Së gi¸o dôc vµ ®µo t¹o h­ng yªn
----------***----------
S¸ng kiÕn kinh nghiÖm
®Ò tµi
“using games in powerpoint speaking lessons”
Hä vµ tªn gi¸o
viªn :
Tr­êng :
NguyÔn
Ng©n
ThÞ
THPT V¨n Giang
V¨n Giang, 5/2011
Hång
INTRODUCTION
Language learning is hard work which can sometimes be frustrating ... Constant effort is
required at every moment and must be maintained over a long period of time. How to help
and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work has been a major concern and
a challenge to teachers. Many experienced textbook and methodology manuals writers have
argued that games are not just time-filling activities but have a great educational value. Wellchosen games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow students
to practise language skills. Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the
same time challenging. Furthermore, they employ meaningful and useful language in real
contexts. They also encourage and increase cooperation. And the fact is that games in general,
powerpoint games in particular have been widely used in English teaching and learning in
many countries in the world including Vietnam. However, how games are used to teach
speaking effectively to learners in multilevel classes is a real challenge for any teacher. I have
learnt to think of this from my students’ viewpoint as well as from a teacher’s perspective,
and as a result I have tried to explore using powerpoint games in speaking lessons and
suggests some powerpoint games as a solution to such a problem.
. Despite the fact that English is studied through four years of junior high school education –
starting from the age of eleven and continuing up until graduation from high school at
eighteen – many learners continue to experience difficulty in using the language for
purposeful communication, often encountering problems in the areas of speaking
Chapter 2: Literature review
In this chapter I intend to review some literature related to using games in language
lessons in genral, and in powerpoint lessons in particular.
2.1. The roles of games in teaching languages
2.1.1. Definitions
What Is a Game?
A game is an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun. There are two kinds of games:
Competitive games, in which players or teams race to be the first to reach the goal, and cooperative games, in which players or teams work together towards a common goal. The
emphasis in the games is on successful communication rather than on correctness of language
(Toth, 1995).
What is powerpoint?
Powerpoint presentations are excellent for teaching large ESL classes of students. Powerpoint
helps concentration and guarantees effective learning if everything goes according to
plan.PowerPoint is a software bundled in MS office and used for creating presentations
usually in the form of slideshows. Over the years Microsoft has been updating the software,
each time making it even better. Your computer might already have PowerPoint installed.
2.1.2. Why Use Games in Class Time?
There are many advantages of using games in the classroom:

Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class. In the easy
relaxed atmosphere which is created by using games, students remember things faster
and better.

Games are motivating and challenging. Through playing games, students can learn
English the way children learn their mother tongue without being aware they are
studying; thus without stress, they can learn a lot.

Learning a language requires a great deal of effort. Games are fun and children like to
play them. Through games children experiment, discover, and interact with their
environment.

Games provide language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing, listening and
reading. Games add variation to a lesson and increase motivation by providing a
plausible incentive to use the target language. For many high students, language
learning will not be the key motivational factor. Games can provide this stimulus.

Games encourage students to interact and communicate. The game makes the reasons
for speaking plausible even to reluctant children. Even shy students can participate
positively.

Games create a meaningful context for language use. The game context makes the
foreign language immediately useful to the students. It brings the target language to
life.
2.2. When to use games
Games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end of
a lesson. Yet, a game "should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments
when the teacher and class have nothing better to do" (Lee, 1979). Games ought to be at the
heart of teaching foreign languages. Rixon suggests that games be used at all stages of the
lesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen.
Games also lend themselves well to revision exercises helping learners recall material in a
pleasant, entertaining way. All authors referred to in this article agree that even if games
resulted only in noise and entertained students, they are still worth paying attention to and
implementing in the classroom since they motivate learners, promote communicative
competence, and generate fluency.
2.3. How to choose games
The role of games in teaching and learning vocabulary cannot be denied. However, in order to
achieve the most from games, it is essential that suitable games be chosen. Following are
some advice on how to choose games.
A successful language game should:

be more than just fun.

involve "friendly" competition.

keep all of the students involved and interested.

encourage students to focus on the use of language rather than on the language itself.

give students a chance to learn, practice, or review specific language material.
A successful language game should not:
 be used just to fill time. (Every activity should have a "learning" purpose.)
 continue for too long. (End the game while it is still fun.)
 be degrading or discouraging for the "losers."
 be too easy or too difficult for the students' age and proficiency level.
 allow only a few students to participate for a long time while the others just watch.
 be "graded" in any way. (Language errors are usually not corrected, because the
emphasis should be on language use.)
2.4. How to organize the class
Well-organized games are invaluable as they give students a break and at the same time allow
students to practice language skills. Therefore, teachers should:

Think ahead. If you mix up the rules or get confused, the children will rebel. The class
can fail over blame. Rehearse games yourself or with friends before class.

