SKKN Effectiveness of Using Games in Teaching Grammar to 10 Graders at Ethnic Boarding High School

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PART 1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………. 1 

 RATIONALE …………………………………………………………………………………………… 1 PART II.  CONTENT ……………………………………………………………………………….. 3 

I.THEORETICAL BACKGROUND …………………………………………………………….. 3 

1. The role grammar in teaching and learning English ………………………………. 3 
2. The importance of students’ motivation ………………………………………………. 4 
3. The application of games in teaching grammar …………………………………….. 4 
   1. Benefits of teaching grammar with games ……………………………………………. 4 
   2. What kinds of games work best? ………………………………………………………… 5 

1. SITUATION ANALYSIS ……………………………………………………………………… 6 

1. Nghe An Ethnic Boarding High School No.2 ……………………………………….. 6 
2. English teachers at Nghe An Ethnic Boarding High School No.2 ……………. 6 
3. The 10th -form students observation classes ………………………………………… 6 
4. Tieng Anh 10 textbook and its grammar points …………………………………….. 7 III. SURVEY ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 7 

1. Analyzing result of survey questionnaires ……………………………………………. 7 
   1. Analyzing result of survey questionnaire for teachers(see appendix 1…..7 
   2. Analyzing result of survey questionnaire for students (see appendix 2) …… 9 
2. Analyzing result of class observation ………………………………………………… 12 
   1. Using grammar games ……………………………………………………………………… 12 
   2. Not using grammar games ……………………………………………………………….. 14 
3. Result of interview ………………………………………………………………………….. 15 
4. Findings and discussion ………………………………………………………………….. 18 
   1. Real situation of teaching and learning grammar at Nghe An Ethnic Boarding 

high school No.2 …………………………………………………………………………………….. 18 

1. Effectiveness of grammar games ………………………………………………………. 18 
   1. Effectiveness of grammar games in developing students’ motivation ……. 18 
   2. Effectiveness of grammar games in developing the ability of students’ 

understanding of the lesson ………………………………………………………………………. 19

1. Difficulties when using grammar games in class………………………………….. 19 
   1. For teachers …………………………………………………………………………………… 19 
   2. For students ……………………………………………………………………………………. 20 

1. FINDING SOLUTIONS …………………………………………………………………… 20 

1. Measures to overcome difficulties when using grammar games in class…. 20 
   1. Measures for teachers ………………………………………………………………………. 20 
   2. Measures for students ………………………………………………………………………. 20 
2. Tips for Using Grammar Games in Class Successfully ………………………… 21 
3. Examples of grammar games in Tieng Anh 10 textbook ………………………. 22 
4. Effectiveness of the solutions ……………………………………………………………. 36 
5. The result and findings about the improvement of the students …………….. 36 

PART III. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………….. 38 

REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………………….  

PART 1. INTRODUCTION 

 RATIONALE 

Regarding to teaching grammar, there are a variety of techniques for presentation. However, it is undeniable that most students find it difficult to remember a lexical item of grammar. If teachers would like students to remember new grammar it needs to be learnt in the context, practiced and then revised to prevent students from forgetting. Teachers must make sure of that students have understood the new words, which will be remembered better if introduced in a “memorable way”. Therefore, teachers have to employ a variety of techniques for new grammatical presentation and revision. Practically, games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is a little time left at the end of the lesson. As observed, a game should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments when the teacher and class have nothing better to do. Games ought to be at the heart of teaching foreign languages. Mr. Richard suggests that games should be used at all stages of the English lesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen. 

Many factors should be taken into consideration while discussing games, one of which is appropriacy. Teachers should be very careful about choosing games if they want to make them beneficial for the learning process. If games are to bring desired results, they must parallel with either the students’ level, or age, or the materials that are to be introduced or practiced. Not all of the games are appropriate for all students irrespective of their age. Various age groups require various topics, materials and modes of games. For example, children benefit most from games which require moving around, imitating a model, competing between groups, and the like. Additionally, structural games that practice or reinforce a certain grammatical aspects of language have to relate to students’ ability and prior knowledge. Games become difficult when the task or the topic is unsuitable or outside the students’ experience. 

Grammar games also help learners to recall a grammar material in a pleasant, entertaining way. All researchers agree that even if the grammar games resulted only in noise and entertained students, they are still worth paying attention to and implementing in the classroom since they motivate learners, promote the communicative competence, and generate the fluency. However, can they be more successful for presentation and revision than other techniques? My teaching practice proves that the answer to this question is absolutely affirmative. 

There are many advantages of using games in grammar. Firstly, games can ease anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input more likely. Secondly, games are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can give shy students more opportunities to express their opinions and feelings. Moreover, they enable learners to acquire new experience within the foreign language that are not always possible during a typical lesson games. Last but not least, they add diversion to the regular classroom activities, break the ice and introduce the new ideas in the easy, relaxed atmosphere. 

Taking all the benefits of games into consideration, I decided to do this research on “Effectiveness of Using Games in Teaching Grammar to 10 Graders at Ethnic Boarding High School” with the hope that it can improve and even change the conventional teaching method of most English teachers and help students be motivated to memorize and apply languages in context.