SKKN Effectiveness of using games in teaching grammar to 10 Graders at ethnic Boarding High School

 
33 
*Game 1 (10 minutes – to revise “Used to + infinitive” before practicing 
exercise 2) 
The teacher projects some pictures on the screen, asks the students to work in 
4 groups to complete the sentences, for example: 
1. She used to ... 2. He used ....... go fishing last summer. 
3. They ......... go on a picnic. 4. He used to  
The group which completes the game exactly and fastest is the winner. 
The teacher draws out the form and the usage of that grammar structure. 
*Game 2 (10 minutes – practicing exercise 2 through this game) 
The teacher uses the similar game as Game 2 in Unit 1. 
*Game 3 (10 minutes - practicing exercise 3 through this game) 
The teacher asks the students to work in pairs. They will have to join a 
sentence from A with one from B in the box to make a new sentence, use which, 
then show or guess the role of which. The pair which completes the game exactly 
and fastest is the winner. 
The teacher will comment, correct the mistakes and call some students to give 
more examples. 
34 
Sample 11. Unit 5: includes the following grammar points and time for 
teaching them about 35 minutes. 
Aims: This game is used to review: 
- The present perfect (exercise 1, page 60) 
- The present perfect passive (exercise 2, page 61) 
- who, which, that (exercise 3, page 61) 
 *Game 1 (8 minutes - to revise The present perfect before practicing exercise 1) 
The teacher uses the similar game as Game 1 in Unit 1. 
*Game 2 (7 minutes - practicing exercise 1 through this game) 
The teacher asks the students to work in pairs. They will find the answers to 
the question of the situation which the teacher gives: What do you think Tan has 
done before Quang comes? 
The pair which completes the game exactly and fastest is the winner. 
*Game 3 (10 minutes - practicing exercise 2 through this game) 
The teacher asks the students to work in individual in turn. Each student will 
rely on the sample in the book then complete the sentence similarly. The student 
who does well their task will have right to choose the other one to continue the 
next sentence. (Note: each student isn't chosen over twice). The teacher comments 
and praises the students who complete the true sentence. 
The teacher draws out the form and the usage of that grammar structure, call 
some students to give more examples. 
*Game 4 (10 minutes - practicing exercise 3 through this game) 
The teacher projects 10 sentences (p.61) which are completed with who, 
which, or that on the screen, but some of sentences use the wrong relative pronoun, 
then asks students to work in 4 groups to find those mistakes, correct them and say 
the role of who, which, and that. 
The group which completes well and fastest is the winner. 
The teacher comments, explains, gives homework. 
The games above are only some examples of the application of games in 
teaching grammar with reference to Tieng Anh 10. The teachers at Nghe An Ethnic 
Boarding high school No.2 invented these games thanks to studying the books of 
games and their creation. 
The games below are chosen from the reference books,they can be also used 
to teach the grammar points in Tieng Anh 10. 
35 
Grammar points Games References 
1. The present 
simple 
Grammar draughts 
Tower block 
Matchmaking 
Mario Rinvolucri, 1984: 54 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 1 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 6 
2. The past simple 
Silent sentence 
Good news, bad news 
Mario Rinvolucri, 1984: 59 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 12 
3. The past perfect 
Detective work 
Line-ups 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 29 
Suzanne W. Woodward, 2003: 40 
4. The present 
perfect 
Present perfect poem 
It wasn't me, Officer 
Mario Rinvolucri, 1984: 81 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 22 
5. Wh-questions 
Crossed lines 
Board game 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 10 
Suzanne W. Woodward, 2003: 109 
6. Gerund and to + 
infinitive 
Cocktail party 
Suzanne W. Woodward, 2003: 232 
7. Used to + 
infinitive 
School reunion 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 24 
8. who, which, that Relatively speaking 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 4 
9. Reported speech Tact Jill Hadfield, 1990: 31 
10. Will vs. going 
to 
Houseparties 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 26 
11. Comparatives 
Yuppies 
Comparative quiz 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 32 
Granger, 1980: 26 
12. Superlatives 
Boiled eggs 
Comparative quiz 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 38 
Granger, 1980: 27 
13. Relative 
clauses 
Whatsitsname? Jill Hadfield, 1990: 2 
36 
Grammar points Games References 
14. Conditional 
sentence type 1 
Just the fact 
Superstitions 
Suzanne W. Woodward, 2003: 310 
Suzanne W. Woodward, 2003: 309 
15. Conditional 
sentence type 2 
Why not? Jill Hadfield, 1990: 16 
16. Conditional 
sentence type 3 
Building around 
Suzanne W. Woodward, 2003: 318 
17. The passive 
voice 
Match 
Suzanne W. Woodward, 2003: 218 
18. Adverbs of 
frequency 
Ball toss 
The adverb game 
Suzanne W. Woodward, 2003: 9 
Jill Hadfield, 1990: 37 
19. Should Told you so! Jill Hadfield, 1990: 15 
20. al an and the Memory 1 Granger, 1980: 5 
4. Effectiveness of the solutions 
It is noticeable that games are effective in teaching and practising grammar. 
