A Study of Application of Games in English Vocabulary Teaching 论英语词汇教学中的游戏应用.doc

2014届 分类号：h0 单位代码 ：10452临沂大学毕业论文（设计）论英语词汇教学中的游戏应用姓 名 学 号 201006130531 年 级 2010级5班 专 业 英语 系（院） 外国语学院 指导教师 2014 年4月 19日 a study of application of games in english vocabulary teachinga thesis submittedto foreign languages school of linyi universityin partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree of bachelor of artsbysong lingsupervisor: liu lanfuapril 19, 2014acknowledgmentsi would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor, mr. liu lanfu who gave me valuable instructions and precious directions. and it has been a great honor for me to work under his guidance. without his logical rigor, his expert comments and patient training, i would not have been able to accomplish this thesis. i am very grateful to the help of my classmates, wang lijie, liu xiaoli and meng chao who made me self-confident and released my anxiety. under the harmonious phenomenon, the thesis is carried out smoothly. my gratitude is also to my family for their unfailing support and total understanding to my academic endeavor. abstractvocabulary, as the footstone of language, is widly used in human society. without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed, which embodies the importance of vocabulary learning for language learners. however, students often complain that it is hard for them to remember words. they always can not reach the desired effect, which is the common weakness in the process of the english vocabulary learning. how to learn or teach english vocabulary effectively, games have been proven to have advantages and effectiveness in learning vocabulary. this paper discusses the application of games in english vocabulary teaching. through this study, we find that the games provide students with relaxed and interesting learning environment which can help them learn and retain new words easily. in addition, vocabulary games can bring real world in the classroom and improve students english level by using a flexible way of communication. therefore, we can not deny the role of games in english vocabulary teaching and learning. key words: study; english vocabulary; game teaching摘要词汇是组成语言的基石, 在人类社会中被广泛使用。离开词汇就无法表达思想，可以说是一语道破了词汇学习对语言学习者的重要性。但是, 常有学生抱怨词汇难记, 总是达不到预期效果, 这是当前学生在英语词汇学习过程中的通病。如何学习或者教授词汇，游戏已经被证实在词汇教学方面有优势并且效率高。本文研究的是英语词汇教学中的游戏应用的问题。通过这个研究，我们发现游戏提供给学生轻松有趣的学习氛围，它能帮助学生轻松地学习和获得新单词。另外，词汇游戏能把真实的世界带到课堂去，并且通过复杂的交流方式提高学生的英语水平。因此，我们不能否认游戏在英语词汇教学和学习中的作用。关键词：学习；英语词汇；游戏教学 table of contentsacknowledgmentsiabstractii摘要iiitable of contentsivchapter one introduction1chapter two literature review22.1 definition of games22.2 the characteristics of english vocabulary game22.3 the value of english vocabulary games22.4 the forms of english vocabulary games3chapter three the research methods63.1 literature method of english vocabulary games63.2 survey method6chapter four major findings and imlications84.1 the applications strategies of games84.2 the application of games in the classroom94.3 attention in the english vocabulary games10chapter five conclusion12references1313chapter one introductionas we all know, words are the building blocks of every language and play an important role in learning a foreign language. “it is an element which is connected to listening, speaking,reading,and writing.”( gu, 2002, p.11) in order to communicate with a foreigner well, students should obtain a sufficient number of words and know how to use them. you should find every chance to practice yourself.although the students understand the importance of the english vocabulary when learning english, a number of chinese students are passive to learn english vocabulary because of several factors. to start with, they argue that the teachers interpretation for the meaning, the pronunciation, and spelling and grammar functions is boring. in addition the students are prone to consider vocabulary learning understands the main meaning of new words. the last but not least, students do not want to take risks in applying the words that they have learned. students may recognize a word in a written or spoken form and consider that they already know the word, but they may not be able to pronounce that words correctly or use it properly in different contexts. as for teachers, they just interpret the meaning, the pronunciation, and spelling and grammar functions of the words in the traditional way regardless of the interests of the students. in this way, the effect is bad. games can makes students be interests in learning english vocabulary. so english language game happens to be a far more effective method of learning the subject compared to the old classroom techniques. the application of games in english vocabulary teaching will be discussed. to start with, it will discuss the present situation of english vocabulary teaching, and then go to the literature review. in this part, the author will cite some information such as the definition of game, the characteristics of english vocabulary game, the value of games in vocabulary teaching and the forms of english vocabulary game. in addition, theory basis of english vocabulary game will be discussed. in the third part, the author will do a survey to investigate the effect of english vocabulary game in teaching. in the fourth part, the author will summarize some application strategies, useful games for english vocabulary teaching and a few attention in the english vocabulary games. conclusion will be the.the final part of this paper. chapter two literature review2.1 definition of games“there are usually two definitions in some larger dictionaries about game. on the one hand, a game may refer to an activity providing entertainment or amusement. thus games may include such a spontaneous and unorganized activity as a childs repeated actions of throwing a ball at the wall and catch it again. on the other hand, a game may be a competitive activity in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules.”