Use of Games and Songs in Teaching English - Article Example

Use of games and songs in teaching English to non-native students in grade one. University Student Id Course Date Use of games and songs in teaching English to non-native students in grade one. Introduction Attention is important in ensuring proper understanding of the young learners in the classroom. Songs and games play an important part in improving the level of attention of learners. Trying to get pupils attention in the classroom is crucial to keep the pupils focused in the lesson, that’s why a teacher should be very creative in the methods they used during the teaching process. One of the teaching methods that can be used for that is using songs. Songs are one of the most powerful tools used in teaching a second language. Selecting the right song that will suit the learners can be difficult sometimes. However, songs can be used to teach young learners (Nyota and Mapara, 2008). Songs can be used to develop the learners listening skills and pronunciation, and therefore this will help them in their speaking skill as well. The choice of songs used in the classroom depends on the language level of the class. For example, songs with simple repetitive lyrics suit the lower level of English more than the advanced level. The benefits of using songs in esl classroom for young learners Flexible teaching tool: One of the advantages of making use of the songs in the young learner classroom is the aspect of flexibility. Moreover, songs are usually used for the several purposes, and therefore there are always numerous reasons as to why the songs are taken as a valuable pedagogical tool. Importantly, the songs can assist the young learners to develop important skills in learning and pronunciation (Chou, 2014). As a result, songs can eventually assist young learners to develop skills that can help in improving their learning experience. Also, songs can be of great importance for the young learners in learning sentence structure, sentence patterns and also vocabulary. Furthermore, the main importance of utilizing songs in classrooms situation is the fact they are full of fun, which is usually an important part of learning the language. Listening: songs can be used to improve the listening skills of the young learners. In most of the times, students usually get bored by listening repeatedly to narrations or even a dialog. However, listening to the particular song for several times may seem to be monotonous as a result of their rhythm and also melody (Nyota and Mapara, 2008). Besides, some of the songs in most cases comprise of the common expressions hence useful for listening. Also, songs assist the students in improving their skills of listening since they usually provide the students with listening practice to various forms of rhythm as well as intonation. Moreover, it is usually believed that music entails the power of engraving itself to the brains of the individuals, therefore, it is an appropriate tool which can be used in a language classroom. Speaking: the use of songs in teaching can help the young learners to develop the necessary speaking skills. The young learners can learn how to speak using the songs where they can follow the sounds of the songs and try to speak. Students are always keen in learning how new sounds are made thus helping them to understand how to speak a particular language. However, some of the teachers sometimes usually make use of the minimal pair drills, even though the kinds of activities are not interesting to the young learners (Ara, 2009). Songs create room for the learners to ensure they practice the pronunciation of new sounds without even getting bored. Also, songs usually possess natural rhythms which have a repeating beat which is the same as stressing patterns for the spoken English. Therefore, the patterns usually make songs to be of great significance in practicing the aspects of stress and also rhythm in the English language. Moreover, practicing various sounds using songs is more interesting as compared to the other activities which include; minimal pair drills. Enjoyment: the attention of the young learners can be improved during learning through the use of songs as they enjoy. The young learners are usually attentive when listening to the songs hence can help in improving the learning experience of the learners. One of the major advantages of making use of the songs in the young learner classroom is the enjoyment in listening to them. For instance, the majority of the children usually enjoy singing hence responding appropriately to the songs when used in a classroom situation (Kirsch, 2008). However, there are more important benefits for using songs apart from having fun. One of the benefits of using songs in a classroom situation is that it stimulates the interest as well as the attention of the students hence making them to stay motivated in a classroom. Also, songs especially the choral singing can assist in the creation of a relaxed and also informal atmosphere thus making the classroom to be conducive. Vocabulary: through the use of songs the young learners can be in a position to learn new vocabularies that can help in improving their learning. Songs usually provide young learners with an opportunity for practicing the vocabulary. This has been the case since songs are mostly based on a theme or a topic which has a context for the several vocabularies. Besides, the majority of the songs for the children are always characterized by the monosyllabic words, whereby the majority of them are usually repeated frequently (Ara, 2009). However, some of the language vocabularies which is used in the traditional songs can bring a lot of difficulties to the language learners because of their archaic words and low-frequency. Culture: Through the use of the songs in teaching, learners can understand well about the culture of a particular language. Moreover, in most cases, songs usually reflect the culture because languages and music are always interwoven in the songs to communicate the aspect of diverse cultural reality (Sevik, 2011). However, even though the songs which communicate cultural reality are most appropriate to the older learners, the young learners should also be provided with an opportunity to learn about the historical events. Understanding sentence structures: the use of songs can be important in helping learners to have a better understanding of sentence structures or the sentence pattern. The minds of young learners can better understand the structure of a sentence through singing. Teachers can make use of songs in the process of reinforcing the questions that are being taught in class. Practices in the classroom can be made using songs to improve the rate of understanding sentence structure among the learners (Ara, 2009). However, the teacher has to make sure that the song selected can be in a position to improve the knowledge of the learners concerning the sentence structure. This is because of irregular structures of sentences hence not typically useful in most of the English conversations. Limitations Songs are considered