Application-of-Games-in-Primary-School-English-Teaching英语毕业论文.doc

继续教育学院
毕业论文

题 目 Application of Games in Primary
School English Teaching
专 业 英 语
姓 名
学 号

二O一 年 月 日

Application of Games in Primary School English Teaching

Gao Wenxia

Abstract The New English Curriculum Standard describes that the aim of primary English teaching is to foster students’ interest in learning English. The thesis aims to expound that game-teaching approach in primary schools is not only feasible but also an ideal way of teaching English. This thesis introduces classifications, advantages of games in English teaching and the present situation of primary school English teaching. The effectiveness of games in primary school English teaching is also analyzed and discussed in this thesis.
In the last part, the author presents some implications and argues that game is not just a method for fun, but an effective way to activate pupils’ interest in learning English. Teachers should organize games well to help students learn English well.
Key Words Games; Classification; Primary School English Teaching; Interest; Teaching Mode

Ⅰ. Introduction
In recent years, with the trend of lower age in learning English, more and more primary schools have taken English as their subjects. So it is urgent to explore a useful English teaching method to suit the children’s characteristics and cognitive development, also it is necessary to create an appropriate surrounding where they can learn English easily and pleasantly. In New English Curriculum Standard, the task for English curriculum is described as: “to arouse the students’ interest in English learning and develop the positive attitude towards English learning so as to build the confidence in English learning. Primary English Teaching Syllabus also points out: “interest is a good teacher for pupils to learn a foreign language. And it is an important task for primary school English teachers to arouse students’ interest at present.”
It has been found that children have a greater need to be motivated by the teachers or the materials, and they are easier to be motivated. Many scholars (Lin, 2000; Wu, 1996; Liu, 1987; Lu, 2004) agree that games in the language classroom have been considered a better way to motivate children to work hard and cultivate their interest in learning English. Children enjoy playing games in their native language and this is a familiar experience for children to be introduced to studies in a foreign language.
Games are motivating and funny and can help students develop positive attitude towards the foreign language and language learning, and create a desire to continue with their learning. However, because of the limitation of society and education, game teaching was mainly used in the kindergartens and seldom used in the primary schools. Therefore, it is of considerable significance and necessity to discuss the issue. This study focuses on proving the effectiveness of games in primary school English teaching by exploring the characteristics, classifications and advantages of games in primary school English teaching，presenting how to operate games in English classes and offering data to prove the effectiveness of games in English teaching.
Ⅱ. The Present Situation of Primary School English Teaching in China
As English becomes more and more accepted as an international language, it is increasingly included in primary school curricula. Since the fall of 2002, primary English teaching has gradually been introduced into small towns, even into villages, normally with Grade 3 pupils as beginning learners. English classes are open to an increasing amount of pupils in a large scale covering vast areas.
It is well known that education in our country has been influenced by the examination-oriented system for a long time. A teacher-centered class is a traditional passive class. In English classes, the teachers explain every language point in detail, while students take notes all the time. Students’ interest in English is decreasing. Teachers fail to maintain pupils’ interest as the teaching goes further. Some pupils are forced into an English classroom by their parents or teachers, some others take this course compulsory, and others are bored by the inappropriate choice of teaching approaches and etc.
The education of China is experiencing a series of evolution to meet the needs of the modern world. Views on primary English teaching and textbooks have changed a lot with the stages of evolution. The new textbooks absorb the modern linguistic teaching approach. There are some features different from the old ones. The textbooks now pay more attention to the use of language. The materials in the textbook are authentic and up-to-date and closer to the pupils’ life. The textbook by Chen (2006) contains many communicative activities, such as chant, rhyme, song, role play, guessing games, and so on. The contents of the textbooks are designed according to students’ cognitive features, from easy to difficult, from low to deep and from simple to complex. The textbooks enlighten students’ thinking and creative competence. However, what are the main problems of the present primary English teaching? According to some surveys，there exist several problems such as teacher resources, learners’ interest, course design and classroom interaction.
Firstly, the teachers lack enough expertise and teaching experience. As is known to all, a teacher is an important factor in teaching. To a great degree, a teacher’s ability decides the result of teaching.
Nowadays, in primary schools, only 55% of English teachers are originally English majors and only 46% of them have more than three years’ teaching experience. Teachers who have teaching experience admit that they also know little about primary teaching theories and just follow the teaching model that is adopted in middle schools. They explain words and grammar items and seldom design any classroom activities. Realizing their lack of teaching methodological theory, 45% of the teachers are eager to improve their teaching skills. Most teachers also want professional training such as pronunciation and intonation, teaching skills and classroom activity design. Besides, some teachers do not know the teaching purpose of primary school English teaching. They learn little about the children’s mentality, so they cannot improve the pupils’ interest. Even they use the junior English method to teach the primary pupils. At the same time, they do not notice the personal characteristics of the pupils such as reserved, timid and constrained.
Secondly, teachers fail to maintain students’ spontaneous interest with the teaching going further. At the very beginning, pupils are enthusiastic about this new language: 69% of the pupils show interest in learning English; in Grade 4, one third of the pupils do; in Grade 6 only 30% of the pupils do have interest while 42% of the pupils show no interest in learning English. We can see that pupils become less and less interested in English learning with the learning going further. Some of them say that they have to take this course because it is a compulsory one, and still others say that they are bored with the monotony of teaching or inappropriate choice of learning methods and etc.
Thirdly, the course design in primary schools is not optimistic. The beginning grade from above Grade 4 sums up 59%. To ensure the quality and efficiency of pupil’s English learning, the basic requirements demand at least 4 periods each week, which is compulsory. But some surveys showed that about 44% primary schools only have 1-2 periods each week. The amount of the school which has above 4 periods each week is 8%. To my surprise, there are 62% schools which haven’t periods for self study. One problem can not be ignored is that most English classroom is full of too many students, about 42% more than 50, only 7% less than 30. This will inevitably influence the effect of the English teaching.
In addition, the interaction between pupils is not enough. In the classroom most of the interaction is from the teacher to the pupils. There is little pupils-pupils interaction. One teacher is in charge of many pupils in one class. Teacher-centeredness, little chance to practice English and dull, boring class environment are still very common in English class. The teacher pays little attention to each pupil. Pupils still feel badly nervous and worried while speaking English. Few feedbacks from the teacher will make the pupils not sure whether they perform well or not and there are too much criticism and interruption. These language teaching approaches affect the learners to learn English well.
Teaching and Textbook Writing Syllabuses for Primary School English postulates that the main aims of primary English include: to develop pupils’ interest, self confidence and positive attitude towards learning English; to cultivate the pupils’ language sense and enable good pronunciation and intonation; to develop the pupils’ preliminary ability to use English in daily exchanges and lay a good basis for further study. So the activation of pupils’ interest is quite important.
Ⅲ. Games in Primary School English Teaching
This part consists of three sections. The fist section presents the role of games in primary school English teaching, the second section discusses the advantages of games, and the third section is the effectiveness of games in primary schools.
1. The Role of Games in Primary School English Teaching
1.1 Characteristics of Games
Games ought to be at the heart of teaching foreign languages. According to Fredericksen (1999), games create “a bridge between learning and doing”. At all levels of education, games have amazing power to engage, challenge, intrigue, and delight students who may resist more conventional materials.
Applications of games also require careful planning. In order to make the classroom games enhance language learning, games must be “purposeful, relevant, and educational” (Fredericken, 1999). For games to be a successful element in the teachers’ tool kit, it is important that they contain the following characteristics.
(1) A game is governed by rules. Playing just to pass the time will not have the effect. To make a simple activity into a game just gives a couple of rules and that is all.
(2) A game has objectives. One of the rules and probably the main one is the achievement of an objective. This objective can be something like making points for correctness or finishing an activity first.
(3) A game is a closed activity. Games must have a beginning and an end. It must be easy for the players, or the teacher, to know who is about to reach the aim.
(4) A game is novel. Work sheet and drills do not usually appeal to the curious and imaginative nature of most students. Games have delighted students over the years simply because they provide a novel approach to understanding concepts and mastering skills. They also teach social and academic skills in a natural way, in cooperative teams or one-by-one with the teacher, rather than in the traditional, hierarchical classroom.
(5) A game needs less supervision from the teacher. This must be understood as linguistic supervision. Sometimes the game is conducted by the teacher who acts as a judge, scorer and or referee.

