and better (Wierus and Wierus 1994:2lS) S M 6 Jr\q /'t r '-i {' '

'

Zdybiewska believes games to be a good way of practising language, kor they

provide a model of what learners will use the language for in real life in the future

Q99a:Q

2.8 The effects of games on attitude of passive students

a Games add interest to what students might not find very interesting

Language learning is hard work Effort is required at every moment and must be

maintained over a long period of time Games help and encourage many students to

sustain their interest and work Sustaining interest can mean sustaining effort After

all, learning language involves long tem effort

b The variety and intensity that games offer may lower anxiety and encourage

shyer students to take part in speaking classes positively, especially when games are

played in small groups.

c Games also help the teachers to create contexts in which the language is

meaningful and useful The students want to take part and in order to do so they must

understand what others are saying and they must speak in order to express their own

point of view or give information

d Games are student-centered in that students are active in playing the games

and games can often be organized such that students have the leading roles, with

teachers as facilitators

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2.9 The impacts of games on students's interaction skills

Gee (2005) mentions many impacts of games, such as students have to follow a

set of rules, analyze their options, make decisions, perform tasks, and evaluate the

results on whether their decision produced the desired outcome or not Games alsoencourage pattem identification, exploration approach to learning; taking what they

know and have leamed and connecting this with new information being introduced.Though that, gradually students become more confident and active to react to friends

and teachers In addition, games are also considered as one of the soft skills building inpeer-to-peer and peer-to-teacher communication, collaboration and cooperation.Beside that, games also have many effects which are presented as follow:

r The students want to take part in games and in order to do understand whatothers axe saying, so they must speaking in order to express their own point

of view or give information

o Games can be used in the classroom to make learners use the language instead

ofjust thinking about leaming the correct forms

Games encourage learners to interact, cooperate, to be creative and spontaneous

in using the language in a meaningful way

o To play games students must be active and are generally quite competitive.Especially they must be able to understand and communicate in the targetlanguage.

o Playing games give students a chance to leam, practice, or review with their

peers specific language material and the theory which teacher lectures.

TBUdNG DAI HOC TAY DO

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CHAPTER 3 : RESEARCH AIM, RESEARCH QUESTIONS

AND HYPOTHESIS

This chapter includes 3 parts: research oim, research questions and hypothesis.

There ore theories which need to clarify in chapter V.

3.1 Research Aim

This study aims to investigate the impacts of playing games on the auitude of

freshmen English majors in speaking class, especially on the students' interactionskills

1 What are students' perceptions toward playing games in speaking class?

2 What are teachers' perceptions toward playing games in speaking class?

3 How often are games played in speaking class?

4 To what extent can students' interaction skills be improved through playing

games in speaking class?

classroom, their interaction skills will develop quickly

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CHAPTER 4 : METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the researcher presents the process of the study Research method

inc lude s : De s ign, partic ipant, ins trument and proce dur e.

4.1 Design

An experimental study was conducted to find out the answers to the research questions and to test the hypothesis presented in the previous chapter.

The questionnaire for students and interview for teacher was be used to survey

the impacts of games on the attitude of English freshmen major in speaking class.

Another tool- classroom observation was also applied to double check the result of thedata collected from the interview and questionnaire Through, to find proper ways toimprove students' interaction skills making students interest in contribution to lessons.

Therefore, the sections below will present about the advantages as well as

sample formats of the three research tools that the researcher chose as instruments in

the study.

4.1.1 Questionnaire

Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview They can be

carried out face to face, by telephone or post Questions have been used to research

type A personality (e.g Friedman & Rosenman,1974), and also to assess life events

which may cause stress (Holmes & Rahe, 1967).Questionnaires provide a relatively

cheap, quick and efficient way of obtaining large amounts of information from a large

sample of people Data can be collected relatively quickly because the researcher

would not need to be present when the questionnaires were completed This is useful

for large populations when interviews would be impractical

Also the language of a questionnaire should be appropriate to the vocabulary of

the group of people being studied For example, the researcher must change the language of questions to match the social background of respondents'age / educationallevel / social class / ethnicity etc.

