Colleges Courses TESOL

Games in the classroom1. Introduction Nowadays, using diverse games for language students in the classroom has gained its popularity all over the world as a valuable method. The aim of this research article is therefore to see how the games, as the medium of educational purpose, can become one of effective methods. Also we will be investigating how various games can effectively be applied to the classroom especially for young learners. Accordingly, the research has been carried out through various book references. 2. Discussion For During the last few decades, classroom games have been one of teacher’s favorite teaching methods in the classroom because there are a lot of advantages both to the students and to the teachers as a result. In his book Ludwig (2007) identifies the fact of which we spend huge amounts of time, energy, and resources to watch participate in games from childhood to even adulthood. Needless to say, we all have been through many different education phases more or less and we can easily recollect few games we had played with our friends in class. The reason why we can still remember those activity games is that the games have had a remarkable power so far to engage our attention which is called ‘fun’ fact. For example, most of the students in my country have a mobile phone in which they can download some english language game applications so they can play and enjoy the games wherever they are. They often say those games are much interesting and effective tools than any other text books in learning english. Therefore, the next thing we need to consider is the aspect of its effectiveness i.e. why those games are more effective than text. According to the basic principles of psychology, Ludwig (2007) also claims, anything done so often, by so many, must be motivating in its own right. In fact, motivation is one of the most powerful aspects for the students to get involved into the lesson in particular those of english language class. In other words, games are fun and fun is motivating so we are clearly aware that fun is one of the basics of our life, of which we will be in pursuit forever. Carlton (2010) introduces one of few powerful vocabulary games for the classroom activity in his co-written book, which is called ‘Word Harvest’. It is best for lower primary students, and uses terms from language arts, math, science, and social studies. In order to play the game successfully, students have to pick correct words assigned by teacher from a paper tree on a wall, just like picking apples from an apple tree. Although the author suggests that vocabulary games should not be played just for fun, this game seems to have a full of fun facts. Consequently, teachers can generate a vivid energy and excitement throughout the lesson, and on the other hand, students would never be bored and distracted from the class. In particular, for the language learners, Wright (2006) justifies that language learning is obviously so hard that one must make an effort to understand, to repeat accurately and finally to use new language in conversation and in written composition. For this reason, games can be one helpful method to encourage many language learners to maintain their interest and tasks. 3. Conclusion For the last few decades, it is believed that many schools all around world have used a plenty of various games for classroom activity. Therefore, the purpose of this brief research article is focused on the effectiveness of diverse games in the classroom. As we can see above, the facts show that classroom games bring an intimate atmosphere and lively attitude to the classroom. What is more, both of the teachers and students have enjoyed the activities thoroughly and obtained lots of merits from the games. Finally, although the results of this article show that using games as a classroom activity is becoming a clear issue to all the people, further research seems to be needed. In the future research, I’d like to examine how our modern technology has been connected with classroom games, such as a mobile phone, the internet etc. [692 words] 4. References Betteridge, D. & Buckby, M. & Wright, A. (2006) Games for Language Learning, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Carlton, L. & Marzano, R. (2010) Vocabulary Games for the Classroom, Bloomington: Marzano Research Laboratory Ludwig, A. & Swan, A. (2007) 101 Great Classroom Games, New York: McGraw-Hill