grammar games in elt

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATIONEnglish Language and Literature Department

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2010


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Bc. Lenka Musilov

MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNOFACULTY OF EDUCATION

English Language and Literature Department

Grammar Games in ELT Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2010

Supervisor: Author:

PhDr. Alena Kaprkov Bc. Lenka Musilov


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Prohlen:

Prohlauji, e jsem bakalskou prci vypracovala samostatn , s vyuitm pouzecitovanch literrnch pramen , dalch informac a zdroj v souladu s Disciplinrnmdem pro studenty Pedagogick fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zkonem .121/2000 Sb., o prvu autorskm, o prvech souvisejcch s prvem autorskm a ozm n nkterch zkon (autorsk zkon), ve zn n pozd jch pedpis .

Souhlasm, aby prce byla uloena na Masarykov univerzit v Brn v knihovn Pedagogick fakulty a zp stupn na ke studijnm el m.

Declaration:

I declare that I worked on this bachelor work on my own and used only the resourcesmentioned in the bibliography.I agree with storing this work in the library of the Faculty of Education at the MasarykUniversity Brno and making it accessible for study purposes.

Brno 20. dubna 2010 Bc. Lenka Musilov


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Acknowledgments:

I would like to express my thanks especially to my supervisor, PhDr. AlenaKaprkov, for her interesting and inspiring ideas, valuable advice and worthyguidance during my work on my thesis.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction........ 61. Teaching Grammar to Young Pupils... 8

1.1 Teachers ............................................ 81.2 Children...................................... .111.3 Motivation........................ 131.4 Teaching Grammar.........................................................................................141.5 Teaching Grammar in Different Teaching Methods......................................14

2. A Game.................................................................................................................152.1 Teaching Grammar through Games.................................................................162.2 Grammar Games in the Classroom..................................................................17

2.2.1 Types of Games......................................................................................172.2.2 Most Common Grammar Games............................................................18

3. English Grammar versus Czech Grammar....................................................213.1 English x Czech in the 5thGrade........................................................................22

4. Introduction into Practical Part.........................................................................245. The Lost Treasure................................................................................................25

5.1 The Lost Treasure Parts...................................................................................26Part 1..................................................................................................................26Part 2..................................................................................................................27Part 3...................................................................................................................29Part 4...................................................................................................................30

Part 5...................................................................................................................324.2 Feedback.............................................................................................................34

6. Conclusion...............................................................................................................377. Resume.....................................................................................................................388. List of References..................................................................................................399. Appendix..................................................................................................................41


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INTRODUCTION

I was said that teaching is not a work but it is a mission. I always dreamt as a child that I

would like to be a teacher in my future carreer but life tried to push me in another way and Ibecame a teacher actually by an accident. But thanks to this I am really happy to be a teacher,to try to fulfil my mission in education. Teaching is a definetely hard job and to be satisfiedand successful needs actually much more effort, practice and experience than hardly onecould believe. Nowadays everything changes very quickly, pupils are not as they used to be,teachers use modern methods and approaches and they can use various equipement to makethe education process modern, pleasant and as close to the pupils as possible. Teachers try to

captivate and involve pupils into the learning process in the most interesting way. If pupils areinterested in the subject, they feel comfortable and learn more easily.

I devote the bachelor thesis to not very popular part of language learning and it is grammar. Iremember my school years when our teacher was standing in front of the blackboard, leadinga long speech about some grammar rules, then made a long script on the blackboard andfinally, we were expected to translate all twenty sentences from the Czech language into

English for the rest of the lesson. All pupils hated grammar lessons and I promised to myself that as a teacher I would do it in another way. This was my reason for choosingGrammar Games in ELT with a view to grammar teaching as a topic for my bachelor thesis. Firstly, Itried to explain the main parts of education process in general. I explained the personality of ateacher and her role in education, next chapter is about children and their psychologicaldevelopement. Motivation of pupils is the next step of my thesis. Finally, I concentrated ongrammar teaching the use of traditional methods and on the contrary the use of a game. I

tried to explain how games are used in teaching, what is necessary and how to be prepared forthis approach. I do not consider traditional methods as the worst ones, what is more I findthem very useful in some cases but I tried to show another way of teaching grammar and howto enrich grammar teaching. As the next part, I compared plans of teaching Czech and Englishlanguage of some elementary schools in the 5th grade to point out some misunderstandingsbetween these two languages in teaching grammar. The aim of this comparison was to makean image of how elementary schools can differ in their contents. As the practical part Iconcentrated on the fifth grade of an elementary school and I prepared lesson plans for agrammar game calledThe Lost Treasurewhose author I am .


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For explanation, I would like to mention some important points. For avoiding the repetition Iused for the word teacher personal pronoun she and for a pupil or pupilshe or they. Nextimportant point is that in the gameThe Lost TreasureI did not use the sources for the picturesbecause the worksheets are full of them and the sources would disturb the structure. Sourcesto the pictures are given at the end of my thesis in the List of References.


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1. Teaching Grammar to Young Pupils

Teaching foreign languages is compulsory from the third grade at a primary school in the

Czech Republic. Most schools offer learning foreign languages even from the first grade. Theadvantage of an early start is that young children are really enthousiastic about learning newthings especially languages. On the other hand, we can hardly talk about teaching grammar.Pupils start to learn grammar rules first about the age of ten.

And how do they learn it? Ur and Scrivener dealt with the process of learning. Ur divided theprocess into three stages verbalization, automatization and as the last stage autonomy.

