Teaching English Vocabulary Using Game1 2

7/30/2019 Teaching English Vocabulary Using Game1 2

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TEACHING ENGLISH VOCABULARY USING GAMESByMohammad Agus Salim El BahriAbstract

Learning is one of the primary activities of students in the classroom.

Successfullearning is only on the right way to lead the process. Goodlearning atmosphere andmethod can guide the students to learn more and

meaningful. To accomplish suchcondition, teachers must create varitype andattractive methods for the class.What should a teacher do if their students get

bored? Using varitype games can be an alternative solution to handle this problem.Games, as a matter of fact, can helpand encourage many students to sustain

their interest and work. By this paper, thewriter wants to share

experiences about

how to teach English vocabulary usinggames.There is a common perception that all learning should be serious and solemn

innature and that if one is having fun and there is hilarity and laughter,then it is notreally learning. This is a misconception. It is possible to

learn a language as wel l asenjoy oneself at the same time. One of the best ways

of doing this is through games.Games can help the teachers to create contexts in

which the language is usefuland meaningful. In the whole process of teaching and

learning by games, the studentscan take part widely and open-mindedly. To

win the games each student or groupshould competitively answer the

questions addressed by the teacher or other studentsor g roups. In order to do

so they must unde rstand wha t the teacher or others are saying or have written, and they must speak or write in o rder to express their

own point of view or give informationThe English instruction in elementary

school is intended to endorse the masteryand development of the four basic

abilities and skills. Those are reading, writing,speaking and listening as

reflected in abilities and skill concerning language use so that the students

are able to express simple expression with emphasis our vocabularymastery in

order to avoid to vocabulary infraction and atta in better out comes,

theteacher should choose an appropriate teaching method, which is suitable withsubject matter in teaching learning process. The need to use various instructional

media will be able to help students to increase their English vocabulary.Te aching

vocabulary i s c lear ly more than jus t present ing new words . I t

al so includes a decision that words should teach the basic of how

frequent they are used by speaker of the language. The words are most


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commonly used are those a teacher should teach first.Bu t comm only and

usually th e way of tea ching makes the s tudent s lazy and bored.

The teacher needs something different to make students interested,

mostlychildren, because they are very easy to get bored. Therefore, teacher needs

somethinginte rest ing whic h c an make motiv ate the m. I t is base d o nthe character is t ics andat t i tude of the chi ldren that they are

cu ri ou s an d of te n se ek s so met hi ng th at th eteacher notices them and

shows appreciation for what they are doing. So, to motivatethem teacher needs

something new that can stimulate their curiosity.With the current analysis on

communication in teaching language, using gamesappears to hold a solution

for many teachers. The communication activities somehowinvolves in a varied use

of language.It had been found in many schools, teacher use games activities as

their teachingaid. The students really appreciate any kind of activ itieswhich provide excitementand fun. It will be easy to understand and

pract ice of English. The writer choosesgames as the simple illustrated media

to facilitate students method of learning, aswek n o w c h i l d r e n l e a r n w h i l e p l a y i n g g a m e s . I t i s e a s y

t o b e u n d e r s t o o d a n d comprehended by students.However, learning

English vocabulary using games has an importance role for elementary

teachers and students. The first, as students, they have strong and

goodmotivat ion to deepen English language. The second, they are

easy to accept theEnglish language because they learn by playing games that

nowadays has been grownand developed in Indonesia. The third, teaching English

vocabulary using games canhelp teacher in teaching learning process.

Finally, they (teacher and students) canteach and learn English vocabulary

using games. 1. The characteristic of children as learners

Slattery and Willis (2001)a.They are developing quickly as individuals

; it means that they have differencein language acquisition. b.L e a r n i n a v a r i e t y o f w a y s , f o r e x a m p l e ; b y w a t c h i n g , b y l i

s t e n i n g , b y imi tat ing and by doing th ings . I t means chi ldren learn thei r knowledgethrough what they see ,

hea rd in the ir sur rou ndi ng and th en imi ta te it an dimitating by doingthings (children learn by doing)c.


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A r e n o t a b l e t o u n d e r s t a n d g r a m m a t i c a l r u l e s a n d e x p l a n a t

ions about language. Chi ldren are not unders tanding about the rule of language,

theyonly imitate what they are seeing and hearing.d.

Try to make sense of situations by making use of non -verbal clues. Childrenwill do imitate, it means learning by doing.e.

Talk in their mother tongue about they understand and do this helps

themlearn

. It means they use their mother tongue to understand everything.f.

Can generally imitate the sounds they hear quite accurately and copy the

wayadults speak.

