The use of language games to motivate 10th form students to learn writing at ki nh high school

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1 The benefits of using language games to motivate students to learn writing Table 2 Teachers' preparation for the use of language games in writing lesso

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

HỨA THỊ THANH HÀ

FORM STUDENTS TO LEARN WRITING AT KIM ANH

HIGH SCHOOL

VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ NHẰM TẠO ĐỘNG LỰC THÚC ĐẨY HỌC SINH LỚP 10 HỌC VIẾT TẠI TRƯỜNG

TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG KIM ANH

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Methodology Code: 60.140.111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

HỨA THỊ THANH HÀ

FORM STUDENTS TO LEARN WRITING AT KIM ANH

HIGH SCHOOL

VIỆC SỬ DỤNG TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ NHẰM TẠO ĐỘNG LỰC THÚC ĐẨY HỌC SINH LỚP 10 HỌC VIẾT TẠI TRƯỜNG

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

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

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 6 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

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1 The benefits of using language games to motivate students to learn

writing Table 2 Teachers' preparation for the use of language games in writing lessons Table 3 Students' performance in the games according to the teachers'

viewpoint Table 4 The difficulties facing teachers when using language games to

motivate students to learn writing Table 5 Teachers' suggestions on how to use language games to motivate

students to learn writing Table 6 The benefits of using language games as a motivator in writing lessons

according to students' viewpoint Table 7 The difficulties students meet when playing language games in writing

lessons Table 8 Students' suggestions for teachers' using language games to motivate

students to learn writing Figure 1 Teachers‟ keenness on using language games to motivate students to

learn writing Figure 2 The usefulness of using language games to motivate students to learn

writing in teachers' viewpoint Figure 3 The frequency of using language games to motivate students to learn

writing Figure 4 Stages at which language games are used in writing lessons

Figure 5 Time for using language games to motivate students to learn writing Figure 6 Kinds of language games to stimulate students to learn writing

Figure 7 Class organization when language games are used to motivate

students to learn writing Figure 8 Teachers‟ activities before conducting the games

Figure 9 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

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

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 1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research question of the study 2

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Methods of the study 3

6 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Writing and writing teaching 4

1.1.1 Definitions 4

1.1.2 Approaches to writing teaching 5

1.1.3 Processes in teaching writing 6

1.1.4 Factors affecting students' performance in writing lessons 8

1.1.4.1 Student factors 8

1.1.4.2 Teacher factors 9

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

3.1.1.4 Teachers‟ suggestions on using language games to motivate students

to learn writing 29

3.1.2 Survey questionnaire for the students 30

3.1.2.1 The attitudes of the students towards their teachers' use of language games to motivate them to learn writing 30

3.1.2.2 Students' viewpoint on the current situation of using language games to motivate students to learn writing at Kim Anh High school 33

3.1.2.3 The difficulties students meet when teachers use language games to motivate them to learn writing 36

3.1.2.4 Students' suggestions for teachers' using language games to motivate students to learn writing 37

3.2 Interviews 38

3.2.1 Interview with the teachers 38

3.2.2 Interview with the students 40

PART C: CONCLUSION 1 Summary of findings 41

2 Pedagogical Implications 42

3 Limitations and recommendations for further studies 43

REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for the teachers I Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for the students VII Appendix 3: Interview questions for the teachers and the students XV Appendix 4: Interview with the teachers XVI Appendix 5: Interview with the students .XIX Appendix 6: Data collected from the survey questionnaire for the teachers XXI Appendix 7: Data collected from the survey questionnaire for the students XXVI

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

In second language learning, language games have long been proved to be not just time-filling activities but have a great educational value "Games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input more likely." (Richard-Amato, 1988, p.147) They are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can give shy students more opportunity to express their opinions and feelings (Hansen, 1994, p.118) They also enable learners to acquire new experiences within a foreign language which are not always possible during a typical lesson In the easy, relaxed atmosphere which is created by using games, students remember things faster and better (Wierus and Wierus, 1994, p.218) Further support comes from Zdybiewska, who believes games to provide a model of what learners will use the language for in real life in the future (1994, p.6) In short, games are used not only for mere fun, but more importantly, for the useful practice and review of language lessons, thus leading toward the goal of improving learners' communicative competence.' Games ought to be at the heart of teaching foreign languages

In Vietnam, there have been many studies on using language games in teaching and learning English However, few researchers investigated the application of language games to motivate students to learn writing Writing, by its nature, may not make it attractive to students or teachers as a classroom activity In reality, most teachers follow what the tasks in the textbook require, and do nothing more about it They just ask students to do the written exercises after giving simple suggestions or encourage them to mimic model texts For students, most of them find no reason to learn writing as it is not included in the national examination format and they may have rare opportunities to write in English in real life Because

of limited background knowledge, they often feel bored when doing written work, especially when lacking support and motivation from teachers

The situation is even worse at Kim Anh High school where students have low English proficiency Except for some good students, the rest are not interested

in learning English in general and writing in particular They find writing difficult and boring so they do not try to learn this important language skill For the teachers, teaching writing appears to be a challenge Sometimes this important skill is neglected as teachers find writing quite a daunting prospect in their classes

