Филологические науки / 5.Методы и приемы контроля уровня владения иностранным языком

Mamysheva B. B.

English teacher of school gymnasium No. 49, Taraz, Kazakhstan

Efficiency of using games in language-learning

Language learning is a 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 do so must understand what others are saying or have written, and they must speak or write in order to express their own point of view or give information.'

Games offer students a fun-filled and relaxing learning atmosphere. After learning and practicing new vocabulary, students have the opportunity to use language in a non-stressful way. While playing games, the learners’ attention is on the message, not on the language. Rather than pay attention to the correctness of linguistic forms, most participants will do all they can to win. This eases the fear of negative evaluation, the concern of being negatively judged in public, and which is one of the main factors inhibiting language learners from using the target language in front of other people. In a game-oriented context, anxiety is reduced and speech fluency is generated - thus communicative competence is achieved.

The benefits of using games in language - learning can be summed up in nine points.

- games are learner centered.

- promote communicative competence.

- create a meaningful context for language use.

- increase learning motivation.

- reduce learning anxiety.

- integrate various linguistic skills.

- encourage creative and spontaneous use of language.

- construct a cooperative learning environment.

- foster participatory attitudes of the students.

There are many factors to consider while discussing games, one of which is approach. Teachers should be very careful about choosing games if they want to make them profitable for the learning process. If games are to bring desired results, they must correspond to either the student’s level, or age, or to the material that is to be introduced or practiced. Not all games are appropriate for all students irrespective of their age. Different age groups require various topics, materials, and modes of games. For example, children benefit most from games which require moving around, imitating a model, competing between groups and the like. Furthermore, structural games that practice or reinforce a certain grammatical aspect of language have to relate to students’ abilities and prior knowledge. Games become difficult when the task or the topic is unsuitable or outside the student's experience.

Another factor influencing the choice of a game is its length and the time necessary for its completion. Many games have a time limit, but the teacher can either allocate more or less time depending on the students’ level, the number of people in a group, or the knowledge of the rules of a game etc.

Games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end of a lesson.

Games also lend themselves well to revision exercises helping learners recall material in a pleasant, entertaining way.

It is very important that before organizing a game the teacher must introduce some words and expressions to the pupils. For example,

Let’s play a game.

Today I am going to teach you how to play a game called…

Put your chairs together.

We can put 2 chairs back to back.

Play in twos (threes, fours, fives…)

Split into 2 teams.

Split into pairs. etc.

As you know there are different kinds of games: lexical, grammar, role plays, the ABC games, phonetics games and so on.

Games are fun and children like to play them. Through games children experiment, discover, and interact with their environment. 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 motivational factor. Games can provide this stimulus. The game context makes the foreign language immediately useful to the children. It brings the target language to life. The game makes the reasons for speaking plausible even to reluctant children.

Through playing games, students can learn English the way children learn their mother tongue without being aware they are studying; thus without stress, they can learn a lot. Even shy students can participate positively. A game must be more than just fun. A game should involve “friendly” competition. A game should keep all of the students involved and interested. A game should encourage students to focus on the use of language rather than on the language itself. A game should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review specific language material.

LIST OF REFERENCES

1. Games for Language Learning. (2nd. ed.) by Andrew Wright, David Betteridge and Michael Buckby. Cambridge University Press, 1984.

2. Афанасьева О., Михеева И. “English Language Course”, М.: “Фолиант”, 2001

3. Соловова Е. Н. “Методика обучения иностранным языкам.” Базовый курс лекций. М., 2002. С. 46.

4. Сахарова Н. Г. “Эффективный подход к обучению фонетике английского языка” // Школа. -2005. - № 1. - С. 56-60.

5. Полат Е. С. “Новые педагогические и информационные технологии в системе образования.” – М., 2000.