Firstly, verbalization teacher should explain the grammatical structure and use it in context,as well. Secondly, pupils use the grammatical structure again and again and they automatizethe correct form. Lastly, they start to use the structure on their own, in new sentences,combinations, they are autonomous (1996, p. 19 - 20). On the contrary, Scrivener says thatlearning includes five stages do, recall, reflect, conclude and prepare. As the first thingpupils should do something, after this they should recall what they have done, the third step isreflecting, the next step they make any conclusion and lastly they use their conclusion. (2005,

p. 20)

The process of learning may vary according to the approach of explaining. To simplify it, wetalk about deductive and inductive approach of how grammar rules are given to pupils. In thedeductive approach grammar rules are explained first and then they are used in sentences,situations. However, the inductive approach shows examples, situation, sentences first andthen the rules are explained.

1.1 Teachers

In educational process the role of the teacher is highly important. Many things depend on her.Who is actually a good teacher? It is really difficult to say. Is it in her personality? Or a goodteacher is a person with great skills? Or should it be mixture of both and other aspects areinvolved? In Harmers opinion a good teacher is a mixture of personality, intelligence,

knowledge and experience. (1998, p. 23) Personality of the teacher could be definetelyinspiring for pupils. If the teacher is an interesting person and talks about interesting things,


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she could easily pull pupils in the lesson who are not certainly persuaded about theimportance of the subject. And what is more, if she is able to feel that it is the highest time fora change and for example for involving a game in the right time, her pupils will never bebored. It has much to do with the skills of the teacher. If she knows how to do it, how tocaptivate her pupils, it is a half of the success. Knowledge is vitally important. A teachershould be well-educated in her branch. Lastly, the experience has a great deal of complexityof a good teacher.

Additionally, Harmer adds the adaptability of teachers (1998, p. 24-25). To adapt to newoncoming situation that is not exactly according to the plan, should be part of the teachersskills. Teachers should react on unexpected situations and events immediately.

Further to this, a good rapport between a teacher and her pupils is evidentelly crucial. Makingsuch rapport is a long-time procedure. The teacher must gain confidence by listening,respecting her pupils, she must show her personal approach. To be the authority, facilitator,leader and on the contrary a friend who can be at the same level for playing a game, to be aperson to whom pupils can open their hearts.

To sum it up, there are three roles of teachers. As Scrivener explains, teachers may vary intheir way of teaching and approach.

The explainer this role of a teacher is really a great specialist in her subject, herlessons may be definetely very interesting but her problem is a lack or badmethodology. The teacher tends to explain grammar rules without involving the pupilto the problem. Pupils only listen, make notes or answer the questions. In playing a

game, she only explains the rules and then controls keeping them. The involver this role of a teacher is a good specialist and good methodologist, as

well. She explains but at the same time she involves the pupils into the lesson. Shemakes the lesson interesting and changes the activities. For playing the games it is thebest person who is able to prepare various kinds of games and to play the games withher pupils.

The enabler this role of a teacher could be taken as a guide of the lesson, pupils

have automatized the learning methods and they do it themselves. The teacher is here


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only as a source of information. In grammar she gives the problem to her pupils andtries to make them to solve it.

As Scrivener adds, many teachers assume all three roles or some of them can be mostlyexplainers or involvers. (2005, p. 7) For young pupils it is worth changing the roles, to be ableto explain the grammar rules, to involve pupils in the lesson as much as possible and also togive them some space to work on their own.

Pupils should believe their teacher and the teacher should believe her pupils. What is evident,a teacher should create a positive learning atmosphere to make her pupils feel comfortable,not stressing. Therefore she can easily involve the pupils in the activities and games, to makeshy or worse pupils do any activity that she wants them to do. (2005, p. 21-22 )She is supposed to:

Fig.1. Diagram of a good teacher inspired by Scriveners research among students.(2005, p. 23)

be honest.be a specialist.

be an authority.be friendly.

be an advisor.be inspiring.

have a good character.be a good organizator.

be responsible.


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1.2 Children

How do the children learn? Can a six-year-old child learn the same thing as a ten-year or

even a twelve-year-old child? The question is actually very simple. No, he cannot. Iteverything depends on the cognitive developement of the child. As Lin writes, a Swisspsychologist, Jean Piaget (1896-1980), developed a theory about the psychologistdevelopement of the child. He found out that the process of thinking was developing until thechild started to think logically. When the teacher knows about it, she can easily prepare thelesson suitable for her pupils. Piaget divided this process into four stages: Sensorimotor Stage,Preoperational Stage, Concrete Operational Stage and Formal Operational Stage. The age

when pupils start to learn grammar touches the last two ones.

Concrete Operational Stage (7 11 Years)

Children of this stage start to think logically. They need personal experience.Children solve the problem but only on concrete things and experience.

Formal Operational Stage (11 Years and Beyond). Lin says,

After roughly 11 years old, students have the ability to consider manypossibilities for a given condition. They are able to deal withpropositions that explain concrete facts. They have the ability to useplanning to think ahead. Most importantly, students at Piagets finalstage of cognitive development increase their ability to think abstractly.They can solve complex and hypothetical problems involving abstractoperations. Formal operational thinkers can recognize and identify a

problem. They can state several alternative hypotheses, executeprocedures to collect information about the problems to be studied, andtest the hypotheses. (2002)

According to Piagets theory it is evident that children are able to solve the abstractproblems at the age of 11 and above. The ability of understanding the grammar rules hasmuch to do with it. It is the best period to keep the rules in mind, to imagine how it works.For some grammar structures children really need abstract thinking because they do not have


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the comparison to the Czech grammar e.g. present perfect tense, past perfect tense, futureperfect tense. Here is the use of a game highly important.

On the contrary to the Piagets theory, Scott and Ytreberg divided children into two maingroups five to seven years olds and eight to ten years olds.

