MASARYK UNIVERSITY IN BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THE USE OF GAME-LIKE ACTIVITIES IN

TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG CHILDREN

DIPLOMA THESIS

AUTHOR: Eva Kalendov

SUPERVISOR: Mgr. rka Dohnalov

JUNE 2008

Anotace

1. Nzev prce: The Use of game-like activities in Teaching English to Young

Children
2. Jmno a pjmen: Eva Kalendov
3. Katedra: anglickho a nmeckho jazyka, Pedagogick fakulta MU v Brn
4. Obor: anglick jazyk
5. Vedouc prce: Mgr. rka Dohnalov
6. Poet stran: 78
7. Poet ploh: 16
8. Rok obhajoby: 2008
9. Klov slova: game, acquiring the language, motivation, TPR, skill,
communicative competence
10. Resum: Diplomov prce je zamena na kritria pouit hernch aktivit a her
samotnch. Prostednictvm jednotlivch pln a ukzkovch hodin bylo
provedeno zjiovn a ovovn funknosti a praktinosti her pi vuce
anglickho jazyka. Dle se zdrazuje role uitele a pozitivnho edukanho
prosted. V praktick sti je uvedeno devt pln hodin, pracovn listy a
dal potebn materily jsou uvedeny v plohch.

Statement:
I declare I have elaborated the thesis on my own and listed all the literature and
internet sources that I used.

Brno, 15th April 2008

Eva Kalendov

I would like to express my gratitude to Mgr. rka Dohnalov for her help and
valuable advice in connection with my work.

Eva Kalendov

Content
Introduction

1. THEORETICAL PART
1.1 Development and acquiring the language........ 8
1.1.1 Working with children. ..9
1.1.2 Childrens creative use of limited language resources...... 9
1.1.3 Development of spoken language........10
1.1.4 Krashens theory of second language acquisition....11
1.2 Who are young learners?................................................................................11
1.2.1 Primary education.14
1.2.2 Why teach English at primary level.16
1.3 Motivation and creativity...17
1.3.1 Motivation and the teacher...18
1.3.2 How can teacher enhance learners motivation?..............................18
1.3.3 Creativity..20
1.3.4 What demotivates children from learning?.......................................21
1.4 Organisation of the classroom22
1.4.1 The layout of the classroom..23
1.4.2 Grouping the children...26
1.5 Methods used for teaching young learners.29
1.5.1 Total Physical Response...29
1.5.2 Communicative approach.32
1.5.3 The Audiolingual method.34
1.6 Listening.37
1.6.1 Pronunciation....38
1.7 Using games for language teaching40
1.7.1 What is a game?................................................................................41
1.7.2 Why use games?...............................................................................42
1.7.2.1 Children and games ..42
1.7.2.2 Role of communicative approach to ELT in games..43
1.7.3 Effective communication or correctness?........................................44
1.7.3.1 Code-control games..44
1.7.3.2 Communication games......45
1.7.4 Learning by doing46
1.7.4.1 Role-play and dialogues46
1.7.4.2 Drama activities48
1.7.4.3 Rhymes, chants and songs50
1.8 Helen Doron Early English52
1.9 Chalabalova Kindergarten.54
1.9.1 Sample activity lesson (Chalabalova Kindergarten)57
1.9.2 Evaluation59

2. PRACTICAL PART
Mime and guess (Kufr) Lesson Plan 1..60
Hidden pictures Lesson Plan 2.63
Bing Bang Lesson Plan 3.65
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The washing line Lesson Plan 4...67

Animal chant Lesson Plan 5.69
Where is my hat? Lesson Plan 6...71
Parts of the body (Head, shoulders, knees and toes) Lesson Plan 7.73
The Three Little Pigs (A story building activity) Lesson Plan 8..75
Sound pictures / Find the difference Lesson Plan 9.77
Conclusion..79
Resume
Bibliography
Internet sources
Appendices
Appendix I.
Appendix II.
Appendix III.
Appendix IV.
Appendix V.
AppendixVI.
Appendix VII.
Appendix VIII.
Appendix IX.
Appendix X.
Appendix XI.
Appendix XII.
Appendix XIII.
Appendix XIV.
Appendix XV.
Appendix XVI.

Introduction
In the recent years there has been a massive increase in teaching languages at
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schools. English is in demand at schools even in lower primary classes. Teachers

need to find interesting and enjoyable ways in order to involve children in
successful learning process and enhance their progress, which is mostly not an
easy task. That is why I have chosen the topic concerning game-like activities. I
will try to deal with a question whether young children can learn a foreign
language easier and quicker with the help of games. Games stimulate learners
concentration and involve the element of fun. They are natural for children and
simulate real-life situation; through games almost all vocabulary and grammar can
be practiced.
In the theoretical part of my thesis I will deal with the definition of young
learners and I will look at important aspects that influence childrens learning
process, as motivation, organization of the classroom as well as methods and
approaches used by language teaching language. I will mention the roles of the
teachers as well as learners in an English language classroom. Further, I will
describe my experience when attending Helen Doron course and doing my
teaching practice in Vizovice elementary school. That is why my thesis is
predominantly practically orientated.
In the practical part I am going to present sample lesson plans that involve
aspects and methods described in the first part. These lesson plans can be used as
supplementary materials as they introduce basic topics as Numbers, Body
parts, Instructions, grammar patterns, etc. The majority of introduced lesson
plans are based on my experience and knowledge described in the theoretical part.
My aim is also to demonstrate the entertaining way of learning in the practical
part.

1. Theoretical Part

1.1 Development and acquiring the language

Human beings begin learning language long before verbal memory develops.
The ways in which humans acquire language strongly impact future development.
Children are hard-wired to pick up language from the people around them,
whether anyone actively teaches them or not, but parents can choose to provide a
stronger or weaker foundation for later success. Teaching infants to speak can
involve providing varied experiential opportunities for learning. In Englishspeaking cultures, teaching infants to speak standard English as their native
language further strengthens their ability to excel.
(http://www.syl.com/articles/teachinginfantssupercharginglanguageacquisition.ht

ml)
According to the latest research it was found out that children acquire language
much more easily at their infant age. By perception and listening they learn the
language naturally. Already the small babies and toddlers who are exposed to
everyday contact with second language acquire the language automatically. When
the children moreover have the chance to read books or magazines for infants,
they become familiar with the written form of the language and have no problem
to deal with texts and letters later at school.
This fact concerns many families, where the mother speaks Czech and the
father is a foreigner. If the child listens to both native and second language every
day at home, it is natural for him/her to acquire both languages, that is to say
understand and speak fluently also the second language.
If the parents wait with language education of their children until they are
older, the learning process and speaking becomes much more difficult for them.
Until the age of seven or thereabouts, children have an innate capacity for
learning languages. As long as they are exposed to a language, they will figure out
the way it works and speak it relatively fluently. Seven is thought to be "critical
age".
It is said that at this age the children should start to learn a foreign language
because after this critical moment they are said to lose the ability to acquire it
naturally.
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That is why I would recommend parents to expose their children to the second
language as soon as possible in their childhood or even babyhood if possible,
because the younger the small child is the easier for him/her it is to understand
and pick up the language and have no problems with words, meaning, speaking
fluently and without an accent. (http://www.answerbag.com)

1.1.1 Working with children

Having the information gained at Helen Doron training course as well as the
information from the Internet, I dare say that children are able to understand the
language much earlier before they begin to speak. They are used to the sounds of
the language and with the help of gestures, body movement or facial expressions
they are able to catch the message.
When they later come to the primary school they do not have any more
problems in learning the basics of the language and they use their ability of
communication in all schoolwork.

