Использование игровых методов и приемов на уроках английского языка как способ повышения мотивации к обучению

Бильтаева Мөльдір Сериковна

Преподаватель английского языка

№72 школа-лицей

Using game methods and techniques in English lessons as a way to increase motivation to learn

Annotation. The article is devoted to the use of game methods and techniques in the process of teaching English at school. The author proves that the topic of using games in the classroom is relevant in modern pedagogical reality by examples, since the game is one of the most important means of physical, mental and moral education of a child, it helps to activate his activity, develops cognitive activity, observation, attention, memory, thinking, creative imagination, maintains interest in what is being studied, relieves fatigue, which means it makes the learning process more entertaining for children.

Keywords: game methods, teaching, means of education, learning process.

A game method in language teaching has established itself as one of the most effective, since it allows to create a more comfortable environment in the classroom, liberates students, increases their motivation for learning activities, improves the climate in the group The use of games in the educational process helps to activate the child’s activity, develops cognitive activity, observation, attention, memory, thinking, maintains interest in the subject, develops creative imagination, imaginative thinking, relieves fatigue in children, as the game makes the learning process entertaining for the child.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the use of gaming technologies in the school system in grades 4 and 5, to confirm the fact that their use is important for students and promotes the development of memory, imagination, creative thinking of children, expands their vocabulary, instills interest in the English language and culture of English-speaking countries.

Since classes are mixed in a comprehensive school, and, as a result, language abilities can be very different, in the process of using standard programs, many students have difficulties in assimilating educational material. Interest in the subject is fading. The game is defined as a form of activity in conditional situations aimed at recreating and assimilating social experience fixed in socially fixed ways of carrying out objective actions, in subjects of science and culture. The game is a specific activity that includes all the components of the activity, and the result is emotional saturation.

These are just some definitions of the concept of the game, it is important to note here that they are all similar in essence. Despite some differences, researchers of the problem are united by the fact that the game is a way of personal development.

The game, as we know, is the main activity of the child. It is a kind of common language for all the students. At the same time, the game is a teaching tool that activates the mental activity of students, makes the learning process attractive and interesting, and has an emotional impact on students. This is a powerful incentive to master the language. According to psychologists (A. A. Leontiev et al.), the motivation created by the game should be presented along with communicative, cognitive and aesthetic motivation. It constitutes the motivation of the teaching [1. C. 10–11].

Games are an active way to achieve many educational goals such as:

– consolidate the previous material;

– the game is a very successful solution to repeat previous topics;

– the game is an excellent way to spur students, get them to work actively in class when they have to do less pleasant things;

– a game is a technique for changing activities after a difficult oral exercise or other tedious activity;

– games help to relieve stiffness, especially if you exclude the element of competition from them or minimize it;

– fast, spontaneous play increases attention, enlivens, improves perception;

– the game allows the teacher to correct the mistakes of students quickly, along the way, without letting them take deep root in the memory;

– games help to remember deeply and for a long time. Students usually remember what they enjoyed doing;

– games make the learning process, sometimes difficult and tedious, fun, and this increases the motivation to learn;

– students are very active during the game, because no one wants a pleasant pastime to end quickly, therefore, games force them to fight [9. C. 34].

Currently, there are many types of games, but the following groups can be distinguished among them:

1) phonetic;

2) lexical;

3) playing with phrases;

4) grammar games;

5) games for learning to read;

6) games for learning listening;

7) games for learning to speak;

8) mixed games;

9) communicative games [5. C. 118-119].

In language games, the main material is the language itself. Different linguistic skills are developed in different games: Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing. However, it is important to modify the game, adjusting it to main needs. Here are examples of games related to each of the above.

 Phonetic games include, for example, puzzle games, imitation games, competition games, games with objects, mindfulness games.

While teaching vocabulary, it is advisable to use card games, riddles, crosswords, chain-words, games such as “Find a word”, “Find a proverb”. Games of such types as “Auction” or “Duel”, “Lottery”, “Chain of words on a topic” are very common. Among grammatical games, the following can be used: “Find out who is speaking” (Guess who is speaking), “Where were you?” (working out The Past Simple Tense), “Hide-and-Seek in a Picture”, “Lazy-bones” (I’ll ask you to do smth. Say that you did it yesterday – I’ll ask you to do something. Say that you already did it yesterday) [3. C. 121].