Five to seven-year old children

Scott writes about these children that they are enthousiastic about learning,especially learning by using games. They are not able to say what they aregoing to learn. However, this is the time where pupils meet with thelanguage, they do not learn any grammatical structures, even if they knowthat there exist some rules but they are not able to understand them. Theirconcentration is not very strong. They really like playing. (1990, p. 2)

Eight to ten-year old children

Scott says that these children are able to understand abstract things andsymbols. He thinks that children are aware of the language in some way.They really love systems and routines. Playing games in groups are highlyrecommended. Children learn grammar effectively through activities thatthey find amusing and funny.(1990, p. 4-6)

In the second period, it is worthy for the teacher (as it was mentioned in the precedingchapter) to assume the role of explainer only when children are asking for an explanation orthe teacher thinks it is necessary for them. The main role of a teacher should be the involver.Teachers should try to pull pupils in the lesson and to motivate them for learning grammar.

1.3 Motivation

Harmer says that people learn languages for different reasons, they want to travel, forbusiness reasons, they want to understand English songs or they have some family membersliving abroad. These reasons are taken as extrinsic motivation, they are brought to the


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classroom from outside. On the contrary, there is intrinsic motivation it deals with whathappens in the classroom methods, approaches, activities.(1998, p. 20)

It is not difficult to motivate young children for any activity and there is no doubt thatchildren do not need any motivation for a game. A game is motivating on its own. Motivationdepends on the teacher, as well. Many things can be influenced by her. As Ur says, feeling of success is highly important for the motivation. On the other hand, being afraid of mistakes hasmuch to do with motivation, too. Children are afraid of making mistakes and of beingpunished, so they try to avoid it. Motivation could be also reinforced by testing the pupils.And as the last point competition. Especially group competition brings better results for thepupils. (1996, p. 276 279). The best choice for higher motivation of pupils that the teachercould use is playing a game. As Petty says, games are able to involve children to the processof learning and they can make them to be really concentrated which is not possible in anydifferent method. Thanks to the interest and motivation that are caused by using a game, theycan gain a positive relation to the subject. As he says, learning and fun go together. (1996, p.188)

1.4 Teaching Grammar

Grammar is, according to Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners,the set of rules that describe the structure of a language and control the way that sentences are formed(2002, p. 618). Some people could say that grammar is not very important, but they arewrong. As Scrivener says, it is of course definetely possible to speak without following anygrammar rules only with the use of vocabulary. You can say I cinema see film yesterday and the listener would probably understand that you were in the cinema yesterday to see afilm, but your conversation would be at the level of a Neanderthal Man (2003, p.1).Moreover, learning grammar is really important to achieve the higher levels of the language.

On the other hand, the word grammar could be horrifying for students. It could be the hardnut to crack for the teacher to persuade pupils that learning grammar could be fun. However,it depends on the teacher how she solves this problem. She need not follow traditionalmethods in teaching grammar like setting the rules, filling the grammar exercises or testing,but she can use another amusing way games.


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1.5 Teaching Grammar in Different Teaching Methods

This chapter is going to give a short survey of teaching methods with the view of teaching

grammar and its importance.

There is a long history of methods that were used by teaching. Grammar-Translation method this method is widely used nowadays. The teacher

does not use the target language very often. Pupils are supposed to read a lot and totranslate the given texts. In grammar the grammar rules are properly explained, theteachers concentrate especially on sentence structure. It could be demotivating for

pupils. This method is not very suitable for young learners. The Audio-Lingual Method - this method is based mostly on listening and speaking.

Students are supposed to repeat dialogues with no or little help of a teacher. Drill iswidely used. In grammar pupils are supposed to listen and repeat the rightgrammatical structure to memorise it and to avoid mistakes. Elements of this methodare suitable for children. They learn easily by repetition.

Communicative Language Teaching and Communicative Approach this methodtries to teach students as much as possible through communication. It does notconcentrate on proper grammar, it prefers the use of the language rather than thecorrect form. This method could be used for young learners but not for the beginners,it needs some basic knowledge of the language.

Total Physical Respond a method used for beginners. Teachers say instructions,pupils listen to them and do them. They are not force to speak until they want. Themain thing is that there are no grammar rules as such . However, pupils try to do theirbest. It is more concentrated on comprehension than production. This method is highlysuitable for children.

The Natural Approach this method tries to teach the second language in a similarway as children learn their first language. The approach for the grammar is prettymuch the same as in the TPR. Teachers focus mainly on the meaning, not on thecorrect form. This approach was developed by Krashen and Terrell and was oftencritised by many people, especially for the silent period. As in the TPR pupils are notforced to speak until they want so this method is also possible to use with younglearners.


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As a result that could be taken from these approaches, in my opinion it would be useful to getto the teaching some points from each method. Not to follow only one method strictly butmake a mixture of all of these with adding a game into the process of teaching grammar.

2. A Game

As Millar says, a game has definetely a long history. Platon reminded the need of a game inhis work The Laws. He pointed out that the use of apples, even we do not consider this as agame, whilst children are counting is very helpful. Moreover, Aristoteles was persuaded that

children should be encouraged to play games. A German pedagogue Frbel emphasized theimportance of a game in the process of learning. The first theory of a game originated in thesecond half of the 19th century. (1978, p. 13-14, trans. L.M.).

But could actually each game be taken as a game? How could be a game defined? Theanswer is definetely very easy. Klauer says that a game must be governed by some rules. If itis not, it is not a game. Playing of a child with a doll could not be taken as a game, it is only

playing. However, when this child is playing with a doll and has specific aim e.g. to dressthe doll up according to exact rules, it is a game. Talking about language games, it is similar.Language game is a game with rules that have linguistic aims and they are agreed with theparticipants. (1998)

The aim of the game is winning, to be the first who achieves the finish. Every game is strictlylimited by start and finish. All participants of the game must know the rules and aims of the

game. Rules should be clear and easy for understanding. They need not to be long. Somelanguage games need a supervisor. This person is mostly a teacher. The teacher follows thetime if there is any time limit, checks the rules or notes the score.