1.1.2 Childrens creative use of limited language resources

In their childhood and at the beginning of their language development children
often create their own words and expressions, which then come into the family
vocabulary. This becomes a fundamental part of language development because it
increases childrens creativity and the ability to use the language. We can observe
this when children begin to learn their mother tongue.
Children, especially young learners, tend to create their own grammatical
structures or words when they want to say a sentence or expression. But with the
little knowledge of words they are not able to express the exact meaning so we
need to describe it with another similar word or they just try to use their native
language with a foreign accent, practising the sound and linking.
We stretch our resources to the limit. In the process, we may well produce
temporarily inexact and sometimes inept language in language teaching
terminology called metalanguage - but we usually manage to communicate.
(Halliwell 1992: 3)
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1.1.3 Development of spoken language

When young children arrive to school environment, they have already
experiences with using their native language they can talk about what they are
doing or about their last or future activities, they can tell you what they think or
what they want, they can use logical reasoning and imagination.
According to Myers and Burnett by the age of three, children may use about
a thousand words. This will increase to 2000-10 000 by the age of five (2004:
24).
For young children it is natural to learn to speak in an environment where the
language is used around them. From their childhood they have been taught to
express themselves effectively and speak in a meaningful way. They learn how to
use the language for purpose.
Children learn about language use through interaction with others; through
conversation they grasp the conventions of spoken language and absorb the values
and beliefs through the language used by those around them. They do not just
copy the language they hear, but are active in making meaning. (Myers, Burnett
2004: 24)
In teaching young children it is very important to support their
communicative attempts and so the successful development of the language. For
effective encouragement Myers and Burnett recommend the teacher should
provide:
Opportunities for learning language in context;
Opportunities for children to interact with one another and adults;

Effective adult models for talk and ensuring that children are exposed to a wide
range of spoken language;

Activities in which children communicate for meaningful purposes;

Plenty of support and affirmation
An environment that fosters childrens continuing interest in language. (Myers,
Burnett 2004: 25)
1.1.4 Krashens theory of second learning acquisition
As the Internet source www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html reports, according to

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Krashen there are two independent systems of second language performance: 'the
acquired system' and 'the learned system'. The 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is
the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo
when they acquire their first language. It requires meaningful interaction in the
target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concentrated not
in the form of their utterances, but in the communicative act. From Krashens
point of view the teaching language can only result in language acquisition and
proficiency when the learners are interested in the subject and the target language
is used as a medium of instruction and communication.
That is why I prefer using games and short activities at school as it provides
enough space for developing skills and natural interaction among children.
By observing and working with children during my teaching practice I utterly
agree with Krashens opinion because after presenting an activity to children they
were very quickly able to cope with the new situation and they acquired the
language and used words unconsciously but with a great effect.
The 'learned system' or 'learning' is the product of formal instruction and it
comprises a conscious process, which results in conscious knowledge 'about' the
language, for example knowledge of grammar rules. According to Krashen
learning is less important than acquisition. (www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html)

1.2 Who are young learners?

Young learners are supposed to be children from the first year of formal
schooling (five or six years old) to eleven or twelve years of age. However, the
age of children is not crucial for how mature they are.
According to Phillips there are many factors that influence childrens
maturity: for example, their culture, their environment (city or rural), their sex, the
expectations of their peers and parents. The author reports that a good teacher
should be aware of these differences and that is why the types of activities he
decides to use with a class must be influenced by his knowledge of their
circumstances, attitudes, and interests rather than simply by the childrens

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physical age (1993: 5).

It is individual how quickly the children develop. There is a difference
between how skilled the children are not depending on their different ages. Some
children develop later than others.
In general, it is assumed that five to seven year old children are all at the
same beginner level. The eight to ten year olds may also be beginners, or they
may have been learning the foreign language for some time, so there are both
level one and level two pupils in the eight to ten age groups (Ytreberg 1990: 1).
Ytreberg mentions some basic characteristics of the young language learners:

Children sometimes have problems to distinguish the real world from the
imaginary world. It can be difficult for teachers to cope with it and to
understand their perception of reality.

When working or playing they like to be accompanied with others. Most of

them do not like to work alone.

They use language skills long before they are aware of them.

They love to play and the learning itself can be effective only in case they are
enjoying themselves.

They learn by mimics, using gestures and body movements. The physical
world is very important and dominant at all times.

They have a very short attention and concentration span.

They do not always understand the world of adults. The teacher needs to use
the instructions in an appropriate way and use the language and phrases so that
the children can easily get the message.
Young children are motivated when they are praised. It is very important to

support their enthusiasm from the beginning of learning (1990: 1).

Phillips assumes that the younger the children are, the more holistic
learners they will be. Younger learners respond to language according to what it
does or what they can do with it, rather than treating it as an intellectual game or
abstract system. Anyway there are both advantages and disadvantages: on the one
hand they respond to the meaning underlying the language used and do not worry

12

about individual words or sentences; on the other, they do not make the analytical
links that older learners do. Younger learners have the advantage of being great
mimics, are often unselfconscious, and are usually prepared to enjoy the activities
the teacher has prepared for them (1993: 7).
Here are some points according to Phillips to consider when teaching young
learners:

The activities should be simple enough for children to understand what is

expected of them.

The tasks should be amusing and within childrens abilities, so that the
learners can easily reach their goals.

The task should be stimulating and motivating for learners to feel satisfied
with their work.

Written activities should be used only in a small amount. In the sixth or

seventh year of age the children are not yet so good at writing in their native
language.

Mostly the speaking activities should prevail indeed, with very young
children listening activities will take up a large proportion of class time.

The activities should be simple enough for the children so that they
understand what to do and what is expected of them (1993: 7).

Nowadays learners are overloaded by the amount of information and

experiences. For teachers of young children it is sometimes very difficult to keep
their concentration. It can be disrupted by many factors. In general one can see
that the child cannot concentrate on one particular thing, topic or activity more
than few minutes. The teacher is supposed to interchange the activities to keep
childrens interest. It is good to divide the lesson into shorter activities, because
young children like the moment of surprise and they do not know what comes
next. Teachers should keep the number of new language items introduced to a
reasonable level and should present and practise new language themes in a
number of different ways.

