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The Effects of Teaching English through Games

Amonrat Chirandon 1, Asst. Prof. Dr. Chonlada Laohawiriyanon 2, Anchana Rakthong3 1. M.A. in teaching English as an international Language, Department of Language and Linguistics, Faculty of liberal Arts, Prince of Songkhla University. 2. Department of Language and Linguistics, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkhla University 3. Department of Language and Linguistics, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkhla University

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the effects of teaching English through games to Thai students who study in grade six at Tessaban 4 Banlamsai School. Thirty students were selected by purposive sampling as an experimental group. The experiment was conducted during the first semester of the academic year 2009. The research instruments consisted of a test and a questionnaire. Fourteen lesson plans were created and used to teach six different topics determined by the school curriculum and nine types of games were implemented in different lesson plans. The data collection procedures were divided into three parts: a pre-experimental phase, an experimental phase and a post-experimental phase. The findings revealed that students had significantly improved in vocabulary knowledge and ability to communicate. Moreover, they tended to have more positive attitudes towards learning English through games. Regarding these results, it can be recommended that using games in teaching English is beneficial to beginners especially those in primary school. However, to do so, teachers ought to consider thoughtfully when selecting suitable games to be used. This is because it was found in the study that students with different learning styles and English ability performed differently when different types of games were used.

Key words: conversation games, vocabulary games, vocabulary knowledge, ability to communicate

The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Strategies Teaching_006

INTRODUCTION Giving importance to English for communication, the Thai National Education Act of B.E.2544, has shifted principle of teaching English from focusing on grammar to emphasizing on communication Department of Curriculum and Instruction Development (2002) Therefore, nowadays, communicative approach is implemented as a significant method because its main purpose is to enhance learners communication skills Department of Curriculum and Instruction Development (2002). Moreover, the Ministry of Education expects that Thai students are able to communicate in English in various situations and they will have positive attitudes towards learning English. In particular, for grade six students, the Proficiency based of this level requires that students have to be able to exchange and present information in English and are able to integrate speaking, listening and reading skills in order to communicate in particular topics such as, personal information, environment and hobbies. However, to be able to adopt a communicative approach into classes, teachers need to know and to familiarize with it; otherwise, they continue teaching the tradition teaching style Musigrungsi (2002). To be successful in implementing a communicative approach to young learners, teachers should not only know how to apply it but also understand young learners characteristics. Surassawadee (1999) and Brown (2000) proposed that the outstanding characteristics of beginners are curiosity, activeness, having a short span interest, preferring working in group. Considering these characteristics, it can be stated that young learners have a short period in concentrating in learning; however, they are curious and prefer the active activity. Consequently, teachers have to consider selecting an appropriate method that helps promote English learning and be suitable for students characteristics. A number of effective teaching techniques are used to stimulate beginners interests. Using games in classroom is one of recommended techniques. Lee (1995) stated that to use games in classroom can support English learning in many perspectives. That is it provides opportunities for target language practice, encourages students to communicate by using all four language skills, and creates a real life situation for using language. Moreover, the foremost students problem in learning English is lack of interest; hence, Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby (2005) suggested that games were the effective means sustaining students interest and getting rid of anxiety in class. In addition, in terms of social relationship, Jacobs and Kline Liu (1996) and Ersoz (2005) mentioned that games develop students social skills in co-operating with others as well as build up team spirit. Furthermore, relevance to different intelligences, Gardner (1999) recommended that games can develop three types of intelligences: spatial, bodily kinesthetic and interpersonal intelligence. All aforementioned information point out that the most important advantage of using games in teaching English is to vividly learn English based on real life situation without anxiety or stress. However, to implement games in English class, teachers should consider numerous factors. One is choosing appropriate games to a group of learners. Ampaipan (1999) proposed six criteria for selecting games. There are a number of students in class, places: inside or outside class, level of age: children, teenagers or adults, level of English proficiency: beginner, intermediate or advanced learners, duration and the content: English skills, the difficulties of language. In addition, teachers should further consider how to implement games to class. Reese (1999, cited in Sripramong, 2004) suggested that games can be used in English class for two purposes. The first is to activate background knowledge in presentation stage such as, matching picture with target vocabulary. Secondly, it is used to
The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Strategies Teaching_006