2. 1 Teaching Grammar through Games

Games are definetely the most natural way of learning something. Playing is the most

effective method for children. Through playing they meet with their environment, understand


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many principles of how things work and it is easy for them to remember something which isconnected with pleasure, fun or amusement. Vernon says,

The theory of intrinsic motivation may also give some insight asto why teaching grammar through games actually works. Intrinsicmotivation refers to the internal factors that encourage us to dosomething. Most young learners will not internally decide that they wantto learn grammar. They dont yet understand the concepts of why itsimportant to know proper grammar, so these external factors wont affectthem much either. Instead, intrinsic motivation can encourage them toplay games. If these games are good then they will be learning while theyare playing. (Vernon, 2006)

Why is it worth using games in teaching?- games are really very motivating, even for those who are ashamed or are afraid of

making mistakes;- games help to involve pupils of each level;- Vernon says: Pupils can learn to speak English 2x as fast when they are excited about

learning. (2006)- games support using new grammar rules unviolently;- games teach pupils to cooperate;- pupils learn not only grammar but other four skills speaking, writing, listening and

reading;- games teach communication and fair-play.

2.2 Grammar Games in the Classroom

Before using games in the classroom teachers should consider several aspects.

Preparation. Being well-prepared for the lesson is a half of success. Teachers shouldthink of the activity they want to use. Is it good for their pupils? Does it cover thegrammar level? Does it need any special materials, space? Does the activity needgroupwork, pair or individual work? If it is groupwork, how large will the groups be?Does it need preparation in the classroom or any copies of the worksheets?


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Organization. Before the activity, teachers should announce what pupils are expectedto do. They should explain all rules carefully and ask pupils if they understand. Thenthey are supposed to change seating or make groups if it is neccessary. Whilst pupilsare playing the game, it is better for teachers only watch or help if it is needed. It isgood to finish the game at a fixed time.

Expectation. Being prepared for unexpected is really important. At any timesomething could go wrong. The activity could be difficult for children or they do notunderstand the rules, they have problems within the game, problems whilst makinggroups, problems in the group etc.

2.2.1 Types of Games

There exist various types of games:

Cooperative games : these games are really important, their aim is cooperationamong students. They are valuable when teachers have got new groups of students orthey want to involve weak or shy students in the group.

Communication games: they are concentrated on exchanging of information.Students get an information and they must react on it. It is usually pairwork but itcould be also groupwork. These types of games are good for the topic which theteacher is going through with her students.

Competitive games: the aim of this type of a game is to finish the game as soon aspossible just before others. They are worth when a teacher wants to make any change,her students are tired, or it is just time for a game.

Code-control games: playing this game students must use language withoutmistakes, because they are controlled. By making mistakes they loose points.


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2.2.2 Most Common Grammar Games

Noughts and crosses/tic-tac-toe

This game can be used for each level, it depends only on a teacher. The class is divided intotwo groups. One group has noughts and the second has crosses. A teacher prepares a largetable on the board and writes words intent on various grammar (adjectives, irregular verbs,....) in the fields. Pupils must say opposites, comparatives or superlatives, past forms.....Theteam is expected to make a line of three or five crosses or noughts.

strong tall long hot cheapnice boring high curly narroweasy dirty short beautiful difficulthard fast good bad interesting

funny weak short wet ugly

Tab.1. Game Tic-tac-toe

Advantage : very variable, you can use it for different grammar

Disadvantage : it needs some time to prepare it on the board, the game could be a bit chaoticwhen you have got a large group of pupils. This game would be suitable for smaller groups of pupils.

Dominoes

It is a very old game, it was probably invented in China in the 12th century. It consists of plastic, wooden or paper blocks which are divided in two halfs. On each part there is anythingdifferent written or drawn. Before the game you must first turn dominoes face down and mixthem. The players choose the blocks (mostly about five), they must not show them to anyone.

One player begins with putting one block on the table, then other continues with puttinganother block with the same picture next to the first one. If he has not got an acceptable block,


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he must take another block from the pile and another player continues in playing. The winneris the player who has not got any block. You can practise various kinds of grammar irregular verbs, adjectives, pronouns etc.

Fig. 2. Picture of dominoes

Advantage : variability, it can be played in pairs or in groups of more pupils, children knowthe rules, so you need not explain the game for a very long time. You do not need large spacefor playing, one table is enough, you do not need any proprieties for playing except thedomino.

Disadvantage : -------------

Board games

Board games are really very popular with pupils. They are very variable and teachers canpractise any grammar they want. Board games are made for pairwork or groupwork.Everything you need are some figures, a dice, a board and sometimes paper and a pencil. Thegame has Start and Finish. A pupil is supposed to throw the dice and according to the numberhe goes through the game. The field where he stays has some task, which he must fill in. Thewinner is the pupil who reaches Finish as the first. (Appendix - Worksheet 1)

Advantage : variability, you can use it for paiwork or groupwork. You can use your owngame or download some from the Internet.

Disadvantage : you must have enough copies for the whole group. It is difficult to check allthe groups and to correct their mistakes.

He isShe is


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Battleships

It is a very known game including two players and two copies of a chart. Players draw their

battleships into the chart and the game can begin. They use words or sentences writtenvertically and horizontally to hit the rivals battleship. The winner is the first one who coversall ships.

Advantage: you can practise wherever you want and whatever grammar you want. It is not adifficult game for preparation. It is pairwork. Pupils memorise the grammatical structure veryeasily.