Process of reading includes games that simulate real life situations, for example: “At an eye doctor’s appointment”, “TV Announcer Contest”, “Playing the computer (Computer game)” [3. C. 125]

While teaching listening, it is necessary to take into account that speech is one of the most important means of communication. Communication can be carried out orally and in writing. Oral speech is a means of carrying out two types of activity – speaking and listening, since the use of oral speech for communication implies both its generation and its understanding. The mechanisms of speaking and listening are closely related to each other, sometimes even coincide. Therefore, it is impossible to teach listening without speaking, and speaking without listening. Listening training should include:

– formation of mechanisms of speech hearing, memory, probabilistic forecasting;

– students listening to authentic foreign speech at a certain pace;

– the use of situationally conditioned oral speech works (from a word to a sentence and to super-phrasal units);

– study of colloquial clichés and everyday phrases;

– extensive use of visual and other supports in listening.

In general, learning to listen in games brings the greatest effect, since the game activates mental activity, makes the learning process more attractive and interesting, and the difficulties encountered during learning are overcome with the greatest success and ease.

As for learning to speak, games like “Snowball” are very common, when cards with the words and expressions being studied are laid out in the center of the table. One student takes a card, shows it to everyone and uses a given word or expression. Another variant of the “Snowball” game is when the whole group participates in the description of a photo, drawing, event or in the compilation of a story. Each phrase consists of a certain number of words: the first of one, the second of two, etc. The moderator writes down all the sentences on the board. The winner is the one who composes the last phrase.

Among the communicative games, the most successful in the lessons are games with a lack of information (the winner is the one who first combines all the information received from other participants), guessing games (the winner – the one who guesses correctly, for example, the game “Who am I?”, where participants have to guess who the driver is by asking him questions), collective games (popular games such as “crosswords”, “dominoes”, “bingo”), attention games (the winner is the one who will most carefully complete the task), memory development games (the winner is the one who remembers the information best, such games are especially interesting for grades 5-7). Role-playing games can also be cited as examples of communicative games. In such games, a certain task is given, which students can complete by following certain rules. An important role in this is played by the method of dramatization – this is the creative use of written and oral speech based on literary works (in fact, school theater). This method makes it possible to form a positive attitude to learning a foreign language.

Dialogue and improvisation are also distinguished among the methods of dramatization.

Games aimed at practicing writing skills are important. They may represent work on a project. The children use such topics as “Smart Home”, “My restaurant menu”, “Unusual places in Kazakhstan”, “I’m making a robot”. The design of a corner dedicated to the English language can also act as a project, where photos, proverbs, sayings, famous sayings, etc. are placed. The teacher can also offer children to make a postcard as a gift to their mother on March 8. At the same time, commands should be given in English: “take a piece of paper”, “take the scissors”. When the children complete the task, they will have to tell about their card, what they drew and what kind of greeting they wrote. Practice shows that children are always very enthusiastic about such types of work.

It is also worth paying attention to the use of special phrases and expressions, that is, the so-called game dictionary, which not only helps to explain the essence of the game to children, but also introduces them to English vocabulary, facilitates its memorization.

As mentioned above, the main purpose of game exercises is to increase the effectiveness of the lesson. It is important to emphasize that the game should be considered as one of the exercises, not as entertainment, and it is reasonable to combine it with other tasks. It is known that the principle of the child’s activity in the learning process has been and remains one of the main ones in didactics. This concept implies a quality of activity that is characterized by a high level of motivation, a conscious need to acquire knowledge and skills, effectiveness and compliance with social norms. This kind of activity itself does not occur often, it is a consequence of the applied pedagogical technology. Any technology has the means to activate and intensify the activities of students, in some technologies these means constitute the main idea and the basis of the effectiveness of the results. Such technologies include gaming technologies [8. C. 23].

In the process of organizing the game, it is important follow the following recommendations:

1. Simplicity of explanation. The rules of the game should be simple and it is effective to explain the rules of the game in the native language of the students, and spend the remaining time on the game itself.

2. The absence of confusing and complex materials for the game.

3. Versatility. Preference should be given to games that can be easily adjusted to the number, age and level of knowledge of students. They contribute to the expansion of knowledge, skills and abilities, the general outlook of students, develop attention, memory, thinking, imagination and other mental processes of the child, increasing his motivation to learn.

 In conclusion it is crucial to point that games can be used at the beginning or at the end of the lesson in order to divide the lesson into two parts, to relieve tension, which is decided at the discretion of the teacher. It is important that the work brings positive emotions and benefits, and, in addition, serves as an effective incentive in a situation when the interest and motivation of children to learn a foreign language begins to weaken. Different games can be modified and adapted to the conditions of a particular lesson, a particular group. The reasonable use of games in the classroom and their combination with other methodological techniques contribute to the qualitative assimilation of the material and make the process of cognition itself joyful, which becomes a need for the student groups.

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