EFL IN THE CLASSROOM-II

Assignment no. 2
Code no. 5662
Submitted to: Prof. ANWAR UL HAQ
sb!
Submitted by: Muhammad Kashif
MAjeed
Autumn 2018, 2ND semester
Diploma TEFL
Roll no. BR569068
 Abstract
To illustrate and teach young learners vocabulary for animals, clothing, and fruit for
example, using actual objects or facsimiles there of (pieces of clothing, toy animals etc. Bring in a
number of objects from everyday life, such as fruit, utensils or articles of clothing. Sitting in a
circle, pass one of the objects to the student on your left, saying the name of the object (for
example: «tomato») and then have the student pass on the object to the next one, speaking the
word and spellings as well. Have students keep passing on the object, repeating its name and
spelling, until it comes full circle back to teacher. The teacher may use photo of the article instead
of the real one.
The aim of this research is to prove that games are effective tools when devised to explain
vocabulary and the students feel free to remember their meanings. This research deals with a
literature review of teaching English vocabulary to young learners up to grade 5 using games.
Then it discusses the importance of using games in teaching vocabulary and in what way using
them is helpful. After that it investigates the practical implications of using games to teach
vocabulary that includes the implementation of vocabulary games and some examples of games
that could be used to teach vocabulary to children. And finally it also examines the challenges that
teachers face when teaching vocabulary using games to young learners

 Introduction
Teaching of English has become a state mark in Pakistani society. English is taught as a
main subject at kindergarten and elementary level. Pakistanis like many other non-native learners
of foreign languages engulf it easily, but they get bored very fast if the teacher is using the old
conventional methods and techniques. Over the last few decades, teaching English becomes a
phenomenon in Pakistan, especially to young learners. English is taught as a main subject in
primary schools now-a-days. Like many other children, Pakistanis accept new foreign languages
easily, but they get bored very fast if the teacher is teaching them using the old conventional
methods and techniques. Teachers are responsible for finding out interesting and attractive ways
to teach and motivate their students. Teachers of young learners should spend plenty of time
examining and understanding how their students operate and think.

Teaching young learners is very difficult as compared with teaching teenagers or adults
because young learners get distracted very fast. Children love to have fun and play even
 teaching them with the help of games is easier than teaching them in conventional ways. So the
teachers should choose suitable teaching methods that cater to children’s nature. Games are
one of the methods that could be used in order to avoid boredom in the classroom. It is
pertinent mention here that students at play group and nursery level often taught in the same
way i.e. with the help of toys and game. They learn fast and easy. They do not feel bored in the
classroom. Both students and teachers will benefit from including games during class time.
Furthermore, teachers may achieve all the educational outcomes through applying the use of
games especially when teaching vocabulary.

 Literature Review

 Teaching Young Learners

In the following section, young learners will be briefly defined the factors that might
influence their maturity. Characteristics of young learners with some points to be considered
when teaching young learners will be discussed as well. After that, teaching English to young
learners and the reasons for teaching the language at elementary level will be mentioned.

 Who Are Young Learners?

Young learners are agreed to be children from five or six years to twelve years old who
are in the beginning years of their elementary schooling. However, the age of children is not
necessarily an indicator of how mature they are. Philips (1993) stated that there are several
factors influencing the maturity of children. These factors include their culture, sex, environment
(urban or rural), and parents. Also, their development should be taken into consideration. Their
teachers are also to be considered as they are real Language Teachers or not.

Some children develop very fast, and others might need more time. A good teacher of
young learners should be aware of all their differences because understanding them can help
teachers deciding on activities to be used in their teaching processes. In other words, teachers’
decision must be influenced by his or her knowledge of the children’s attitudes, interests,
environment and circumstances instead of their physical age.

The focus in this paper is on children ageing from five to seven years who are
considered to be at the beginner level of schooling. According to Halliwell (1992), young
learners’ possess good meaning interpretation skills without understanding the actual meaning
of individual words. They use the limited vocabulary they know creatively and learn indirectly, as
opposed to directly. In addition, their imagination is always ready. They take great pleasure and
delight creating fun in what they perform and say.
 Yetenberg (1990) characterized young learners as having some problems
distinguishing the real world from an imaginary one that could make it difficult for their teacher to
understand their reality perception and cope with it. Young learners do not like to work alone, but
to be accompanied by others especially when playing or working. They use their language skills
before they are aware of them. Also, they learn by using body movement, mimics, and gestures.
Furthermore, children have a very short attention span, so teachers need to keep this in mind
when designing and choosing activities for their young students to be engaged in. It is imperative
to praise young learners because they become motivated when their teachers support their
enthusiasm.