Disadvantage: you must prepare the chart for playing the game.

Do you

Does your brother

Do they

Does John

Does Jane

Tab. 2 Battleships

s i n g i n

t h e

b a t

h r o o m

?

l i s t e n

t o t h e r a

d i o ?

g o s w i m m

i n g ?

g o o u t

?

g o s h o p p

i n g ?


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3. English Grammar versus Czech Grammar

Talking about teaching English grammar at primary schools, one should mention if pupils are

able to understand what they are expected to learn. If pupils are educated enough to learngrammar of a target language. Many teachers claim about pupils that they do not understandthe new grammar because they do not know what it means in the Czech language. It is mainlya problem of the 5th grade where pupils meet with new English grammar rules for the firsttime. According to Scott and Ytreberg, it could be or not worth comparing it with the mothertongue. (1990, p.7) In my opinion, the comparison with the Czech language could besometimes helpful and useful for pupils, they can imagine it more easily.

Even though English language is taught from the 3rd grade at most schools, in the first twoyears one can hardly talk about grammar. Pupils meet with the language and the grammar aswell. As Scott and Ytreberg say, pupils are not able to learn the same things at the beginning,in the middle or at the end of their studies. Children develop. At the beginning teachers teachaudiovisual courses, play games, sing songs or learn rhymes because they know that childrenare not able to absorb more. If they are successful in the language or not does not depend on

grammar rules. Moreover, they are not able to cope with the grammar even in the 5th

grade,they can be only aware of it in some way. (1990, p. 1- 6). In the 5th grade teachers start toexplain grammar rules. In the next years pupils have already the general overview of theCzech grammar, so the problem with the English grammar is not so serious and it depends onthe individual pupil and his ability of understanding. As an example - teachers try to explainpersonal pronouns but pupils do not exactly know what personal pronouns are. They do notknow it, because in the Czech language they do not use it or they did not meet with it before.

Especially with the new system of School Education Programme,where each school makesits plans, it is difficult to have the same system in teaching grammar. To unite the system,where it is obvious where what grammar is taught, is now impossible.


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3.1 English x Czech in the 5 th Grade

To show an example of the differences, I tried to compare and contrast contents of subject

matters of two primary schools. Their contents are a little bit different and I focused onteaching English grammar in comparison to the Czech language..

Z profesora vejcara: Z Meno:- articles (a, an, the, the) - Present Simple (question, negative)

-

plurals - Present Continuous (question, negative)- verbs can, to be, to have - verb to be, to have got (?, answers, -)- adjectives - verb can, must- prepositions - numerals- pronouns- question How many? How much?- negative- Present Continuous + question- Past tense- Future tense- word order

I find the grammar taught at primary school profesora vejcara too complicated for pupils. Incomparison to the Czech language, they start to learn adjectives, pronouns, numerals andverbs in the sixth grade. I find it difficult for English teachers to explain this grammar withoutany support of the Czech grammar. As for me Past Tense and Future Tense in the 5th grade istoo much. I wonder if the pupils really understand and are able to learn it. My experience isthat my pupils were able to cope only with the Present Simple and Present Continuous andwith many problems. We devoted the whole school year to this grammar. I cannot imagine togive them another tense except the present.


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Primary school Meno has no problem in English versus Czech language. There aims are nottoo high and I think they are equivalent to the age of pupils and they have the support in theCzech grammar.

According to my experience, it is not necessary to teach terminology.If pupils are not familiar with the terminology, do not use it. The teacher should try to set thegrammar rules without using it, the pupils will be less confused, it is possible to start to teachit later. I think that it is not necessary to set the terminology in the 5th grade, they are not ableto absorb it or to understand it.


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4. Introduction into Practical Part

I consider the topic of my thesis very important because I think that English should be fun for

me as a teacher and at the same time fun for my pupils. I find grammar games very helpfuland inspiring for me as a teacher and I suppose that my colleagues and pupils would agree.To have the feeling of satisfaction in a job is really important thing for everybody, especiallywhen talking about teachers.

I tried to think about my job, my pupils, materials that I use for teaching. I find my pupilsfrom time to time bored with the same topics in textbooks, same readings, same grammar

exercises. I spent a really long time at a computer to look for additional materials - handouts,worksheets and various games. I must admit that I found many really useful and interestingmaterials and webpages but I wanted something more. I decided to prepare my own materialsthat I could use in my teaching. As a result, I wrote a language game called The Lost Treasuret that was given to my colleagues for using it in their lessons. This game will bepresented in practical part of my thesis together with some additional analysis and comments.


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5. The Lost Treasure

Whilst teaching English at primary school, I always have to find many materials that I can

add to a textbook - many exercises, worksheets and games where my pupils can practise thegrammar more properly. I also miss handouts where the basic grammar is explained easily foryoung pupils because they need to have something in their hands to what they can alwaysreturn and look at them. Therefore I prepared this grammar game for them. It is asupplement for the textbook for the 5th grade pupils. I compiled five chapters where I tried toset a summary of grammar rules of different grammar, some exercises devoted to the topicand at the same time to extend vocabulary.

And why is it called a game? This work is opened with a story of the lost treasure that ishidden somewhere in England and pupils are supposed to find the treasure by getting thenotes for filling the exercises. So they are excited till the end where the lost treasure is hidden.Finding out the treasure, they get a present. Pupils consider the grammar an adventure that isactually amusing and fun for them. To get the note from the teacher, they absolutely forgetthat they are working on a grammar exercise and they try to do their best to make it withoutmistakes. What is more, I added many pictures to the game. Pupils in the 5th grade really likeit and they are still young and they love colouring. In the end they have simple summary of the grammar, some exercises where they can practise it and nice colourful picture dictionaryas a bonus.

