SKKN Using language games to motivate the 10 - Form students in speaking lessons at Đào Duy Từ high school

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART A: INTRODUCTION	
Rationale	
Aims of the study	
Design of the study	
PART B: DEVELOPMENT	
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW	
1. Stages of a CLT speaking lesson..
2. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity.
3. Problems with speaking activities..
4. Types of language games	
CHAPTER II: SAMPLE GAMES TO MOTIVATE 10TH-FORM STUDENTS IN 
 SPEAKING LESSONS..
1. Warms-up	
2. Pre-speaking stage	
3. While-speaking stage	
4. Post-speaking stage	
CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS OF THE 10TH-FORM SURVEYED STUDENTS
Students’ feelings and attitudes towards language games exploited by the teacher..
Data analysis of the 10th-form surveyed students..
a. At the beginning of the school year (Before using language games)
At the end of the school year (After using language games )
PART C: CONCLUSION	
REFERENCES	
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1.	Rationale.
	In the globalization age today, English is considered as a global means of communication. When someone is able to communicate well in English, they not only easily connect with people in many different cultures around the world but they also have greater job opportunities. Therefore, in some recent years, the focus of teaching has been promoting oral skills in order to respond to the students' needs for effective communication.
	However, due to some objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning English in general and teaching and learning speaking in particular does not come up to the study aims. Despite teachers' efforts to provide students with opportunities to develop their communicative skills, how to teach and learn speaking effectively is still a challenging question to both teachers and students at many high schools in Vietnam. 
	At Đào Duy Từ high school, the situation is the same. For most students in 2 groups 10B5 and 10B6 I am allotted to teach in the school year 2017-2018, they find speaking especially important yet most challenging one. It has been proved that students in these groups have some problems with speaking activities such as: inhibition, nothing to say, low or uneven participation, mother-tongue use and some students got into a habit of learning “mute English” which is obviously harmful to a language learner. It also seems to me that the techniques exploited during a speaking activity such as: simulations, discussions...are not really effective. Therefore, it is a necessity to find a supplementary technique used in teaching speaking. In language teaching, language games have proved themselves not merely as "time filler activities" but as an important factor which can create more chances and interest to motivate students to speak. 
	All the above-mentioned reasons and factors have inspired me to write the study with the title "Using language games to motivate the 10-form students in speaking lessons at Đào Duy Từ high school"
2. Aims of the study.
	The study is aimed at providing some suggestions and implications for the improvement of speaking teaching at Đào Duy Từ high school by using language games in addition to other techniques.
3.	Design of the study
This paper is divided into three main parts:
Part A is the INTRODUCTION. In this part, the rationale, the aims, and also its design are presented.
Part B is the DEVELOPMENT which includes 3 chapters. Chapter I deals with the literature review that is relevant to the purpose of the study: speaking skill and language games. Chapter II is by far the most dominant one in which some suggestions on using language games are made and some sample language games exploited during all stages of the lessons are provided. Chapter III is the data analysis of the 10th-form surveyed students. 
Part C is the CONCLUSION which includes the summary of the study.
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Stages of a CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) speaking lesson.
According to Methodology course 1- Teaching The Skills (Hanoi 2002) page 42-43, a CLT speaking lesson should have warm-up and three main stages: pre, while and post.
Warm- up is often a short and fun game which the teacher can use with his students. The purpose of warms up is to prepare them to learn by stimulating their minds. This stage prepares students by getting them to think about the topic or situation before they speak about it.
The pre-speaking stage: Pre-speaking tasks can be brainstorming or discussion tasks, where students collect all their ideas on the topic; vocabulary preparation tasks, where the teacher pre-teaches key vocabulary to help students express their ideas more easily or train students with pronunciation drill so that they can speak English in good stress and intonation and this will help them speak out their ideas in English easily and fluently. In this stage, the teacher will have to set up a pre task, organize pair/group work and give clear instructions about the task. 
