The Application Of Games For English Teaching In Primary Schools

The New English Curriculum Standard describes that the aim of primary English teaching is to foster students' interest in learning English. But the survey shows that pupils' interest in English is decreasing as their English level goes up. The thesis holds the hypothesis that game-teaching approach in primary schools is not only feasible but also an ideal way of teaching English.From the theoretical perspective of psychology, pedagogy and second language acquisition the paper illustrates the significance of games in children's English teaching. Introducing principles and features of game-teaching, the thesis discusses the proper time and methods for organizing games. The author applies research methods such as classroom observation, interviews with the teachers and questionnaires to investigate the effectiveness of using games in the teaching process. During classroom observation we find that games have entered primary school English classrooms and many pupils take active parts in games. Teachers apply games in English teaching, however, there are still some problems to be solved. The result of the questionnaire shows that the biggest obstacle for pupils is learning new words and different grades of pupils like different kinds of games, but all pupils like games especially guessing games.Conclusions have been drawn in this thesis as follows: both teachers and students like games; games are playing an important part in primary English teaching particularly in the activation of pupils' interest. Teachers should organize the game well and cooperate with other teaching approaches to solve English language teaching problems.