What is an advantage as well? It is very variable, you can change the chapters and you canadd different materials. I suppose that teachers could use this grammar game within thewhole school year or it is of course possible to set it at the end of the school year as therevision. You can extend it according to your needs. Pupils can add the material into theirportfolios.


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5. 1 The Lost Treasure Parts

The following parts show only one of the examples of possible work with the game. This

game was prepared for the 5th

grade pupils of English and it was assumed that the grammarhas already been explained and these worksheets are only for practising the grammar.

Some techniques are similar but the usage of materials is different (to make the work with thepupils more easily and to avoid long explanation). Handouts and worksheets are in theappendix. The notes leading to the lost treasure are in the key.

Part 1

The first chapter should be only motivating, therefore it does not deal with grammar.

Level: A1 No. of pupils: 16

Topic Work : History of the Lost Treasure

Aims : to introduce the story, to motivate the pupils, to learn new vocabulary

Materials: handout and worksheet

Time: 45 min.

1. Teacher tries to motivate the pupils by telling a story of the lost treasure which ishidden somewhere in Britain. (I recommend to retell the story in a simply way.)

2. She gives the handouts with the story to everybody. She explains that they will play agame. Their task is to find the lost treasure by solving the grammatical exercises. She

should highlight that the pupils will be given a note for solving the exercises correctlyand that they will work independently. The winner will be the first one who will findthe treasure.

3. Pupils read the story quickly and they try to find out the meaning of some unknownwords.

4. Teacher explains the words (pictures, gestures, miming).5. Teacher distributes the first worksheet with exercises, explains them:- Word Search pupils should find all eleven words occuring in the story of the lost

treasure.


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- Find the way pupils must find the way to the lost treasure.- Crossword puzzle pupils fill in the words suitable for the pictures and their aim is

to find the hidden word6. Pupils give the worksheets back to the teacher.7. Teacher asks the pupils to evaluate themselves - how successful they were in the

lesson.

Comments:The teacher collects the worksheets after the lesson and corrects them. She can prepare smallpieces of papers with the first note. If the worksheet is correct, she can stick the note to it.Pupils are supposed not to say it to anybody. The first worksheet is only motivating, it isreally easy to do it without any mistakes. I suppose that they will be successful. After thefirst note London, the teacher could ask pupils what they know about it or bring somepictures, play a video or whatever is connected with this city. (of course only in the case thatevery pupil has got the note).

The note: LONDON

Part 2

Level: A1 no. of pupils: 16

Topic Work : Articles definite, indefinite

Aims : to practise the articles in using

Materials: handout and worksheet, cards with A/An for each pupil

Time: 45 min.

1. Motivation the teacher explains that the treasure hunt continues and the pupilsneed another note that could take them to the lost treasure.

2. Teacher shows cards with the /a/, /an/ articles and asks pupils if they know it andwhere it is used.

3. Pupils answer (they should be familiar with it, if not they can see the handout withthe explanation).


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4. Teacher gives the pupils cards with the articles and sticks pictures that are added tothis chapter (pictures of the animals see Picture Dictionary added to this chapter)on the board.

5. A Game a teacher divides the class into two groups. Then she calls the animals andone pupil of each group is supposed to run to the board as quickly as possible tostick the correct article next to the right vocabulary. The first pupil is awarded onepoint. (It is a little bit chaotic and dangerous, you need a large space for playing thisgame but pupils love it. This is TPR activity really suitable for young learners.) Thewinner is the group with more points.

6. Teacher gives pupils the worksheets with the exercises. Explains them:- Write a or an pupils should fill the correct article under the pictures.- Fill in the article and write the sentence pupils must recognise the word (animal

and the colour), fill in the correct article according to its use (the first sentence indefinite article and the second sentence definite article). Finally, they must writethe whole sentence.

- Whats this? pupils are expected to write the vocabulary with the correct article.8. Pupils gives the worksheets back to the teacher.9. Evaluation pupils try to say how successful they were, what did they like or not.

The teacher collects the worksheets after the lesson and corrects them. She prepares thenotes. I recommend to revise the colours before the lesson. In this worksheet the pupils maymake some mistakes, so they can be given some limit (1 or 2 mistakes are possible, it is up tothe teacher). It is important to give the note only to the correct worksheets. It is also necessaryto tell the pupils to keep their notes in the secret. It is a treasure hunt. The winner is the first

person who finds out where the treasure is.

The note: WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR


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Fig. 3. Cards with indefinite articles

A An Part 3


Topic Work : Plural

Aims : to practise plural irregular and regular nouns, numbers

Materials: handout and worksheet, pictures and 4 papers with two columns, glue

Time: 45 min.

1. Motivation teacher tries to motivate pupils by reminding them that they are gettingnearer and nearer to the treasure and that they will gain the next note at the end of thelesson.

2. Plurals teacher gives the pupils the handout with the summary of plurals and repeats therules quickly (pupils should cope with it but according to my experience it is really worthyto go through it again).

3. A game the teacher sets 4 groups, each group takes one paper with two columns(regular,irregular), glue and a set of the pictures (the pictures are taken from the picture dictionaryadded to this chapter). In the group of pupils they are supposed to divide the picturesaccording to their plural forms in the correct column, stick the picture and write the pluralform next to it. The first group with the correct division is the winner.

4. Teacher gives them the worksheets with the exercises and explains them:- Count and write : pupils should write the number and the correct plural form

connected with the picture.


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- Make plural and write : very similar exercises but with another pictures (they revisethe plural forms and number 1-10).

5. Pupils give the worksheet back to the teacher.6. Evaluation pupils try to discuss the lesson, if they are familiar with plural forms or

not, if they think that they were correct in their worksheets.