It means they do imitation, memorization, practice and over learning, whatthe people are said.g.

Are naturally curious

. They have strong wi llingness to know what they seeand hear in theirsurrounding.h.Love to p lay and use their imagination

. I t m ea ns the y ar e l ear ni ng whi le playing.i.

Are comfortable with routines and enjoy repetition. I t means they need habitto learn. j.

Have quite a short attention span and need variety

. Because they are learningwhi le pl ay in g , it is ne ed ed ma ny wa ys tomake them understand what theteacher means.

2.The Def ini t ion of Vocabulary Vocabulary isthe to tal number of words in a language

(Hornby, 1995; 1331).Vocabulary is an important part to mastery English

well. According to Pigeatstheory, a child at the age of 7 10 years isalways interesting in recognizing and

knowing new words , he s tands to repeat new words repeatedly so

that he wi ll memorize them.

There are essential steps of learning vocabulary (Brown, 1995; 373)

which hasrecited by Cameron:Having source for encountering new words.

Getting a clear image for the form of new words.

Learning the meaning of new words


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Making a strong memory connection between the form and the meaningof thewords

Using the words.In teaching to children, teacher has to use performance to teach vocabulary to

them, because the ch i ldren in l i t eracy l evel a re Perfo rmance, i t

me an s ch il dr en le ar n language with accompanying action / scaffolding.

In this level, teacher can usemedia, according to Nation (1990) in recited

by Cameron is listed basic technique of explaining the meaning of new words.

By demonstration picture:

Using an object

Using a cut-out picture

Using gesture

Performance actionPhotographs

Drawing and or diagram on the board

Picture from books, TV, Video or Computer By verbal explanation:Analytical definition

Putting in a context

Translating

3.The important of vocabulary A good mas tery of vocabulary helps the learners to express

their ideas precisely. By having many stocks of word learners will be able to

comprehend thereading materials catch other talking, give response, speak fluently

and write somekind of topics. On the contrary, if the learners do not recognize the

meaning of

thew o r d s u s e b y t h o s e w h o a d d r e s s t h e m , t h e w i l l b e u n a b l e


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t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n conversation, unable to express some ideas, or unable to ask

for information.Considering the important of vocabulary role in learning

foreign

language.T h e m a s t e r y o f t h i s e l e m e n t s h o u l d b e e n s u r e d a n d

d e v e l o p . O t h e r w i s e , t h e vocabulary mastery of the children will be limitedand consequence of it is that theywill find difficulties in learning the skills of the

language. Therefore,

schools have atask to teach vocabulary to their studentsas suggested by John Carol as showed byMargaretha MC Keown (1987;

01)Although a considerable amount of vocabulary, learning is associatedwith primary language learning in early years. The acquisition of most

the vocabularycharacteristic of an educated adult occur during the years of

schooling, and infectsone of the primary task of the school as far as languagelearning in concerned, as toteach vocabulary.

4 . T h e u s e o f G a m e s To increase the vocabulary we need media to be used. One of them isgame.The definition of game is

an activity that you do to have some fun (Hornby; 1995;486). Games can make the students more focus in learning, because

they do not feelthat they are forced to learn.Games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input more

likely

(Richard-Amato, 1988; 147).They are highly motivating and entertaining, andtheycan give shy s tude nts more opportunit y to exp ress thei r opinio

n and feel ings (Hansen;1994;118). They also enable learners to acquire new experiences within

aforeign language which are not always possible during a typical lesson. Games

can be media that will give many advantages for teacher and the students either.The useful of games are attract the student to learn English because it is

funa n d m a k e t h e m w a n t t o h a v e e x p e r i m e n t , d i s c o v e r a n d i n t

eract with their environment(Lewis,1999) other useful of games are:

G a m e s a d d v a r i a t i o n t o a l e s s o n a n d i n c r e a s e m o t i v a t i o n b y

p r o v i d i n g a plausible incentive to use the target language. For many

children between for and twelve years old, especially the youngest, language


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learning will not be thekey motivation factor. Games can provide this stimulus.

(Lewis, 1999).

The game context makes the foreign language immediate ly useful

to thechildren. It brings the target language to life. (Lewis, 1999).the games makethereason for speaking plausible even to reluctant children. (lewis,1999)

Through playing games, students can learn English they way children

learntheir mother tongue without being aware they are studying; thus withoutstress,they can learn a lot.

Even shy students can participate positively.

5. Moon (2000) suggests a positive learning environment:

Make your classroom a lively place through the use of attractive walldisplays,displays of pupils work, etc. language classroom is noisy withthe language(English) is good because it will make the classroom more alive in English(practice)

Motivate pupils to want to learn English by using interesting and

enjoyablelearning activities. E.g., project work, games, drama. It meanslearning by playing.