Grammar learning becomes enjoyable and permanent as a result of games’ 
providing learners with a meaningful context for practising grammar 
communicatively. 
Most of the learners feel motivated after taking part in the games. They have 
learned the rules of grammar lexical items naturally and based on the specific 
context. The atmosphere in the classroom is also more comfortable and flexible. 
As a result of this, students are likely to engage in the lesson actively and 
effectively. 
5. The result and findings about the improvement of the students 
The goal of this study was to examine the use of games to enhance students’ 
knowledge of English grammar. The data to respond to the research questions and 
the assumptions of this study were successfully collected by writer in the field. 
Based on the evaluated data, the research finding showed some important points 
that need to be discussed. The first point related to the first research question of 
this study, the question was about does the use of game help students learn 
grammar better. The result showed that using games improved students’ English 
ability. It was accordance to the result of pre-test and post-test experiment class 
where students’ scores were improved. 
37 
The result of pretest which was done before I did the research 
CLASS TOTAL 
WELL- 
ACHIEVED 
ACHIEVED 
NOT 
ACHIEVED 
SL TL SL TL SL TL 
10A2 42 7 16% 17 41% 18 43% 
10C1 43 6 14% 15 35% 22 51% 
The result of post-test which was done after I did the research 
CLASS TOTAL 
WELL- 
ACHIEVED 
ACHIEVED 
NOT 
ACHIEVED 
SL TL SL TL SL TL 
10A2 42 15 36% 25 60% 2 4% 
10C1 43 14 33% 26 60% 3 7% 
Basing on the above results, we can see that the number of achieved and 
well- achieved students has increased nearly double, compared to the result of the 
pre test. The numbers of not achieved students decreased to only 4 percent in class 
10A2 and 7% in class 10C1. 
38 
PART III. CONCLUSION 
The study has some limitation but, at least, it is a pilot study at our school 
and it has several implications that are possibly suitable for English teaching in 
general and English grammar teaching in particular. 
In conclusion, these results point that English teachers recognize the 
pedagogical value of using games in their classrooms and agree that while teaching 
the grammar rules explicitly is still important, using games as a form of instruction 
is also beneficial. Similarly, the participants express that using games is effective 
in grammar teaching especially for young learners. Finally, results of this study 
further show that although a great majority of the participants favours the 
effectiveness of using games in grammar teaching, they do not use games as 
frequently as expected. Most of the participants express that this is because of the 
crowded classroom environments and the heavy load of the curriculum. With 
accurate planning and information passed onto the teachers, this problem should be 
dealt with to secure the benefits of games in the foreign language classroom. 
Lastly, in course books and materials, the use of games can be emphasized and by 
presenting alternative games, foreign language teaching can be enriched so that 
primary school students enjoy learning English in a robust manner. 
The result or the aim of the study is that the application of grammar games 
brings benefits to the teachers and the students in teaching and learning English, 
especially effectiveness of students learning in grammar. This is also the my wish 
to have suitable and interesting method in teaching grammar and help teachers and 
students at Nghe An Ethnic Boarding high school No.2 develop their ability in 
teaching and learning English. I hopes it will be a small contribution to 
emphasizing the importance and necessity of English, the language considered the 
international one at present. 
The measures have been given out are just from my own experiences during 
the process of teaching. Consequently, it must contain a number of weaknesses. I 
would like to get the comments and good idea from readers and other teachers so 
that the topic will become more interesting and perfect. 
39 
REFERENCES 
- 10 grade textbook, Hanoi National Publisher 
- Canh, Le Van. (2004). Understanding Foreign Language Teaching 
Methodology. NXB Quốc gia Hà Nội. 
- Ersoz, Aydan. (2000) Six Games for the ESL/EFL Classroom. 
iteslj.org/Lessons/ErsozGames.html. 
- Granger, C. and Plumb, J. (1980-1981). Play games with English Teacher's 
Book 1, Book 2. Thomson Litho Ltd, East Kilbridge, Scotland. 
- Hoang et al. (2006a). Đổi mới phương pháp dạy tiếng Anh ở trung học phổ 
thông Việt Nam. Hà Nội: NXB Giáo dục. 