The teacher collects the worksheets after the lesson and corrects them. She prepares thenotes. It is worthy to repeat the numbers with your pupils before the lesson as for thehomework or in the lesson otherwise they might be lost. They are supposed to know thenumbers but they learnt it in the 3rd or 4th grade.

The note : 1078 a.d.

Part 4


Topic Work : verb to be, to have got

Aims : to practise these two verbs, to make a distinction between them, to fix the correctforms

Materials: handout and worksheet, a Battleship game

Time: 45 min.

1. Motivation for the lesson.2. Teacher repeats the grammar by using a Battleship game. She prepares 2 simple charts.

Pupils draw three crosses in the chart (ships) and by completing the whole sentence theytry to disclose partners ships as the first one.


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I am

You are

He is

We are

They are

Tab. 3 Battleships verb to be

I have got

You have got

He has got

We have got

They have got

Tab. 4 Battleships to have got

3. Teacher gives the pupils worksheets with exercises and explains them:- Complete the sentence : pupils should fill the correct personal pronoun to complete

the sentence.- Correct the wrong verb : pupils must find the mistake and correct it.- Fill in to be or to have got in the correct form : pupils should understand the

meaning of the sentence and according to its meaning write the correct verb.

- Write a sentence: they should complete grammatically correct sentence beginningwith the certain personal pronoun.

a f i r e m a n

/ f i r e m

e n .

a s a

i l o r

/ s a i l o r s .

a d o c

t o r /

d o c t o r s .

a p a i n

t e r / p a i n

t e r s .

a d a n c e r /

d a n c e r s .

a b o o

k .

a p e n .

a p e n c i

l .

a p a l e t .

a b a .


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4. Pupils give the worksheets back to the teacher.5. Evaluation

The teacher collects the worksheets after the lesson and corrects them. She prepares thenotes. Here you can make a comment that the verbs are only in the affirmative and full forms.This could be taken only as an example and of course I suppose to extend it later. I set anexercise with the correction of the wrong form, someone could admit that it could bemystifying and pupils could fix the incorrect form. On the other hand, I think that they couldbe aware of the mistake.

Note: Thames

Part 5


Topic Work : possessive adjectives

Aims : to practise the possessive adjectives

Materials: handout and worksheet, dice with personal pronouns, dice with the pictures formpicture dictionary, small stripes with possessive adjectives.

Time: 45 min.

1. Motivation the teacher should remind the pupils that this the last lesson where theycould gain the last hint for the treasure.

2. The possessives the teacher gives the pupils the handout with possessive adjectives. Shegoes through it with the pupils.

3. A game pupils are in the groups of four, they have two dice and a set of stripes withpossesive adjectives. They must dice and choose one of the possessives and form agrammatically acceptable sentence (e.g. HE + picture of a cup = It is his cup).They get apoint for a correct sentence.


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Fig. 4. Dice and paper stripes for a game. (pictures: http://www.bestofkids.net/Coloriage-Vie-Quotidienne.shtml.)

4. Teacher gives pupils the worksheets with the exercises and explains them:- Write his , her , t heir or my : pupils are supposed to read the sentences and write the

correct possessive adjective suitable for the picture.- Write what they have got in the basket : pupils should form the grammaticaly

correct sentences.5. Pupils give the worksheets back to the teacher.6. Evaluation

The teacher collects the worksheets after the lesson and corrects them. She prepares the notes.This is the last note for finding the treasure. The teacher should appeal to the pupils to puttheir notes together and to start to think about the lost treasure at home. They can use Internet,books, encyclopedias. They are supposed to write the place on a small piece of paper. (Of course if they know it).

Note: ZOO

MYYOURHISHEROUR

THEIR

She

I You TheyHe

We


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The next lesson the teacher asks pupils if they know the place where the lost treasure ishidden and asks them to give her the papers. Being correct, pupils get a present (it could besome chocolate, a pen, or whatever else you want). For the rest of the classroom she givesthem the picture of the place where the treasure is hidden. If they know it, they could write iton the paper again and give it to the teacher. If they are correct, they will get another present.And for those who were not able to find out the place, you can give a really small present.

Finally, you can make a presentation of the Tower of London, to show all notes and theirconnection with the Tower of London.

5.2 Feedback

I asked my colleagues Mgr. Petra Kone n and Mgr. Ivana Hol apkov (both are the Englishteachers at primary school Z Teb , Horka-Domky) to try this game in their lessons. Theyteach in the 5th grade and with a great enthousiasm they promised me to do it. I did not tellthem how to use it, I only wanted them to grasp it on their own. Suprisingly, they tried it as agroup competition. They conceived it as a grammar revision with the intent on grammarexercises.

Here is their feedback:

Class: 5. A, 5. C No. of pupils: 16 + 17Level: A1Topic Work: The Lost TreasureTime: 3 x 45 min.Aim: Revision of grammar

The author of this bachelor thesis asked us to use this language game The Lost Treasure inthe English lesson of the 5th grade. We chose a form of groupwork, each group had 4-5members.


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First of all pupils were impressed by the introductory motivating story. However, the text wastoo complicated for them and it was neccessary to translate certain parts of the text. Then thetreasure hunt could start.

The first worksheet was really easy for them. They were really excited with the secondexercise. The groups competed among themselves who would find the way to the treasure asthe first one.

From the second chapter, each worksheet was introduced by the short explanation of thegrammar. Pupils gained a general information of the grammar being practised in the followingexercises.

A part with filling the articles was very popular with pupils, mainly thanks to the nicepictures of animals. This task was quite easy from our point of view.

According to our expectations, a handout with a practising of plurals showed us that regularnouns were easy but there were some difficulties with the irregular nouns and some pupilswere making mistakes.