important tools in teaching, but there are some issues that teachers need to consider. For instance, teachers need to be careful when selecting the songs that are suitable for teaching as some are not. The use of songs in teaching young learners can sometimes have sentence structure, vocabulary, and language that is different from the spoken English (Engh, 2013). Also, the interest of the song among the young learners can fade with time hence failing to be a good teaching tool. Benefits of teaching English to non-native students in grade one using songs. Games are used mostly when practicing language skills with the aim of improving the communication and learning capabilities. In classrooms, teachers can make use of games to enhance memory and understanding of important language skills that can help the non-native learners understanding English (Marsh and Marsh, 2008). Besides, games can be important in improving the vocabulary knowledge of the learners and make important revisions as games can enhance thinking hence important in making revisions easy. Characteristics of the good games Games that are considered good through influencing the learning capability of the young learners have certain characteristics. First, the good games are expected to be mainly based on the learning objectives. The games should be in a position to achieve the set learning objective where they should be in a position to improve the learning outcome (Kırkgöz, 2008). Second, the games need to be full of fun and interesting to ensure that the learners are active hence improving their attention in the classroom. Games can keep the young learners active only when they are interesting and full of fun as the learners are not bored. Besides, games that are suitable to be used in teaching need to be motivating to make sure that the young learners are motivated to learn. Third, games in learning should ensure they engage all the learners hence the games that cannot accommodate the whole class cannot be used as a teaching tool (Kirsch, 2008). This is because the young learners need to be exposed to similar learning experiences as the games that involve everyone helps in improving the learning and interactions among the young learners. There are several reasons that make the use of games important teaching method. First, games are fun hence important in activating the students who are inactive as the use of games in teaching can increase the interest. Making sure that the young learners are active is important in ensuring that the students can participate in the learning process. Second, games are said to play an important role in the process of building relationship among the participants where they can be made feel equal (Engh, 2013). Through playing games in the classroom can help in developing a positive and friendly atmosphere that can help in improving the learning capabilities of the young learners. The seat arrangement can be used in the game where can differ depending on the game hence creating the important diversity that can be helpful in the learning environment. Third, games can be important in the process of applying the learned knowledge in the real life situation. Using and learning languages in real life situations can help in improving the fluency of the young learners through practice. The learners can be made more responsible for giving the students a big role to play in the learning process in the classrooms as the level of confidence among the learners is improve. Fourth, games assist teachers in the process of exposing the learners to learning environments in varying situations (Chou, 2014). The language students are expected to take the learning experience by having open minds and willing to participate. The participation can include emotional participation hence the need to develop a positive perception that can lead to strong emotions like excitement. Therefore, games can be important in developing a learning environment that has a positive impact on learning the language. Games can be important for the learners who are shy and those with low confidence as they can get a chance of speaking in the front of people (Sevik, 2011). Through the games, they can learn how to speak in front of people using the small groups in the games. Games are usually one of the techniques which are used in the involvement of learners in the process of learning. Moreover, well-designed games are always valuable since they provide students with an opportunity to practice the language skills. Games can also be used in practicing various kinds of communication (Kırkgöz, 2008). Besides, one of the benefits of using games in the learning process is that the learners are able to retain words in their minds more easily. However, games usually involve a friendly competition thus making learning to stay interested and also motivated in the classroom. Also, some of the interactive techniques for learning are usually associated with the social benefits and also performance. Moreover, the advantage of making use of the games in learning a language is that it encourages students to be creative and also it fosters their attitude of participation in learning (Engh, 2013). There are usually four kinds of games that teachers can employ them in teaching language to the students and which are; the card games, simulation games, party-type games and also the board games. However, the majority of these games in most cases require being modified by putting into consideration the needs of the students. Limitations There some limitations that can be associated with the use of games in teaching. They include excessive noise and stray from the game purpose because of lack of enough rules hence failing to achieve the set learning objective (Sevik, 2011). Besides, in cases when games are boring or familiar, the learners can find them unnecessary. References Ara, S. (2009). Use of songs, rhymes and games in teaching English to young learners in Bangladesh. Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics, 2(3), 161-172. Chou, M. H. (2014). Assessing English vocabulary and enhancing young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ motivation through games, songs, and stories. Education 3-13, 42(3), 284-297. Engh, D. (2013). Why use music in English language learning? A survey of the literature. English Language Teaching, 6(2), 113. Kırkgöz, Y. (2008). A case study of teachers’ implementation of curriculum innovation in English language teaching in Turkish primary education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(7), 1859-1875. Kirsch, C. (2008). Teaching foreign languages in the primary school: Principles and practice. Continuum. Marsh, K., & Marsh, K. M. (2008). The musical playground: Global tradition and change in children's songs and games. OUP USA. Nyota, S., & Mapara, J. (2008). Shona traditional children’s games and play: Songs as indigenous ways of knowing. Journal of Pan African Studies, 2(4), 184-202. Sevik, M. (2011). Teacher views about using songs in teaching English to young learners. Educational Research and Reviews, 6(21), 1027. Read More