Questionnaires can be an effective means of measuring the behaviour, attitudes,preferences, opinions and intentions of relatively large numbers of subjects more

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cheaply and quickly than other methods Moreover, questionnaires also have a lot of

benefits such as: it is practical, large amounts of information can be collected from a

large number of people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way,

it can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with limited affect

to its validity and reliabilityo the results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly

and easily quantified by either a researcher or through the use of a software package, it

can also be analysed more'scientifically'and objectively than other forms of research.

Moreover, when data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast otherresearch and may be used to measure change.

Because of these advantages, the researcher used questionnaire as one of the

tool to collect the attitude and opinions of students about applying games to improvetheir interaction skills

4.1.2 Interview

Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participant'sexperiences The interviewer can pursue in-depth information around the topic.Interviews may be useful as follow-up to certain respondents to questionnaires,e.g., to

fu rther investi gate their response s (McN amar a,l 999)

The aims of the interview are to find out the data about the teachers' thoughts,

feelings, responses, difficulties and expectation towards the use of games in teachingspeaking As Merriam (1991 cited in Popi, 2010) notes that in a qualitative case study,the main purpose of interview is to obtain a special kind of information It will be used

to find out those things that cannot directly observe such as feelings, thought, and

intention (Patton, 1980 as cited in Merriam, 1991 as cited in Popi, 2010) Through the

interview, the researcher will know whether the study is acceptable or not amongst the students and also identiff the significances before and after getting the treatment As a

result, interview is very good technique for getting the information about the complex,

emotionally laden subjects and data collected by this method is likely to be morecorrect compared to the other methods that are used for the data collection

4.1.3 Observotion

Sierra and Bravo (1984) said that the observation was the inspection and the

study done by the researcher through the use of his own senses with or without thehelp of technical gadgets also that the observation is a visual registry of what happens

in the real world it means the empirical evidence so the observation requires thesubject of the investigation, the definition of the objectives of the study, determine theunit of observation, the conditions under which assume the observation and thebehaviors to be recorded Also the findings have to be done in the most natural way

possible and without influence of the researcher or other factors.

The researchers consider that the observation gives to the study one of the mostimportant tools - The Facts.

Through participant observation, researchers can also uncover factors importantfor a thorough understanding of the research problem but that were unknown when thestudy was designed This is the great advantage of the method because, although wemay get truthful answers to the research questions we ask, we may not always ask the

right questions Thus, what we learn from participant observation can help us not only

to understand data collected through other methods (such as interviews, focus groups, and quantitative research methods), but also to design questions for those methods thatwill give us the best understanding of the phenomenon being studied.

The researcher designed an observation format in order to facilitate theobservation of the application of games for the development of the interaction skills ofthe students The observation format served as a tool to focus on the teaching activities

developed in classroom that contained games oriented to the English speaking skills ofthe students.

The procedure of selecting the samples was non-random based on convenience

sampling According to Mackey and Gass (2005) convenience sampling is theselection of participants who happened to be available at the time of the study Besidethe main sample, the researcher met and invited 2 teachers giving their opinions about

2t

applying games in teaching speaking skill through doing interview The students' andteachers' information is summarized in the Table I below:

Table 1: Background information about the samples

4.3 Instruments

To ensure the validity of the assumptions which the researcher introduced in the

previous sections, questionnaires, interview forms and observation sheets are used as

measuring instruments Base on the theory in the design section, this section representsthe context and format of 3 tools respectively

4.3.1 Quesfionoire

Questionnaires are the most commonly used method for collecting informationfrom research participants when evaluating educational and extension research In this

study, the researcher used questionnaires as a tool to collect ideas as well as attitudes

of freshmen English majors about applyng games in the classroom.

The questionnaire includes 3 main parts: introduction, general information

questions and Likert Scale about the benefits of using games in class.

4.3.1.1 Introduction

In this part, the researcher intoduces the name of the study and personal

infonnation In addition, the purpose of research is presented to make the participantsunderstand what researcher wants to address Therefore, they can comprehend clearly

and complete the questionnaire quickly Most importantly, the investigator expresses

her gratitude to the participants for their help Beside that, this part also inctudes thepamicipants' personal inforrration such as gender and age.

4 3 1 2 General information questions

This section includes 5 questions These questions are used to determine the

attitude of students about speaking skills in the classroom as well as the diffrculties