The Use Of Games In Teaching Children English

This paper explains the use of games in teaching children English. Researchers have realized that teaching children nowadays seems to be ineffective without classroom activities for proper explanation and understanding. Technology and portable computerized games have brought great opportunities in changing the present teaching styles and practices. Today, researchers have begun to look into how teaching in the classroom can be fun by using games in the teaching procedures as teaching children can be a bit difficult if no one is having fun. Both the teacher and the children will be bored. It is well known that the role of the teacher or trainer in children's English language learning situations is very important. However, it calls for skills and adaptability which may, for some, be difficult to achieve. Studies have recognized games as one of the important sources of learning as they are capable of achieving a wide range of educational aims and objectives and could be used "in a complementary and supportive role" in teaching children the basic facts and principles of English Language. This paper is intended to prove and explain the purpose of using games to teach children English in the classroom by using collecting and analyzing the data. Also, it intends to give some suggestions to teachers who teach children English.The author used research methods such as structured questionnaire, class observation and teacher-student private time. A purposive sampling procedure was used to determine the school that was used for questionnaire administration [Aston English School, Location II, Jinan] .The respondents which are grouped into various strata that is, according to their classes as these also correspond to their respective age which was between 8-12 years. Using the stratified sampling procedure, 20 classes were used for questionnaire administration as a total of 360 respondents was the sample size.Results of the study reveal that methods often used by teachers during children's language lessons in which games have the highest percentage of 68%, being the most frequently used and accepted by the respondents. This is followed by the charts and picture as well as audio visual aids with the percentage of 15% and 14% respectively. Direct teaching without aids has the least observation of 3% as seen not to be effective for teaching children languages. This is an indication that games are preferred above other teaching aids employed in teaching children languages. In addition, the use of games also depends on the tutors' ability, skill and professionalism in handling and controlling their students. The respondents' attitude towards games is positively alarming as all of them [100%] preferred the use of games during English lessons and vice - versa when games are not involved.There is a significant relationship at P-value [0.0414] and [0.007] using Pearson Product Moment Correlation test [PPMC] between the attitude of the respondents and the teaching methods used as well as games and children English language learning respectively.In conclusion, games as a study aid in children's English language learning is of great importance as it quickens the rate of learning of the students and thus considered as one of the most successful methods in teaching children languages. Possible circumstances when games are not introduced include the damping of their morale, loss of interest during language lessons, attitudinal changes and variations in their response towards class exercises. However, the process of teaching games should be under control with teaching objectives to serve the teaching content. It is necessary for the language teachers to create new games with appropriate methods. Based on the major findings, a conclusion has been drawn in this paper as follows: games play a very important role in teaching children English.