Distinguish noise from chaos. To prevent noise, make students sit near the teacher and
explain clearly what they are going to do.
2.5. The Role of the Teacher

Preparing the materials in sufficient quantities. When choosing a game, the teacher
should be careful to find an appropriate one for the class in terms of language and type
of participation.

Explaining clearly what is to be done. Unless the learners know what they are
expected to do and how to do it, the aim cannot be achieved, and the game cannot be
played

Once the game has begun, the teacher should not interrupt to correct mistakes in
language use "Checking" answers should be put at the end of an activity.

Making sure everyone participates. However, the teacher should not compel an
individual to participate. Some learners may not want to participate due to personal
reasons. Forcing students to participate usally does not have successful results.

Controling the time of each game. A game which looks wonderful on the paper may
not work in the actual classroom setting. If it is tiring or boring, it should be stopped.

Games should be regarded as supplementary activities. The whole syllabus should not
be based on games only -- even for young learners.
Chapter 3: Application
some powerpoint speaking
lesson plan
UNIT 12: MUSIC (ENGLISH 10)
Part B: SPEAKING
Chapter 4: Results and Conclusion
4.1. Results
At the beginning of the school year, to find out problems in speaking lessons, I myself
observed the students in my classes as well as delivered a questionnaire to students to answer.
The questionnaire was formulated with 7 questions in Vietnamese focusing on the problems
the students may have in speaking lessons (see Appendix 1). The questionnaire was given to
48 students from class 10TN7. And the findings are as the following:
Questions
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
Question 6
Question 7
Number of students
4
27
29
24
35
31
22
Percentage
9.3 %
62.8 %
67.4 %
55.8 %
81.4 %
72 %
51.1 %
Table 1: Students’ difficulties in speaking lessons at the beginning of the school years
1. Em ng¹i nãi ra v× kh«ng ®ñ tù tin, sî m¾c lçi
2. Em ng¹i nãi ra v× nhiÒu b¹n trong líp kh«ng tham gia trong
giê häc nãi.
3. Em kh«ng hiÓu c¸ch nãi.
4. Em thiÕu vèn kiÕn thøc chung (background knowledge).
5. Em th­êng hay dÞch c¸c ý t­ëng tõ tiÕng ViÖt sang tiÕng
Anh.
6. Em th­êng hay dïng c¸c c©u dµi ®Ó diÔn t¶ c¸c ý t­ëng cña
m×nh.
7. Em c¶m thÊy m«n Speaking kh«ng thiÕt thùc l¾m cho c¸c kú
thi nªn kh«ng thÝch häc.
It is clear from the observation and from the result in table 1 that in writing lessons,
most of the students had problems with lack of ideas, vocabulary and knowledge of grammar
and structures, and students’ inhibition which was caused by lack of interest and motivation.
How to help students overcome the above problems has been a major concern and a
challenge to teachers. I have learnt to think of it from my students’ viewpoint as well as from
a teacher’s perspective, and as a result I have tried to adopt the method of using pair and
group work. My assumption is that working in pairs and groups in different stages of a writing
lesson together with several other teachers’ techniques may give students opportunities to
share their ideas, their vocabulary and create an encouraging and motivating atmosphere for
students’ writing. In my point of view, using pair work and group work may be great help to
make gradual shift from teacher-centered classroom teaching to student-centered classroom
teaching.
After a year of using PowerPoint games in teaching, I gave the students another questionnaire
(see Appendix 2).The questionnaire was formulated with seven questions in Vietnamese
focusing on students’ opinions about the effects powerpoint games have on speaking lessons.
And the findings are as the following:
Questions
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
Question 6
Question 7
Number of students
48
46
47
44
46
47
48
Percentage
100 %
96 %
98 %
92 %
96 %
98 %
100 %
Table 2: Students’ opinions after teachers use games in PowerPoint speaking lesson at the
end of the school year.
It can be seen from table 2 that pair work and group work have helped my students a lot.
Students’ speaking has improved in several different ways. The most remarkable areas of
progress are that now most of my students feel involved and interested in speaking lessons
(100%) and their teamwork ability is developed (100%). At the beginning of the school year,