The while-speaking stage: At this stage the teacher lets students work with each other without interfering with correcting any mistakes in order not to stop students from being influent. She/ he just gives assistance when/if necessary. At the while-speaking stage, the teacher doesn't have to do a lot of teaching because his/her students will be working on the while-task by themselves, individually or in groups. In stead, the teacher will have to do a lot of monitoring and assisting weaker students who are having difficulty completing the task.
	The post-speaking stage: The post-speaking stage is like "the follow-up stage”. After students have practised speaking skill in the while-speaking stage, they do an extension speaking activity. This helps students take the information from other groups or whatever they have produced in the while-speaking stage, and do something meaningful with it. At this stage, the teacher gets students to report their work and lets the whole class share what they have got from pair/group work. The teacher might give feed back, correct serious mistakes here and give students marks.
2. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity
There are many characteristics of a successful speaking activity which are introduced by Ur (1996) as follows:
Learners talk a lot: As much as possible of the period time allotted to the activity is in fact occupied by learner talk. This may seem obvious, but often most time is taken up with the teacher and talk and pauses.
Participation is even: Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talkative participants: all get a chance to speak and contributions are fairly evenly distributed.
Motivation is high: Learners are eager to speak because they are interested in the topic and have something new to say about it, or because they want to contribute to achieving a task objective.
Language is of an acceptable level: Learners express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other and of an acceptable level of language accuracy.
	In practice, however, few classroom activities succeed in satisfying all the criteria mentioned above. Therefore, language teachers should make great efforts to employ a variety of effective techniques to create some of the mentioned-above criteria.
3. Problems with speaking activities
	According to Ur (1996), there still exist some problems with speaking activities as follows:
	Inhibition: Unlike reading, writing and listening activities, speaking requires some degree of real-time exposure to an audience. Learners are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language in the classroom: worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts.
Nothing to say: Even if they are not inhibited, you often hear learners complain that they cannot think of anything to say: they have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking.
Low or uneven participation: Only one participant can talk at a time if he or she is to be heard, and in a large group this means that each one will have only very little time talking. This problem is compounded by the tendency of some learners to dominate, while others speak very little or not at all.
Mother-tongue use: In classes where all, or a number of, the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it: because it is easier, because it feels unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language, and because they feel less "exposed" if they are speaking their mother tongue. If they are talking in small groups it can be quite difficult to get some classes-particularly the less disciplined or motivated ones- to keep to the target language.
	In order for the learners to develop their communicative skills, it is advised that the language teachers should help the learners to overcome these problems with speaking activities.
4. Types of language games.
	Classifying language games into categories can be very difficult because categories often overlap. Therefore, different linguists use different ways to classify language games. According to Hadfiled (1987), "language games can be divided into two further categories: Linguistic games and communicative games. Linguistic games focus on accuracy, such as applying the correct antonym. On the other hand, communicative games focus on successful exchange of information and ideas, such as two people identifying the differences between their two pictures which are similar to one another but not exactly alike. Hadfield (1987) also classifies language games into many more categories as follows:
	Sorting, ordering or arranging games. For example, students have a set of cards with different products of them, and they sort the cards into products found at a grocery store and products found at a department store.
Information gap game: In such games, one student has access to the information
Which is not held by the other student, and this student must acquire the information 
to complete the task successfully. Information gap games can involve a one-way 
information gap or a two way information gap.
Guessing games: In these games, someone knows something and the others must find out what it is.
Matching games: As a name applies, participants need to find a match for a word, picture or card.
Labeling games: These are form of matching, in that participants match labels and pictures
Puzzle-solving games: The participants in the game share or pool information in order to solve a problem or a mystery.
Role play games: The terms role play, drama and simulation are sometimes used interchangeably but can be differentiated. Role play can involve students playing roles that they do not play in real life, such as dentists, while simulations can involve students performing roles that they already play in real life or might be likely to play, such as a customer at a restaurant. Dramas are normally scripted performances, whereas in role plays and simulations, students come up with their own words, although preparation is often useful.