Phillips (1993) assumed that younger children are going to be holistic learners if
they are taught in a very young age. They respond to the meanings that underlie the language
used without worrying about individual words or sentences. When teaching young learners,
Philips stressed that teachers should simplify the activities for them to understand what
the teacher expects from them. The tasks teachers choose must be amusing in a way that
young learners could easily reach the goals set for them. Also, the tasks must be motivating and
stimulating so that young learners could feel satisfied with what they have done.

Furthermore, Slattery (2001) highlighted some characteristics young learners have.

They are learners who are curious, imaginative, and playful. They develop as individuals very
quickly and enjoy routines and repetitions. They learn by listening, imitating, watching, mimicing
and doing things. Due to their short attention span, they need variety of activities. Also, they talk
about what they did and understand in their mother tongue which helps them to learn.

 Teaching English to Young Learners

In order for children to acquire English, they have to experience and hear the
language when they are small. In general, it is agreed upon that they learn languages better
than adults because children have more time for learning, and do not have any worries or
responsibilities. Their memory is sharp and their approach for learning is carrying on. They learn
while playing and mainly do not understand the exact meanings but they keep on learning. This
may be a natural phase of learning but they do it intentionally or unintentionally. Also, they are
better at learning any language when they are exposed to it naturally for a long-term.

English is taught to young learners at elementary (primary) level for several reasons.
According to Brumfit, Moon and Tongue (1991), children need to be exposed to the language
and its culture from an early age in order to grow up with tolerance and understanding for others.
They must be well aware of their own culture so that they can also understand the difference of
their mother language and the target language.

 Teaching vocabulary
Young learners need to pay attention to some elements of English language such as
pronunciation, spelling, structure, and vocabulary. To master English skills, students must know
the vocabulary of the language i.e. a list of words with their meaning because it supports their
skills’ improvement (Linse, 2005). In order to speak and write English, children need to learn one
to two thousand words (Cameron, 2001).

In this section, how vocabulary is learned will be discussed briefly and some methods
and approaches of how to teach them will be put forth.

 What Is a Game?
Jones (1980) stated that one or more players could play in a game to compete or co-operate
according to a set of rules. Rogers (1981) said that gaming is goal-defined, rule-governed and
competitive that has a closure and engage the students. Gibbs (1981) defined games as an
activity carried out by cooperating or competing decision-makers who want to achieve their
objectives following a set of rules. Games are closed activities that have a beginning and an end
with a winner who defines the end of the game (Rixon, 1981).

 Teaching Vocabulary Using Games

This is suggested by television program hosts, who control conversations by the use of the
microphone. Put students in groups, and give one student the microphone (imaginary, or a
real microphone, disconnected, or something to represent a microphone). Say a group of six
students are talking about 'holidays', the person with the microphone can move around the
group giving different people the chance to speak, ensuring everyone gets an equal chance to
contribute.

From the explanation above, we analyzed that the implementation of game is useful for
students; it makes them enjoy learning. Games are one of material that can be used to teach
students in any topic of lesson, it can use to teach vocabulary, grammar like preposition and
imperative sentence and games also can be used to teach all four abilities. The steps of
implementation of games in improving ESL / EFL classes are: first, teacher prepares some
material that needed to reach the goal. Second, the teacher shows the material to the
students, and then asks them to mention the name of the material. Third, teacher explains the
definition of procedure text, after that the teacher gives an example about a certain procedure
text, then the teacher gives an example by demonstrating every steps. By presenting
 information through authentic materials, a game helps to make English language input as
comprehensible as possible and to build “an associative bridge between the classroom and
the world”.
Halliwell (1991) argued that due to the creative language skill young learners bring into
the classroom, teachers have to provide them with a communicative atmosphere where they
could express themselves. Also, because the language used in any activity is unpredictable,
teachers have to encourage them to actively construct language for themselves. That is why
games are important and useful. Not only they are fun, but also they create the desire to
communicate and create predictability

 Why Using Games in Teaching Young Learners?