practice English skills or learn particular grammar in practice stage such as, using spelling games to teach vocabulary. In Thai context, especially teaching beginners, numerous researchers are interested in teaching English through games. Roikrong (1998) investigated the enhancement of English listening speaking skills of 100 the first grade students at Anuban Lampang School who were divided into two groups: experimental and control groups. This study used different 10 games and the finding shown that there was a significantly different between two groups. The students in experimental have greater improved than those in control group. In terms of vocabulary research, Sripramong (2004) investigated the effect of using vocabulary games on the retention in learning vocabulary of 40 students in grade five. The findings revealed that students retention in learn English vocabulary games were at high level and students have positive attitudes toward vocabulary games. Furthermore, Thamsri (2005) investigated the English achievement of 100 Prathomsuksa five students who were taught English by using games. The findings indicated that the English achievement of students in experimental group was significantly greater than control group. From the above evidence, it can be assumed that teaching English through games is one of the effective techniques. It can help students improve both vocabulary knowledge and ability to communicate. The present study; thus, investigated the effects of teaching English through games of grade six students at Tessaban 4 Banlamsai School. This mainly focuses on the students improvement in vocabulary knowledge and ability to communicate in English. In so doing, two research questions are set to frame the study: Do games help improve students English performance and what are students attitudes toward teaching English through games?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Participants By means of purposive sampling, 33 students in grade six were selected as the participants in this study. It was a mixed-ability class. The participants have been studying English for nine years. In the last two years, they have had an opportunity to study with English native teachers. Research Instruments Two research instruments were employed: a test and a questionnaire. A test (Pre-Post test) In order to investigate the learners improvement in terms of their vocabulary knowledge and ability to communicate in English, a test was used. This test consisted of 20 items with four alternatives. The same test version was administered twice as pre and post tests. The test content covers five topics: greeting and introducing, numbers and calendar, giving personal information, asking personal information, and pronouns. The test was designed by the researcher under the supervision of the advisor. Then it was given to an external rater with a test specification in order to examine its content validity.
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A questionnaire The questionnaire with three-point scale: 3 = strongly like, 2 = moderate, 1 = dislike was used to investigate the students attitudes toward learning English through games. It consisted of 16 items divided into 3 parts: attitudes towards the English language learning, attitudes towards teaching activities including using games, and attitudes towards types of games used in teaching English. PROCEDURES Data collection The present study was an experimental research conducted in the first semester in the 2009 academic year. Before the experiment, a pre-test was administered to the participants. 30 minutes was allowed for students to complete the 20 item test. Then the experiment was conducted. During the experimental phase, the class was scheduled twice a week. Students were taught with 14 lesson plans covering six different topics. Each lesson plan was written based on the three Ps procedures: presentation, practice and production stages. Games were implemented in a practice stage in all lesson plans. The games used in this study were classified into two types: conversation games and vocabulary games (See Table 1). After the experimental phase, participants were given a post-test and the questionnaire. Table 1: Lesson plans and types of games included. Period 1 2-4 5-6 7-9 Topics Alphabets Greeting and introducing Numbers and Calendar Giving Personal information Games Whispering games Hello Game and Nice to meet you Giving clues and Fishing Who am I and Missing information Quick questions and answers Searching questions and answers Fishing vocabulary Types of games vocabulary conversation vocabulary conversation

10-12

Asking personal information Pronoun

conversation

13-14

Data Analysis
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To find out students improvement in vocabulary knowledge and ability in communication, the obtained data were analyzed by means of the SPSS program. Specifically, Pair sample t-test was computed to investigate significant differences between students pre and post test scores. Additionally, to explore students attitudes toward learning English through games, descriptive statistics (mean and S.D.) were calculated on students responses in the questionnaire. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Findings and discussions are presented in the order of these research questions: 1. Do games help improve students English performance? 2. What are students attitudes toward teaching English through games? Regarding the first research question, it was found that the participants have some improvement in English. As shown in Table 2, the mean score of pre-test was 5.0 and after the experiment, the mean score of test was 6.79. The result shows the significant difference at a 0.01 level. Therefore, it can be stated that students had improvement in vocabulary knowledge and ability to communicate in English after learning English through games. Even there was an increase in a students means score, the statistical test shows a little increase. This might be because of several reasons. One reason is that there was of a limitation in terms of time in the experiment phase. During the first semester, students had to participate in sports competition. Consequently, in the experimental period, they had learned English only 40 minutes per class. Moreover, students do not ready to study because they were tired from sports rehearsal in the morning. The time limitation and learners readiness were found to have some influence on the learners when they were in class. Todd (1999) stated that the amount of allocated time is the important factor that affects students learning. In the periods of doing activity, if allocated time is limited, the amount of academic learning time will also be limited; therefore, students will be unsuccessful in their learning. Table 2: Mean Scores before and after the experiment Test Pre-test Post-test N 33 Mean 5.00 6.79 S.D. 2.236 3.286 T-Value 3.281 Sig. (2 tailed) 0.003 **

** Significant at 0.01 level In terms of attitudes towards learning English through games, the obtained data shown that the learners do not strongly like nor dislike learning English. They prefer to learn English at the moderate level ( X = 2.39) However, students were likely to have positive attitudes towards learning English through games which can be assumed from Table 3. The results illustrated that the average mean scores of attitudes toward games used in teaching English was 2.51. This falls into the strongly like level. This can be interpreted that students like to study English through games. Games used in this study were classified into two types: conversation games and vocabulary games. The means scores of three vocabulary games (Item 8-10) revealed that students tend to prefer these types of games; moreover, whispering games obtained the highest means scores. In addition, the mean scores of conversation games shown that students