when a speaking assignment was carried out, not many students were involved. All of a
sudden my students could concentrate long enough for me to drive home new language
points. With new language points well into their brains, classroom games followed with ease.
At the end of the school year, all my class 48 students all passed their English exams, with
many students scoring 100% in the final test and the least score being a 90% pass. Note that
test papers of final exams in most schools at my schools are usually corrected by a teacher
who does not know the students. Not surprisingly my classes’ English test average surprised
the other teachers in my schools.
4.2. Conclusion
It is clear that my students have not only enjoyed themselves, but more importantly,
have made much progress thanks to experiencing and discovering through games. My first
steps on the path of teaching speaking gave me priceless professional lessons. My students are
always my focus, and I tried to make the best of the conditions for them. In my point of view,
we should put ourselves into our students’ mind and understand what their interests and
motivations in learning are – then look at those interests and motivations with a teacher’s eye
and knowledge in order to adopt appropriate methods and approaches. As teachers, we must
learn to treat our students both as language learners and as human beings by taking into
account not only language functions but also interests and motivations.
In conlusion, it would not be an overstatement to say that if well planned, PowerPoint
presentations in general and PowerPoint games in particular can take away 50-70% of the
burden of presenting practising new languages to large classes. Language teachers should
spare no effort to design and apply powerpoint games into full play in the hope that students
will achieve more in listening comprehension.
I will always appreciate my colleagues’ opinions to help me improve my teaching practice in
the future.
Appendix
Appendix 1
Questionnaire for students
(At the beginning of the school year)
Nh÷ng khã kh¨n trë ng¹i trong giê häc m«n Speaking ë trªn líp
cña em lµ g×?
(Cã thÓ khoanh trßn mét hoÆc nhiÒu ph­¬ng ¸n)
8. Em ng¹i nãi ra v× kh«ng ®ñ tù tin, sî m¾c lçi
9. Em ng¹i nãi ra v× nhiÒu b¹n trong líp kh«ng tham gia trong
giê häc nãi.
10.
Em kh«ng hiÓu c¸ch nãi.
11.
Em thiÕu vèn kiÕn thøc chung (background knowledge).
12.
Em th­êng hay dÞch c¸c ý t­ëng tõ tiÕng ViÖt sang
tiÕng Anh.
13.
Em th­êng hay dïng c¸c c©u dµi ®Ó diÔn t¶ c¸c ý
t­ëng cña m×nh.
14.
Em c¶m thÊy m«n Speaking kh«ng thiÕt thùc l¾m cho
c¸c kú thi nªn kh«ng thÝch häc.
Appendix 2
Questionnaire for students
(At the end of the school year)
C¸c trß ch¬i ®­îc gi¸o viªn tæ chøc trong c¸c giê häc kü n¨ng
nãi (Speaking) cã sö dông PowerPoint
®· cã hiÖu qu¶ ®èi víi
em nh­ thÕ nµo?
(Em h·y khoanh trßn mét hoÆc nhiÒu trong sè c¸c ph­¬ng ¸n
sau)
1. Gióp em cã ®­îc t©m lý tho¶i m¸i, tù tin, kh«ng sî m¾c
lçi khi nãi.
2. Gióp em cã c¬ héi ®­îc b¹n chia sÎ nh÷ng kiÕn thøc vÒ v¨n
ho¸, x· héi cã liªn quan ®Õn bµi.
3. Gióp em cã c¬ héi ®Ó thùc hµnh nãi vµ so s¸nh víi c¸c b¹n.
4. Em cã thÓ hái b¹n mét sè tõ vùng vµ cÊu tróc ng÷ ph¸p cÇn
thiÕt ®Ó nãi mét c¸ch nhanh chãng.
5. Tham gia trß ch¬i gióp em tù nhËn ra lçi cña m×nh vµ häc
hái ®­îc nhiÒu ®iÒu hay tõ c¸c phÇn thi cña c¸c b¹n kh¸c.
6. Qua trß ch¬i, em ph¸t triÓn ®­îc kü n¨ng lµm viÖc theo
nhãm/®éi.
7. Em thùc sù thÝch c¸c giê häc mµ thÇy/c« cã thiÕt kÕ trß
ch¬i.
References
Anderson, A. & T. Lynch. Listening. London: Cassell. 1988.
Boyle, E. R. An Alternative Approach to Improving Listening Skills. English Teaching Forum.
Vol. 31, No. 3. 1993.
Brown, G. & G. Yule. Teaching the Spoken Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. 1983.
Cross, D. A Practical Handbook of Language Teaching. London: Cassell. 1991.
Lü Jianna. Problems and Possible Solutions in College English. Focus Listening in Teaching
English in China. Vol.23, No.2, p27-30. 2000.
Medley, F. W. Reading Assignments versus Reading Instruction: Native Language Strategies
and Techniques for Use in the Foreign Language Classroom. In R.A. Schulz (ed)
Personalizing Foreign Language Instruction: Learning Style and Teaching Options. Illinois:
National Textbook Company. 1977.
Penny Ur. Teaching Listening Comprehension. Cambridge University Press. 1984.
Rost, M. Listening in Language Learning. New York: Longman Inc. 1990. (Edited by:
Vivienne, Hua Zhou and Erin)
Evaluation of the Scientific Councils
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