It is obvious that stimulating students to learn writing is absolutely vital as motivation is one of the keys to success of second language acquisition Language games have not successfully applied to writing lessons at Kim Anh High school yet

All the above- mention reasons have inspired the author to conduct the study

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

2 Aims of the study

The study is aimed at investigating the situation of using language games to motivate 10th form students to learn writing at Kim Anh High School Following are the specific objectives:

 The attitudes of the teachers and students towards using language games to motivate students to learn writing

 The use of language games to motivate students' learning writing

 The difficulties that the teachers and students meet when language games are used to motivate students to learn writing

Based on the findings, some suggestions and implications are provided for the improvement of writing teaching by using language games as a motivator

3 Research question of the study

To achieve the aim, the study plans to answer the following question:

What is the situation of using language games to motivate 10 th form students

to learn writing at Kim Anh High School?

To answer this question, the answers to the minor questions were sought for:

 What are the attitudes of the teachers and students towards using language games to motivate students to learn writing?

 What games are used to motivate students to learn writing at Kim Anh High school? And how are they used?

 What are the difficulties the teachers and students cope with during stimulating student to learn writing via language games?

4 Scope of the study

The study focuses specifically on using language games to teach writing to

10th students at Kim Anh High school So the study limits itself to the teaching and learning writing only, and the subjects of the study are non- English majors studying English 10 at Kim Anh High school

5 Methods of the study

The major methods employed in this study include:

 survey questionnaires were answered by teachers and students to find out the situation of using language games as a motivator in writing lessons

 interviews were conducted to get better insights into their ideas towards the use

of language games

6 Design of the study

This paper is divided into three main parts:

PART A is the INTRODUCTION which presents the rationale, the aims, the research question, the scope, the methods and the design of the study

PART B is the DEVELOPMENT which includes three chapters Chapter 1, LITERATURE REVIEW, deals with some theoretical background that is relevant

to the purposes of the study: teaching writing and language games Chapter 2, METHODOLOGY, investigates the situation of using language games at Kim Anh High school through the analysis of collected data Chapter 3 is the FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS which are concluded from the data analysis

PART C is the CONCLUSION which includes the summary of findings, pedagogical implications as well as limitations of the study and recommendations for further research

REFERENCES and APPENDICES are provided in the last pages of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Writing and writing teaching

1.1.1 Definitions

In language teaching, writing is one of the four language skills (reading, speaking, listening and writing) that a learners is expected to master Many linguists have tried to give definitions of writing

Byrnes (1991, p.1) sees writing from the lowest level - letters to the higher and higher levels of performance - words, sentences and discourses and as strategies

to obtain a final product of " making marks on the flat surface of some kinds."

Candlin and Hyland ( 1999, p.107) define writing as " an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and persuade them of the claims that are made." In the opinions of Murray (1978,p.29) and Perl (1979, p.43), writing is " a creative discovery procedure characterized by the dynamic interplay

of content and language: the use of language to explore beyond the known content"

However, cognitive view considers writing as decision-making process (Flower and Hayes,1981) When writing something, the writer has to decide what to begin with, whether to include or leave out an idea, what information to place, etc

Writing is essential for language learners to acquire a language It is used as assessment; as an aid to critical thinking, understanding and memory; to extend students‟ learning beyond lectures and other formal meetings; to improve students‟ communication skills; and to train students as future professionals in particular disciplines Raimes (1983) states three ways in which students can learn better through writing First, writing reinforces their grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary Second, writing gives them a chance to try the language learnt Last but not least, writing can help motivating learners to learn new languages

Nevertheless, writing is not a simple skill to master from the language teachers' point of view Tribble (1996, p.11) stresses that writing "normally requires

some forms of instruction" and that "it is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure." Ur (1996, p 161) said that most people acquire spoken language intuitively whereas written form is in most cases deliberately taught and learned Writing is "a process that occurs over a period of time, particularly if we take into account the sometimes extended period of thinking that precedes creating an initial draft" (Ferris, 1993, p.10)

In brief, writing is a difficult but important productive skill for language learners to acquire Writing teaching, thus, needs to be taken into consideration

1.1.2 Approaches to writing teaching

Raimes (1983 presented various approaches to teaching writing as follows:

a) The Controlled to Free Approach:

In 1950s and early 1960, the audio- lingual method dominated second language learning which emphasized on speech and writing through mastering grammatical and syntactic forms

Here, the students are given sentence exercises, and then paragraphs to copy

or manipulate grammatically These controlled compositions then followed by correction of errors, so that it can lead to the free composition Overall, this approach focuses on accuracy rather than fluency

b) The Free Writing Approach:

This approach stresses writing quantity rather than quality This focuses on fluency rather than accuracy It is based on the principle that if once ideas are there, the organization follows

c) The Paragraph Pattern Approach:

This approach focuses on organization by copying the paragraphs or model passages It is based on the principle that in different culture or situations, people construct and organize communication with each other in different ways

d) The Grammar-Syntax Organization Approach:

This approach stresses on simultaneous work on more than one composition feature It is inclusive here that writing cannot be seen as composed of separate

skills which are learned sequentially So, students must be trained to pay attention to organization while they also work on the necessary grammar and syntax

e) The Communicative Approach:

This approach focuses 'on the purpose of writing and the audience for it They are given some tasks where they have to behave as writers so that they can learn by doing it Why am I writing this? Who will read it?