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As children grow and mature they bring more intellectual, motor, and social
skills to the classroom, as well as a wider knowledge of the world. The focus
should continue to be on language as a vehicle of communication and not on the
grammar, though the ability of older children to make logical links and deductions
can be exploited. The teacher can provide such tasks for them in which they can
discover simple grammatical rules; their attention can be focused on the structure
of the language in order to help them formulate an internal grammar of their
own.
The kinds of activities that work well are games and songs with actions, total
physical response activities, tasks that involve colouring, cutting and sticking,
simple, repetitive stories, and simple, repetitive speaking activities that have an
obvious communicative value (Phillips 1993: 7).

1.2.1 Primary education

Phillips supposes the years at primary school as extremely important for
childrens intellectual, physical, emotional and social development. They go
through a series of stages, progressively acquiring skills that are thought necessary
by the society they live in. Many of these skills are interdependent, and if one has
not been sufficiently developed, the acquisition of another may be impeded.
On the physical side, children need to develop balance, spatial awareness and
fine control of certain muscles in order to play sports and perform everyday
actions such as dressing themselves, cleaning their teeth, colouring, drawing and
writing.
Socially, children need to develop a series of characteristics to enable them to
fit into the society they live in, to become aware of themselves in relation to
others, to share and co-operate and to be assertive without being aggressive. They
need to be able to accept criticism and become self-critical, to be aware of how
they learn and to experiment with different learning styles, to organise their work
and to be open and interested in all that surrounds them (Phillips 1993: 5,6).
What are children like as learners?
According to Slattery (2001: 4) children are learners who
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love to play and use imagination

are naturally curious

enjoy repetition and routines

are developing quickly as individuals

learn in a variety of ways, for example, by watching, by listening, by imitating, by

doing things

are not able to understand grammatical rules and explanations about language

have quite a short attention span and so need variety of activities

talk in their mother tongue about what they understand and do this helps them
learn

can generally imitate the sounds they hear quite accurately and copy the way
adults speak
According to Brumfit, Moon and Tongue there are characteristics which most
primary level learners share:

In the first years of schooling it is possible to reach and mould developmental

changes of children and so create their expectations of life.

Young children want to learn and work with enthusiasm. They do not tend to have
similar inhibitions as their older schoolmates.

As a group they are potentially more differentiated than secondary or adult

learners, for they are closer to their varied home cultures, and new to the
conformity increasingly imposed across cultural groupings by the school.

Because they are at the beginning of formal schooling it is essential that their
learning is closely linked with the development of ideas and concepts.

To make learning enjoyable and motivating it is needed to use physical

movements and activities that stimulate learners thinking (1991: v.).

1.2.2 Why teach English at primary level?

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To help children acquire English, let them hear and experience the language
since they are very small. In general it is known that young children are better in
learning languages than older people. In spite of this fact we still can doubt
whether children can learn more efficiently than adults. Anyway, it depends
mostly on teachers how they can help learners to progress rapidly at any level of
schooling.
However, Brumfit, Moon and Tongue suppose a number of reasons, why
teaching English is necessary not only within schooling and educational system:

The need to expose children from an early age to an understanding of foreign

cultures so that they grow up tolerant and sympathetic to others.

The need to link communication to the understanding of new concepts.

The need for maximum learning time for important languages the earlier you
start the more time you get.

The advantage of starting with early second language instruction so that later
the language can be used as a medium of teaching (1991: vi).
As I suggested before, there is the question, whether children are better learners

of languages than adults. There may be many reasons why is it so. Let me offer
some of them:
Children have more opportunities and more time for learning than adults.

They do not have any worries about failure or they do not have the feeling of
responsibility.

People around young learners as are their teachers, parents or their friends, can
help them with their learning.

They want to learn the language that people around them speak. The success is
certain, when the children can hear the second language every day. The social
pressure urges them to use the language for achievement of their aims.

Children spend more time by learning than the adults and they want to learn.
They are better at learning languages if they get exposed to them naturally and
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long-term.

The brain is capable to absorb much more information before and during
puberty than after and children acquire the language in a natural way.

Learning a language is joined with the real communication and the

environment influences it.

Children have no negative experiences with foreign language and culture than
adult learners do and that is why they are better motivated in learning it.

1.3 Motivation and Creativity

According to Harmer, motivation can be defined as some kind of internal
drive that encourages somebody to pursue a course of action (2007: 20).
Ur reports two different types of motivation: intrinsic motivation which
brings the incentive of the learner to engage in the learning activity for its own
sake (Ur, pg 276). This motivation is created in the classroom and it can be
influenced by teachers methods, the activities that learners take part in or their
perception of their success or failure. Ur further mentions extrinsic motivation
motivation which is derived from external incentives; children already come to the
classroom with this type of motivation.
Ur further discriminates between global, situational and task motivation
(1991: 276). We speak about global motivation when concerning the learners
willingness to learn foreign language as a whole. Situational motivation has to do
with classroom conditions, atmosphere or type of work or the total environment. It
considers also the way the learner approaches the specific task

1.3.1 Motivation and the teacher

17

The teacher can hence the motivation and interest of pupils by giving further
interesting and attractive information and activities concerning the language and
its background.
By no means teacher plays very important role in activating childrens
motivation and there are many factors that influence the learners determination.
Teacher should provide interesting materials that are attractive for children, full of
pictures and lively activities. As far as materials are concerned it is better to bring
more additional materials to class, so that children do not become bored with just
one book. Also praising and rewarding can help. Each child in its early age wants
to please the teacher or parents, do its best and achieve the goals successfully. By
giving rewards to children they will be elated in doing other tasks. According to
Ur, intrinsic motivation is more important and valuable than the extrinsic
motivation. When the child is interested in the learning activity, mostly the
success in learning is guaranteed. The elements of success are intensified by
incorporating speech or movement activity (Ur 1991: 288).
By young learners it can be very difficult for teacher to keep up their
motivation. Children often want to find or discover something so it should be
provided such activities that excite their curiosity and provoke their participation.
The level of challenge must be considered so that the tasks are neither too difficult
nor too easy.
I completely agree with Harmer, that children need to feel that the teacher
really cares about them; if they feel supported and valued, they are far more likely
to be motivated to learn (Harmer 2007: 20).
1.3.2 How can teacher enhance learners motivation?
Teacher should be aware of personal conditions of each child. In which family
does the child grow up, what kind or friends and people is the child surrounded
by, also environmental condition should be taken into consideration. All these
factors have a great influence on learners motivation. Teacher can raise the
childrens desire to work by bringing things that relate to childrens personal
experience and interest them into the learning process. For children such a lesson
will be much more interesting and stimulating. For instance, any hobby the child
has can be incorporated into an English lesson (Underwood 1987: 27).
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For example children can tell the rest of the class about their favourite things or
toys or pets, they can also write about them. Such a discussion or describing a
thing could form the basis of practice for adjectives, comparatives, superlatives,
question forms, and so on.