Games avoid monotony in the classrooms. They help the students to keep intact. Games
are used to assist young learners during their language learning. They make classes entertaining
and sustain effort and interest. They create an atmosphere of meaningful communication where
young learners communicate before, during, and after the game (Wright, Betteridge, & Buckby,
2005). This atmosphere helps in forming comprehensible input including what they understood as
they listen and read (Krashen, 1985) and comprehensible output including writing and speaking
(Swain, 1993). Also, games give a rise to emotions when language instruction becomes serious
and dry (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000 and Ersoz, 2000).

Methdology:

Our study is quantitative study because we can express it into numeric forms. Our
population is students of class 5th which are equal to 35.We make 5 groups of 7 students each. If
we talk about time frame of our study it having short time horizon and our study is experimental
study we have to do experiments on class 5th through different games for data analysis we used
percentage method to find out our results findings and conclusions. In this study two games are
discussed which may helpful to increase the efficiency of students and their vocabulary as well.

In first game a circle of students is organized where is suggested by television program

hosts, who control conversations by the use of the microphone. Put students in groups, and give
one student the microphone (imaginary, or a real microphone, disconnected, or something to
represent a microphone). Say a group of six students are talking about 'holidays', the person with
the microphone can move around the group giving different people the chance to speak, ensuring
everyone gets an equal chance to contribute.
In the second game same like as a first game we take a single student from each group as
a sample and make a circle of these students a student from 5th class is asked to stand in the
middle of this circle and handover a picture (like tomato) randomly toward any other. The person
who is handing over the picture will speak an alphabet for the fellow who is holding the picture. He
will speak 2 words starting with the same alphabet as spoken by the host.

Data analysis:

Our total students in the class 5th were 35. First we evaluate our students without any
games and activities than we apply above mentioned activities and games in our class and than
assess their performance .To assess their performance we held these games for 4 days in our
class. On very first day only 05 students out of total students were successful to justify their
vocabulary through these games. On the second day same games were held and performance
was assessed, our result was 20 students on 3rd day we again implemented these activities in the
5th class and our result was 25 students on 4th day our result was 33 students. We repeated
these activities daily in the class for four days and noted down our results. Our performance was
gradually increasing through these games through out. We calculated sum of theirs daily averages
and divided this sum by total numbers of days in the week our result was 20.75 percent which was
1.25 percent on the first day. In order to calculate daily average we divided the successful
students who successfully justify their vocabulary through games by total numbers of students in
the both circles .Than we accumulated these averages and divided by total numbers in four days.

 Conclusion

When teaching young learners vocabulary using games, teachers must be patient in
finding new and interesting ways so that students enjoy learning. Games can help young
learners to learn their vocabulary effectively. As explained above, there are five games amongst
many to be used to teach vocabulary e.g. Hot Potatoes, Memory Challenge, Last One Standing,
Pictionary, and Bingo. Teacher should consider time and materials when designing or choosing
the game. Although games have advantages and disadvantages when used to teach
vocabularies, using them will enable young learners to acquire the lesson with fun where they
can remember all the vocabulary easily.

Though games are very popular among young learners, they should not be
overused. They should be chosen appropriately to students’ level, interest, and context.
Furthermore, it must be concerned with the presented topic and vocabularies. Any game can be
effective when it is used suitably to the topic and is controlled by wise and skilled teacher.
Recommendations:

Correct pronunciation:

A skillful teacher can teach English particularly a correct pronunciation can be learn from a teacher
whose own pronunciation remarkable and knows the sound of English. It needs a special skills
and practical speaking in new language .The teacher should have the means of repetition and
correct in a vocabulary.

Enough vocabulary:

The enough vocabulary is the main element to develop the ability to speaking English Sense of
sentence making: it is an art of speaking English by making sentences that needs a perfect
vocabulary.

Command of English Idioms:

The English idioms are the basis of English vocabulary therefore, the teachers should have
a command on idioms.

Skilful Teacher:

The teacher should be skilful to teach vocabulary to the learners through games.
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