(xie, 2008, p.1) wittgenstein defines the word “game” as “a series of family resemblances linking one game to another but allowing the possibility that two instances of the same category, like stone throwing and chess, have very little in common with each other.” (wittgenstein, 1953, p.66-71)“thus in the broad sense,games may refer to amusing or playful activity.and games have two key elements,namely competition and rules in the narrow sense.”( weightier, 2005, p.223)2.2 the characteristics of english vocabulary gamesfirst of all, the english vocabulary game is experience, that is, students will produce a kind of subjective feeling in the process of game; the game is the process in which a sense of achievement and interest, learning motivation are generated. for example, when the students guess the words, they will experience the joy of success, which would improve interest and confidence of learning. second, the english vocabulary game has a certain spontaneity and autonomy. “the real game will give students a free space to let the students to think freely, and control the game process, according to their own methods.” (lei, 2010, p55) as a result, students, through the autonomic activities in the english vocabulary game, can exercise the independence and cooperation ability, and stimulate their imagination and creativity. third, english vocabulary game can combine carefully process and results. games can make students achieve the teaching goal in an easy way, and there are unexpected harvests, because the purpose and significance of english vocabulary games also exist in the real and rich emotional experience and comprehension of game. 2.3 the value of english vocabulary gamesgame has the extremely important status, plays an important role in ones life and study. piaget once said that cognition activity launched the game, the game also strengthened cognition activity. students can free to do all kinds of imitation operation and exploration by interacting with students, teachers, environment and other factors in english vocabulary game. thus in this process the students intelligence is cultivating and developing. on the other hand, young students in the adult society, including all kinds of oppression and bondage, tend to produce many psychological problems. english vocabulary game can make the students express feelings, tension, get positive emotions such as joy, relaxed, calm, and keep a good healthy personality. in a word, english vocabulary games have value as follows:(1) virtual games create realistic situation. forsberg, american children play expert, thinks, the game has a symbolic factors which can reflect the real world and has the meaning of coherent experience the games can give children english language training scenario” which can reappear and consulate english ability that has been learned. although the game is virtual in a certain sense, it created a realistic situation, so it is meaningful. the vocabulary, generation in the specific context, is living things; on the contrary, word memorization, separated from the background, is mechanical, rigid tiring work. (2) happy activity produces learning interest. it is relatively simple and natural to remember a word linked to others rather than in isolation, then, it is happy for the students to access spelling and meaning of vocabulary in a relaxed and fun game activities. interest is the best teacher, learning in the game, is interesting. (3) competition synergy stimulates the learning potential. the child is naughty, competitive, and like the novel, pursuit of stimulation. asking them to conform to the adults can pin down the nature of their natural development, stifle their creativity. getting to know the qualities, we can effectively stimulate their learning potential. factors of competition and cooperation which the game contains can make learners focus to the study of the gaming, to complete the study task with other learners in the process of competition and cooperation. (4) the passive learning becomes into active learning. secondary vocational students english foundation is bad, relatively short attention span. learning enthusiasm is not high, and negative, lost, feelings of inferiority appear. vocabulary games can relax the pressure of learning english, enjoy a play and happiness, and meet their psychological needs of self sense and a sense of achievement under the oppression of study in tension. remembering the words and learning english in the play, students change passive learning into active participation, becoming the class subject status. 2.4 the forms of english vocabulary gamesthe primary training aims of english vocabulary game is to stimulate students speech ability and to cultivate and develop their words reaction through sound, form, activity. english vocabulary teaching games is different from other english games, which must possess knowledge, interest and competitive characteristics. therefore, the teacher should start from the actual teaching, scientifically design all kinds of games, and makes every effort to perfectly simulate daily activities to make the students actively participate in. (1) the design principle of the gamethe game should have a certain purpose and target. “the game is in the service of the vocabulary teaching, so it must have a clear teaching goal, related to teaching material, and hold about the syllabus, which is benefit to the improvement of overall teaching quality and teaching effect.”