What children really like and is interesting for them are pictures, stories and
games. Pictures are colourful and attract the eyes they are kind of visual
stimulus. Both visual as well as aural stimuli provide stories. Children can either
read them themselves or they can just listen to the teachers voice. According to
my experience games are the most favourite activities. Children use both visual
and aural channels and moreover they need to speak and come to an
understanding with others in order to get what they want. Body movements and
physical activity are essential when incorporating playing games.
I will deal with games topic in the chapter 1.7.
To be able to deal with a task or an activity successfully children need to
master appropriate skills and knowledge. Children need to see the reason for
doing an activity, e.g. to look up a piece of information to figure out the sense, put
a puzzle together to find a hidden message or to perform a story to demonstrate
the reality. The end product of such activity is very motivating and supports
children in their further work (for further information see Phillips 1993: 38).
In agreement with Ur, extrinsic motivation is that which derives from the
influence of some kind of external incentive (1991: 279).
As it was mentioned earlier, children can enhance the extrinsic motivation by
the wish to please parents or the teacher. Anyway the teacher can affect learners
motivation by many ways, e.g. he/she can reward learners who successfully
fulfilled the task. Moreover succeeding in an activity creates enthusiasm and
effort for the next work
Nobody wants to fail when trying doing the best. Failure in general is viewed
as something unwanted. Learners should be aware that they are failing if they
have done significantly less than they could have done or if they are not making
satisfactory progress.
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Anyway learners can be similarly motivated by teacher pressure. They want to

do their best because they were told to. However, nowadays the older learners are
not as afraid of teachers reprehension as the younger children do.
Written or oral testing is a competent way to motivate learners to study. In
some way, they are forced to do that because the resultant mark is important for
them. In addition they will study more carefully than if they had simply been told
to learn it.
Children will often be motivated to do their best in order to beat their opponents in
a competition. If the competition is not taken too seriously (it can have negative
effect and be stressful for learners, who are not very good at language), and if
scores are at least partly a result of chance, so that anyone might win, positive
motivational aspects are enhanced and stress lowered.

1.3.3 Creativity
Creativity as an attribute belongs to the significant features not only of the
teacher but also of the learner and the whole learning process. To manage a
creative classroom activity learners should be offered enough time and space so
that they can make the best of their imagination and originality. The principal is
that children should feel free when solving the task and they should be aware of
many valuable solutions possible.
The teacher should not interfere in the learning process as an authority if
possible or should rather act as a helper or facilitator.
Learning activities provided to children must be purposeful. Language should
be used as a tool of communication by means of which the activity objectives
should be achieved.
Evaluation is an important element of creativity. The more varied it is the more
stimulating and formative it is for children.
(www.teachingenglish.org)

1.3.4 What demotivates children from learning?

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Childrens motivation and enthusiasm can be raised by selecting interesting

activities, for example; it can be lost easily: monotonous, apparently pointless
activities quickly bore and demotivate young learners. I would be more accurate
to say that younger learners motivation is more likely to vary and is more
susceptible to immediate surrounding influences, including the teacher; that of
older learners tends to be more stable (Ur 1991: 288).
However, there are other factors, which can influence learners on the way to
their loss of motivation, for example, inappropriate choice of activities, that do not
keep childrens interest for a long time and they become easily bored. The
environment in which children spend a considerable part of the day as well as the
class equipment should offer pleasant conditions so that the learners do not feel
uncomfortable, distracted or under pressure. The tasks and activities must be easy
to understand because feeling confused by abstract concepts of grammar rules can
discourage learners from trying to solve the problems.
Teachers should be careful of over-correcting pupils so that the children do not
lose the interest to express themselves.
As Harmer claims however much we do to foster and sustain student
motivation, we can only, in the end, encourage by word and deed, offering our
support and guidance. Real motivation comes from within each individual, from
the students themselves (2007: 20).

1.4 Organisation of the classroom

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Not only the teacher, learners or the choice of activities support effective
learning process, it is also important to create pleasant atmosphere and learning
environment for children. In this chapter, I deal with the possible ways of
classroom layouts and seating arrangement.
I agree with Burnett and Myers, that in every educational setting, children,
support staff and teachers need a physical space and the necessary furniture and
resources. For staff and children, this provides far more than simply a space for
learning. It influences how they feel about themselves, their learning and their
relationships with others, the activities that take place and their role in that
environment. All involved should feel comfortable, secure and motivated, sharing
a sense of ownership and pride in its care and development.
The use of space, the selection and presentation of educational materials and
childrens work, the arrangement of furniture and resources all carry messages
(Burnett, Myers 2004: 195).
For young children, pleasant and familiar surroundings are more acceptable. It
is good when the classes or rooms where children play are decorated with their
works, colourful pictures or any kinds of interesting objects. Children can also
grow plants or have animals in the class in accordance to create personal
relationship to their educational environment. In spite of these suggestions there
must be left enough space for teachers performance. (Underwood 1987)
Hereby, I would like to report about the childrens classroom in Chalabalova
kindergarten.
In order to create a positive learning environment for the development of
language and literacy for children the teacher leading the group tries to provide
children with the setting which invites them to use their language skills. When
you come to the entrance there are lots of pictures on the walls and the doors that
the children have made themselves. In one corner of the classroom there is a
reading corner, the role-play area represents a home corner containing a small
settee, a toy food and cooking equipment. At the front of the room there is writing
and drawing area, where children make all their products. There also is the plan
22

for the week and the box with childrens portfolios (see the part Chalabalova
Kindergarten).
1.4.1 The layout of the classroom
Physical setting of the class has a significant influence on the learning process
itself. The organisation of the class should provide enough space for both teacher
and learners. Tables and chairs can be arranged in many ways; nevertheless,
working in pairs or groups affords an effective seating arrangement. Moreover
when the desks are placed in groups, children have enough space to come out to
the board or to move around the classroom.
Sometimes there is no space in the classroom to move the furniture. Teacher
can think up such activities and group the children in order to use all the available
space in the classroom. Children may sit on the floor, pillows or on the banks,
which can cause unusual conditions for learning but at the same time such
organisation is good for performing or games, where physical activity is needed. It
is vital for the teacher to see all the faces of children so that the restless ones
cannot disturb. By creating unusual setting in the class the learning process can be
much more effective and the teacher can use it to his/her advantage.
Creating seating arrangements
One of the most typical seating arrangements at schools all around the world is
sitting in orderly rows. At the front of the classroom stands the teacher. Pupils
usually sit in front of the wooden desk, which they can put their books on. In
some countries there are little wooden palettes on one of the arms as surface to
write on.