CHAPTER II: SAMPLE GAMES TO MOTIVATE 10TH-FORM STUDENTS 
IN SPEAKING LESSONS
1. Warm-ups
	A warm up activity is often a short and fun game which the teacher can use with his students. The purpose of warms up is to prepare them to learn by stimulating their minds. Warm ups should last about five minutes. 
	 Unit 5: Technology and you
Type of games: Matching games Classroom management: Group work
Material: Pictures and cards	Time: 3-5 minutes
Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of four or five students. The teacher gives each group a set of pictures of modern inventions and slips of paper containing their names. Students work in groups and quickly match each modern invention with their name. Which group finishes first and has all the correct answers will be the winner. The teacher then can ask students what they know about the uses of these modern inventions.
Cards:
Radio
Television
Air-conditioner
Fridge
Fax machine
Electric cooker
Cell phone
Washing machine
	Unit 6: An Excursion
Type of games: Puzzle-solving activity 	Material: A crossword handout 
Class management: Group work 	Time: 5-7 minutes
Procedure: The teacher gives out a crossword which has 7 horizontal lines and one vertical line. The word in the vertical line is made up of 7 letters from the 7 horizontal lines. The teacher asks students to work in groups and find the words. Each correct word in the horizontal line gets 10 points and the one in the vertical line gets 40 points.
C
A
V
E
I
N
E
V
N
U
S
E
U
R
E
S
I
O
A
GP
O
P
E
O
G
R
A
P
Y
R
S
R
X
D
N
H
I
C
A
G
O
M
U
N
T
A
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N
1. A natural place below the earth surface or in the mountain
2. Light of the sun
3. A large natural stream of water
4. A short journey usually for pleasure
5. A temple or sacred tower in Asian countries.
6. The science that studies the surface of the earth and its associated physical, 
 biological, economic, political features.
7. A hill of impressive height.
Unit 13: Films and cinema
Type of games: Sorting, arranging games Class management: Pair work
Material: film posters and handout	Time: 5 minutes
Procedure: The teacher asks students to work in pairs. Teacher sticks the following posters on the blackboard or alternatively print these posters and distribute them to students. The teacher then gives the handout to the pairs and asks students to match the film with the correct types.
Film
Handout
Type
Film
Science fiction film
Cartoon
Horror film
Detective film
Thriller
Romantic comedy
War film
Action film
Unit 14: World Cup
Type of games: Puzzle-solving activity 	Material: A slip of charts and cards 
Class management: Group work 	Time: 5-7 minutes
	Procedure: The teacher divides the class into groups of three or four students and give each group a copy of chart and a copy of cards in which clues are given. Each group has to work to find out who won the cup. The first group to find the correct answer will be the winner.
Chart
Fill in the names of the football teams on the chart and thus find out who won the cup
Quarter final
Semi-final
Final
	2
	0
	1
	1
	2
	1
	4
	1
	3
	3
	0
	2
	2
	3
Clues:
England lost one goal in the semi-final
France scored 2 goals in the quarter final
Brazil beat the Netherlands
Germany scored one goal less than the team that beat them in the semi-final
Spain played England in the quarter-final
Italy beat Argentina by twice as many goals in the quarter final
The Netherlands lost 0-1 in the quarter final
2. Pre-pre-speaking stage
This stage is carried out before students actually speak. The pre-speaking activities are aimed at preparing students with everything necessary for speaking. They also involve thought and reflection, and provide opportunities for students to plan and organize for speaking. Normally, pre-speaking stage often lasts from five to fifteen minutes depending on each lesson.	