Thus, this approach is quite functional in nature, which can provide the actual experience to the learners

f) The Process Approach:

This approach shows the shift from product to process which shows: How do

I write this? How do I get started?

Here, the students are trained to generate ideas for writing, to think of the purpose, audience, and ways of communication and so on

In fact, it is a developmental process from generating ideas to expressing them, drafting, redrafting, organizing and so on This process of writing can have three stages like: Prewriting, Writing and Post-writing (Revising or Redrafting)

As 'there is no one way to teach writing, but many ways" (Raimes, 1983, p 6-11), teachers should find an appropriate method or integrated ones to teach writing for specific students

1.1.3 Processes in teaching writing

During the seventies of the 20th century, while the product approach received

a lot of criticism, many teachers at the forefront of the development of the process approach have proposed methodologies emphasizing the creatively and unpredictability of writing (Tribble, 1996, p.37) In the process approach, the teaching of writing has begun to move away from a concentration on the written product to an emphasis on the process of writing All writers make decisions on how to begin and how to organize the task Therefore, they do not write on a given topic in a restricted time and hand in the composition for the teacher to correct The role of teachers, therefore, is as education facilitators

As described in Zamel (1983, p.147) and Raimes (1985, p.231), in the process approach, the process of writing is seen as a recursive and complex process

In other words, although there are identifiable stages in the process of writing, writers can still revisit any of these stages many times before a text is completed

According to Graham Stanley (2007, p.16), although there are many ways of approaching process writing, it can be broken down into three stages:

 Pre - writing

The teacher needs to stimulate students' creativity, to get them thinking how to approach a writing topic In this stage, the most important thing is the flow of ideas, and it is not always necessary that students actually produce much (if any) written work If they do, then the teacher can contribute with advice on how to improve their initial ideas

During this stage, students write without much attention to the accuracy of their work or the organization The most important feature is meaning Here, the teacher (or other students) should concentrate on the content of the writing He or she can raise the questions “Is it coherent? Is there anything missing? Anything extra?”

Now the writing is adapted to a readership Students should focus more on form and on producing a finished piece of work The teacher can help with error correction and give organizational advice

Obviously, the process approach has made great improvement in practical teaching

in comparison with the product approach A teacher who adopts the approach will try to respect the learners‟ cultural background and avoid the imposition of ideas or language behavior The teaching and learning materials which make use of these approaches typically attempt to encourage creativity in very practical ways

It is necessary to provide a supportive environment for the students and be patient In the long term, teachers and students will start to recognize the value of a process writing approach as their written work improves (Stanley, 2007: 9)

1.1.4 Factors affecting students' performance in writing lessons

Students „performance in writing lesson can be affected by a variety of factors originating from students, teachers and other external factors In the following sections, some of the major factors will be discussed

1 1.4.1 Student factors

The main factors originating from students‟ side that may affect students‟ participation in classroom activities include students‟ learning styles, students‟

motivation and students‟ language levels

Students’ learning styles

Different individuals may have different learning styles, prefer different kinds of work, and expect different degrees of care and attention from the teacher It

is obvious that if teacher realizes the differences among the individuals in the class,

he can plan appropriate activities and the students will join in the lesson actively

Students’ motivation

Regarding the issue, Lightbrown and Spada (1999) consider motivation a complex phenomenon and define it in terms of two factors: learners‟ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community

According to Harmer, the sources of motivation are diversified They may derive from the society we live in, significant others like parents or old siblings, the teacher and the method Among these sources, the teacher and the method may be

of the most importance For the teacher, his or her attitudes and enthusiasm help create a positive classroom atmosphere For the method, it means involving both teacher and students‟ confidence shown in the way of teaching and learning If either loses this confident motivation, the chance of success in learning a language will be very small

Downs (2000) also points out some conditions that help increase students‟ motivation He says that motivation increases when students feel acknowledged and understood, when students are confident they can succeed, when language has a communicative purpose, and when students take responsibility for their learning

Clearly, motivation plays an important role in the success of language learning It can be concluded with certainty that the degree of motivation is directly proportional to the level of involvement in common and particularly in students‟ performance in writing lesson To be more concrete, the more motivated students are, the more actively they will participate in the lesson

Students’ language levels

Harmer (2001) claims that in a class where students‟ language levels are different, teacher may have some difficulties choosing a suitable teaching method, language and activities used in class Some techniques and exercises are suitable for some students but less appropriate for others The limitation in the students‟ language levels can directly affect their participation however much they like the activities Teachers, therefore, should take some issues into consideration such as choosing interesting topics, creating interest in the topic, activating schemata, varying topics and genre and providing necessary information

