Using Games in English Teaching游戏在英语教学中的应用

1、usinggamesinenglishteaching装订线abstract accompanied with the carrying out of the new english curriculum standard there are a lot of new problems arising from the field of english teaching in the primary schools. english, as a second language in china, is a major subject from primary schools to univer

2、sity. its an essential stage for children in primary schools to acquire pronunciation and memorize basic vocabularies. english learning takes them to a broader world and this will mean special to the children both in ways and in mind. they are interested in the “strange” thing, but they also feel a

3、little fear about it. this ambivalent feeling may be easy settled if the teacher has various teaching methods.as the saying goes: interest is the best teacher. when students are interested something, he will be happy to learn. pupils are lively,active.theycant stay at the classroom for long .so teac

4、hers should create a relaxed, happy, harmonious, equal classroom learning atmosphere.according to the development of childrens personality, the children in primary school are interested in amusing games.so,we should use some effective games in the classes. modern pedagogy takes games as one of the i

5、mportant teaching means which can pass on knowledge, develop skills and ability in languages teaching, games have been paid more and more attention to. in this thesis, i want to discuss this good way to arouse childrens interest in english learningkey words：children english teaching using gamesconte

6、nts introduction1 、literature review.2 1.1 the history and present situations of game teaching in foreign countries 2 1.2 the history and present situations of game teaching in china .2 、 definition of games3 、 functions and golas of games3 、 types of games 5 conclusion7 references 8 introduction wi

7、th the development of society and frequency of international communication, english has become one of the basic skills of people in the 21st century. since the year of 2001, english has become a required lesson in primary school from grade 3 in china. some people say that the fundamental goal for in

8、troducing english to primary school children is to help them develop english language skills and knowledge so that they are able to use english to communicate with others. we will say that this is only partly true. what should not be neglected at the same time is childrens motivation and interests i

9、n learning in primary school. by offering a foreign language at school, we are aiming to educate “the whole child” rather than only teach them the language. therefore, the first priority to teaching english in primary school is to cultivate their interest in learning, motivate them to work hard, hel

10、p them establish good learning habits and develop useful learning strategies so that they are ready to continue their learning when they move into secondary schools. therefore, motivation and interest in learning are fundamental to ensure success in learning a foreign language for children. how to m

11、ake english lesson vivid and how to attract childrens interest in it? playing games in english teaching is one of the effective ways to motivate children to work hard and cultivate their interests in learning english. as we all know, children enjoy playing games in their native language and this is

12、a familiar experience for children to be introduced to studies in a foreign language in primary school. games are motivating and fun and can help develop positive attitudes towards the foreign language and language learning, and create a desire to continue learning. with the recent development of en

13、glish teaching, the roles of games in class have been discussed in different aspects. and more and more teachers use games in their teaching as they come to realize that playing games in english teaching is very important. however, some teachers still think that language games are a waste of time an

14、d prefer not to use them in classroom and games sometimes have been considered only for fun. in fact, games can provide more than that for younger learners. among several strategies used to improve students proficiency such as visual aids, call (computer assisted language learning), drama, role-play

15、 and so on, games are another useful strategy to promote students language proficiency. in game children smell, listen, see, sing, draw and dance, and so on. actively taking part in game makes them enjoy studying and succeeding. in game, childrens intelligence, cognition and communication are develo

16、ped.、literature review1.1 the history and present situations of game teaching in foreign countriesin order to make children interested in learning english and be able to communicate with others, from ancient greek, western education, especially childrens education in western countries, has been full

17、 of the exposition of the relationship between games and teaching. one of them was plato who paid more attention to the role of games for childrens education. he thought games should not only be played but also combined with education in ethics. in the 17th century, czech comenius advised teachers t

18、o use childrens senses rather than memorization in instruction. at the same century, english philosopher and educator john locke (1632-1704) thought teaching should be suitable for childrens age in order to make learning interesting. in the 18th century, the french philosopher rousseau stated that c

19、hildren should be free to express their energies in order to develop their individual talents, echoing an ancient concept by plato (428-347b.c.). german educator friedrich froebel is the father of childrens education in western countries. he started the first kindergarten in 1837. he wanted his scho

