USING GAMES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR FOR STUDENTS IN
GRADE 10

PART I. INTRODUCTION
1. Reason for choosing the topic
Teaching is said not to be a work but a mission. Everyone whose job is
teaching knows that teaching is definitely a hard job and to be satisfied and
successful needs actually much more effort, practice and experience than hardly
one could believe. Nowadays everything changes rapidly, students are not as they
used to be, teachers use modern methods and approaches and they can use various
equipments to make the education process modern, pleasant and as exciting as
possible. Teachers try to motivate and involve students into the learning process in
the most interesting way. And we know that if students are interested in the
subject, they feel comfortable and learn better in an easy way.
However, teaching English in general and grammar in particular at many high
schools is still a theoretical process.
Traditionally, many teachers approach grammar teaching very seriously,
making the lesson dull and uninteresting. Teacher just stands in front of the board,
leads a long speech about some grammar rules, makes a long script on the board
and finally, students are expected to do all the exercises in the book passively. This
is “a process of pouring knowledge into students’ mind” like the way people put
water into a bottle with a funnel. It also means that acquiring knowledge is just for
knowing and applying, and it is called “cognitive learning”. Especially for teaching
grammar, as we know, in the teaching method of Grammar Translation Method,
students are not required to learn anything else rather than the formulas in
textbooks and then apply them mechanically for doing exercises only. Or in
Audio-Lingual Method, learners are asked to repeat what they have learnt until
they are familiar with them. But we learn that those teaching methods are
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grammar?
2. What benefits can grammar games bring to teachers and students?
3. What types of games should be used to teach grammar?

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PART II. RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH
1. The role of grammar in teaching and learning English
According to Harmer’s viewpoint (1987:12) “Without some understanding of
grammar, students would not be able to do anything more than utter separate items
of language for separate functions. The expression of functional language is only
possible through the use of the Grammar of the language”. Therefore, it is
undeniable that grammar plays an important role in learning English. And in order
to communicate effectively in English, students needs to have a good foundation of
grammar. In fact, grammar is the basis for mastering four language skills. When
we have concrete foundation of grammar, we feel easy to advance.
2. The importance of motivation in teaching and learning grammar
Motivation is the desire to study. Strong motivation produces good result in study,
just as in everything in life.
As Harmer (1998: 25) says: Most students can remember lessons at school
which were uninvolving and where they were ‘switched off’ from what was being
taught to them. Frequently, this was because they were bored, because they were
not emotionally engaged with what was going on. Such lessons can be contrasted
with lessons where they were amused, moved, stimulated or challenged. It seems
quite clear that those lessons involved not only more ‘fun’, but also better learning.
Motivation is a vital element and strongly related to success in language
learning. If a learner is motivated, she will probably decide to undertake a
particular task with certain amount of energy and time needed for it. When
students are engaged and motivated, they learn better than they are partly or wholly


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5. Types of games used to teach grammar
Competitive games: the aim of this type of games is to finish the game as
soon as possible before others.
Communication games: They are used to exchange information. Students get
information and they must react on it.
Cooperative games: these games are very important. They create the
cooperation among students.
Code-control games: students must not make mistakes when playing these
games because they are controlled. If not, they will lose points.

PART III. THE STUDY
1. Tri An high school and current situation of teaching and learning English
at the school
Tri An high school was established 15 years ago. In spite of being located in a
rural area, it has many good students who gets high prize in the exam of Dong Nai
province taken place every year. The school is well-equipped with modern
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technology, which helps to create its success. However, most of the students are
good at natural subjects and like to learn those subjects so the school is trying to
look for new methods which engage students in both natural and social subjects,
especially English.
2. The 10th form students in class 10A2
They are both male and female. Lots of them come from large and poor
families so their learning condition is not high. Although they have learnt English

1

The

house

has

been

painted

2

I

have

been

given

a

present

3

This


carpet

5

She

has

been

misunderstood

today

6

The

burglar

has

stolen

the

jewellery

7


space

made

e
have been

killed

in the

forest

fire

have

been

shown

in

since

Hanoi

June

9


new hospital

been

repaired

by

the technician

for children

has been

built

in

our
city

13

This

kind

of



more

have

been

cut down

for wood

by

farmer

and

trees

s

UNIT 10: THE PASSIVE VOICE

. Activity: Passive description
. Aim: to practice the first conditional
. Interaction: the whole class
. When to use: When teaching Unit 8, part E- Language Focus
. Time: 15 minutes

Procedures:

* Not using grammar games
Like an ordinary day of teaching, teacher introduces the new grammar point
and teacher writes its name, its formation and rules. Most of the time, students just
listen and write down in their notebook. Then they do the exercises in the book.
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Teacher calls on some students to do the exercise on the board and then teacher
checks and gives feedback.