1.1.4.2 Teacher factors

Students‟ writing performance can be affected by teachers‟ factors including

teaching methods, teachers‟ knowledge and teachers‟ instructions

Teachers’ teaching methods

There have been many teaching methods in teaching writing through out the history of ELT In writing lessons, teachers‟ teaching methods are focused on the ways teachers design appropriate activities to motivate students to write as well as the ways that the teachers elicit writing tasks In order to have a suitable method, the teacher should bear in mind the factors such as learners' learning styles, teaching purposes and other available classroom conditions Choosing an inappropriate or not being flexible in applying methods to a certain class may have negative effects

on students‟ participation

Teachers’ knowledge

In the study What makes a good teacher, Breach (2005) points out that most

students believe that the teacher is a fountain of knowledge and their main

responsibility is to pass on that knowledge to students Knowledgeable teachers are those with high language ability and general knowledge of the field expertise Not only should teachers be fluent, accurate English speakers but they should also be certain of the topic they are going to conduct According to Underwood (1987), the more knowledge a teacher can apply to his lesson, the more interested his students will feel in the learning activities

Teachers’ instructions

Complicated instructions are another major problem that often makes giving instructions very time – consuming In the class, if the students do not understand the teachers‟ instructions, they do not react anything Ur(1996) provides several very useful recommendations: The first step is to prepare what you are going to say, and if possible, even to write it down Then the teacher needs to ensure the class‟s attention Next, he should give the information more than once Make sure that the language is brief and clear, and then follow it up with demonstrations Giving effective instructions is not easy as it is a skill that can only be gained with proper learning and frequent practice

1.1.4.3 External factors

Time limitations

Clearly, time limitation is an external factor affecting students' performance

in writing If teachers, for some reasons, do not prepare the materials well enough, they will realize the failure of not having appropriate time for writing activities In some large classes with a number of students whose English knowledge are limited,

it often takes much more time to conduct these activities This leads to the confirmation of the teachers‟ role in planning the lessons and assume suitable time procedure for writing tasks

Classroom and materials restraints

According to Williams and Burden (1997), we can not underestimate the importance of appropriate environmental conditions for learning to take place as an

understanding of the ways in which aspects of the environment affect learning is vitally important for language teachers and learners

Underwood (1987) claims that both the teacher and students are responsible for creating a good learning atmosphere which consists of some characteristics such

as giving a sense of purpose or the teachers should ensure that English is spoken Balancing fluency and accuracy or using appropriate language are the two necessary elements in creating a good classroom atmosphere Underwood also mentions the effects of encouragement as well as students‟ involvement on the improvement of students‟ English learning Finally, tests and extracurricular activities are also considered as important parts of increasing learning atmosphere in the classroom

1.2 Language games

1.2.1 Definitions

The term 'game' is defined briefly by Hadfield (1984) as "an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun." And according to Gibbs (1978), "a game is an activity carried out by cooperating or competing decision markers, seeking to achieve, within a set of rules, their objectives." This means games are forms of entertainment derived from a set of rules, typically with a known goal to be reached Games can be in the form of physical activities, mental or a mixture of the two Games can be classified as cooperative, solitaire or competitive

A language game also shares the similar characteristics with the ordinary game However, language games means games related to language If ordinary games help to improve different aspects such as intellectual ability and patience, language games help to develop language skills When playing language games, learners not only have fun but can also practice English enjoyably, which helps to motivate students Greenal(1984) gives his opinion of language game as " one kind

of activity which is used to consolidate language already taught or acquired and occurs during the free stage of a lesson or during occasions such as English club meetings He states that a language game "is used whenever there is an element of competition between individual students or teams in a language activity."

To sum up, a language game is not just for fun but the skills needed are heavily weighed on the language side So, language games must be carefully selected by teachers to serve the purpose

1.2.2 Roles of language games

According to many researchers and educators, motivation is one of the keys

to success of language learning Motivation, as pointed out by Gardner (1985), involves desire to learn a language, intensity of effort to achieve this, and attitudes toward learning the language It is obvious that motivation to learn a second language refers to the extent to which the individual tries to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity Thus, those motivated to participate actively in class usually get good study results

Developing motivation is not easy because it is something very personal However, Lightbrown and Spada( 1999) state that: " If we can make our classrooms places where students enjoy coming because the atmosphere is supportive and non - threatening, we can make a positive contribution to students' motivation to learn."

And language game is an important source of motivation and it is often considered as the first step to draw learners' attention to an EFL environment (Vale, 1995) In most of the games, en element of competition between individuals or teams is a strongly motivating factor It is the most important reason why all learners are immensely happy or absorbed in playing games Greenal(1984) says that language games provide free and spontaneous practice of the language in conditions lying halfway between the controlled content of the formal lesson and the real life situations outside classroom

With a view to creating an enjoyable learning environment, language games should be used to motivate students in writing classes for the following reasons:

 Games provide interest to what students may not find interesting

 Games may lower anxiety and stimulate students to join in the games positively

 Games can be used to change the pace of a lesson and so maintain motivation

 Games add variety to the range of learning situations

 Games help teachers to create contexts in which the language is meaningful and useful so that students have chances to communicate to each other freely

 Games can give 'hidden' practice of specific language points without students being aware of this

 Games provide active learner-centered learning so that students are active in the games While students have the leading roles, teachers work as facilitators

1.2.3 Types of language games

Each linguist has his own way to classify language games Hadfield(1987) divides language games into linguistic games and communicative games While linguistic games focus on accuracy, communicative games focus on successful exchange of information and ideas He also classifies them language games into many more categories as follows:

 Sorting, ordering or arranging games For instance, the students have a set of pictures and they number the pictures to make a complete story

 Information gap game: In such games, one student has access to the information which is not held by the other student, and this student must acquire the information to complete the task successfully Information gap games can involve a one-way information gap or a two-way information gap

 Guessing games: In these games, someone knows something and the others have

to find out what it is

 Matching games: Participants need to find a match for a word, picture or card

 Puzzle- solving games: The participants in the game share or pool information in order to solve a problem or a mystery

 Role play games: Role play can involve students playing roles that they already play in real life or roles that they do not play in real life

In short, there are many types of language games for teachers to apply in teaching language but choosing the most useful in certain lessons in order to stimulate students and develop their skills depends on the wise use of the teachers

1.2.4 Methods of using language games

To students, language games may be used purely for fun However, teachers have to consider when to play a game, which game to play and how to run a game in order

to make the best use of the game and connect them with the target language

1.2.4.1 When to use a game?

According to Wright, Betteridge & Buckly (2005), " games can be found to give students practice in all the skills: reading, writing, listening or speaking in all stages of the teaching/ learning sequence and for many types of communication." Hadfield (1987) also stated that "games can be used at any stage of the lesson once the target language has been introduced and explained They serve both as a memory aid and repetition drill and as a chance to use language freely."

In short, "a game should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments when the teacher and class have nothing better to do" as Lee (1979) observed Games should be "an integral part of the language system" (Hadfield, 1990) and they can be used "at any stages of the lesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen" (Rixon, 1981.)

As in writing lessons, the post stage is usually for giving feedback, language games are likely to be used as warm up activities when not only students have a relaxed atmosphere to refresh themselves but they are also provided with necessary expressions and structures as well as ideas for the writing lessons

1.2.4.2 Which games to use?

Not all kinds of games can be applied in writing lessons Therefore, the first thing teachers need to decide is the main aim of having a game Which language items will be taught? Which game is the most appropriate for delivering these items? Language games should be chosen when they can give students both fun and educational meaning The adapted should be relevant to the content of the lesson

Level of the games is another factor that the teachers should take into consideration Part of the appeal of games lies in the challenge, but if the challenge

is too great, some students may become discouraged Teachers also need to make sure the games should allow chances for both bright and not-very-bright students

Timing should be assumed in advance Lewis and Bedson (1999) suggest that games should last from 5 to 20 minutes including preparation, presentation, game playing and post playing Playing a game too long may lose students' interest

One more thing teachers should bear in mind is to ensure that the aids and materials for the games are available so that the learners can encounter the game's requirements Teachers may supply enough facility for the class or they may ask students to prepare at home

Last but not least, teachers are advised to exploit a wide variety of language games as even interesting games may bore students if they are played repeatedly

1.2 4.3 How to run a game?

Introducing games is an important step to the success of the game To start a game, the rules of the game should be given Each game will need a proper introduction, which means an explanation - not just a reading - of the rules The instruction must be clear, simple, precise and explicit enough for students, who in any case have language difficulties, to understand When giving instructions, a few words in mother tongue may be help as it would be the quickest way to make everything clear In addition, the scoring system and the time limit for the game should also be provided in order to avoid students' confusion and trouble later

Organizing class must be decided beforehand in order to make "the setting

up of the game be carried out as quickly and smoothly as possible" (Carrier, 1985.) The way in which games are organized varies a great deal basing on specific purposes, particular games and characteristics of students Some games may be conducted individually, in pairs, in groups, in teams and some with the whole class playing against the teacher However, the division of class should not be changed and redone on every occasion as learners will fell safe and confident when they are

sitting in pair or group work, according to W.R.Lee

As language games are used not only for fun but also for language teaching purposes, the teacher must control the class to make sure that after performing games, students can get the language points The teacher's role in game, especially

in the playing stage, should be an informant, a consultant, a monitor ( Rixon,1988) whereas the students become the masters of the game The teacher should go quickly from group to group, listen and observe students' performance It would be better for the teacher not to jump in the game but to wait until he is asked for help Therefore, he had better try to elicit from students themselves rather than simply providing what they need, which makes students more self- confident

In the post playing stage, it is of central vital to give remarks and summarize the language points Whatever a game is, students like to hear how well they are doing to receive encouragement commented on as well as having errors corrected (Rixon, 1998.) It is preferable for the teacher to give good remarks so as to motivate students to join game activities According to Wright ( 1983, p.6) , the following

praise should be used such as good, very good, fine, excellent, well done, etc The negative ones should be kept more general, for example: not quite right, not very

good, I don’t think this one is as good as that one It is necessary for teachers to

summarize what language points or skills the language games focus on The main point of this is to show the students that what they do with language is interesting

To do this, the teacher can ask some students to repeat the main language points in the games This helps them to connect the game with the content of the lesson

To sum up, in this chapter, the author discussed issues and aspects concerning to the topics of the study, which include the concepts and ideas relating

to writing skill and an overview of language games Different definitions and types

of language games have been mentioned along with their roles in language learning

as a beneficial tool to develop students' motivation Though language games are various, they should be carefully chosen to suit certain groups of students They should not only make writing lessons more interesting and enjoyable but also carry with them the language items of the lessons The success lies on teachers' proper preparation and activities in the pre, while and post playing stages when using language games as a motivator to students' learning writing

