Activity 3

Assignment 3

The Effect of Using Educational Games on the Students' Achievement in English Language for the Primary Stage

1.     Is it useful to use games in teaching English Language?

       Games help students to make and sustain the effort of learning. Games provide     language practice in the various skills- speaking, writing, listening and reading.

2.     Do games create an interactive environment in the classroom?

Effort is required at every moment and must be maintained over a long period of time. As we need meaningfulness in language learning, and authentic use of the language it is useful to follow and create many different techniques and procedures.

3.     Do games facilitate learning a foreign language?

     Yes, the game has many option for the teaching English Language for example the student work with other classmate and stimulate differents area in their brain.

4.     Is there a relation between learning theories (Behaviorism learning theory, Cognitivism learning theory and Constructivism learning theory – and Games)?

     Learning Theory describe how students absorb, process, and retain knowledge during learning. Cognitive, emotional, and environmental influences, as well as prior experience, all play a part in how understanding, or a world view, is acquired or changed and knowledge and skills retained.
The existence of multiple intelligences is proposed by psychologist Howard Gardner, who suggests that different kinds of intelligence exists in human beings.It is a theory that has been fashionable in continuous professional development (CPD) training courses for teachers. However, the theory of multiple intelligences is often cited as an example of pseudoscience because it lacks empirical evidence or falsifiability.

5.     Do games belong to a specific learning theory?

Game-based learning is built upon a constructivist type of learning. What does this mean? Constructivism posits the need to provide students with the necessary tools so they can build their own procedures in order to solve a problem.

This implies a participatory process by students, who interact with their environment to solve the situation that is being set out to them.

6.     Do games encourage students to solve unstructured problems, communicate, navigate, and evaluate and use the second language effectively?

Teachers should also consider the advantages of games: the ability to capture students' attention; lower students' stress; and give students the chance for real communication. Games are effective because they provide motivation, lower students' stress, and give them the opportunity for real communication.

7. Do games encourage students to learn independently as well as work collaboratively?

Naturally when playing games, students are trying to win or to beat other teams for themselves or on the behalf of their team. They are so competitive while playing because they want to have a turn to play, to score points and to win. In the class, students will definitely participate in the activities. Therefore, it is possible for a teacher to introduce students to new ideas, grammar, and knowledge and so on.

8. Does the use of educational games enhance creativity; improve design skills and the ability to present information using the second language?

Yes, playing games in the classroom can enormously increase students' ability in using language because students have a chance to use language with a purpose in the situations provided. Hadfield (1990) confirms that "games provide as much concentrated practice as a traditional drill and more importantly, they provide an opportunity for real communication, albeit within artificially defined limits, and thus constitute a bridge between classroom and the real word." Like in a traditional classroom, students have an opportunity to drill and practice using grammatical rules and other functions.

    9. What effect does educational games use have on students' motivation?

Is that they lower students' stress in the classroom. In conventional classrooms, there is a lot of stress put on students trying to master the target language.

       10. Do games influence students' achievement?

The use of innovative educational games in the classroom can increase enthusiasm and reinforce previously presented didactic information. It is also a positive, interactive alternative method of teaching and information sharing. In addition, team learning and active peer-to-peer instruction are strongly reinforced by educational games. (Bailey, 1999))