EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GAMES IN TEACHING GRAMMAR

1Heydar Guliyev, 2Aygun Imamverdiyeva, 3Naiba Hamzayeva, 4Sevinj Mahmudova,

Azerbaijan State Agrarian University, Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

ABSTRACT
The main goal of teaching grammar is to help students speak English with organized and correct structures. If
students learn English with clear and right structures when they are young, they will be good communicators in the
future. Without grammar, students are able to communicate effectively only in limited situations. Besides, grammar is
regarded as very essential part of the study of language and ideas. In fact, grammar helps humans to analyze and
describe their language.
Keywords: English grammar; grammar teaching approach; games

Games are regarded as very useful and important strategy to stimulate language acquisition. They are defined
as a form of play concerning competition, rules and fun. So, teachers should use games in teaching to attract students'
attention, decrease students' stress and give them the opportunity to communicate effectively. They increase students'
proficiency. That is, playing games in the classroom can increase students' ability in using language as students have
an opportunity to use language with a purpose in the situations provided.
Games can focus on various skills, grammar, listening, speaking, writing, reading, pronunciation, so they can
be extremely complex. Games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful.
‘Games provide one way of helping the learners to experience language rather than merely study it.’ (Wright et al.,
2006: 2). When exposed to language, students acquire it better. For example, words related to shopping can be better
practiced in actual shopping games, than using worksheets with exercises. Games also offer the possibility of repeated
use of language items. By making language convey information and opinion, games provide the key features of ‘drill’
with the opportunity to sense the working of language as living communication. Thus, learning is better absorbed than
learning based on mechanical drills (Hadfield, 1990).
Games must not be seen as a way of passing the time, because their purposes are multiple. Besides the major
importance of games of spurring motivation and reducing the stress level in the classroom, games have a great
advantage in the sense that students learn without knowing they are learning (Hadfield, 1990). During games, students
do not worry much about grammar mistakes, they are focused on what they are trying to convey. Apart from having
fun, they will learn a grammatical rule just by playing an appropriate game. ‘Students stop thinking about language and
begin using it in a spontaneous and natural manner within the classroom.’ (Mubaslat, 2012)
Playing games in the classroom can enormously increase students’s ability in using language because they
have a chance to use it with a purpose and in the situations mentioned. 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
since they want to have a turn to play, to score points and to win. In the class, learners will definitely participate in the
activities. Therefore, in groups or in pairs, they are more willing to ask questions, communicate and discuss with their
partners and think creatively about how to use English to achieve the goal. The competition in the games gives students
a natural opportunity to work together and communicate in English with each other a lot.
Games are student-focused activities requiring active involvement of learners. In Crookal’s (1990) opinion,
learners and teachers change their roles and relations through games and learners are encouraged to take active role
in their learning process. As a result, games provide learners with a chance to direct their own learning. From an
instructional view point, creating a meaningful context for language use is another advantage that games present. By
using games, teachers can create contexts which enable unconscious learning because learners’ attention is on the

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message, not on the language. Therefore, when they completely focus on a game as an activity, students acquire
language in the same way that they acquire their mother tongue, that is, without being aware of it (Cross, 2000, p. 153).
Games allow for creativity, independence and higher order thinking. Usually, questions posed by the classroom
teacher are fact based and have only one answer, not allowing for creativity, personal expression, or testing
hypotheses. The answer is either right or wrong, but games can allow for multiple answers. They improve participation,
self-esteem, and vocabulary usage and allow the learners to see that there are many ways to solve the same problem.
According to Crystal (2004, p.123), “Grammar is the structural foundation of the ability to express ourselves.
The more we are aware of how grammar works, the more we can monitor the meaning and effectiveness of the way
we and others use language. It can help foster precision, detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression
available in English.”
Vernon (2008:1) mentioned four reasons to teach grammar with games: First, by using games in teaching
grammar, students not only gain knowledge but also can apply and use what they learn. So, games are regarded as
communicative activities. Second, it is obvious that fun learning games usually contain repetition, which make the
language easier and understandable by students. Third, using games motivate students and increase the cooperation
and competition in the classroom and this creates positive atmosphere. Fourth, learning a new language requires a
great and tiring effort. Games facilitate the matter because they are amusing and challenging and they allow meaningful
use of the language in context.
“Games enhance repetition, reinforcement, retention and transference” (El-Shamy 2001: 10). Because each
game has a specific learning objective in mind, each player’s turn deals with the same concept or skill in a different
way. Therefore, what students do not learn on their own turn, they may grasp from someone else’s turn. Moreover,
the responsibility for learning and practicing is the job of the student and it is willingly accepted.
Yu (2005:34) pointed out that:
Games have different characteristics such as:
- A game involves a challenge against either a task or an opponent.
- A game is governed by a definite set of rules.
- A game is freely engaged in.
- Psychologically, a game is an arbitrary situation clearly separate from real-life.
- Socially, the events of a game situation are considered, in and of themselves,
to be of minimal importance.
- A game has a definite number of possible solutions; that is, only a finite number
of things can happen during play.
- A game must always end, although the end may come simply because time has
run out.
Summing up, the basic characteristics of games in general are:
- A game is fun and interesting
- A game is rule-governed
- A game is goal defined
- A game is engaging
- A game is competitive
- A game has a closure
According to Deesri (2002:2), when teachers want to choose certain games to be
played in the class, they should first consider the games' purpose, students' characteristics whether they are old or
young, and the suitable time of playing the game. Some games should be used in the morning, others in the afternoon
and others on Friday.
The use of innovative educational games in the classroom can increase enthusiasm and reinforce previously

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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.
Games increase students' involvement, motivation, and interest in the material and allow the instructor to be
creative and original when presenting topics. Games also challenge students to apply the information, thus allowing
them to evaluate their critical thinking skills. They create a challenging constructively competitive atmosphere that
facilitates interaction among students in a friendly and fun environment.
Games have a great pedagogical value providing language teachers with many advantages when they are used
in foreign language classes. The review of the studies related to language games indicates that games are crucially
important in foreign language teaching and learning in a variety of areas. games in teaching grammar to the young
learners not only can play a positive role in the development of grammar knowledge of the learners in the language
classes but also it can pave the way for language development of the learners in ales stressed situation, motivating the
learners to improve their own abilities in various aspects of second language development.

REFERENCES

1. Crookal, D., Oxford, R. L. (1990). Simulation, gaming and language learning. Newbury House Publishers, New
York.
2. Cross, D. (2000). A practical handbook of language teaching. Harlow: Longman.
3. Deesri, A. (2002). Games in ESL and EF class. The internet TESL Journal, vol. VIII, No. 9.
4. El-Shamy, Susan. Training Games: Everything You Need to Know About Using
Games to Reinforce Learning. Virginia: Stylus, 2001.
5. Hadfield, J. 1990. A Collection of Games and Activities for Low to Mid-Intermediate students of English. Intermediate
Communication Games. Hong Kong: Thomus and Nelson and Nelson and Sons Ltd.
6. Mubaslat, M.M. (2012). The Effect of Using Educational Games on the Students’ Achievement in English
Language for the Primary Stage.
7. Yu, S. (2005). The effects of Games on the acquisition of some grammatical features of L2 German on students’
Motivation and on classroom atmosphere. Faculty of Education, Catholic University, Australia.
8. Wright, A., Betteridge, D., Buckby, M. (2006). Games for Language Learning. Cambridge University Press.

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