(www.teachingenglish.org)

On the contrary, Harmer suggests such seating arrangements where the children
sit in a circle or in small groups and are working in different parts of the room.
Such organization allows teacher to cooperate with all pupils as he can see all the
faces and so control the situation in the class. There are some more possibilities of
the arrangement. Sometimes the desks are placed in a horseshoe around the
teacher. It looks like the teacher was a part of learning process (Harmer 1998: 18).

23

Sometimes, the desks are arranged in a horseshoe shape around the teacher.
Sometimes, it is not immediately obvious who the teacher is. I would like to bring
in some advantages as well as disadvantages of some different arrangements of
chairs and tables (see the picture below; Harmer 1998: 18).

Traditional rows: this kind of seating arrangement is very convenient for the
teacher as he could see all the pupils and they can see the teacher, because they
are facing in his direction. For the most part of the lesson the teacher can
cooperate with the whole class. It is also suitable for pair work, because pupils can
create pairs immediately by turning themselves to the classmate. Traditional rows
are mostly the only solution when there are many pupils in the class. For teacher it
is easier to maintain eye contact and so keep everyone involved. It is also useful
24

when learners are involved in certain kinds of language practice. If all the pupils
are focused on a task, the whole class gets the same messages. Working separately
is not very sufficient as far as speaking activity concerns, because the learners can
just see the back of the heads of their classmates and so do not feel the
opportunity enough to take part in language work.
Circles and horseshoes: this seating arrangement is popular by many teachers
and learners. All pupils are able to see the teacher, the board and other classmates
and they can lively take part in speaking activities. That is why such an
organisation is good in smaller classes. In case of a very large class having one
horseshoe inside another and using double rows can achieve a similar effect.
The circle formation is suitable for many games, discussions in groups and
welcoming pupils at the beginning of the lesson, doing the register and really
talking to learners. Teacher can take a seat in the middle of the circle and act as a
facilitator of speaking activities.
With the learners sitting in a circle, there is a far greater feeling of equality
than when the teacher stays out at the front. This does not concern the horseshoe
arrangement where the teacher mostly takes central position. Anyway even here
the teacher has greater opportunity to stay in the contact with children.
Separate tables: when children are seating individually it is easier for teacher to
go round the class and check their work. The teacher can advice children if they
have difficulties and provide an appropriate connecting links. There is a
possibility for children to sit in small groups at individual tables. This kind of
classroom organisation provides space for front class activities. Pupils can give
ear to the teacher and then work independently and individually. Also pair work is
very suitable for this kind of layout as the pupils can turn their face to the
classmate without moving any furniture.
Nested tables in groups: they are convenient for small group work and project
work. Pupils can work independently and along with them the teacher can move
around the class and help the children with fulfilling their tasks and giving
instructions. This kind of seating arrangement provides learners a feeling of
belonging to a particular group as they face in towards each other. All the
25

materials needed as well as books they can place in the centre of the group so that
everyone can use it. This gives the children a sense of equality.
It gives room to play games, tell stories, act out dialogues, etc. Almost any
activity can be carried out in this pattern; it gives a lot of opportunity for
interaction between children. However this seating organization can be
uncomfortable for children who have to turn round every time they need to see
their partner or the board. (Underwood 1987: 51)

1.4.2 Grouping the children

As I pointed above, there are many occasions by which a teacher can make use
of different types of classroom organisation. However, it does not always mean
that the traditional sitting in orderly rows is the best seating arrangement for doing
activities. It depends on activity itself, which grouping of children would be the
best in order to achieve the effective learning the language.
In the next paragraphs I describe the most common groupings of children:
(Information compared with Harmer 1998: 21; Phillips 1993: 9)
Individual work
Individual work provides for learner enough time to think up the task. Pupils
can work at their own speed without being pressed by their partners or the teacher.
Individual work is also good for reading and making things or recording
vocabulary. Learners strengthen their individual needs and progress. One of the
disadvantages is no space for communication as the learner has nobody to
cooperate with.
Pair work
Pair work is very suitable for speaking activities such as role-plays, dialogs,
interviews or information gaps. Pupils are divided into pairs and begin to discuss
some problem or task. There is much greater opportunity for children to speak
then when the teacher is working with the whole class and some individuals at the
back of the class do not cooperate at all. Children can further play communicative
games or use self-access materials. Pair work is easy to organise for the teacher
26

and at the same time easy to explain the activity and what learners are supposed to
do.
Group work
Group work means, that children usually work in groups of three or more
children. So that the work is effective, the groups should not contain more than
five children.
A small group of students are discussing a topic, doing a role-play or solving a
problem. Within the children a sense of equality is worth. Social interaction
among children is being developed and they learn how to get on well with each
other. However, some children can take advantage of such bigger group and speak
their native language instead of using English or make small contributions.
Moreover, if there are weaker participants in the group they can be shy to express
themselves.
The best way to involve all the participants is to let each child do the small part
of the task and at the end of the activity put the parts together and let them control
along with the teacher.
While groups A and C are doing one task, the teacher can spend some time
with group B who need special attention.
By pair work and group work children can work independently without being
over controlled by the teacher. They learn to be responsible for their each own
piece of work; they can take own learning decisions, how to use the language and
what words to apply to complete a certain task. And they can work without the
pressure of the whole class listening to what they are saying.
(Phillips 1993: 10)
Sometimes, children need time to get used to working in groups. Working with
somebody else may be new for learners as they do not work individually anymore
and the teacher does not control them. They learn to be responsible and sometimes
it can be a problem for some children to get accustomed to their new role. That is
why it is better to start working in pairs and tightly controlled activities, and later
begin to work with larger groups and provide them with freer activities.

27

There are always advantages as well as disadvantages regarding both group

work and pair work. The participants may not like each other or there are just
some weaker children, who are not able to express themselves as the other ones.
Sometimes such kind of work requires the teachers supervision to raise childrens
confidence and also to prevent using their first language.

