Title: Some suggested language games for the teaching of speaking to the fifth grade students of Elementary School
Abstract: Recently, teaching English to children becomes popular.
In some schools, children start to learn English from
the fourth grade of Elementary School. It is due to the
fact that the Department of Education and Culture publishes
1994 curriculum. Based on this curriculum, English will be
promoted from the beginning level in order to give students
a foreign language competence.
In Elementary Schools, children are good at imitating
or pronouncing some English words, so it is a good chance
for English teachers to invite children to have English
speaking classes. Speaking is really considered an
important part of language teaching and learning. Unfortunately, children rarely get speaking lessons in their school. It is due to the fact that the time allotment for
learning speaking is limited. Besides, the English teachers
at Elementary Schools emphasize more on Reading and Vocabulary
than Speaking. Although once in a while children can learning speaking, they only
practice the dialogues provided
in the textbook. Gradually, children are less motivated to
learn English. However, the four language skills in English should
be presented in the same proportion and in an integrated
way. At last, the objective of 1994 curriculum can
be achieved.
Hence, the writer suggests games as an alternative
technique to motivate children at an Elementary School in
speaking English. Children in this period like to play and
to do activities. Through games, children can learn English
unconsciously. Furthermore, games can be used to improve
the speaking ability of Elementary School students . There
are three reasons why game is chosen, namely: (1) games can
facilitate the students' learning process, (2) games
provide an enjoyable atmosphere which can break the tension
in the classroom, (3) games arouse the students' motivation
as well as attract them to participate in the classroom
activities.
In order to apply games in the teaching of speaking
and to have their contribution, the writer put forwards
three suggested steps, namely: (1) Preparation in which
the teacher prepares materials, eg: dialogues, guided dialogues, picture cards, etc., (2) Presentation including
activities that lead students to communicate in English, and (3) Evaluation in which the teacher evaluates the students’ communicative competence : the grammatical sentence,
pronunciation and useful expressions.
There are various language games available which can
be used by a teacher to vary their techniques of teaching
speaking. Games can help the teacher in encouraging
children to speak English and building the children's
creativity in using the target language orally. In this
study, the writer provides some language games that can be
used for teaching speaking to the fifth grade students of
Elementary School, and how to implement them in the
speaking classes.
Finally, it is hoped that this thesis may contribute
some ideas to the English teachers Elementary Schools in
their efforts of developing the children’s speaking
skill. The writer realizes that there are still many shortcomings
in this thesis. Therefore, she will happily accept
any constructive criticism.
Publication Year: 1996
Publication Date: 1996-01-01
Language: en
Type: dissertation
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