20、ol to be a garden where children unfolded as naturally as flowers. in the early period of the 20th century, progressive education continued to emphasize the needs and potentials of the children, rather than the needs of society or principles of religion. among the influential reform educators of thi

21、s century were maria montessori of italy, john dewey of the united states and piaget of swiss.1.2 the history and present situations of game teaching in chinafrom ancient times, chinese people thought highly of childrens education. in song dynasty, private schools paid much attention to the children

22、s interests. zhu xi also stressed the importance of happy teaching. since 1949 chinese education has changed greatly. many childrens educators have achieved great success. they have summed up a lot of games or activities such as teaching through childrens songs, teaching in situations, simulating te

23、aching, p .e. games and so on. in the contemporary, mr. chen heqin was one of the greatest educators who made the outstanding contribution to chinese childrens education and set up the first research center of childrens education-kindergarten in gulou. many games there were full of creation. he expo

24、unded that games were activities that were beneficial to childrens psychological and physiological development. only games could make children lively and teachers should make good use of all kinds of game materials and give them enough changes to practice according to their age. hu shuyi, another ed

25、ucator who encouraged children to play games more than seventy years ago. from modern age to the contemporary, game teaching theory has been improved step by step. many educators, philosophers or thinkers encouraged children to play games, such as hong zirui, hui youlian and li shengping et al. they

26、 presented games should be integrated with learning. now, more and more people abroad and at home come to realize the importance and the urgency of game teaching in the primary school. as we all know, game teaching is a very useful way to improve effectiveness of english teaching in primary school.、

27、definition of gamesgames are a different kind of play activity. they are highly structured and include specific rules to be followed. specially, teaching game is one of the kinds of the games. byrne (1995) gave the definition to games as a form of play governed by rules. he suggested:“games should b

28、e enjoyed and fun. they are not just a diversion, a break from routine activities, but a way of getting the learner to use the language in the course of the game”.from the above, we can safely drawn a conclusion that “game” in language teaching (teaching game) can be defined as an organized activity

29、 that usually has the following properties: a. a particular task or objective; b. a set of rules; c. competition between players; d. communication between players by spoken or written language.、 functions and goals of gamesthe basic functions of game teaching can be described like these: exciting st

30、udents learning interest effectively; promoting the development of student intelligence; and training studentsinnovation ability. in english learning and teaching the following functions of game teaching are more obvious than the others: help students to find interest in learning a foreign language.

31、 as we know, interest is an important and crucial factor to influence motivation in foreign language acquisition. game teaching in english in primary school does not only make the students joyful, but also make them full of wit and humor. it can excite the students curiosity for the knowledge so tha

32、t they will show interest in learning in class; in return interest leads to academic success;the success arouses greater interest again. the greater interest is, the greater success will be made. finally, interest and success become the great driving force for the students to learn english. interest

33、 is the best teacher of children, once children lose their interest in motivation in learning english or they couldnt lay a good foundation in basic knowledge, they cannot learn english well in the future. interest is subdivided into two phases of direct and indirect interests, which is a crucial me

34、ans to arouse intrinsic motivation. direct interest results from direct learning process itself and the contents being learned. it attracts students attention, but it lasts for a short time. consequently it is necessary and important to cultivate students indirect learning purpose and task. the stud

35、ents need to be involved in something active, so almost everything for them will depend on the creative attitude and behavior of the teacher who must be technically adept at ways of getting the students motivated. the intrinsic motivation to learn something is enhanced by the use of interesting mate

36、rials, as well as by varieties in mode of presentation. games add variation to a lesson and increase motivation by providing a plausible incentive to use the target language. for many children between four and twelve years old, especially the youngest, language learning will not be the key motivatio

37、nal factor. games can provide this stimulus. games automatically stimulate students interest; therefore, a properly introduced game can be one of the highest motivating techniques. help students to find pleasure from learning english. various kinds of language teaching games can be employed to make

38、a lively and enlightening classroom. games can make learning interesting and exciting, can arouse the learning enthusiasm of the students, and can promote students participation. during the game teaching, all the students can be offered opportunities for academic success. games can make english clas

39、ses more interesting and easier so that english learning will become a pleasure and english classroom will become a pleasant place. confucius holds happy learning not only makes one delight in learning but also never makes one sick of learning. help teachers to meet childrens needs. during students