1.5 Methods used for teaching young learners

28

1.5.1 Total Physical Response

Total Physical Response (TPR) is language teaching method built around the
coordination of speech and action, it attempts to teach language through physical
(motor) activity.
TPR reflects a grammar-based view of language. Most of the grammatical
structure of the target language and hundreds of vocabulary items can be learned
through TPR method. The more often or the more intensively a memory
connection is traced, the stronger the memory association will be and the more
likely it will be recalled. Tracing can be done verbally (by rote repetition) and in
association with motor activity.
Parallel to the processes first language learning, the foreign language learner
should first internalize a cognitive map of the target language through listening
exercises. Physical movement should accompany listening. Speech and other
productive skills should come later.
Imperative drills are the major classroom activity in Total Physical Response.
Children in TPR have the primary roles of listener and performer. They listen
attentively and respond physically to commands given by the teacher. Learners are
encouraged to speak when they feel ready to speak.
TPR also needs a detailed lesson plan - it is wise to write out the exact
utterances that will be used and especially the new instruction because the action
is so fast-moving there is usually no time for you to create spontaneously.
(Handouts used: http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=135)

In the classroom the teacher plays the role of a parent. She starts by saying a
word ('jump') or a phrase ('look at the board') and demonstrating an action. The
teacher then says the instruction and the students all do the action. After repeating
a few times it is possible to extend this by asking the students to repeat the word
as they do the action.
The teacher has the responsibility of providing the best kind of exposure to
29

language so that the learner can internalize the basic rules of the target language.
The teacher should also allow speaking abilities to develop in learners at the
learners own natural pace.
Teachers should refrain from too much correction in the early stages and should
not interrupt to correct errors, since this will inhibit the learners.
It is more effective if the children are standing in a circle around the teacher
and who can even encourage them to walk around as they do the action.
(www.teachingenlish.org)

For absolute beginners, lessons may not require the use of materials, since the
teachers voice, actions, and gestures may be a sufficient basis for classroom
activities. Later, the teacher may use common classroom objects, such as books,
pens, cups, furniture. As the course develops, the teacher will need to make or
collect supporting materials to support teaching points. These include pictures,
realia, slides, and word charts. (http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?
id=135)

Why should we use TPR with young learners?

I experienced a lot of fun through using TPR activities, children enjoy them
and they are good for kinaesthetic learners who need to be active in the class.
Children remember phrases or words better physical actions get the meaning
across effectively so that all the students are able to understand and use the target
language. It can be used in large or small classes and in mixed-ability classes as
well.
I personally find TPR method very useful and effective. With the help of TPR
activities many things can be practised:
classroom language (Sit down; look at the blackboard; open your book...)
tenses (past, present, future, continuous)
vocabulary and actions (slip, stomach-ache, smile)
instructions, imperatives (take your pen; stand up)
30

 story-telling, role-plays, games (miming, describing, making statues...)

I usually use TPR as a warm-up activity children are supposed to follow my
instructions and movements and I perform them for pupils. I usually use a lot of
gestures and mimics. It is a good fun and children see and understand what to do
at the same time. TPR activity is also effective when children are sleepy or do not
pay attention.
For more TPR activities see the practical part.

1.5.2 Communicative approach

31

Communicative method focuses on language as a medium of communication.

It recognises that all communication has a social purpose learner has something
to say or find out.
Goal of teachers using communicative approach are communicatively
competent students communicative competence involves being able to use the
language appropriate to a speech community. Learners will be more motivated to
study a foreign language if they feel they are learning to do something useful with
the language they study.
Learners acquire the linguistic means to be able to perform different kinds of
functions (seeking information, describing something, expressing likes and
dislikes), to deal with situations in which they might typically need to use a
foreign language (asking for directions, travelling, business), to deal with the
topics they might need to talk about (shopping, travelling) as well as to use
vocabulary and grammar.
(Handouts used: http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=135)
Richards and Rodgers mention the most important features of the role of the
teacher in learning activities:
facilitator of students learning
manager of classroom activities
establishment of situations that promote communication
advisor, answering students questions monitors their performance
co-communicator engaging in the communicative activity along with the
students (2001: 161)
Characteristics of the teaching/learning process:
Almost everything that is done is done with a communicative intention.
Children use the language a great deal through communicative activities such as
games, role-plays and problem-solving tasks.
Richards and Rodgers further select learning activities according to how well
they engage the learner in meaningful and authentic language use (rather than

32

merely mechanical practice of language patterns).

There are three features of communicative activities:

information gap exists when one person in an exchange knows something

that the other person does not

choice what he will say and how he will say it

feedback helps the speaker to evaluate whether or not his purpose has been
achieved based upon the information he receives from the listener (2001: 161).

Learners should not use the native language. All the communicative activities
as well as teachers instructions and explaining the activities are done in the target
language. The target language is vehicle for communication, not just an object to
be studied.
For more information see Role of communicative approach to English
Language Teaching (ELT) in games, p31.

1.5.3 The Audiolingual Method

33

According to Richards and Rodgers, this approach considers learning a

language as a habit formation. By memorizing dialogues and performing pattern
drills the chances of producing mistakes are minimized. Language is viewed as a
verbal behaviour.
Language skills are learned more effectively if the items to be learned in the
target language are presented in spoken form before they are seen in the written
form.
The meanings that the words of a language have for the native speaker can be
learned only in linguistic and cultural context and not in isolation (Richards,
Rodgers 2001: 57).
Principles of the Audiolingual Method

Language forms occur most naturally within a context.

Native language should be kept apart and used as little as possible.

Language learning is a process of habit formation: the more often something is

repeated, the stronger habit and the greater the learning.

It is important to prevent errors. Errors lead to the formation of bad habits.

The teacher should correct them immediately.

The purpose of language learning is to learn how to use language

communicatively.

Learners should learn to answer automatically, without stopping to think.

Speech is basic to language. The natural order of skill acquisition is: listening,
speaking, reading, writing.

Learners are imitators of the teachers model. They follow the teachers
directions and respond as accurately and as rapidly as possible.

Role of the teacher

The teacher is active and has central and leading role in the lesson. The main
relationship in the class is teacher-learner. The teacher should speak only the
target language; learners are not given any materials before. All their work is
34

based on listening and responding to the teacher the learners play a reactive role
by responding to the stimuli presented by the teacher. The work of the teacher is
very demanding (accuracy, activity, control of the lesson).
Types of learning techniques and activities
Repetition of words
New vocabulary and structures are presented through dialogues. They are
learnt through imitation and repetition.
Dialog Memorisation
Dialogues and conversations are used often at the beginning of a new topic.
Children learn their lines and use them as the responses for the teachers
lines, then the roles are switched. Finally, pairs or the groups of the children are
able to perform the dialog. Certain sentence patterns and grammar points are
included in the dialogue and these are practiced later in drills.

Backward Build-Up Drill (Expansion Drill)

Used for longer parts of the dialog. Teacher breaks the sentence into smaller
parts and makes children to repeat them separately. Starting with the end and
going to the beginning of the sentence.
Repetition Drill
Students accurately and quickly repeat after the teacher.
Chain Drill
The teacher starts asking one of the pupils the question. He/she is to respond
and than continues to ask the same question his/her classmate. This way all the
students practise both the answer and the question.
Transformation Drill
Learners work with the line given by the teacher. They transform the statement
into question or negative etc.
35

Question-and-Answer Drill
The target is speed and accuracy of the students.
Use of Minimal Pairs
The teacher works with the words that differ in only one sound. Students are to
perceive the difference and later repeat the two words correctly. Good for teaching
pronunciation.
Complete the Dialog
Words or phrases erased from the known dialog are to be filled in by the
students.
Grammar Game
Allow students to practise any grammar point and vocabulary. Students are
able to express themselves, add something new to the dialog, though they are
limited. Again, the game should be based on a lot of repetition.
(Handouts used: http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/course/view.php?id=135)

In the previous chapter I described some teaching methods and approaches that
36

I assume to be essential for teaching English to young children. Personally, I

consider the audio-lingual (or audio-oral) method to be the most important for
teaching children as the whole learning process and acquiring new skills and
knowledge is to build on aural perception and the basic pronunciation skill.
I further deal with listening competence and activities concerning developing
listening skills in the next chapter. I will also mention the role of pronunciation.