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 The context of the study

This study was conducted at Kim Anh High school in the suburb of Hanoi It

is a public school with thirty-three classes of three grades 10th, 11th and 12th Each grade has 4 gifted classes for the students of different majors The textbook used for teaching is the new Tieng Anh 10, 11, 12 at basic level promulgated by MOET of Vietnam Students are having four forty-five-minute periods of English study a week with a writing lesson per unit

There are 11 teachers of English at Kim Anh High school with 8 females and

2 males ranging from 27 to 38 years old The youngest one has been teaching English for 3 years while nine others have over five-year experience Most of them have University Bachelor's Degree, one Master's Degree and they often take retraining courses to improve their teaching methods They are enthusiastic in

teaching and eager to enhance the teaching skills and their students‟ performance

About the students at Kim Anh High school, most of them have been learning English since grade 3 Despite having a long time learning English, their language proficiency still remain low and few of them are good at language skills in general and writing in particular However, the majority of the students are aware of the importance of learning writing skill and would like to improve the situation

2.2 Participants of the study

The participants of this study include both teachers and students at Kim Anh High school

There are ten teachers taking part in the research All of them have been in charge of teaching English in grade 10 classes

The 89 participant students of this study are from 5 regular grade 10 classes, including 22 male and 67 female aged 16 to 17 These students were chosen as they were non - gifted students of English, they were better representatives of the students population Thus the findings of the study can be of great help to students

of English in general

2.3 Data collection instruments

2.3.1 Survey questionnaires for teachers and students

The instruments for gathering data in this study are questionnaires and interviews Of which the questionnaire is the main one with two sets of questions: one for the teachers and the other for the learners

The teachers were asked to put a tick or write down the answers for 17 questions which are divided into four sections The following table details the content of those questions:

I The attitudes of the teachers towards using language games

to motivate students to learn writing

Q.2-4

II The current situation of teachers‟ using language games to

motivate students to learn writing at Kim Anh High school Q.5-14 III Teachers‟ difficulties when using language games to

motivate students to learn writing

Q.15-16

IV Teachers‟ suggestions on using language games to motivate

For the students, all of the questions are written in Vietnamese to make sure that the participants can fully understand the questions The questionnaire is divided into four sections as follows:

I The attitudes of the students towards using language

games to motivate 10th grade students to learn writing Q.2-4

II Students' viewpoint on the current situation of

using language games to motivate students to learn

writing at Kim Anh High school

Q.5- 10

III The difficulties the students meet when playing language

IV The students' recommendation on using language games

2.3.2 Interviews with teachers and students

After having done the survey questionnaire, there remain some parts that the researcher is not clear Therefore, the follow-up interviews are conducted with four

teachers and eight students, which is to search for further explanation of their answers

The teachers were asked to give more information about the difficulties they encounter and their solutions For the students, their evaluations on the effectiveness

of teachers' motivating students to learn writing via language games were elicited They also had chance to express more clearly their preferences to contribute to the success of using language games as motivators in writing lessons The face - to - face interviews were carried out informally so that the teachers and students could give out the answers in a freely and relaxed way

2 4 Data collection procedure

In the first place, a questionnaire was handed out to ten teachers with short and clear explanations about its aims and requirements are provided beforehand Then, the author delivered another questionnaire to the 89 students To help them understand and be able to decide what and how to respond in a relevant way to a certain question, the researcher spent time to give a clear instruction at the beginning of the survey session After that, they were instructed to complete the questionnaire The researcher was willing to answer any more questions from the informants

In the next step, the researcher interviewed four teachers and eight students for clarification The chosen were those with different answers from the rest or who enthusiastically contributed to the study by adding more personal ideas in the survey questionnaires

2.5 Data analysis methods

When data collection was accomplished, the data analysis was conducted The results of the survey questionnaire and interview were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics All these statistics were processed in Excel application and then presented in the forms of tables and charts

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 3.1 Survey questionnaires

3.1.1 Survey questionnaire for the teachers

The first question was polled to investigate teachers‟ experience in using language games to motivate students to learn writing and the result revealed that all ten teachers have applied language games in their writing teaching They also showed their interest in this topic by giving many other ideas to the author

3.1.1.1 The attitudes of the teachers towards using language games to motivate students to learn writing

Question 2: Teachers’ keenness on using language games to motivate students to

learn writing

It can be seen from Figure 1 that

100% of the teachers at Kim Anh High

school were fond of using language

games to motivate students to learn

writing Specifically, 10% said they

liked using language games very much,

30% ticked the box of “much”, 40% liked it quite much and 20% chose “not very much” Although no one disliked using language games as a motivator to students‟ learning writing, this did not seem to be teachers‟ most favorite technique

Question 3: The usefulness of using language games to motivate students to learn

writing in teachers' viewpoint

The Figure 2 indicates that using

language games to motivate students to learn

writing gets the surveyed teachers‟ positive

attitude towards its usefulness That is, one out

of ten teachers found language games very

useful to stimulate students, 20% thought it

was useful, 60% voted for “quite useful”, and 10% was for “not very useful”