* Findings
Students’ English speaking time
Compared with lessons with games, here students have less chance to speak
English, only about 30%- 40% because they spent more time on doing and
rewriting the correct answers.
Class atmosphere
Class atmosphere here is serious and silent unlike the lessons with grammar
games.
After the lesson, both the teacher and students feel tired and boring because
there is no competition, no cooperation during the lesson so competition and
cooperation is about 25%- 35%

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PART IV. EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GAMES IN TEACHING AND
LEARNING GRAMMAR
1. Real situation of teaching and learning grammar at Tri An high school
The researcher finds that most students at Tri An high school spend much time on
doing the exercises in the book passively. Therefore, they can do exercises but not


Students’ English speaking
time
Class atmosphere

Not using
grammar games

60-70%.

30- 40%

70- 75%

25-35%

Table: Comparison of students’ motivation through lessons

PART V. GAMES DESIGNED TO TEACH GRAMMAR POINT IN
TEXTBOOK OF ENGLISH GRADE 10

The grammar points in textbook of English grade 10 are in part E- Language
Focus after each unit. When finishing the pronunciation part, the teacher goes
straight to the grammar points.
The examples of games below are chosen to teach grammar structures in the
textbook of English grade 10 by the researcher.

* UNIT 1: THE PRESENT SIMPLE, ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY AND
SIMPLE PAST


run before work. She doesn't often have time to ski, but she occasionally goes on
Saturdays during the winter.
Mary often rides a horse at a stable near her home. She sometimes goes after
work, but she usually goes horse riding on Sundays. She loves music. She always
goes to choir practice on Wednesday evenings and sings in church on Sundays.
She doesn't have much extra money, so she rarely goes to concerts in the city. She
seldom watches TV because she likes doing things outside. She usually goes to the
gym if it's raining outside. She isn't often alone because she has a lot of friends.
She occasionally does something alone, but she usually does her activities with one
of her friends. She's a happy woman!

Game 2: ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

. Activity: Adding and Matching
. Aim: to practice the use of adverbs of frequency
. Interaction: the whole class
. When to use: When teaching Unit 1, part E- Language Focus
. Time: 10 minutes

Procedures:
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- Teacher asks students to work in groups of 4.
- Teacher distributes handouts and asks students to add the adverb in the
brackets into the sentence provided then match it with the correct picture.
- The first group to finish the task is the winner.
- Teacher checks and explains if necessary.

* Handout

- Teacher divides the students into team A and team B. Put a noughts and
crosses grid (12 squares) on the board like this one.

leave

choose

finish

live

watch

have

wear

learn

listen to

be

start

go

think

meet

- Teacher reads the sentence, one student from any group must stand up and
raise the correct who- question word. The student who stands first has a chance to
produce the whole question. If it is correct, that group gets 5 points. If it is wrong,
another group can stand up and read out the question, this time it is worth 10
points.
- If there is a tie, T can use the bonus round. It is worth 20 points for each
correct question, 40 points if the first group gets wrong answer.

Sentence lists

1. I went to France.  Where did you go?
2. For a few days.  How long did you stay there?
3. Just a few days ago.  When did you go there?
4. With my friend.  Who did you go with?
5. I went cycling and played a lot of activities.  What did you do there?
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6. I like it very much.  How do you like it?
7. I go there twice a year.  How often do you go there?
8. Because it is interesting.  Why do you like it?
9. I am doing my homework.  What are you doing?
10. I went to town on foot.  How did you go to town?
Bonus round:
1. I went to the shopping centre.  Where did you go?
2. I went shopping.  What did you do?

Game 2: GERUND AND TO+ INFINITIVE

. Activity: Bingo



6. He’s expecting ____________ a trip to Ha Long Bay. (to make)
7. Students stopped ____________ when the teacher came in. (talking)
* BINGO BOARD
going

to be

talking

playing

to make

watching

to see

to create

to listen

doing

running

spending

buying


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