Unit 9: Undersea world (speaking task2)
Type of games: Labeling games	Class management: Whole class
Material: pictures	Time: 7 minutes
Procedure: 
Procedure: The teacher prepares a set of pictures of sea problems. (See the pictures above). Then the teacher gives out one by one and asks students to tell what it is about. The students raise their hands to describe the pictures and the teacher will write these ideas on the board. Then the teacher states that they are some threats to the health of the oceans. They are: Oil is spilled from tankers (picture 1); whales and sharks are still hunted for food, medicine and other products (picture 2); explosives are used to catch fish and other sea animal (picture 3); beaches are filled with plastic bags, pieces of glass and cigarette butts (picture 4). The teacher requires students to discuss the consequences that might occur and offer some possible solutions to these problems. 
	Unit 14: World Cup (speaking task 1)
Type of games: Role-play	Class management: Group work
Material: handouts	Time: 7-10 minutes
Procedure: The teacher asks students to name four national football teams in the photos on page in the textbook. They are: The English national football team (photo 1), the French national football team (photo 2), the Italian national football team (photo 3) and the German national football team (photo 4)
Then the teacher divides the class into 4 groups namely: The English team's fans, the French team's fans, the Italian team's fans and the German team's fans respectively. The teacher will take turns to read the questions to each group and the students in each group are supposed to answer them. One point is given for each correct answer. And if all the members in one group fail to give correct answer, the other groups can score points by raising their hands to answer the questions. The winner is the one that gets the highest point.
	Finally, the teacher can call the representatives from four groups to talk about their favorite teams, using the information they have gained via the quiz. They are encouraged to add some further information that they know to the talk.
World Cup quiz for each national football team
Questions for the English team's fans
1.	How many World Cup tournaments has England participated in up to 2006?
2.	How many times has England won the trophy up to 2006?
3.	Who was the captain of the English team in World Cup 2006?
4.	Who was the top scorer in English team in World Cup 2006?
5.	Who was the head coach of the English team in World Cup 2006? 
team in World Cup 2006?
Questions for the German team's fans
1.	How many World Cup tournaments has German participated in up to 2006?
2.	How many times has Germany won the trophy up to 2006?
3.	Who was the captain of the German team in World Cup 2006?
4.	Who was the top scorer in German team in World Cup 2006?
5.	Who was the head coach of the German team in World Cup 2006?
team in World Cup 2006?
Questions for the Italian team's fans
1.	How many World Cup tournaments has Italy participated in up to 2006?
2.	How many times has Italy won the trophy up to 2006?
3.	Who was the captain of the Italian team in World Cup 2006?
4.	Who was the top scorer in Italian team in World Cup 2006?
5.	Who was the head coach of the Italian team in World Cup 2006? 
team in World Cup 2006?
Questions for the French team's fans
1.	How many World Cup tournaments has France participated in up to 2006?
2.	How many times has France won the
trophy up to 2006?
3.	Who was the captain of the French team in World Cup 2006?
4.	Who was the top scorer in French team in World Cup 2006?
5.	Who was the head coach of the French team in World Cup 2006?
team in World Cup 2006?
3. While-speaking stage
	This stage is the main part of a speaking lesson in which students use language input provided in pre-speaking stage to express personal feelings, ideas, or viewpoints, to converse and discuss or to describe one event, to tell a story, etc.. Time spent on this stage is nearly twenty to thirty minutes.
	Unit 3: People's background (speaking task 2)
Type of games: Role-play	Class management: Group work
Material: handouts	Time: 15-17 minutes
Procedure: The teacher asks students to work in pairs: one plays the role of Ms. Khanh Chi, an MC in "The road to Olympia", while the other plays the role of an Olympia contestant. Teacher distributes the interview form to each pair and asks them to interview the contestants and takes notes the answers. The students can change their roles and make another interview. Then the teacher asks some students to report what they have gained from the interview, 
INTERVIEW FORM
 When were you born?	
 Where were you born? 	
 Where do you live? 	
 Can you tell me about your parents? 	
 How many brothers and sisters do you have?
 Which school do you go to? 	
 How do you study/ work at school?	
 Do you join all school activities? 	
 What su