The exercises orientated on practising the verbto be and to have got demonstrated thatunderstanding of the sentence structure is more complicated and not everybody was reallyfamiliar with it. However, they were successful because in each group there was somebodyleading the group and they eventually solved it.

The final chapter with possessive adjectives seemed to be the easiest one but our experience

was different. Our pupils had problems with this grammar and theywere reflected in solvingthe last worksheet.

The final task was to find the lost treasure according to the notes the groups gained throughthe game. With regard that not all the groups were absolutely successful in solving theworksheets, the number of the notes leading to the treasure was different. To cover the placewith the treasure would not be successful without the preceding knowledge about Londons

sights. Thanks to the use of the complex set of textbooks New English for You that we use


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6. Conclusion

Teaching grammar to young learners is a really hard job. However, to show pupils that even

learning grammar could be funny and interesting, should be one of the way to deal with thegrammar teaching. As it has been demonstrated in my bachelor thesis, using various methodsin teaching grammar can be more or less worthy and useful with young learners. On the otherhand, as it has been stated using games whilst teaching and explaining grammar rules orstructures, is definetely very effective and brings them amusement. I tried to point out thatwhilst playing a game, pupils feel released and relaxed, it helps them with their inhibitions.Learners are highly motivated and the level of stress is at the low level.

In the practical part I showed that teaching grammar through games is a successful andeffective approach . A grammar game The Lost Treasure was piloted with two groups of thefifth grade pupils. Both pupils and teachers were satisfied with the game and they wouldappreciate similar activites in their lessons of English.

I hope that involving games into English teaching will be really used in practice and I will

meet with it at primary schools and at my colleagues more often. It is definetely a good wayof making grammar more pleasant and accessible for young learners. Although thepreparation for teaching grammar by this way is a little bit time-consuming and it needs muchthinking and creative approach for the teacher, but it is definetely worthy because children donot consider grammar as the necessary evil.


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7. Resume

Zvre n prce Grammar Games in ELT se zabv vukou gramatiky se zam enm na

vuku pomoc her v hodinch anglickho jazyka na zkladn kole. Jejm clem je doshnoutucelenho pehledu - srovnn method a p stup k vuce gramatiky a zd razn n vhodnostizapojen her do vuky. Prvn st m prce se zabv teori vuky gramatiky a praktickstobsahuje jazykovou hru Ztracen poklad a plny hodin, ve kterch je nzorn ukzno, jak jemon s touto hrou pracovat.

Vuka gramatiky pomoc her je soust modernho vyuovn, kterou ci velmi oceuj.

Pomoc her se ci snze u a zskvaj kladn j vztah k uen se jazyk m. Nabvaj novznalosti a dovednosti. U se spoluprci a fair play. Pestoe je tento pstup velmi efektivn,stle je dobr kombinovat ho i s jinmi metodami.

The bachelor thesis Grammar Games in ELT deals with the teaching grammar with theintent on using games in English lessons at primary school. Its aim is to reach the complete

view the comparison of methods and approaches to grammar teaching and to emphasize thesuitability of using games in ELT. The first part of my thesis deals with the theory of teachinggrammar and the practical part deals with the language game The Lost Treasure and lessonplans where it is showed the possibility of how to work with this game.

Teaching grammar by using games is a part of modern teaching that pupils really appreciate.Pupils learn more easily and their relation to learning languages is more positive. They

acquire new knowledge and skills. They learn cooperation and fair play. Even though thisapproach is very effective, it is still good to combine it with other methods.


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8. List of References

Books:

Harmer, J. (1998). How to Teach English.Harlow: Longman.

Harmer, J. (1991).Teaching and Learning Grammar . New York: Longman.

Lindsay, C. Knight, P. (2006). Learning and Teaching English. A Course for Teachers.Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners: International Student Edition. (2002).Oxford: Macmillan Education.

Millarov, S. (1968).Psychologie hry. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

Petty, G. (1996). Modern vyuovn: praktick p ruka. Praha: Portl.

Scott, W. A. (1990).Teaching English to Children.New York: Longman.

Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Education.

Scrivener, J. (2003).Teaching Grammar.Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sesnan, B. (1997). How to Teach English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Thornbury, S. (1999). How to Teach Grammar.Harlow: Longman.Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Internet sources:

Klauer, C. (1998).Teach English. Using Games in Language Teaching. Retrieved on 3November 2009 from http://maxpages.com/teachenglish/Games_in_Language_Teaching

Lin, S. (2002).Encyclopedia of Educational Technology.Piaget's developmental stages. InB. Hoffman (Ed). Retrieved on 6 December 2009 fromhttp://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/piaget/start.htm

VP. VP.Retrieved on 2 March 2010 from http://www.mrackova.cz

VP. VP.Retrieved on 2 March 2010 from http://www.zsmseno.cz

Teaching Grammar with Games in the ESL Classroom.Teaching English Games. Learning isFun! Retrieved on 17 May 2009 from http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles

Vernon, S. A. (2006). Discover how your Pupils Can Learn to Speak English 2x as Fast

when theyre excited about Learning....Using Hundreds of Fun English Games.TeachingEnglish Games. Learning is Fun!Retrieved on 17 May 2009 from


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http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/4-12.htm

Sources for the pictures:

http://www.toolsforeducators.com/boardgames/ http://www.jecolorie.com/coloriages/animaux/index.php. http://www.bestofkids.net/Coloriage-Vie-Quotidienne.shtml.http://coloringpagesforkids.infohttp://www.coloriage-enfants.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London.


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9. Appendix

1. Worksheet 1 A board Game2. The Lost Treasure Chapters 1-5

grammar games in elt

Documents