HOW TO DESIGN LANGUAGE GAMES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Iroda Urmonali Kizi Kurvonaliyeva; Dilshoda Abdurashid Kizi Otakulova

Central Asian Research Journal For Interdisciplinary Studies (CARJIS)

www.carjis.org DOI: 10.24412/2181-2454-2022-11-142-148

HOW TO DESIGN LANGUAGE GAMES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Iroda Urmonali kizi Kurvonaliyeva

Chirchik State Pedagogical University Faculty of Tourism Foreign languages and literature E-mail: irodaqurvonaliyeva02@gmail .com

Dilshoda Abdurashid kizi Otakulova

Chirchik State Pedagogical University Faculty of Tourism Foreign languages and literature

E-mail: dilshodaotaq ul ova7@gmail .com Scientific supervisor: Aminova Sohila Abduhalimovna

ABSTRACT

This article describes the importance of using gaming technology at English lessons in primary school. Because the games motivate students to study a foreign language and influences for the all sides of their development: the senses, the consciousness, the will and behavior.

Keywords: foreign languages, games, teaching methods, primary school

INTRODUCTION

Teaching and learning a foreign language like English is not easy task. The situation become more difficult when the learners are primary school children and teaching and learning focus is grammar, an activity often regarded as 'boring, 'uninteresting' and ''tedious'. However, one's mastery over a language is determined by the appropriate use of language by that individual following grammatical rules and failing to follow the rules of grammar marks one's use of language as erroneous. Therefore, systematic attempt is done to teach grammatical rules and structures to the language learners from the beginning of language teaching and learning process. However, the success or failure of learning, mastering and using the grammatical rules and structures is largely determined by the technique and approach used by the grammar teacher to teach. The leaner-cantered, interesting, motivating technique of grammar teaching is believed to generate positive results whereas traditional, teacher-centered, uninteresting, uninvolving method is believed to be a cause of failure for learners to learn and master grammar rules and structures. Therefore, the grammar

Central Asian Research Journal For Interdisciplinary Studies (CARJIS)

www.carjis.org DOI: 10.24412/2181-2454-2022-11-142-148

teaching technique, which involves language learners, to maximum, in learning in amusing and creative way, motivating, challenging and stimulating his/her mental processes, and reducing classroom anxiety and fear, is desired and recommended for fruitful language teaching and learning process. In this respect, the present paper discusses the effectiveness of using games for teaching grammar to primary school students as a technique which could easily be utilised and exploited for maximum benefits for learners. The study is based on the practical experiment done on the students of two primary schools in Sebha city of Libya using grammar games. The results, which proved to be fruitful and positive, are discussed as a basis for the argument in support of using games for teaching grammar to school children.

The teaching of English is a growing focus of many nation states as English is considered to be a key competence in the information society. Consequently, many nation states focus on teaching English to children at the early stages of schooling, a strategy that may create both competent citizens and competitive nation states. This calls for new learning designs and new learning materials for primary school levels.

Early language learning will produce successful language learners, where an early language start is often seen as an advantage.

There are indications that young learners are more open to and engaged in learning a new language — and that early beginnings may give them a head start on learning — issues such as pedagogy, teacher education and feedback, exposure, distribution of lessons and progression are also significant. This supports the idea that the design of learning material for young learners that address several of these contextual issues is of great significance to the quality of learning. Unlike most other school subjects foreign language learning has a long history of integrating different games into learning, using paper, cards and classroom games. Generally, games in language learning are associated with intrinsic motivation, meaningful exposure to the target language, as well as perceived associations between children's language play and second/foreign language learning.

Games are often difficult to integrate into formal learning. However, a recent study (Egenfeldt-Nielsen 2011) concludes that «foreign language teachers believe that there is a larger potential for pupils to learn more from games in their subject compared to teachers of other subjects».

Almost everybody loves playing whether they are young or old. From early childhood playing is an enormous part of most children's lives and it plays a big part of their development as well. Children start playing as early as infancy but as they

Central Asian Research Journal For Interdisciplinary Studies (CARJIS)

www.carjis.org DOI: 10.24412/2181-2454-2022-11-142-148

develop throughout their childhood they keep playing, and as they grow up and mature the nature of their play changes. When children enter middle childhood (6 -12) their play starts to change into games which are different from play in the sense that they are more organized and planned, and they usually include a variation of rules and a specific objective [1].