Create warm and happy atmosphere where teacher and pupil enjoy

workingtogether . Teache r arranges good at mosphere in classroomand make thestudents interested.

Help pupils to develop personal reasons for learning English. For example

byencouraging out-ofschool class activities, e.g. pen friends, project,readingstory books.

6. How teachers can teach children.

a.Make learning English enjoyable and fun-remember you are influencing

their attitude to language learning. (Lower as affective filter). It means teacherhasto try in order to students are having fun in learning (learning by

playing) .Remember teacher is influencing their attitude to language

l ea r n i ng b .Do no t wor r y abou t m i s t akes . B e encou r ag i ng mak e s u r e ch i l d r en f e e l comf o rt abl e , and no t a f ra i d t o t ake

part . I t means teacher does not b lamedirect ly to students , teacher


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must give support to students while repair their mistakes.c . U s e a l o t o f

g e s t u r e s , a c t i o n s , p i c t u r e s t o d e m o n s t r a t e w h a t y o u

m e a n . I t means teacher has to try to accompany her explanation with media in

order

tostudents understan d easi l y. Don t force the s tudents to use the language directly, just give them examples by gesturesd.Talk a lo t to them

in Engl ish , especia l ly about th ings they can see .

T ea ch er m u s t t e a c h t h e m b y u s i n g E n g l i s h , e s p e c i a l l y a b o u t

a n yt h i n g i n t h ei r surrounding. e.Play g ames, s ingson gs, say

rhymes and chants together . I t means teacher hasski l l s in p laying

games , s ingsong etc to make them enjoy and in teres t

in learning.f.Tell simple theories in Engl ish, using pictures, acting with

different voices.g.Do no t wor ry wh en t hey u se th eir mo ther ton gue.You can answer a mo ther tongue question in English, and sometimes

recastin English what they say intheir mother tongue. It means if the students

use their mother tongue, theteacher translate to English and repeatagain, again and again to make themalways remember what teacher

means.h.Constantly recycle new language but do not be afraid toad d ne w th in gs or to use words they will not know. Teacher gives new

language while remember the last topic.i.Plan lesson with varied act ivities,

some quiet, some noisy, some sitting, somestanding and moving, it meansteacher must demonstrate his teaching withseveral activities (mobilling

teaching), sometimes teacher sit, stand up in frontof or behind the students.

7)Teaching English vocabulary-using gamesLanguage learning is hard work. Effort i s required at every moment

andmust be maintained over a long period. Games help and encourage manylearnersto sustain their interest and work.Games also help the teacher to create

contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. The learners

want to take part and in order to do so mustunderstand what others are saying

or have written, and they must speak or write inorder to express their own point ofview or give information.The need for meaningfulness in language learning has

been accepted for some years. A useful interpretation of meaningfulness is that thelearners

respondt o t h e c o n t e n t i n a d e f i n i t e w a y . I f t h e y a r e a m u s e d , an g e r e d , i n t r i g u e d o r surprised the content is clearly meaningful to

them. Thus, the meaning of thelanguage they listen to, read, speak and


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write will be more vividly experiencedand, therefore, better

remembered.There are many kinds of games which can be used in teachingEnglish.Of course, as a technique games need help from media. The media can be

picture,flash cards , object , puppet, casset te, projector and many others

object surroundthem. It is better if the games are familiar for children,because they learn in avariety of ways, for example; by watching, by listening,

by imitating and by doingthings. It means children learn their knowledgethrough what they see, heard intheir surrounding and then imitate it and

imitating by doing things (children learn by doing)Children can generallyimitate the sounds they hear quite accurately andcopy the way adults speak.

It means they do imitation, memorization, practice andover learning, what the

people are saidBruner says that language is the most important tool for cognitivegrowthand he also investigate how adults can help the children to solve

their problem.Scaffolding is bruners theory, it means that scaffolding is

explainig to studentsand interacting to students to communicate, inscaffolding is holistic and must permeate all aspects of scientific teaching, ifwe answer.

So, teaching vocabulary-using games as methodolgy in learningteaching process and the teaching materials for children less than five

years old which isrelated with their surround, it means the vocabulary which

related and introducingthings surround them such as family names, naming of

alphabet, name of number.And teaching

materialL e a r n h o w t o t e a c h m a t h v o c a b u l a r y a n d s p e c i f i c

w o r d s a s y o u demonstrate math activities and when you talk to your

students about their mathexperiences. Children learn the language of math just like

they learn to talk aboutother topics

.