(brown, 2001, p.18) in animal this unit, for example, we can introduce animals memory game, by animal brand name and image, combined with the pronunciation, which can effectively arouse the students interest in learning and memory, and improve the learning efficiency of vocabulary. the games should have certain instructive. the aims of carrying out the game is not only to learn and consolidate knowledge, active classroom atmosphere, but also pay attention to students intelligence development and the cultivation of ability. we can design some creative and challenging game, such as recycling game and map symbol game, to cultivate the students thinking and observation. stimulating of game also reflects on the teachers mastery of the game difficulty, as to the poor students, teachers can be appropriately hints in the game, inspire and encourage them to win this game, to develop their self-confidence and participation. as to the good students, game design should increase the certain difficulty. the game should have certain challenging. students are keen on the game, largely because of layers of customs clearance, in the way of customs clearance; they can challenge themselves, taste the joy of success, and get the experience of success. therefore, vocabulary game design should also reflect this characteristic. design, for example, with of the image and word matching (turn) - selected letters completed words (shooting) - complete the sentences (river) - word dictation words (the mistresses) - sentence correction (so so) as the gradient of customs clearance games, meet the needs of different level students. the game should have diversification. as the saying goes tricks may not be played long, funny games, played a few times, have no novelty, which requires teachers constantly to update game, constantly to meet freshness and curiosity of students. (2) the organization form of the game when teaching vocabulary by games, we should have certain flexibility. “flexibility refers to we should pay attention to timely, appropriate game activities, pay attention to the adjustment and grasp of the classroom atmosphere and classroom rhythm.”(i.s.p, 2001, p.34) therefore, we should pay attention to these aspects:the time of class games should not be too long, be timely adjust based on the content, the difficulty and the students field reflect; the organization form of the game can be competition form between individuals, groups, large groups of; before the game, firstly the teacher should introduce the practice and standards of the games to the students; in the game, teachers must be good at encouraging students to actively participate in, and help them break through the difficulties. (3) the effect evaluation of the gamewhen game is over, we should give affirmation to the winner in a timely manner and give encouragements to the loss. at the same time, we should regard the game from inside class to outside class to make the game losers continue to play game after class, encourage them to surpass others and themselves, in order to achieve the purpose of reviewing and consolidating the english vocabulary. (4) teachers role of the gameafter the introduction of the game in english vocabulary teaching, the student is no longer the followers, passive recipients, but a performer, active participants and successful experience. teachers work is not only teaching, but also designing and organizing games, in the process of which requirement is including teaching. the teachers should also be the participants, facilitator, promoters and evaluators of learning activities. when the teachers become the players, the psychological distance between teachers and students also shorten, which is helpful to teaching and learning of two-way communication. chapter three the research methods3.1 literature method of english vocabulary games how to make the boring vocabulary teaching interesting, how to let the students actively learn english? game is a more interesting and knowledgeable entertainment way. the game teaching can make students study in a happy relaxed atmosphere, cheer the students, bring confidence, motivation and a sense of accomplishment. “and according to the laws of the forgotten, we should reasonably arrange time, do regular review in a planned way, and strengthen the memory. experiments of german psychologist ebbing hausa shows: the rule of forget is quickly before they are slow.”(wang, 2006, p.17) the material just remembered, is forgotten the fastest the in the first few hours, if not be repeated in 4 to 7 days, memory will be reined in, or even disappear completely. it is not enough to only present words to students, but also help students to practice and use words that they have learned. in order to help students to avoid forgetting, the most effective way is to organize the review. based on this idea, trying to change the traditional teaching mode, changing teachers explain and teach the vocabulary and blindly ignored the students practical application ability of practice, the game method can better help students to master words.( siqin, 2012, p.1) 3.2 survey methodthe object of the survey of is 60 students from two different classes, same grade in secondary vocational colleges. “in the test, they are divided into experimental class and control class.”(allen, 2002, p.4) the former is the vocabulary game classes, while the later is the class in the traditional way of teaching. in order to get precise results, ten weeks of training is hold in students. the following word game is used in the experimental class to continuously consolidate vocabulary:(1) words idioms solitaire. use the last letter of a former word as the first letter of a latter word spelling, such as classic -accomplish-honey, and so on. (2) blossom word game. such as a word, we search out all the meaning of it, the one who remember the most meanings wins. (3) you take an action and i guess. one student takes an