英语毕业论文-游戏在英语教学中的应用
国象女子等级分-危房改造实施方案
河北大学成人高等教育毕业论文
Using Games in English Teaching
学生姓名：王紫
指导教师：段庆春
专业年级：2011级英语（本科）
完稿时间：2013.10.5
河北大学继续教育学院
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承 诺 书
我谨在此承诺：
本人所写的毕业论文《Using Games in
English Teaching》由本
人独立完成，保证不存在任何剽窃、抄袭他人学术成果的现象
。凡涉
及其他作者的观点和材料，均作了注释，如出现抄袭及侵犯他人知识
产权的行为，由本人
承担由此产生的一切后果。
承诺人： 王紫
2013年 9月 29 日
Using Games in English
Teaching
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 university. It’s 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 little fear about it. This
ambivalent feeling may be easy settled if the
teacher has various teaching
装
订
线
the saying goes:
Interest is the best teacher. When students are
interested something,
he will be happy to
learn. Pupils are lively,n’t stay at the classroom
for
long .So teachers should create a relaxed,
happy, harmonious, equal classroom
learning
ing to the development of children’s personality,
the
children in Primary school are interested
in amusing ,we should use some
effective games
in the classes. Modern pedagogy takes games as one
of the important
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 children’s
interest in English learning
Key
words：children English teaching using games
Contents
Introduction………………………………………………1
Ⅰ、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
Ⅱ、 Definition
of games……………………………………3
Ⅲ、 Functions and
golas of games………………………3
Ⅳ、 Types of games
…………………………………………………5
Conclusion…………………………………………………7
References ……………………………………………………………8
Introduction
With 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 introducing 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 children’s motivation
and
interests in 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, help 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 make English lesson vivid and
how to attract children’s 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 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
English 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 and 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 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, children’s intelligence,
cognition and communication are developed.
Ⅰ、Literature review
1.1
The history and present situations of game
teaching in foreign countries
In order to make
children interested in learning English and be
able to
communicate with others, from ancient
Greek, western education, especially
children’s education in western countries, has
been full 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 children’s education. He
thought games should not
only be played but
also combined with education in ethics. In the
17th century, Czech
Comenius advised teachers
to use children’s senses rather than memorization
in
instruction. At the same century, English
philosopher and educator John Locke
(1632-1704) thought teaching should be
suitable for children’s age in order to make
learning interesting. In the 18th century, the
French philosopher Rousseau stated that
children 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 children’s education in
western countries. He started
the first
kindergarten in 1837. He wanted his school 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 this 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 China
From ancient times, Chinese people thought
highly of children’s education. In Song
Dynasty, private schools paid much attention
to the children’s interests. Zhu Xi also
stressed the importance of happy teaching.
Since 1949 Chinese education has changed
greatly. Many children’s educators have
achieved great success. They have summed
up a
lot of games or activities such as teaching
through children’s songs, teaching in
situations, simulating teaching, 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 children’s
education and set up the first research center of
children’s
education-Kindergarten in Gulou.
Many games there were full of creation. He
expounded that games were activities that were
beneficial to children’s 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 educator 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 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
.
Ⅱ、Definition of games
Games 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 be 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 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.
Ⅲ、 Functions and
goals of games
The basic functions of game
teaching can be described like these: exciting
students
learning interest effectively;
promoting the development of student’
intelligence; and
training students’innovation
ability. In English learning and teaching the
following
functions of game teaching are more
obvious than the others:
① Help students to
find interest in learning a foreign language.
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 that 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 is the
best teacher of children, once
children lose their interest in motivation in
learning
English or they couldn’t 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 means 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 students 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 materials, 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
motivational factor. Games can provide this
stimulus. Games automatically stimulate
students’ interest; therefore, a properly
introduced game can be one of the highest
motivating techniques.
② Help students to
find pleasure from learning English.
Various
kinds of language teaching games can be employed
to make 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 classes 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.
③ Help teachers to meet children’s needs.
During students’ growing they have some needs,
and the games can create a suitable
situation
to meet children’s 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
classroom, but also improve
learners’ interest
in the long run.
④ 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
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.
Ⅳ Types of games
The first 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 team, 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 Table
Aim: 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 letter
card 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 last person
who
puts his letter down must spell the word and give
its meaning. If unsuccessful,
heshe is out 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
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
indicates, 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 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 it
Aim: To recognize words and listen for
relevant information
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, shehe
slaps the card and says
the word aloud. If the
student is correct, heshe gets a team point. If
the student is
someone else.
wrong, heshe is out of the game.
Alternatively, in each group each student plays
independently. If the student slaps the
correct picture, heshe keeps the card as a point.
The person or team with the most cardspoints
wins.
The third 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 required 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 students’ confidence.
The thesis shows
another illustration to this point at follow:
Title: Have You Seen My Sheep
Aim: to
encourage careful description and listening about
dress
Procedure: A circle is formed with one
player called IT outside the circle. HeShe
moves around the outside of the circle and
taps someone on the shoulder asking,
seen
it.
describe someone in the circle e.g. green
shirt, brown shoes, long hair. On recognizing
that heshe is being described, the student
must run round the outside of the circle
away
from IT. If caught before getting back to hisher
place, heshe 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 production of
correct
language will make the players of the team win
points. For example:
Title: Listen and Act
Aim: understand the meaning of some verbs
Procedure: 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 stand 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 should find “new” games
through different channels including newspaper,
radios and television programs. It is a wise
precaution to collect and file games for use
whenever you happen to come across
them. Nowadays we also can surf the net get
more information including the new games. The
games we discussed above refer to
the games in
classroom. After class we can encourage the
children to use the games
on the Internet if
the condition permits. Thus, the language level is
determined by the
type of use, not just by the
structures and vocabulary items.
Conclusion
The aim of this thesis is to
draw people’s attention to game teaching in
primary
school, and it’s more effective than a
traditional classroom by using games. Playing
games in English teaching is one of the
effective ways which are suitable for the
development of children’s physiological and
psychological characteristics and can
foster
their interest and generate their thirst for
knowledge. In the course of playing
games,
children take an active part in the games with
great interest, enjoy the pleasure
and
happiness of learning and have a sense of
achievement. Since teaching is a
developing
art, which requires innovative and creative ideas
to enrich its effectiveness,
the teachers
should be decisive to use games in their
classrooms. Games can assist
them in foreign
language teaching while providing a relaxed
atmosphere and
motivated students. Such games
are student centered, hence, by using them the
teachers give a chance to their students to
express themselves, enjoy themselves
during
learning, and what they have learned. So there is
an undeniable fact that if the
teachers’
concern is to provide a successful and beneficial
teaching, they must not
hesitate to use games,
which bring the structural, pragmatic, prosodic
and
communicative aspects of language
together, in their language classrooms.
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