1.6 Listening
According to Scott and Yttreberg listening is the first skill that people acquire
in their life (1990:21). In fact I would not use the term acquire. Listening is an
innate skill, which can be further developed and improved. My opinion is in
accordance with Brumfit, Moon and Tongue, as they affirm that studies of young
learners comprehension skills show that many aspects of listening are mastered at
an early age, particularly in supportive, conversational contexts where social skills
are highlighted. They further report that it is possible to improve childrens
ability to listen for understanding in their mother tongue. It seems, therefore, even
more important to train children to listen for understanding in a foreign language
(1991: 161).

Enhancing the listening comprehension

In the early learning process the teacher can make use of listening skill, even
though children cannot speak. They have a wonderful ability to imitate and learn
naturally. They can do completely the same gestures and things as the teacher
does. As they get older they can imitate accent and intonation perfectly which is
the basic for learning efficient communication of a language, which involves also
practising proper pronunciation. Providing them with models of good
pronunciation is very important.
To promote sustained listening we should provide purposeful listening
activities where learners are asked to focus on specific points and that make
children curious about what they are going to listen to. By listening activities
children should be able to get the message but at the same time we should
encourage them that it is not necessary to understand or remember every word of

37

spoken message. For more effective comprehension we can provide children with
visual support (see Head, shoulders; Animal chant) such as pictures, charts or
context clues to make sense of what they hear.
I would like to point out few activities that can be done with children to
promote their sustained listening as I found it very useful during my teaching
practice:
-

repeating words or phrases after teacher

searching for some specific information

getting the message of the text

recognising discourse patterns and markers of intonation

predicting what is the activity (story, record) going to be about following

the sequence of event in a story

listening to a description of an image (picture, shape) and trying to draw it

(see appendix Listen and draw)

playing listening games (Head, shoulders; I went shopping)

I can notice also plenty of listening activities and games for practising specific
vocabulary items or grammatical patterns, e.g. performing action (Head,
shoulders), drawing (Listen and draw), guessing (yes/no questions), matching,
sequencing, transferring information, predicting and problem-solving (Brumfit,
Moon, Tongue 1991: 168).
1.6.1 Pronunciation
From my point of view pronunciation plays the most important role in speech
and is a significant aspect of communication and conveying message. Wrong
learning of stress, accent or pronunciation can lead to later problems in learning
process as well as in communication. If children learn the work in a wrong way, it
can come to a misunderstanding between speakers, as they will not be able to
understand the message or catch the right meaning. If a speaker changes some
vowels or sounds the whole message can be broken.
Teaching correct pronunciation should be the ground in language teaching and
effective language learning.
I strongly believe that small children make mistakes because the teacher makes
38

them first. Children just repeat what they hear. It is essential to correct small pupils
constantly. As Sesnan reassures my belief, children are able to pronounce
anything very well as long as it is presented to them in a satisfactory way. When
they are as confident in English as they are in their mother tongue, they will
automatically begin to speak better (1997: 104).
Using many pronunciation activities and games can support effective teaching
of pronunciation. As an example see the activity Sound pictures in the practical
part (Hancock 1995: 41-45).

1.7 Using games for language teaching

39

In my thesis I would like to deal with the ways in which games and game-like
activities can be integrated into language teaching and learning.

"Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural

communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their
utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding."
Stephen Krashen

Halliwell implies, that in order to make the most of the creative language skill
the children bring with them from early childhood, we therefore have to provide
them with occasions when:
the urge to communicate makes them find some way of expressing themselves;

the language demanded by the activity is unpredictable and is not just asking
the children to repeat set phrases, but is encouraging them to construct
language actively for themselves.
That is why games are so useful and so important. It is not just because they

are fun. It is partly because the fun element creates a desire to communicate and
partly because games can create unpredictability (Halliwell 1991: 3).

Anyway there are lots of games that can be used within a learning process and
can be connected with language teaching. However, using games requires trained
teachers who have mastered not only the linguistic part but can also involve
children in playing the game planned for language purposes.
At this point I agree with Rixon, that a teacher who understands games in this
way is much more likely to be able to find or create games that will help his
students to learn something as they play.
The most obvious way of classifying games from a language teachers point of
view is according to the language they practice: listening games, spelling games,

40

games to help students build vocabulary, games that bring in a structure or a

function, and so on (1981: 1).

1.7.1 What is a game?

Rixon thinks that looking at games in general may help us to pick out features
that will be useful in language teaching and to see what other features will be less
useful or even a waste of time(1981: 2).
Rixon further mentions three definitions according to other authors Jones,
Rodgers and Gibbs:
According to Jones, 1986 a game is played when one or more players compete
or co-operate for pay-offs according to a set of rules. Rodgers, 1981 assumes:
gaming is competitive rule-governed goal-definedGaming has closure
gaming is engaging.
Rixon reports Gibbs statement about a game as an activity carried out by
cooperating or competing decision-makers, seeking to achieve, within a set of
rules, their objectives (1981: 2).
Rixon further considers games as closed activities. It means that every game
has its clearly marked beginning and end. There is always somebody who wins
and loses the game, which defines the end of the game.
The teacher does not have to be in the role of supervisor of the game. He is just
responsible for the running and function of the activity and he helps children when
they are in troubles, he monitors their performance and provides help on the
language side. One of the most important aims of games is to make children talk
to each other.
Games help the children organized into different patterns of interaction to
dispose of such habits and inhibitions as e.g. when children are shy or do not like
to talk to their classmates or to other people. Children, as they are in the thick of
the game, forget about their formal class behaviour and start to react directly to
what their fellows are doing and saying (1981: 4, 5).
Rixon also stresses the basic feature of many games - cooperation and
competition cooperation with other members of a team and competition against
41

another players or a team. (1981: 5)

Through cooperation children learn to be helpful, share the ideas and make an
agreement about the best solution.
When children are playing a game, they need to use language to some purpose.
The repetitiveness of patterns used in a game is a very important aspect, which
leads to development and improvement of the skills and moreover the players
want to improve the skills necessary for a game they enjoy.
Players need not necessarily communicate with one another during the game
at least not with words. They can mime, perform with hands, gestures, and use
body movements and so on, which provides a lot of fun and unpredictability. The
ideal combination is a game in which learners have to react, by using language, to
some challenge which may be decided by the luck of drawing a card or throwing a
die, for example. (Rixon, 1981: 3, 4)
1.7.2 Why use games?
In the following chapter I deal with the purpose of using games and how games
can be incorporated into the learning process and so be useful for children as well
as for the teacher.
1.7.2.1 Children and games
As Julia Khan mentions in Brumfits book, games are activities that children
naturally and universally engage in. There is a certain timelessness in the pleasure
children find in games and in how the nature of the games they play changes as
they develop, ranging through fantasy, ritual, competition and luck. (Brumfit;
Moon; Tongue, 1991: 143)
Children naturally want to play games. The activity needs to be creative and
exciting so that the pupils learn effectively. They must be actively involved in the
game and feel the pleasure and need in order to succeed in learning.
The discriminating use of games in the young learners classroom can help in
creating opportunities for involvement and excitement, for achievement and
success. And children who are eager to take part in playing a well chosen game
will want to master the language necessary for doing so.

