SKKN Using language games to improve speaking skill for the students in class 7

A/ INTRODUCTION

            Nowadays English has played an important part in our life. It  has been considered as an international language all over the world, it has become a compulsory subject in all secondary schools as well. It is the key for anyone who wants to get success in life. In fact, secondary students in particular and people learning English in general, despite many years of learning English, their ability to communicate is very limited. They can not know how to express what they want to say. They are shy and they are not confident enough to speak or communicate with the others in English even though they still understand vocabulary and the sentence structures. Students are learning self-contained method. They mainly focus on mastering  grammar and forget speaking skill, the school speaking environment is little known even without. The reason for this is partly due to their limited vocabulary. On the other hand, because of  the assessment requirements of the department, the students mostly  have to take part in written test in favor of grammar rather than the oral test . Therefore, the students often learn conception to pass the exams, not learn to communicate. Besides, the students are often afraid of making mistakes when presenting dialogues or expressing their comments on the issues to be presented to the crowd. But perhaps, the basic cause is  that the students are lack of communication environment: the teachers of English are Vietnamese, the class is also Vietnamese students, so Vietnamese should be used when they can’t express something in English. The majority of the teachers pay little attention, or  rarely encourage the  students to  develop speaking skill, the students do not have the habit of speaking English. That is why, in the process of teaching, especially for  English pilot program, I have been thinking about “How to improve the students’ speaking skill ? », « How to help students to be self confident 

enough to communicate with one another in English? » I have found out that the 

use of language games in teaching English is one of the most effective methods to get the students involved in speaking English. Moreover, using language games makes the lessons more interesting and the students more active in learning English. The speaking environment is promoted more and more. For the above reasons, I have chosen the theme  « Using language games to improve speaking skill for the students in class 7C at Nhu Ba Sy Secondary School ». Please be shared to consult colleagues and additional comments.

B / PROBLEM SOLVING

I.Basis reality (Reality)

 Today the use of English in communication is essential and important. English not only helps us to develop economic, society, but also helps us integrate with our friends throughout the world. English is useful for many different reasons: We may use English when traveling or working abroad. If we know English, we can find a good job easily, we can trade with other countries in English around the world to do business, economic development. Knowing English helps us understand the songs, read books, watch movies, watch TV programs in English. But in fact, secondary students in particular and people learning English in general have not learned English boldly and confidently to communicate in practice. In order to help the students use English to communicate in everyday life, the teachers need to innovate teaching methods, pay attention to promoting language environment  at school. However this is not an easy matter for both the  teachers and the students. It is important for the teachers to know how to select the specific language games in the appropriate classes of objects, the ability of the  students to meet the efficiency. The teachers should always encourage the students to participate in learning activities and practice communicating to make the lessons exciting, lively, and attractive. They can form the habit of communicating in English .

1. Basis of theory

In fact, in teaching and learning a foreign language, the students will learn more effectively if they are  learnt  in an atmosphere of learning fun, relaxation and have more opportunities to communicate in the context of the real world. The use of language games in teaching a foreign language can increase motivation for the 

students, one of the decisive factors for the students to get success in their language learning. At the same time, the teachers can help and encourage the students to learn and maintain their interest in learning. In addition, language games also help the teachers create the context in which language practice is very useful and easy. The students would like to participate in the games, they have to understand what the others are saying, and they have to say these things to present their own opinions or to present information to the others understand. So, in this theme, I want to mention some games organized to encourage, promote and improve speaking skill for the students  in class 7C at Nhu Ba Sy secondary school.

III. Solution

In every period of teaching process I often  have the students play games such as Networks, Slap the board, Matching, Simon says, Lucky numbers, Lucky stars, Who is the millionaire?, Hang man, Car racing, Survey , Chain game…. But in this theme, I would like to introduce some following language games I find most effectively in motivating the  students in class 7C at Nhu Ba Sy secondary chool  to practice speaking skill.

1.Challenging Game.

Purpose: Review  the thematic vocabulary and practice speaking skill.

The teacher devides the class into two teams, then takes out the topic of vocabulary. Two teams huddle within 30 seconds and turn to challenge your team. Which team is more challenging than the number of words will have the right to speak first. If any team says enough and the right amount of challenge wil be scored 1 point. If the team says one wrong word or says one word that does not belong to the topic  or does not say enough times challenged, the team will lose the