Figure 2 60%

10% 10%

20%

0% very useful

useful quite useful not very useful useless

Giving no choice for uselessness of language games in motivating students' learning, but the teachers haven't highly appreciated the usefulness of language

games as a motivator to students' learning writing yet

Question 4: The benefits of using language games to motivate student's learning

writing

The data in Table 1 revealed that the most benefit of using language games to

motivate students was “get the students involved easily” with 90% of the teachers 50% indicated that language games could not only help the students learn while playing but also introduce and consolidate the content of the writing lesson Making the students feel comfortable ranked the second by 70% of the respondents 30% thought this technique would build up students' self-confidence and only 20% found language games beneficial to students as they would be encouraged to use English

to communicate during the games Another benefit was presented that playing games can narrow the gap between the teachers and students and among students themselves so they can freely “show off” and achieved their best performance

Benefits of using language games No of

teachers

Percent age

d introduce and consolidate the content of the writing lesson 5 50

f encourage students to use English to communicate 2 20

From Figure 3, it can be seen that most of the teachers recognized the

benefits of language games, thus 40% used this technique frequently and half of the teachers applied language games in few lessons One out of ten didn‟t exploit much

from language games to motivate

students to learn writing and used them

in only a few lessons No one has ever

tried to conduct language games as a

stimulant to students in every lesson

Question 6: Stages at which language

games are used in writing lessons

When being polled about the stages at which they use language games in writing lessons, all of the teachers said that they often started a lesson with a game

as a warm up activity This is because games play an important role in making a

atmosphere and get

students ready for the

lesson 30% of the teachers

conducted language games

in pre writing stage and

20% had their students play

games while writing and

after finishing their writing

tasks Only 10% used language games to wrap up the lesson

Question 7: Time for using language games to motivate students to learn writing

The result collected form Figure 5

conveys that most of the teachers (60%)

spend 6 to 10 minutes on stimulating

students‟ learning writing through

language games It took 20% of the

teachers to conduct language games

within 5 minutes 10% of them ticked

“11-15 minutes” and time consumption for another 10% even reached 16 to 20

Figure 4 100%

30%

10% 0%

Post writing

Wrap up

minutes To avoid students‟ feeling bored and not concentrating on the lesson, no teacher spent more than 20 minutes on language games

Question 8: Kinds of language games to stimulate students to learn writing

In terms of kinds of

language games used to

motivate students to learn

writing, crossword

appeared to be the most

favorite one by 70% of

the teachers Jumbled

words or sentences were

the second choice of

50% Matching was also used quite often by 40% as this kind of game can easily be conducted and suitable to many students‟ levels 30% had their students order pictures, and hangman games were carried out by the same percentage Only one out of ten teachers let the students try role play, which was not surprising as this technique requires both teachers‟ and students‟ high language proficiency as well as careful preparation in advance Two teachers provided some more games they have

applied such as making networks, information gap and general knowledge quiz

Question 9: Class organization when language games are used to motivate

students to learn writing

The line below showed

teachers‟ preference in

organizing class into 2 teams to

play the games (70%) and 50%

of them are favor of arranging

the class in groups Sometimes

the games might be conducted

in pairs by 30% of the teachers

ordering pictures matching

Others

Figure 7

70%

30% 10%

and the same were for individual participation in the games They did not often have the whole class play against the teachers (only 10%) as this may cause much challenge and harm the friendly atmosphere

Question 10: Teachers’ preparation for using language games in writing lessons

The statistics of Table 2 proved that not many teachers spent time on preparing for

using language games in writing lessons Although 40% said they decided the language items to be used in the game and 50% designed the suitable language game to practice the items, only 2 teachers assumed anticipated problems while playing the game and 3 prepared the aids and materials for the game One of the teachers admitted that there was no preparation at all This is an alarming fact as language games are not just a time-filler and a mere fun activity Therefore, teachers who do not put language games into the centre of their teaching cannot attain the

highest educational effectiveness

Teachers’ preparation for using language games in

writing lessons teachers No of Percent age

a decide the language items to be used in the game 4 40

b design the suitable language game to practice the items 5 50

c assume anticipated problems while playing the game 2 20

d prepare the aids and materials for the game 3 30

Read out the rule of the game

Explain the rule and make examples

Organize the class Announce the scoring system

Do nothing others

Figure 8

Being asked about their activities before conducting the games, 80% of the respondents gave the answers of “organize the class” and “read out the rule of the game” Announcing the scoring system was done by 60% And only three out of ten teachers explained the rule and made examples to clarify what the students had to

do in the games One teacher shared that she often appoints leaders and a secretary

to help conducting the games

Question 12: Teachers’ activities while students are playing the games

It can be seen from Figure 9 below that teachers play a role of a monitor and

consultant in the playing stage 90% of them walked around the class to observe students‟ performance and to control their activities They usually help students with new words (60%) and provide students with suggestions (50%) Only 10% of them pay attention to students‟ mistakes A respondent said that he encourages students to try

