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Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
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 Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| cubanlord wrote: |
| some waygug-in wrote: |
| The "game" I used this week is basically a practice sentence-forming/ reading/pronunciation exercise for them....it's just disguised as a game so that they think it's fun. |
and in my humble opinion, that is the key - to disguise the games as just that, games. The students won't even know that they are learning language! |
Well, all my parents were complaining at first: "Why are you playing games with flashcards, they should be learning!"
After a week or two, they started noticing their children using English in an every day context .... no more complaints....
Using a simple grammar construction with varying vocabulary on the theme does wonders to construct simple SVO principles.
Plus I noticed that they also understand the use of Auxiliary verbs better, especially when asking questions. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Juregen wrote: |
| cubanlord wrote: |
| some waygug-in wrote: |
| The "game" I used this week is basically a practice sentence-forming/ reading/pronunciation exercise for them....it's just disguised as a game so that they think it's fun. |
and in my humble opinion, that is the key - to disguise the games as just that, games. The students won't even know that they are learning language! |
Well, all my parents were complaining at first: "Why are you playing games with flashcards, they should be learning!"
After a week or two, they started noticing their children using English in an every day context .... no more complaints....
Using a simple grammar construction with varying vocabulary on the theme does wonders to construct simple SVO principles.
Plus I noticed that they also understand the use of Auxiliary verbs better, especially when asking questions. |
Okay, you guys have me going back in my book I just published to look at a few pieces of the research I conducted for this book. In Teaching English Made Easy - 10 Listening Lesson Plans for the English Language Classroom, Lesson 8 entitled Improving listening skills through games, specifically in the introduction, I found an interesting piece of research. Here is an excerpt from that lesson - the introduction.
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| Whether educators teach speaking, vocabulary, or listening skills, there is always one sure-fire way of keeping students� attention � games. Games have been used in every type of ESL or EFL instruction, especially when listening skills are the emphasis of that day�s objective; they help learners forget about the difficulties in acquiring a language and place the emphasis on the exciting aspect of learning a new language. Chen (2005) contends that while students play games, their attention is on the message and not on the language because all they are trying to do is win the game. This de-emphasis of focus on the part of learners actually facilitates language acquisition. �The competitive ambiance also makes learners concentrate and think intensively during the learning process, which enhances unconscious acquisition of inputs� (Chen, n.p., 2005). In chapter 6 of Teaching English Learners, Rico (2004) outlines several different ways of teaching listening skills, one of which includes games that are interactive and promote healthy competition among ELLs. Such an activity as mentioned in Teaching English Learners has been created and is provided in this article. |
Works cited
Chen, I.-J. (2005). Using games to promote communicative skills in language learning. I-TESL-J, XI(2). Retrieved October 22, 2008, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html
Diaz-Rico, L. (2004). Teaching English Learners. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
I hope this helps OP!!!!  |
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ESL Milk "Everyday
Joined: 12 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 12:37 am Post subject: |
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Some games are very good, but there are others that aren't. The ones that are good involve using the language to get a point, or a reward of some kind. Trivia games are good, as are spelling games, puzzles, something where they have to talk to each other or you, that kind of thing. But usually, it's only good if it somehow relates to the lesson.
The ones that aren't good usually involve some sort of question/answer pattern then throwing a dice or something and playing a game that involves no speaking. Battleship, snakes and ladders, board games, throwing things at a target-- that kind of thing just becomes a distraction, I think.
Bingo is somewhere in the middle... but it can have its uses as well. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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| ESL Milk "Everyday wrote: |
Some games are very good, but there are others that aren't. The ones that are good involve using the language to get a point, or a reward of some kind. Trivia games are good, as are spelling games, puzzles, something where they have to talk to each other or you, that kind of thing. But usually, it's only good if it somehow relates to the lesson.
The ones that aren't good usually involve some sort of question/answer pattern then throwing a dice or something and playing a game that involves no speaking. Battleship, snakes and ladders, board games, throwing things at a target-- that kind of thing just becomes a distraction, I think.
Bingo is somewhere in the middle... but it can have its uses as well. |
In addition to what ESL Milk stated, if a teacher is only using games in the class to waste time and not promote language learning, then yes, I can understand parents and students complaining. Teachers shouldn't solely rely on games to make it through the majority of their classes. For me, games are great to reinforce what they have learned in the class. There are a million other ways to use games in the class, this is one way how I use them.
ESL Milk "Everyday" has it right as well. If the games aren't using the target language in the classroom, then what's the point besides wasting time? The target language should be used at all time in the classroom. We all know that the number of students that actually use the English language outside of the classroom is small compared to those that do not; we need to "milk" them for every bit of English possible. |
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Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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We should also look at the use of games at different stages if Age.
Before they reach 6 years, why teach grammar? The only way to teach language to pre-elementary students is by using games.
Then we have 6-12 year olds. One can assume that they are more open to grammar teaching
etc etc .....
So there are two dimensions 1. Competency and 2. Age.
Taking into account those dimensions various interactive games of complexity can be introduced. |
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Goku
Joined: 10 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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How the hell is this offtopic?
Anyways,
I'm starting to see the value of games as a once in a while thing. Today my class has shown me they are capable of taking games into an educational context... occassionaly.
I still run it with drills, learning, repetion, etc (which ironically I was heavily against in the beginning of my career. because mnemonics doesn't seem to work with 90% of the kids) but I can see how games really helps the kids, esepcially in terms of communication. |
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cubanlord
Joined: 08 Jul 2005
Location: In Japan!
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:14 am Post subject: |
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| Goku wrote: |
How the hell is this offtopic?
Anyways,
I'm starting to see the value of games as a once in a while thing. Today my class has shown me they are capable of taking games into an educational context... occassionaly.
I still run it with drills, learning, repetion, etc (which ironically I was heavily against in the beginning of my career. because mnemonics doesn't seem to work with 90% of the kids) but I can see how games really helps the kids, esepcially in terms of communication. |
That's cool. The fact that you are taking the time to find out the educational advantages of games is admirable. Honestly, keep up the great work. |
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