1.2 Advantages of Games in Primary School English Teaching
There are many advantages of using games in the classroom. They can transform a boring class into an interesting one. They can give shy students more opportunities to express their opinions and feelings. Games are enjoyable for both teachers and students.
Language learning is a hard task that can sometimes be frustrating. Constant effort is required to understand, produce and manipulate the target language. Well-chosen games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow students to practice language skills Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging. Furthermore, they employ meaningful and useful language in real contexts. They also encourage and increase cooperation. Games are highly motivating because they are amusing and interesting. They can be used to give practice in all language skills and be used to practice many types of communication. There is a common perception that all learning should be serious and solemn in nature and that if one is having fun and there is hilarity and laughter, then it is not really learning. This is a misconception. It is possible to learn a language as well as enjoy oneself at the same time. One of the best ways of doing this is through games.
The main reason why games are considered effective learning aids is that they spur motivation and students get absorbed in the competitive aspects of the games. Naturally, when playing games, students are trying their best to win. Therefore, it is possible for a teacher to introduce students to new ideas, grammar, and knowledge and so on. As in the dictation game, students are so competitive that they want to finish first and win. It can be clearly seen that games can capture students’ attention. They can motivate students to learn more. Moreover, they can transform a boring class into a challenging one.
Another reason why games are frequently used in language classes is that they can relax students’ tension in the classroom. In conventional classrooms, there is a lot of stress put on students who try to master the target language. Schultz (1998) said, “Stress is a major hindrance in language learning process. This process (learning language in a traditional way) is by its nature time-consuming and stress-provoking. As a result, it raises the stress level to a point at which it interferes with students’ attention and efficiency and undermines motivation. One method has been developed to make students forget that they are in class, which is to relax students by engaging them in stress-reducing task (games).”
Also, playing games in the classroom can enormously increase students’ ability in using language because students have a chance to use language with a purpose in the situations provided. Hadfield (1990) confirms “games provide as much concentrated practice as a traditional drill and more importantly, they provide an opportunity for real communication, albeit within artificially defined limits, and thus constitute a bridge between the classroom and the real world.” Like in a traditional classroom, students have an opportunity to drill and practice using grammatical rules and other functions.
2. Operation of Games in English Teaching
2.1 How to Choose Appropriate Games
When choosing a game, the teacher should be careful to find an appropriate one for the class in terms of language and type of participation. There are a great number of language games. So teachers have a variety of choices. However, in deciding which game to us