Games in Senior English Grammar Teaching

梅原

【Abstract】There have been many problems with senior English grammar teaching. Teachers focus more attention on the dull mechanical drills. Students always find themselves forced to take seemingly endless grammar exercises. Aimed at raising the efficiency in grammar class and arousing students learning interest in English， the “game-teaching” method is recommended here.

【Key word】Game-teaching； Senior English； Grammar teaching

I. Introduction

1.1 Existing problems with senior English grammar teaching

With the carry-out of the new curriculum which emphasizes the language situational and communicative functions， English grammar has combined with interlanguage Pragmatics.

As can be seen from the 2012-2017 NMET， grammar items such as Inversion， Subjunctive mood， Attributive clauses and noun clauses still play an important role in the examination paper. In addition to the multiple choices， grammar items appear everywhere in the examination paper， including the cloze test， reading comprehension， task-based reading. Therefore， teachers always attach more importance to grammar teaching. However， since a long time ago， there have been many problems with senior English grammar teaching.

With the increasingly complicated grammar items， teachers focus more attention on the dull mechanical drills， in hopes of helping students well-prepared for the university-entrance examinations. Therefore， students always find themselves forced to take seemingly endless grammar exercises. Students interest in English learning is becoming less and less. They are not learning English for fun and future use， but only for passing the examinations.

When asked why not try some interesting ways when teaching grammar to arouse students interest in English learning， some teachers only shake their heads， saying thats because of limited teaching time and too many teaching contents. Theyre always busy catching up with the course schedule， leaving no time for them to reflect where the problem lies. As for the carry-out of various teaching activities， they even say its a waste of time and has nothing to do with students performance. Seeing students decline in the performance， what they are doing is just give students more and more exercises to ensure they can keep the importance in mind. Whether students can understand is none of teachers concern. As it is， it is not the process of teaching and learning but the result of the examinations that attracts teachers attention， resulting in students learning English more and more passively.endprint

1.2 Effective approaches to the existing problems

What is the best way to help students learn English grammar interestedly and efficiently？How to make grammar teaching and learning a kind of enjoyment for both teachers and students？I strongly recommend “Game-teaching”， which serves as the lubricant between interest and marks. When various games are carried out in class， students will find grammar learning more interesting， thus devoting more spare time to learning English after class. Theyll seek more exercises actively and effectively， making rapid and great progress in the future.

II. What is “Game-teaching”？

“Game-teaching” is an interesting way of teaching which benefits from various games. Games can be carried out in all teaching situations， including listening， new words learning and grammar teaching. With the help of games， students will learn dull and painful knowledge happily and actively. They will develop a strong desire for English learning. Their learning drive will be stimulated.

III. How to carry out “Game-teaching” in grammar

3.1 Game 1：English song

While teaching some important grammar items， the English song is a good way to introduce them. Students are required to complete some tasks while enjoying the English song. Following is an example of introducing “Object complement”.

Teaching target：M3U3—Object complement

Teaching procedures：

1. Listen to the following English song — Only love， and fill in the blanks to complete the words of the song.

2. Discussion：

Q1：What do the 10 blanks have in common？（They are all verbs）

Q2：What can verbs function as in a sentence？

Q3：Can you recognize the functions of the 10 verbs in this song？

Q4：How can the object complement be formed？

Formation：Verb+Object+Object complement（adj./n./prep./do/to do/doing/done）

3.2 Game 2：Funny Translation

“Funny translation” is also a good way to teach grammar. Students show great interest in these sentences. Therefore， it becomes easier for them to grasp the knowledge.

Teaching target：M3U1U2—Noun clauses

Teaching procedures：

1. Discussion with partners， trying to translate the following sentences

（1）I know that you know that I know.

（2）What I firmly believe is that never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.

（3）He often says that he can can a can into a can.

（4）That he saw a saw saw a saw is unbelievable.endprint

（5）What I want to tell you is that to China for china， China with china， dinner on china.

（6）Ive got a warning that NOW NO SWIMS ON MON.

（7）Word came that he had a big nose.

2. Discuss with partners again， trying to recognize the noun clauses.

3.3 Game 3：Video

When teaching grammar items， teachers always hold the opinion that Video has nothing to do with their teaching， although they know students are extremely interested in watching videos. Actually， video is a good way which makes great contributions to grammar teaching. Following is an example.

Teaching target：M1U1U2U3—The attributive clause

Teaching procedures：

1. Enjoy a video：“The pleasant goat and big big wolf”

2. Discussion：Can you tell these goats （the pleasant goat；the beautiful goat；the lazy goat；the boiled goat；the slow goat；the warm goat）？（Get the students to describe them， using the attributive clause）

3.4 Game 4：Running dictation

Its a flexible game that can be carried out at any time. The first time that it is performed in

grammar teaching， teachers will find it unexpectedly good. Here is one example of grammar teaching.

Teaching target：M5U1U2U3—Nonpredicate verbs

Teaching procedures：

1. Divide students into 6 groups

2. Get the students in each group to run to the paper on the wall one by one， reporting one sentence on the paper to the next student so that he/she can write it down on the paper. （While students are running and having a dictation of the sentences one by one， a piece of exciting music is played to add to the happy atmosphere.） Following are the sentences on the paper put up on the wall：

（1）Facing with a difficult situation， Ann decided to ask her Father for advice.

（2）A boy called himself Tonny is now crying on the playground.

（3）Devoted himself to reading a novel， she didnt notice it began to rain.

（4）Shocking by the article， the woman wrote a letter to the newspaper.

（5）The factory kept releasing smoke， made the air dirty.

（6）He sat there， not known what to say and what to do.

（7）Were making bigger holes in the nets， hoped to avoid catching fish that are not fully grown.

（8）An earthquake hit Sichuan in 2008， destroyed the whole Yingxiu village.

3. Check which group has finished the task first

4. Get the students to read the sentences on their paper， finding out mistakes in the sentences and correct them. （The mistakes are all related to Nonpredicate verbs.）endprint

3.5 Game 5：Lie detector

In this game， students act as a detective to find out the lie that the teacher has told.

Teaching target：M8U3—Inversion

Teaching procedures：

1. Show students 4 sentences about myself

（1） I have never given up the habit of running 800 metres every day.

（2） A beautiful lake lies in front of my house in the countryside.

（3） If my wife had enough time last night， she would have finished knitting her 10th sweater.

（4） My son is allowed to watch TV only at weekends.

2. Get the students to ask me any questions about the 4 sentences to help them find out which of the 4 descriptions about me is a lie.

3. Get the students to rewrite the 4 sentences， using “inversion”

IV. Reflection

Grammar learning is difficult work. Effort is required at every moment and it will be maintained over a long period of time. Game helps and encourages many learners to sustain their interest to study. Game also helps teachers create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. Well-chosen game is invaluable as they give students a break， at the same time， it allows students to practice language skills. Game is highly motivating because it is amusing and interesting， meanwhile， is challenging. Furthermore， it employs meaningful and useful language in real contexts. It also encourages and increases cooperation.

With the help of various games， grammar class has been popular among my students. Theyre always interested in it， thus devote more time to grammar exercises， willingly and happily. Theyre active both in and after class. Whenever theyre in trouble， theyll turn to me immediately. Many of them have made rapid progress， making them more confident in grammar learning. I hope more English teachers will try the “game-teaching” when teaching grammar in the future.

References：

[1]“Success of Game Teaching”（By Wu Weijun；Jounal：Modern enterprises education 2003.1）.

[2]“The Role of Game in English Teaching”（By Chen Hu）

[3]“A Challenging Activity in Teaching Grammar in High School in China”（By Mao Jiatian）.endprint