Games in teaching English

1. Games in teaching English Project done by Khatniuk Svetlana

2. Why use games.

3. Advantages of using games: • Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class. • They are motivating and challenging. • Learning a language requires a great deal of effort. • Games provided language practice in the various skills-speaking,writing,listening and reading. • They encourage students to interact and communicate. • They create a meaningful context for language use.

4. The criteria for choosing games: • The games should have linguistic relevance. • They should have an aim and purpose. • All the children should participate. • The games should be easy and quick to set up and carry out. • They should be fun for children.

5. When to use games: • The games are often used at all stages of the lesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen. • The games are used as short warm-up activities. • There is some time left at the end of the lesson. Games should not be regarded as a marginal activity in odd moments when the teacher and class have nothing better to do.

6. Positive learning environment includes: • Wall displays; • Using games; • Using project work • Out-of-school activities(pen-friends); • Using drama.

7. How to choose games: • A game must be more than just fun. • A game should involve “friendly” competition. • A game should keep all the students involved and interested. • A game should encourage students to focus on the language itself. • A game should give students a chance to learn, practise, or review specific language material.

8. General profits of games:

9. Types of Games: • 10-minute games; • -speaking games; • -listening games; • -grammar games; • -writing games; • -action games.

10. 10- minute games : These games do not take up too much class time. They should be quick to set up and quick to play. They can be used : -as a fun to start a lesson; -to keep early finishers busy while the rest of the class completes a task; -to revise focus lexis or structures; -to give students extra practice.

11. Speaking games. • The most general purpose we use English to • -give and receive information; • -collaborate in doing something; • -share personal experiences and opinions with a view to building social relationships.

12. Listening games. These games help students have fun and make them listen while you are speaking English. Each time you speak English you are giving your pupils an opportunity -to acquire the language; -to absorb the sounds and patterns of the language naturally.

13. Grammar games This sort of games can be used in three ways: -diagnostically before presenting a given structure to find out how much knowledge of the area is already present in the group; -after a grammar presentation to see how much the group grasped; -as revision of a grammar area.

14. Writing games. Writing is an artificial activity and difficult for several reasons: • The writer has to decide what information the eventual reader needs, and how to express this. • There is a linguistic difficulty, in that the language used in written language is different in most ways from that used in speech. • There is a cognitive difficulty, in that students have to organize thoughts

15. Action games. • Action games require the pupils to move about and you have to find any suitable place to play them. • These games will need more time then other games.

16. What's missing? -Collect together between five and ten picture flashcards illustrating words that you want to revise or consolidate with the children. -Line up the flashcards at the front of the class. Then give them one minute to memorise the words. -Tell the children to close their eyes. Remove one of the flashcards. Then tell the children to open their eyes and to see if they can spot which one has disappeared.

17. The coffer-pot game. • In each question the word”coffer-pot” is used instead of the word which the questioner is trying to guess. This leads to questions such as: Do you coffer-pot every morning? Do you coffer-pot with your friends? Other objects which can be used are: Animals, classroom objects, countries or languages, famous people,food,jobs,tools.

18. Jobs Language:”Jobs” vocabulary area. Level: elementary upwards. Time:30 minutes. Materials: The short descriptions of jobs. Procedure: -Tell the students to write the numbers 1 to 6. -Read the six descriptions. The students should write down the names of jobs. -Tell the students to check their answers in pairs. -Get the students to make their own descriptions of jobs.

19. Times of day. Grammar: present continuous to express habitual action. Level:intermediant Time: 30 minutes Materials: one time grid per four students; one die per four students. In class: Give every four students a time grid and a die. Explain that the numbers on the grid are times. Ask each student find a coin to represent his or her working day.

20. Can you remember? • Put on a tray objects, the names of which you know in English-a pencil, a handkerchief, a glass, a cup…anything. • Put the tray in the middle of the table around which the players are sitting. • They may look at the tray for 30-40 seconds only, and then you must take the tray away. • Then you say “go” and the players have 5 minutes in which they must write down all they can remember.

21. What's the time, Mr.Wolf? • This could be done in the classroom. Choose a page in the course book which shows the topic of time in detail. • Ask the class to divide into pairs, A and B.Child A looks at the page and chooses a time on the clock.B tries to guess and asks What the time,Mr.Wolf? Is it 7 o’clock? They can have 5 guesses. • If they fail to guess after five goes, change over and repeat the activity.