UNIT 3

Describing events happening now

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Theme 2
Games

http://gamestolearnenglish.com/fast-hands/

Why games?

According to Byrne (1995) defined games as a form of play

governed by rules. These must be enjoyable and fun. It is a
break in which learners can use language and practice it. At the
same time Jill Hadfield (1990) defined games as "an activity with
rules, a goal and an element of fun".

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The importance of games is that they provide excellent practice for improving pronunciation,
vocabulary, grammar and the receptive and productive skills (listening, reading, writing and
speaking).

Why using games?

According to Martin (1995) games are funny activities which give young learners the opportunity to
practice the foreign language in a relaxed and enjoyable way.

Games may be simple and require very little planning or may need quite a bit of preparation and the
use of special materials, such as: boards, pictures, words or sentence cards. Some games are
competitive, with teams or individual working towards being “the winner”. Other games are
cooperative, where teams or pairs work together to achieve a common goal, such as drawing a
picture or solving a puzzle.

Types of games

There are different kinds of games which can be grouped according to the kinds of language or
learning focus they have and the kinds of resources, classroom management and organization they
need.

According to Brewster and Ellis (2004), games are divided into types:

Accuracy-focus games: in these games the aim is usually to score more points than others and
there is often a clear winner. The kind of game may focus on comprehension (listening/reading) as
well as production (speaking/writing). Some of these games are also very good at training pupil’s
memories.

Fluency-focused games: these games are competitive and the teacher can organize the students in
groups, teams, pairs or individuals but they also have a winner who may be the one, who has
collected the most of something, or who is the first to do something, get rid of their cards or pictures
or who has gained the most points, and so on.

What are the advantages of games?

• Games are an important and effective tool because they provide motivation, similarly, they can
provide lower students' stress, and finally give them the opportunity to interact in real
communicative situations.

• "They spur motivation and students get very absorbed in the competitive aspects of the games;
moreover, they try harder at games than in other courses". (Avedon, 1971).

• The games are an opportunity for a teacher to introduce new theme, knowledge, ideas,
grammar.

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 • Games can motivate learners because they can promote learner’s abilities in using language in
real situations and they have the opportunity to participate in class in an active way, at the same
time, they give the chance to improve their proficiency.

Examples about games:

You can visit these website, where you can find different kind of games:

http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/

http://www.dreamenglish.com/basickidsenglish

http://gamestolearnenglish.com/

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Bibliographic references
Thomus and Nelson and Nelson and Sons Ltd. Communication Games. Hong Kong.

Byrne, D. Teaching Oral English. Harlow: Games. Longman Group UK Limited: pp. 101-103; 1995.

Avedon, M.E. and B.S. Brian. Learning Through Games: The Study of Games. New York: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc. pp. 315-321; 1971.

Hadfield, J. A Collection of Games and Activities for Low to Mid-Intermediate students of English:
Intermediate; 1990.