In this variation, students break up into small groups and play a boardgamefollowing commands. After the students have completed the game,

they createtheir own board game using commands they have created on theirown.

Language learning is a hard task which can sometimes befrustrating.Constant effo r t i s required to understand , produce and

manipulate the target language. Well-chosen games are invaluable as theygive students a break and

atthe same t ime al low students to pract ise language ski l ls . Gamesare highlymotivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging.


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Fur thermore , they employ meaningfu l and usefu l l anguage in r e

a l c o n t e x t s . T h e y a l s o encourage and increase cooperation.Games encourage, entertain, teach, and promote fluency. If not for any of these

reasons, they should be used just because they help students see beauty in aforeign

language and not just problems that at times seem overwhelming.Games areoften used as short warm-up activi ties or when there is sometime left at the

end of a lesson. Yet, a game should not be regarded as a marginalactivity filling inodd moments when the teacher and class have nothing better todo. Games ought to

be at the heart of teaching foreign languages. Games are usedat all stages of thelesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen.Games also lend

themselves well to revision exercises helping learnersrecall material in

a pleasant, entertaining way. All authors referred to in this articleagree that even ifgames resulted only in noise and entertained students, they arest i l l worth

paying at tent ion to and implement ing in the c lassroom since

theymotivate learners, promote communicative competence, and generate fluency.There are many criteria games as educational media for teachingEnglishto children:

A game must be more than just fun.

A game should involve "friendly" competition

A game should keep all of the students involved and interested.

A game should encourage students to focus on the use of language rather thanonthe language itself.

A game should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review

specificlanguage material.

A game should be familiar by children.The important things in teaching English vocabulary is how to make

Englishlearning fun for children with these excellent products

There are many advantages of using games in the classroom:Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language

class.a.Th ey a re mo tiva ting and chal leng ing.

b.Learning a language requires a great deal of effort .c .Games helpstudents to make and sustain the effort of

learning.d . G a m e s p r o v i d e l a n g u a g e p r a c t i c e i n t h e v ar i o u s s k i l l s - speaking, writing, listening and reading.e. They en co ur ag e


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s tudents to in teract and communicate . f .They create

a mean ingf ul cont ext for lang uag e use. g.Vocabulary games bringreal world context into the c lassroom,and increase students use of English ina flexible, meaningfuland

communicative way.h .G a me s us u al ly i nv o lv e f r i en dl y co mp et i t ion a n d t h e y k e e p students interested in learning the language.i . G a m e s

c a n h e l p t h e m ( c h i l d r e n ) l e a r n a n d h a n g o n t o n e w wordsmore easilyThe reasons of the writer in choosing games as educational

media for teaching children are: 1.Games make learning fun so yourclass and children are willing participants andnot just there because

they have to be.2.Playing a game has a purpose to it , an outcome, and in

order to play students haveto say things they have a reason tocommunicate rather than just repeat things

Thiu 2 trangGames for teaching vocabulary in the classroom

By definition, vocabulary is all the words of a language. That is huge no matter what language.Learning any and all needed vocabulary seems insurmountable. Teachers have a great undertakingto introduce and teach the vocabulary needed for the students to be able to read and understandwhat is needed for them to succeed in all subject areas. It can be very boring and uninteresting.There is no getting around teaching the students how to recognize, decode and understand words.Make it interesting, challenging, and fun and they will learn without stress.

Vocabulary is present in all subjects. Reading in the first couple gradesinvolves learning to read the printed word. It involves sound blending and

decoding to be able to pronounce the printed words. In the initial stages,

the students become proficient in recognizing and saying the words as they

move along the printed line. Comprehension of what is being read is very

important in learning as they read. Pictures are the beginning help for the

student to understand what they are reading. Pictures are worth more than

words in the early stages of reading. There is a gradual increase in the

printed word and a decrease in pictures as the students move up the ladder

of elementary grades. Now they must depend more on the meaning of thewords to develop comprehension.

The Dictionary Game

I started this with my fourth grade class. Part of the English content

included vocabulary that the students were responsible for and were tested


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on. I explained to the students that as with any game, there was necessary

equipment and rules to follow to play. Equipment was a list of words, a

dictionary, pencil and paper. That was easy. Also, there was practice

involved. That was not so easy. First, they had to make their own plays to

practice: look up and record definitions of the vocabulary words. I toldthem the definitions were for them, so write what they would be able to

connect with each word. They had to use the dictionary since that would

be where I would look for the winning answers. They had two work periods

to prepare for the game.