40、growing they have some needs, and the games can create a suitable situation to meet childrens needs: security, love, respect and self-fulfillment so that students can find pleasure and self-confidence in such circumstances, it can not only help to grasp the language points, and to light up the class

41、room, but also improve learners interest in the long run. help teachers to create a stress-free learning environment for students. a stress-free learning environment is vital for children to learn english. games can help teachers enlighten their students to think actively, and encourage them to use

42、their heads, eyes, mouths, hands more often, and can guide students to study voluntarily and can arouse students desire of using foreign language to express their ideals and feelings. thus their comprehension and expression abilities in foreign language can be well developed. types of gamesthe first

43、 one is cooperative games. in this type of game, the main action is centered in trying to reach the aim in cooperation. players or teams work together towards the common goal. this type of game is excellent to encourage the shy students, since it requires the participation of all the members of a te

44、am, group or pair. some typical activities may include the completion of a drawing, putting things in order, grouping things, finding pairs or finding hidden things. students are involved in the exchange of information to complete the task and in giving instructions. for example:title: cards on the

45、tableaim: to memorize the correct spelling of words in an enjoyable way.procedure: first, give the students one letter card each, and clear a space in the classroom and put a table in the middle. then have the students stand in a circle round the table, 3 or 4 meters from it. each student has one le

46、tter card each.then the teacher calls out words he wants to revise, one at a time, and any student who holds a letter that is in that word must run forward and put the letter on the table.the last person who puts his letter down must spell the word and give its meaning. if unsuccessful, he/she is ou

47、t of the game, and the teacher gives the correct answer.students should take back a different letter from the table each time, i.e. they should swap with someone else. the second one is competitive games. in this kind of games, players or teams race to be the first to reach the goal. as the name ind

48、icates, in this type of game there is an overt competition between teams, or sometimes of an individual against the rest of the class (as in 20questions). the competition may also be of individuals against other individuals. the object of this type of game is finishing of reaching the end before the

49、 other competitors, making more points, surviving elimination, or avoiding penalties. the rules may require the players to produce correct language as part of the game and force students to draw conclusions more quickly. for example:title: slap itaim: to recognize words and listen for relevant infor

50、mation preparation: a set of 10-15 pictures of different kinds of food items for each team of 4 to 6 people.procedure: put the items on a desk and the students sit around the desk. the teacher describes the food item. when a student has an answer, she/he slaps the card and says the word aloud. if th

51、e student is correct, he/she gets a team point. if the student is wrong, he/she is out of the game. alternatively, in each group each student plays independently. if the student slaps the correct picture, he/she keeps the card as a point. the person or team with the most cards/points wins.the third

52、one is communication gamesthe main objective in this type of the games is getting the message over to the other players and reacting appropriately to their messages. for example when giving instructions, the player must be clear about rules, and the player following them must do exactly what he is r

53、equired to. the tasks are usually practical, like following instructions, drawing, persuading other players, etc. this means that players will concentrate on the task rather than on the language, besides, students can see the results of their use of language at once, which will help to build student

54、s confidence. the thesis shows another illustration to this point at follow:title: have you seen my sheepaim: to encourage careful description and listening about dressprocedure: a circle is formed with one player called it outside the circle. he/she moves around the outside of the circle and taps s

55、omeone on the shoulder asking, have you seen my sheep (or dog, cat, goat.)? the student responds: yes i have seen it. it asks, whats it wearing? or how is it dressed? the student must describe someone in the circle e.g. green shirt, brown shoes, long hair. on recognizing that he/she is being describ

56、ed, the student must run round the outside of the circle away from it. if caught before getting back to his/her place, he/she takes the place of it. the fourth one is code-control games. this type of game requires that students produce correct language: structures, spelling, pronunciation, etc. the

57、production of correct language will make the players of the team win points. for example:title: listen and actaim: understand the meaning of some verbsprocedure: after learning some verbs, such as: run, walk, sit, stand, and swim, and so on, teacher say one word of them fast. then have students stan

58、d in front of the blackboard and show the correct actions. then continue.at the end of this part, one major problem must be mention about is that how can teachers adopt teaching games to sustain young learners interest in those teaching games. there lays a fact that those teaching games must changeable and variety. the teacher shoul