When playing most games participants are almost forced into communicating with each other in order for the game to work. The need for communication during games, and the informal setting games provide encourages students to be unafraid to talk, which practices their fluency, a valuable communication skill. The national curriculum for foreign languages in Kazakhstan emphasizes the importance of learning languages and especially the importance of communication. Because of this fact it is vitally important for teachers to create a positive learning environment, and to try to spark interest amongst their students both in the foreign language and culture because that is important to a successful language learning process. Games help achieve these goals as they help satisfy the requirement of the national curriculum that language learning should be enjoyable for students.

Teaching today has changed a lot over the past years. Once it was all about learners being passive and listening in the classroom, but today learners are usually much more active in the classroom, and what better way to be active than by playing games [2]. The national curriculum in foreign languages in Kazakhstan talks about the importance of keeping teaching methods diverse in order to light and sustain interest amongst students.

Teachers can help sustain diversity in a variety of ways, for example by using activities that require students to be creative in thinking and by emphasizing individual learning and cooperative learning equally. A more specific way that teachers can use in order to keep diversity within the classroom is to not be afraid of using games as a teaching method along with other methods. According to the national curriculum games can be a good teaching method and games, such as role playing games, imitation games, theatrical expression and problem solving activities are especially fitting for all stages of language learning.

There are a number of reasons that games deserve a place in the language classroom. First of all, they are fun, which is extremely important, because they can help activate students who may have been inactive before, due to lack of interest. Keeping students active is vital because teachers will never be able to actually teach students anything unless they can get them to participate in their own learning

Central Asian Research Journal For Interdisciplinary Studies (CARJIS)

www.carjis.org DOI: 10.24412/2181-2454-2022-11-142-148

process.

Second, games also play a big part in helping participants build relationships, and to feel equal. Playing games in the classroom can also help create a friendly and positive atmosphere where seat arrangement can differ from game to game, and thus cause diversity from the norm which can be extremely helpful in keeping an exciting learning environment.

Third, the reason most people want to learn a language is to be able to use it in real situations, for example when travelling. Games can be a very good way to practice this skill because they can easily be used to reenact various situations from real life and provide students with practice in their fluency. Also, by using games in the classroom the teacher is giving his students a bigger role, and he himself is stepping out of the frontline which is a positive thing because it allows students to take on more responsibility. Also that allows students to do more on their own, and that can very well result in an increase in their confidence level [3].

Fourth, language students need to be exposed to the language in a variety of situations, which is a need games can fulfill. Language students also need to be ready to take on the experience, keeping their minds open and being willing participants Again, games make this possible.

Fifth, language students need to be emotionally involved, meaning they need to feel something while they are exposed to the language. Strong emotions, such as happiness, excitement, amusement and suspense allow students to feel positively about their learning situation and are therefore likely to have a positive effect on language learning.

Sixth, games are good for shy students and students with low confidence, and that applies specifically when playing takes place in smaller groups because then they get a chance to speak in front of fewer audience instead of having to express themselves in front of the whole class. Also it is sometimes easier to open up and forget the shyness when playing a game because the atmosphere is not as serious and more emphasis is put on fluency rather than grammatical correctness [3].

Seventh, games can be a good strategy when teaching various subjects because they are very likely to spark interest amongst students. They can be used with students of all ages, and when they are used with other teaching methods they create diversity which is ideal for school work. A study that was undertaken in different primary schools in Karaganda shows clearly the need for diversity in schools. Many participants in that study complained about the lack of diversity, and that they wanted

Central Asian Research Journal For Interdisciplinary Studies (CARJIS)

www.carjis.org DOI: 10.24412/2181-2454-2022-11-142-148

more of it in order for their learning to become more fun and progressive in their school.

Finally, using games in the classroom is important because many children do not get enough opportunity to play during their free time, which can be traced to the rapid changes in our society. Cities are getting bigger and traffic is getting heavier which means that more and more parents are hesitant to let their children play outside.

Also teachers must make sure they explain the rules of the game in detail and that all instructions are clear before starting the game. During the game it is important for the teachers to observe and be ready to help, but without unnecessarily interrupting the flow of the game because that might affect the fluency, which could result in discouraging students from participating. After the game, it is a good idea to have some sort of a follow up activity planned because it gives the student's time to reflect upon the game and how it turned out. It is important for teachers to know that augmenting a game is allowed and can certainly be necessary in some cases. More difficult games can be made easier so they become a challenge instead of to hard for less skilled or younger students and vice versa.

Although games can usually be modified to suit students of various ages, there are certain characteristics in games that appeal to children within specific age groups. For children age 6-8 repetition is very common in games, rules are often few, and the games usually do not take a very long time. When it comes to children age 9-11 they have patience for longer games, which often include much more suspense. Also when children reach this age they start to be able to augment the games themselves, for example to bend the rules to make the game more suited for their group. For children older than 12 games are often much more planned and they often emphasize teams and teamwork.