The data in Figure 10 show teachers‟ well-done activities when the games

have finished All teachers announced and congratulated the winner 80% gave comments on how well the students have played and 20% of them gave marks or presents to encourage students to try better next time A great number of 70% of the teachers summarize the language items used in the game, which is a good thing to

do as it points out for students to know that language games are not just for pleasure but also have educational purposes This also helps teachers to evaluate students‟ comprehension of the games and to lead to or to emphasize the content of the

90% 60%

Help students with new words Take notes of students' mistakes Provide students with suggestions

Do nothing others

lesson Only 10% thought it would be wise to correct students‟ mistakes, but this technique should be carefully considered On contributing to teachers‟ activities in the post playing stage, a teacher said that she often has her students draw the

conclusion themselves to make them remember the language items better

Give comments on how well the students have

played Correct students' mistakes

Summarize the language items used in the

game Give marks or presents

Do nothing others

Figure 10

Question 14: Students’ performance in the games according to teachers’ viewpoint

Students’ performance in the games teachers No of Percent age

b Students use English to communicate during the game 2 20

c Students use the language items to play the game 4 40

d Some students are not interested in the game and do private

3.1.1.3 Teachers’ difficulties when using language games to motivate students to learn writing

Question 15: Teachers’ feeling pleased with

their use of language games to motivate

students to learn writing

When sharing their satisfaction of using

language games to motivate students to learn

writing, only one teacher (10%) was contented

with what she had done This is also the one

who showed much interest in stimulating students via games and spent time for careful preparation 6 out of 10 teachers seemed to be pleased with the result as their students‟ performances meet their expectation 30% left were only pleased to some extent due to some challenges they coped with during the class time

Question 16: The difficulties facing teachers when using language games to

motivate students to learn writing

Teachers’ difficulties with using games in writing lessons No of

teachers

Percent age

c the students get out of your control when playing the game 6 60

d level of the game is inappropriate to all students 4 40

e your instruction is not clear and leads to students' confusion 1 10

f the content of the writing lesson is too hard to be adapted

into language games

Table 4

Table 4 conveyed a wide range of problems facing teachers when using

language games to motivate students to learn writing The most annoying thing 60%

of the teachers complained is that the class gets out of control when playing the game Choosing a suitable game to students‟ levels also causes troubles to 40% of the teachers 20% thought that their choice of game is not various enough to draw students‟ attention This may be resulted from the difficulty in adapting the content

Figure 11

very pleased, 10%

slightly pleased, 30%

pleased, 60%

not pleased

at all, 0%

of the writing lesson into language games, as pointed out by 20% of the respondents

or the games are repeated many times or lack of competitiveness Another drawback

of language games according to 30% of the teachers is time-consuming, which prevents them from completing other stages of the writing lessons One teacher stated that her instruction is not clear and leads to students‟ confusion in the games For further ideas, one teacher blamed for insufficient facility to carry out some kinds of games and the results would not be as good as expected

3.1.1.4 Teachers’ suggestions on using language games to motivate students to learn writing

Question 17: Teachers’ suggestions on how to use language games to motivate

students to learn writing

Teachers’ suggestions on using language games in writing

lessons teachers No of Percent age

a give clear and simple instructions and make examples 10 100

b choose appropriate games for majority of students 8 80

c ask students to prepare for the game in advance 4 40

e use teaching aids and materials to help conduct the game 5 50

f have students always play in their team or group to make

Table 5

In order to improve the situation of applying languages into writing lesson to stimulate students, 100% of the teachers agreed that giving clear and simple instruction and making examples for students to fully understand was important Beforehand, teachers should choose appropriate games for majority of students, indicated by 80% of the teachers It is good ideas to have students always play in their team or group to make them feel comfortable and self- confident, in 50% of teachers‟ opinions Half of the teachers also thought it would be helpful to conduct language games in combination with using other teaching aids and materials 40% believed in better result of the games if students are asked to prepare for the games

in advance On organizing the class when playing games, some teachers thought

that the class should be managed as a whole or big team so as to create an exciting atmosphere (30%) One teacher raised her voice that language items should be put into the games so that students are unaware of their study while playing Another teacher, however, would rather the games to be a chance to refresh students by having funny activities, interesting score systems or surprising factors

3.1.2 Survey questionnaire for the students

100% students participating in this study have played language games in writing lessons, as conveyed through the result of the first question Thus, all of them were willing to complete the questionnaire and some also contributed to the survey by giving their further ideas and suggestions

3.1.2.1 The attitudes of the students towards their teachers' use of language games to motivate them to learn writing

Question 2: Students' interest in teachers' using language games in writing lessons

Unlike their teachers, 10th form students at Kim Anh High school expressed their high interest in teachers' using language games as a motivator to students' learning writing, in which 34% voted for "very

much", 46% were for "much" and 10% liked

it quite much Only 10% chose "not very

much" and no one gave their choice of "not

at all" It can be inferred from Figure 12 that

language games are in favor of the majority

Question 3: Students' attitudes towards the usefulness of language games in

motivating students to learn writing

Nearly half of the students (48%)

stated the usefulness of language games in

motivating their writing lessons 27% ticked

the box of "very useful" and 21% assumed

language games to be "quite useful" The

number of students who found language games " not very useful" tools to stimulate