13   GAMES

·        Children enjoy constructive play and games.

·        Play and games are not only motivating and fun but can also provide excellent practice for improving pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and the four language skills.

·        For very young children games also provide an important link between home and school which helps to make them feel more secure and confident.

 

Why use games?

·        Martin writes that it is “any fun activity which gives young learners the opportunity to practise the foreign language in a relaxed and enjoyable way”.

·        Games may be simple and require very little planning or may need quite a bit of preparation and the use of special materials, such as dice, boards or picture, word or sentences cards.

 

Advantages of using games

•         They add variety to the range of learning situations.

•         They change the pace of a lesson and help to keep pupils’ motivation.

•         They help to renew pupils’ energy.

•         They provide ‘hidden’ practise of specific language patterns, vocabulary and pronunciation

•         They can help to improve attention span, concentration, memory, listening skills, and reading skills (dikkatlerini toplar ve daha uzun sure konsantre olmalarını sağlar)

•         Pupils are encouraged to participate; shy learners can be motivated to speak.

•         They increase pupil-pupil communication

•         It helps to create a fun atmosphere

 

Here is a list of the language learning purposes of games

·        They encourage the memorization of chunks of language which can be slotted into various contexts.

·        Chunking of language provides useful pronunciation practise

·        Language may be practised together with a wider educational or conceptual goal

·        The language in a game may encourage more creative use of language in addition to simple repetition.

·        The pupils may be involved in informal language analysis and noticing of language items or rules through problem-solving and puzzles.

·        Games help to make learning more memorable and accessible by using as many approaches as possible

 

Types of games

Fluency or accuracy?

·        We can divide games into two main types: language control or accuracy and communication or fluency-focused games. The first aims to practise new language items and develop accuracy.

·        They provide useful pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar practice.

 

Accuracy-focused games

·        In these games the aim is usually to score more points than others and there is often a clear ‘winner’ (bu tür oyunlar yarışma havasındadır ve oyun da bir ‘winner’ olur.)

·        This kind of games may focus on comprehension as well as production

·        The language for control-code games must be carefully controlled, rehearsed and contextualized, especially in the early stages, so that children are not just ‘parroting’ language, without understanding what it means.

·        Bu tür oyunlarla öğrenciye grammar ve vocabulary öğretiliyor ve bu tür oyunlarda öğretmen kontrolü çok önemlidir

 

Fluency-focused games

·        The second type of game we have referred to moves from language control to communication.

·        This type of game tends to focus on developing fluen­cy and collaboration with others.

·        These games are an important part of the 'communicative' and 'activity-based' approaches and are usually done in pairs or groups of four.

·        The cooperative task often relies on an 'information gap'. This might include following instructions to make a drawing or follow a route on a map. (oyunun açıklaması olmalı, öğrenciye ne yapacağı söylenmeli)

·        The teacher should always pre-teach the language by modeling key vocabulary or sentence patterns and providing plenty of rehearsal before pupils play the games on their own. (belirli kalıplar yok)

 

Competition or cooperation?

·        Competitive games can be organized in teams, groups, pairs or individuals but they
always have a winner who may be the one who has collected the most of something, or who is the first to do something, get rid of their cards or pictures or who has gained the most points, and so on.

·        Competitive games tend to be, but are not always language control games. The Picture Dictation game outlined above is an example of a cooperative game. Here the pupils have to work together by describing, explaining, clarifying, checking, agreeing and disagreeing.

 

Selecting games

Is it suitable for beginners or very young children?

·        Games for these groups need to have simple language and should be easy to explain, set up and play. Everyone should be able to participate and it should be fun.

·        You will probably need to use more of the L1 to explain the game.

·        The best way to ensure pupils understand is to play the game with one or two children in the front of the class as a demonstration.

·        Of course the simplest vocabulary or reading games like Snap and Bingo or listening games like Robots (following simple instructions as in TPR) are suitable for these learners.

 

Does it settle or stir?

·        A stirring activity engages the pupils physically or mentally so they are very active.