The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Strategies Teaching_006

preferred four out of six games at the strongly like level. Only searching questions and answers and quick questions and answer game were at the moderate level. Table 3: Attitudes towards types of games used in teaching English No 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Statements Whispering game Fishing Giving clues Nice to meet you Who am I Missing information Hello Searching questions and answers Quick questions and answers Average Mean 2.79 2.61 2.45 2.70 2.48 2.48 2.45 2.30 2.30 2.51 S.D. .485 .659 .564 .467 .667 .619 .666 .585 .637 .302 Levels of preference Strongly like Strongly like Strongly like Strongly like Strongly like Strongly like Strongly like Neutral Neutral Strongly like

To further investigate the attitudes toward teaching activities, it was found that among the six teaching activities, playing games received the highest score. Table 4 shows that consulting dictionary, playing games and repeating conversation obtained the high mean scores and they were at strongly like level. However, playing games obtained the highest mean scores (x = 2.76). This can be interpreted that students are likely to prefer learning English through games rather than other teaching activities.. Table 4: Attitudes toward teaching activities No 2 3 4 5 6 7 Statements Reciting vocabulary Consulting dictionary Vocabulary dictation Playing games Repeating conversation Reciting English conversation Mean 2.09 2.55 2.15 2.76 2.42 2.24 S.D. .522 .617 .712 .502 .663 .663 Levels of preference Neutral Strongly like Neutral Strongly like Strongly like Neutral

Considering the data in Table 3 and 4, it was that students are likely to prefer games used in this study; in addition, when comparing among different teaching activities, students showed the highest preference on learning English through games. As a result, it can be assumed that students in this group have positive attitudes toward learning English through games. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS As shown in Table 1, games are beneficial to the participants in learning English. The data reveal students improvement in ability to communication in English and their vocabulary knowledge after learning English through games. The findings of this study are consistent with the previous research conducted by Rama (1994), which divided 78 students studying in grade four at Jurong primary school into two groups. The results revealed that students who learnt English through games had a greater improvement in speaking skills than students learning with teacher centered method

The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Strategies Teaching_006

Additionally, Dickerson (1997), conducted research focusing on the retention of vocabulary. 274 students, studying in grade one, were separated to three groups: Learn vocabulary through active games, passive games and traditional activity. The results indicated that students in first group obtained higher retention on English vocabulary more than the other groups. The findings from previous research can be supported that learning English through games is a significant effective technique. In addition, games can be implemented in any English skills depending on what researcher would like to improve. According to results in Tables 2, 3, and 4, it can be interpreted that students are likely to prefer learning English through games; moreover, all games which are employed in English class are greatly satisfied by students. Therefore, using games is one effective alternative treatment which encourages the active learning atmosphere as well as stimulates students interest in an English class.

IMPLICATIONS Even though games are able to implement or apply in English classes, a number of dimensions need to be concerned in so doing. There are how to choose appropriate games, how to design the teaching plan and how to implement games in real class. In terms of choosing games, teachers should be concerned about students learning styles. This is in order to provide games that best suit students. Some students may prefer to work alone than in group. As a result, they may not take any parts in group work when being assigned to do so whereas some may prefer group work, so they may tend to be inactive or keep quite when being assigned to work alone. In addition, different games serve different purposes, so when designing a teaching plan, teachers should specify in which stage games would be employed.

REFERENCES Ampaipan, R. (1999). 100 Language Games. Bangkok: Thaiwattanapanitch Press. Brown, H. D.(2000). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. 2nd ,New York: Longman. Department of Curriculum and Instruction Development (2002). Basic Education Curriculum B.E.
2544 (A.D. 2001). Bangkok: The Express Transportation Organization of Thailand (ETO).

Dickerson, D.P. (1976). A Comparison of the Use of the Active Games Learning Medium with Passive Games and Traditional Activities as a means of Reinforcing Recognition of selected Sight Vocabulary words with Mid-year First Grade Children with Limited Sight Vocabulary Dissertation Abstracts International. Eroz, A. (2005) Six Games for EFL/ESL classroom. The Internet TESL Journal February 11 2005. Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed: Multiple intelligences for the 21st Century. New York. Jacobs, G.M. and Kline, L. (1996). Integrating language functions and collaborative skills in the 2nd language classroom. TESL Reporter, 29. Lee, S.K. (1995). Creative Games for the Language Classroom. Forum vol. 33 (1). Musigrungsi, S. (2002). An investigation of English grammar teaching in government secondary school in educational region 2. Unpublished master thesis, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
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Rama, J., et al. (2007). Using Games in English language Learning. Retrieved April,20,2009 from http:// Conference. nie.edu.sg/2007/ paper/STU 543. Roikrong, B.(1998). Use of Games for Enhancement of English Listening-Speaking skills of Prathomsuksa 1 students at Anuban Lampang. Unpublished master thesis. Chiangmai university. Thailand.
Sripramong, S. ( 2004). The Study of the Effect of Using Vocabulary Games on the Retention in Learning Vocabulary of Prathomsuksa Five Students. Unpublished master thesis. Srinakharinwirot University. Thailand. Surassawadee, P. (1991). English with Thai Primary Students.Bangkok: Chulalongkorn Press. Todd, R.W. (1999). Classroom teaching strategies. New York: Prentice Hall. Wright, A., Betteridge, D. and Buckby,M. (2005). Games for language learning (3rd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.

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