Статья на тему `USING GAME TECHNIQUES AT THE ENGLISH LESSON`

Anesova R.N.

School  №6 by G. Aktaev

Aktobe, 2012

Using game techniques at the English lesson

     Famous British teacher and educator Andre Wright in his book “Learning language  is hard work.. Effort is required at every moment and must be maintained over a long period of time. Games help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work.

     Games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. The learners want to take part and  in order to understand what others  are saying or have written,

     Games are highly motivating because they are amusing and interesting. They can be used to give practice in all language skills and be used to practice many types of communication.

There is a common perception that all learning should be serious and solemn in nature, and if one is having fun and there is hilarity and laughter, then it is not really learning. This is a misconception. It is possible to learn a language as well as enjoy oneself at the same time. One of the best ways of doing this is through games.

There are many advantages of using games in the classroom:

-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 help pupils to make and sustain the effort of learning.

-Games provide language practice in the various skills- writing, speaking, listening and reading.

-They encourage pupils to interact and communicate.

-They create a meaningful context for language use.

Ms. Uberman noted that “ Games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end of the lesson”. Yet, as Lee observes, 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. Rixon suggests that games be used at all stages of the lesson, provided  that they are suitable and carefully chosen. Games also lend themselves well to revision exercises helping learners recall material in a pleasant, entertaining way. All authors referred to in his article agree that even if games resulted only in noise and entertained pupils, they are till worth paying attention to and implementing in the classroom since they motivate learners, promote communicative competence and generate fluency.

Games are also motivating. Games introduce an element of competition into language- building activities. This provides valuable impetus to a purposeful use of language.

Here I`d like to share the game techniques which I`ve chosen only for the development of grammatical habits and skills.

1.Mysterious Landmarks

Pupils must collect the pieces of puzzle into the whole picture and they will have the famous sightseeings (such as Eiffel Tower, TadgiMahal, Baiterek, A Great Wall etc.) This game encourages pupils` productive skills and memory fluency of speech, cultural competence.

2.Story Time

Pupils listen to a tape, which contains of a well- known childrens` story ( such as the Snow White, the Ginger Bread Man etc.) This game focuses on gist- listening skills. Pupils only need to catch the key terms to figure out what the story is.

3.Art Master

It is like a dictation. The teacher describes a picture orally. Pupils listen to the teachers carefully and draw the picture on a sheet of paper and at the end of the task the teacher checks the correctness of their drawings. This game develops auding skills, attention, consolidation of prepositions, such as to the right of, to the left of, in the middle of, or under etc.

4.Cognitive games

The task is to compare same two pictures and find differences. This game develops pupils speaking, thinking and comparing.

In conclusion, we should remember that every game must be planned into the days lesson right along with exercises, dialogues and reading practice. Games are a lively way of maintaining pupils` interest in the language, they are fun but also part of the learning process, and pupils should be encouraged to take them seriously. They should also know how much time they have to play a game. Every game at the lessons must have a certain concrete goal. Using game techniques always bring the relaxed atmosphere, the competiveness and success.

1.Ozhegov SI Dictionary of Russian language. Izdatel`stvo “Russian”, Moscow, 1990, p.731.

2.Passow EI Communicative method. Izd. NOW Intelingue, 2003, p.1,56.

3.Ushinnsky KD Works. M.-L.: Izd-vo  APN RSFSR, 1942, vol.2

4.Cameron, L.2001. Teaching Laguages to Young Learners, Cambridge University Press.1999