·        With young children in particular you will need to use lively games to keep the children physically occu­pied and for them to 'let off steam' (deşarj olmak). One example is called Pin On backs

·        Miming games are also useful for mentally engaging pupils.

·        With older pupils, for example, you can use a series of cards which give sug­gestions for a mime, such as reading a comic, eating a hamburger, play­ing a computer game, etc.

·        Another example taken from Roth is The Number Game where you say One, point to a child who then says Two, and so on.

·        This focuses attention on listening and trains memory and concentration.

·        Dominoes games are examples of physically settling games.

·        Pelmanism (also called Concentration or Memory) is a good memory training language game.

 

What kind of resources do I need?

·        There are eight types

1.      No resources: e.g. guessing games, listening games

2.      Simple pencil and paper/blackboard games

3.      Picture games

4.      Word cards (dominoes, read and classify, pelmanism) these practise vocabulary and may focus on the meaning and pronunciation of words.

5.      Games using sentences cards

6.      Dice games

7.      Board games

8.      Games using charts or matrices as Battleships

 

Does it have a link with a theme or other subjects?

·        Many games such as Bingo or Dominoes can be adapted to link to various projects or curriculum areas. These well-known games, often played with young children at a very simple level, can be adapted for older children to fit in with various themes.

·        A simple game for young children helps them practise body parts for a topic on our bodies.

·        The story Princess Smarty-pants suitable for older children has the theme of gender stereotypes.

·        Another activity from this story uses a version of a Bingo game to consolidate the relationship of cause and effect/problem and solution that is contained within the story. (sebep sonuç oyunlarında öğrenci derde  derman bulmaya çalışıyor.)

 

Evaluating the potential of games

·        Where possible, should be integrated with the other language work which is taking place. (oyunun nelere yönelik olduğu bilinmeli)

·        Teachers need to build up a repertoire of games which are useful for different stages of a lesson. (bu oyunların, dersin içerisinde zaman açısından ne kadar süreceği bilinmeli)

 

How to play games

Giving introductions

·        On the whole, games need to be short, easy to carry out and easy to explain.

·        Giving introductions is a crucial stage; you may decide to do this in the L1 and then check using English.

·        Keep introductions short, clear and simple and use a limited number of key phrases which the pupils will quickly get used to.

·        Decide whether you play the game together as a class or in teams or whether the pupils are ready to play in pairs or take over the role of the teacher. (oyunun oynama şekli iyice planlanmış olmalı)

·        Make sure pupils are familiar with the necessary key vocabulary and language

·        An overly competitive atmosphere in the classroom can be demoralizing for some children. (sınıf atmosferi bazı öğrenciler için iyi olmaya bilir)

·        Use the board, pictures, flashcards or other material to demonstrate procedures.

 

Organizing the class

·        If the game requires teams, groups or pairs this needs to be organized quickly. (gruplar eşit seviyede olmalı)

·        It is important to try and involve as many pupils as possible.

·        It is often useful to have a group leader if you want to play games in groups

·        Check everyone has understood what to do and give lots of praise.

 

Playing the game

·        Pupils must be taught the language they need to actually play each game, including the language to organize themselves. (öğrenciler oyunda kullanacakları dili bilmeliler)

 

The teacher’s role

·        While the pupils are playing games the teacher has a key role in observing and listening, monitoring pupils’ language, giving prompts and explanation where necessary, nothing pupils’ language difficulties which may need re-teaching, and so on. (öğretmenin rolü çok önemlidir, oyunun denetimini iyi yapmalıdır)

·        Try not to over-correct the children if this is likely to spoil the flow of the game. (oyunun akışını etkileyecek şekilde oyuna karışmamalıdır)

·        Oyunun süresini ve aşamalarını belirlemelidir.

 

 Types of Games

Accuracy focused games (language control) Pin on backs Funny bones dominoes Can you touch?

Fluency focused games (communication)   Picture dictation Battleships

 

Selecting Games

Stirring games: Pin on backs Miming games The number game

Settling games: Dominoes Pelmanism