Besides creating necessary diversity in the classroom and being a good method for teaching, we must not forget that games are fun and that helps get students active in their learning. I think we can all agree on the fact that no matter what teaching method is being used learning does not take place without the student participating in the learning process.

Aside from activating learners and creating diversity, games also create a comfortable and friendly atmosphere inside the classroom where students, especially shy students, might feel more comfortable in expressing themselves in the target language. Also games help students to get to know each other better, because many

Central Asian Research Journal For Interdisciplinary Studies (CARJIS)

www.carjis.org DOI: 10.24412/2181-2454-2022-11-142-148

of them require more student interaction than other teaching methods might. Games can also be used to help recreate various situations from real life and therefore make the learning more real and give the students a sense of what they are doing is relevant. Another benefit to using games in the classroom is that children do mature through games and through playing games they learn many of society's rules and regulations. In addition when using physical games, children would get a change to get a necessary work out that is often lacking today, due to rapid change in our society. We have discovered that although games are supposed to be fun and easy there are certain things teachers need to keep in mind when using them inside the classroom. First of all the teacher needs to do everything in his or her power to make sure that all students have a good experience from playing the game. Also the teacher needs to keep in mind that not all games fit certain students and some cannot be played inside the classroom. When selecting a game teachers need to ask themselves, «What are the goals am I trying to achieve by playing this game?» and they have to make sure that the game they choose is not too easy but at the same time not too difficult. If teachers believe a certain game might be too difficult for their students they need to be aware that they need to augment the game to make it more fitting.

CONCLUSION

Finally, teachers need to make sure they explain all rules in detail, that during the game they do not interrupt the flow of the game and to plan some sort of a follow-up activity after the game. Also we have discussed the use of games in the four language skills: writing, reading, listening and speaking, and there were many valid reasons why using games might help train each specific skill. Writing games for example, help provide important immediate feedback that is usually lacking when students train their writing skills in a more traditional way. Listening games could offer an important and more exciting alternative from the boring listening activities that some of us remember from school. Games could make reading more fun and provide students with a reason to read, which is important because of how essential the reading skill is. For example people need to know how to read in order to be able to learn how to write. When it came to speaking games were able to serve the very important job of helping students train their fluency.

English language teaching in Uzbekistan has entered a new era with the introduction of primary English. There is an obvious shift of paradigm from the structural audio-lingual approach to a global approach to language education through

Central Asian Research Journal For Interdisciplinary Studies (CARJIS)

www.carjis.org DOI: 10.24412/2181-2454-2022-11-142-148

activity-based learning in the primary school. Increasing numbers of teachers, teacher educators and researchers are now beginning to devote themselves to the study of language teaching with young learners. New textbooks are being developed and teacher training programmes at primary and secondary levels are being funded by both the national and local governments. Many teachers are beginning to realize the need to change their beliefs about language and language learning, and the need to acquire new skills and techniques in teaching and in assessment according to the new concepts in teaching and learning and according to the needs of their students. Research into primary school English teaching and teacher training are urgently needed to ensure a better understanding so as to better inform and improve practice [8].

REFERENCES

1. Rixon Sh. How to use Games in Language Teaching, London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1981, 125

2. Steve S. Games That Teach, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer, 1998, p. 56-57.

3. Langran J., Langran P. Language Games and Activities, 1994, p. 12-14.

4. Masheder M. Let's play together, London: Green Print, 1989, p. 3-5.

5. Alanna J., 104, Activities That Build: self esteem, teamwork, communication, anger management, selfdiscovery and coping skills, United States: Rec. Room Publishing, Inc., 1998, 202

6. Hadfield J. & Hadfield Ch. Writing Games, England: Longman, 1990, 175

7. Harmer Teaching Speaking, Teaching speaking at lower secondary level and EFL learning and second language acquisition. Reading handouts, Reykjavik: University of Iceland — School of Education, 2009, 230 p.

8. Zhetpisbayeva A., Shelestova T.Y. Early English language teaching as a problem of pedagogical science and practice of education in Kazakhstan, Vestnik of Karaganda University «Pedagogics», 2014, 4(76), p. 148-153.

9. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313238590 Using Games in Primary Schools for Effective Grammar Teaching A Case Study from Sebha

10. https://articlekz.com/en/article/14561

11. https: //publikacia.net/archive/2016/4/5/29

HOW TO DESIGN LANGUAGE GAMES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

Аннотация научной статьи по языкознанию и литературоведению, автор научной работы — Iroda Urmonali Kizi Kurvonaliyeva, Dilshoda Abdurashid Kizi Otakulova

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