The Game Day:

I divided the class into two teams. The teams sat in rows on each side of

the room facing the center of the room. The order of players was down

each row; one side giving the clue from the definitions and the other side

answering with the vocabulary word. They could read one of the dictionary

definitions, or give a one word clue. The player who was to give the

answer could answer himself for a score of 10 or call on his team to help

for a score of 5. If they were not able to give the correct answer, the

answer was not disclosed and the word could go back into the plays for

another try. I did it this way because there were words that had several

meanings and could be used again. Each team gave one word for the

other team to tell meaning and then it reversed so the sides alternated witheach word.

The Dictionary Game was a fun way to learn vocabulary words for all

subjects. To play the game, the students had to learn the meanings of the

words used in the game. They found it more fun than just writing the

definitions and learning them. Practicing plays sounded more like fun.

Games for teaching vocabulary in the classroom

Vocabulary games are very effective to teach students new words. They

help the students to learn new words easily. Each and every student is

involved when vocabulary games are used. This will help the student to

retain the word for a long time, even after leaving the classroom.


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When vocabulary games are used to teach new words, the students are

totally involved in learning the process. They concentrate on the spelling

and sound of the word. Moreover, vocabulary games make learning new

words great fun, rather than a monotonous task.

Find the word

Divide the class into teams depending on the number of students. Draw

blank lines on the board equal to the number of letters on the word. A

picture or a photograph of the word is shown to the class. Each team is

then asked to guess the word. They are given 2 minutes to discus and find

the letters of the word. When the time is up, a member of the team should

come up to the board and fill in the blanks to form the correct word. This

vocabulary game helps the student to associate the word with the picture.

Show and tell

Make picture cards of the words that you want to teach. The picture cards

must be more than the number of students in the class. Place the cards on

the centre of the table. Ask one student to come and pick out a card. The

student should show the card to the class and read out the word written on

it. All the students get a chance to pick out a card. The one who picks out

the last card is asked to do something funnylike doing a funny dance,

miming, singing etc. Thisvocabulary gameis a fun way of teaching newwords in class.

Cross the word

Write down a number of vocabulary words that you want to teach in a

square on the board. Each word must be written in bold. Use different

colours to write the words. Divide the class into two teams. Place two

chairs facing away from the board. One member of each team is asked to

sit on the chair. Say one word in from the board. The two students sitting

on the chair should find out the word on the board and cross it out.Whoever crosses out the word first their team scores a point. If both the

students do not find the word, then no points are awarded and the next set

of students get a turn. Repeat till everyone has had a turn. The team with

the maximum number of points wins. The students enjoy this vocabulary

game.
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Draw the word

Select the vocabulary topic that you want to teach. For example, words

associated with home. Make A4 size cards

Games for teaching vocabulary in the classroom

Every language has its own specific vocabulary. I've been told the English

language is one of the most difficult languages to learn. I know some of the

idiosyncrasies of the English language can be confusing; the ones we all

know. For instance for, four and fore. How do you teach those?

However difficult, it will all be new to the new reader. Just the idea "new"

can equate to difficult. There must be something we can do to make this

"new" thing a little easier to grasp. There is, we play games. All kids like toplay games. Give them a goal and let them play a game to get there and

they will all participate.

1) One of the most familiar and perhaps most commonword gamesor vocabulary games is

finding all the words you can inside another very familiar word. For instance, write the word

Halloween at the top of a paper with two columns of lines on it and ask the student to write

down all the two letter or bigger words they can find inside Halloween. Hall, all, owl, low and

so on. When the student starts finding words like allow, wean and halo then they are

stepping outside of the usual vocabulary ring. This little exercise doesn't have them using the

words in any application but at least they are seeing them.

2) When time is up, collect the sheets and read some of the words out

loud. As you read them ask the students, one at a time, what the

word means. When somebody stumbles on one, and nobody can

help him or her out, you explain what the word means and use it in a

sentence. This is the part that will help teach them their vocabulary.

3) 2) Another very fun game for vocabulary is word find. Before class

you make a word find diagram of say 25 letters by 25 letters square.Select at least a dozen words you want them to find and learn and

hide them within the grid of letters. Place the words in all directions,

even backwards, so they actually have to hunt to find them; that's the

game part. Same as with the other exercise; when time is up, collect

the papers, read the words one at a time and have someone explain
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what each word means. When they all stumble you explain the

meaning and use the word in a sentence.

4) 3) A little more difficult, but very effective, word game involves you

preparing a list of say 12 words and/or phrases that are all in the

same category. Assign each word a position number of 1 through 12.

For instance, let's use words or phrases that mean how long it takes

to get something done. Assign the words at both extremes of your

list, the numbers 1 and 12.

5)

Teaching English Vocabulary Using Game1 2

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