- Hoang et al. (2006). Tiếng Anh 10. Bộ GD & ĐT. 
- Hong, L. (2002) Using Games in Teaching English to Young Learners. 
iteslj.org/Lessons/LinUsingGames.html. 
- Lan, Tran Hien, Hoan, Ha Thi Lien (2003). Teaching Grammar in the Light 
of Communicative Language Teaching. British Council Conference, Hanoi. 
- Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). Techniques and Principles in Language 
Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
- Littlewood, W.T. (1998). "Motivation for Learning English”. Foreign and 
Second Language Learning. Cambridge: CUP. 
- Saricoban, Arif and Esen Metin. (2000) "Songs, Verse and Games for 
Teaching Grammar”. iteslj.org/Techniques/Saricoban-Songs.html. 
- Rinvolucri, M. (1984). Grammar Games. Cambridge University Press. 
- Tuan, Nguyen Quoc et al. (2007). Cẩm nang dạy và học tiếng Anh trung học 
phổ thông. NXB Giáo dục. 
- Spada, N. 1987. 'Relationships between instructional differences and 
learning outcomes: A process-product study of communicative language 
teaching. ' Applied Linguistics 8: 137-61. 
- White, L. 1991. 'Adverb placement in second language acquisition: some 
effects of positive and negative evidence in the classroom.' Second 
Language Research: p.133-61. 
- Day, E. and S. Shapson. 1991. 'Integrating formal and functional approaches 
to language teaching in Native language immersion: An experimental 
approach.' 
- Language Learning 41: 25—58. World Book Encyclopedia Vol.3 p.48 
Chicago 1993. 
- Internet: 
- various publications Internet: 
- various publications Internet: 
glish 
- various publication 
40 
APPENDIX 1 
Questionnaire for Teachers 
The questionnaire aims at surveying the situation of teaching and learning 
grammar for 10-form students at Nghe An Ethnic Boarding high school No.2 and 
the measures to develop effectiveness of teaching and learning this subject by 
using grammar games. 
I would appreciate your support in completing all the following 
questions. 
Please tick () the appropriate options for your answers. 
1/ According to you, do the students like learning English grammar? 
 like very much like but not much like not like 
2/ Do you have difficulties when teaching English grammar? (You can 
choose many answers) 
 limited time shortage of teaching aids crowded class 
 passive students students at many levels other difficulties 
3/ Do you often use games in your teaching grammar? 
 usually sometimes seldom never 
4/ According to you, what are the advantages of teaching grammar through 
games? 
 lively class atmosphere positive and healthy competition 
 developing ability of using grammar structures in another context 
 developing students’ independence and active spirit 
 developing students' motivation another ideas 
At last, please give some information about yourself: 
Gender: male female 
Level: B.A M.A 
Time of teaching: from 1 to 5 years 
 from 6 to 10 years 
 over 10 years 
Thank you very much for your cooperation! 
41 
APPENDIX 2 
Questionnaire for Students 
The questionnaire aims at surveying the situation of teaching and learning 
grammar for 10-form students at Nghe An Ethnic Boarding high school No.2 and 
the measures to develop effectiveness of teaching and learning this subject by 
using grammar games. 
I would appreciate your support in completing all the following questions. 
Please tick (V) the appropriate options for your answers. 
1/ In English lessons, which one do you like? 
 grammar exercises communicative skills 
 not all of them all of lessons 
2/ After grammar lessons, do you understand them immediately in class? 
 yes no sometimes 
3/ What do you often do in grammar lessons in the class? 
 listen to teachers attentively join in building the lesson eagerly 
 join in the activities teachers give write down your notebook carefully 
 discuss with your classmates the use of new structures 
 make questions try to remember the structures in class 
4/ Do you like the teachers' teaching method? 
 like very much like but not much like not like 
5/ Do you learn at home grammar which teachers taught in class? 
 yes no sometimes 
6/ Do your teachers often use grammar game? 
 usually sometimes seldom never 
Thank you very much for your cooperation! 
42 
APPENDIX 3 
Feedback of 10A1-grade students in experimental lessons 
1/ Do you like the games today? 
 yes no 
2/ Are the games guided by the teacher easy for you to understand? 
 yes no 
3/ When the teacher guides how to play the games, do you feel interested in 
them and really join in? 
 very interested interested interested but not much 
 not interested not interested at all 
4/ Do you apply immediately grammar structure in the game? 
 yes no rather difficult 
5/ According to you, what are the difficulties when participating in grammar 
games? 
 lacking of necessary vocabulary not understanding the games 
 not knowing to apply grammar structure in the games 
 not knowing how to play another difficulties 
Thank you very much for your cooperation!