Communicative Game-Based Learning in EFL Grammar Class: Suggested Activities and Students’ Perception
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30762/jeels.v5i2.509Keywords:
communicative language teaching, game-based activity, grammar instruction, grammar learningAbstract
The role of grammar instruction is inevitably important for second and/or foreign language mastery. Unfortunately, in practice, many English teachers in foreign language contexts such as in Indonesia still teach grammar deductively; that is, learners are provided the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then are asked to apply the rules to other examples. This particular method of teaching is believed to produce learners who cannot use the language communicatively although they have considerable knowledge of grammar rules. It has also been seen as contributing to learners’ passive participation and negative feelings towards grammar learning. The aims of this paper are to give an alternative solution to that problem by offering some ideas of game-based activities and to investigate students’ perception of the implementation of communicative game-based grammar learning. Using pre- and post-study questionnaire, the research study was conducted with 30 adult EFL learners taking an after-class English course. The findings indicated that these activities were effective in creating a non-threatening and more relaxing grammar classes, changing students’ negative perception of grammar learning and improving their perceived communicative skills.
References
Al-Mekhlafi, A. M., & Nagaratnam, R. P. (2011). Difficulties in teaching and learning grammar in an EFL context. International Journal of Instruction, 4(2), 69-92.
Baron, D. (1982). Grammar and good taste: Reforming the American language. New Jersey: Yale University Press.
Case, A. (2008). Games in adult ESL: Why does my teacher use games in an adult class? Retrieved from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/games-in-adult-esl.html
Celce-Murcia, M. (1985). Making informed decisions about the role of grammar in language teaching. TESOL Newsletter, 19(1), 4-5.
Chen, I-J. (2005). Using games to promote communicative skills in language learning. The Internet TESL Journal, 10(2), retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chen-Games.html
Chung, S. F. (2005). A communicative approach to teaching grammar: theory and practice. The English teacher, XXXIV, 33-50.
Corder, S. (1988). Pedagogic grammar. In W. Rutherford & M. Sharwood-Smith (Eds.), Grammar and second language teaching (pp. 123-145). New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.
Laurian-Fitzgerald, S. (2015). The effects of using games for English as a second language primary school learners. In I. Boldea (Ed.), The Proceedings of the International Conference Literature, Discourse and Multicultural Dialogue (pp. 773-784). Tîrgu-Mureș, Mureș. Available at https://old.upm.ro/ldmd/LDMD-03/Lds/Lds%2003%2076.pdf
Incecay, V. & Dollar, Y. K. (2011). Foreign language learners’ beliefs about grammar instruction and error correction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 3394-3398.
Kim, L. S. (1995). Creative games for the language class. Forum, 33(1), 35-36.
Lewis, M. (1993). The lexical approach: The state of ELT and the way forward. Hove, England: Language Teaching Publications.
Liu, Q., & Shi, J. (2007). An analysis of language teaching approaches and methods: Effectiveness and weakness. US-China Education Review, 4(1), 69-71.
Loewen, S., Li, S., Fei, F., Thompson, A., Nakatsukasa, K., Ahn, S. & Chen, X. (2009). Second language learners' beliefs about grammar instruction and error correction. The Modern Language Journal, 93(1), 91-104.
Mei, Y. Y., & Yu-jing, J. (2000). Using games in an EFL class for children. Daejin University ELT Research Paper. Retrieved from: http://english.daejin.ac.kr/~rtyson/fall2000/elt/games.html
Oxford, R. (2001). Integrated skills in ESL/EFL classroom. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-2/esl.htm.
Petraki, E., & Gunawardena, M. (2015). The key ingredients of an effective grammar lesson: Perceptions from high school ESL students. Asian EFL Journal, 17(3), 59-84.
Rasch, S. L. (2016). Students’ perception of grammar instruction: A study of the relation between students’ perception of grammar instruction and their multiple intelligences (Master thesis). Retrieved from https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/9736/thesis.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (1999). Approaches and methods in language teaching. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Savage, K. L., Bitterlin, G., & Price, D. (2010). Grammar matters: Teaching grammar in adult ESL programs. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Tuan, L. T., & Doan, N. T. M. (2010). Teaching English grammar through games. Studies in Literature and Language, 1(7), 61-75.
Wei, L. (2011) CLT in EFL context: Not a universal medicine. IDIOM, 41(2). Available at http://idiom.nystesol.org/articles/vol40-04.html
Widodo, H. P. (2006). Approaches and procedures for teaching grammar. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 5(1), 122-141.
Yolagedili, G., & Arikan, A. (2011). Effectiveness of using games in teaching grammar to young learners. Elementary Education Online, 10(1), 219-229.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 JEELS (Journal of English Education and Linguistics Studies)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