42

Games usually lead to social as well as intellectual involvement since players

need to communicate in order to compete or co-operate, to organize or argue.
Games can create these opportunities in the foreign language classroom by setting
out situations where children urgently need and want to communicate in order to
have a turn at playing, to point out the rules, to challenge another player and so
on (Brumfit; Moon; Tongue, 1991: 144).
.
1.7.2.2 Role of communicative approach to English Language Teaching (ELT)
in games
Brumfit quotes Khan, who considers task-based activities as a principle of
communicative approaches to ELT because they enhance learning. These
activities stimulate effective use of language but involve no conscious analysis of
language like e.g. in grammar exercise (Brumfit; Moon; Tongue, 1991: 144).
With task-based approach activities Khan understands e.g. listening to
instructions in order to draw a picture or make a model or play a game. It is
necessary to understand in order to fulfil the task, but the grammatical analysis is
not of an importance.
Khan considers games as tasks. They provide purpose and have clearly defined
goals. We can support the learning process if we involve a game into the language
lesson effectively and it will attract learners attention (Brumfit; Moon; Tongue,
1991: 145).
When playing a game children have to interact with somebody. Either with a
partner or with the whole team. The learner needs to use language in a social
context in order to interact effectively, which leads to successful learning. Using
the language is the best way of learning to use it (Brumfit; Moon; Tongue, 1991:
145).
Khan assumes another important principle of communicative methodology
the teaching must be learner-centred. The syllabus and the methods that the
teacher applies when using game activities should consider preferred learning
processes and needs of the learner.
In many types of games the rules demand that children must produce a
43

structure correctly, pronounce or spell the words correctly so that the players
recognize the difference between the sounds.
One player may, for example, be trying to describe a picture well enough for
another to be able to draw it, or trying to persuade other players that there is some
link between the two pictures that he wishes to place together as part of a move in
the game.
The emphasis in this type of game is more upon successful communication
than strict correctness. For further information see the next chapter.
1.7.3 Effective communication or correctness?
We want our learners to achieve both correctness as well as fearless successful
communication. We can provide them with lots of activities, but these are mostly
aimed to be appropriate for each skill separately. Controlled tasks and drills are
suitable for learning correctness and activities that provide opportunity for freer
expression enable learners to speak and communicate fluently and confidently.
Different types of games are appropriate for different purposes.
Rixon (1981) differentiates code-control games from communication games:
1.7.3.1 Code-control games
These games emphasize using language correctly. They are similar to language
drills. They assume the repetition and drilling will lead to successful learning of
the language. Accuracy of reproduction or spelling is required in order for the
player to succeed.
The length of each utterance is usually limited in this type of game it should
not often be longer than a sentence or two. Even one word is enough. Accuracy of
reproduction, spelling and correct repetition is required in order for the player to
succeed. Usually the teacher must review the correctness of responses.
In their function code-control games are similar to drills.
Among these games can be classified for example Hangman, (see the
Appendix XVI.), a well known spelling game. Players should use their knowledge
of the spelling conventions of the language in order to make intelligent questions.
They practice the spelling of words and the alphabet.
44

Children may also be required to say something correctly, sometimes to

practise a structure, or to extend vocabulary and challenge memory as for example
in the game I Went Shopping (see the Appendix XV.).
1.7.3.2 Communication games
In communication games the correctness of the utterance is not of such a big
importance, but the learners overall message is stressed. The outcome is essential
not the form. Anyway it is not true that communication games do not improve
correctness. The patterns and structures are being learned through the frequent
repetition as the range of language skills and vocabulary is limited.
Good example of a communication game is Describe and Draw (see the
Appendix XVI.). Children in order to succeed in drawing use freer language and
more expressions than in code-control games. At the end of the game the
objective will have been achieved by effective communication more than by
absolutely perfect use of language (Rixon, 1981: 27).
Find the Difference game is very good for practising structures like I can
see, Can you see?, Is there a in your picture?, Theres a in my
picture, etc. In this game children try to describe two similar pictures and find
out the differences in each picture.
In a communication game the learners do not need to speak perfectly, it is
important for players to understand the message and to reach the objective.
Sometimes at the end of the game a visual comparison is made, as in Describe and
Draw or Find the Difference.
In many communication games Rixon mentions gap or disparity in the
information the players have at the beginning of the game. Players have to use
language to bridge this gap and get the information they need to complete the
activity. This information gap exists in Whats my Line? (see the Appendix XIII),
in which the players must question the challenger to find out what his job is
(1981: 30).
Brumfit, Moon and Tongue quote Palmer and Rodgers (1983): There are six
45

features which can be seen to greater or lesser extent in communicative language

teaching games: the players have to interact; they have to deal with some
unpredicted information; they have a clear purpose; the context of the activity is
clear; players have to be actively involved; they are given a particular role to
play (1991: 150).
1.7.4 Learning by doing
role-play and dialogues

drama activities

chants and songs

We can do learning by doing and other activities with children to give them

more practice at speaking as well as to stimulate their imagination and creativity.

Children can practice their speaking ability through singing songs, saying rhymes,
playing speaking or vocabulary games, performing some story or a dialog.
1.7.4.1 Role-play and dialogues
Role-play areas provide a key resource within early years classrooms as
children try to behave as if they were adults. They engage in socio-dramatic
play by performing real world situations. A role-play where the whole group is
engaged in, provides opportunities to meet new challenges, empathize with others
and explore relationships (Myers; Burnett 2004: 37).
Role play is a kind of presenting dialogue when children are pretending to be
someone else, e.g. a doctor and a patient, parent and a child, or shop assistant and
customer.
Sesnan concerns role-play and demonstrations as simple examples of a more
general educational principle which can be called learning by doing (1997: 172).
By this term the author does not mean only learning about something but that it is
important to develop the practical skill of doing something. In general children
learn the language best by using it and this can be achieved spontaneously by
doing or performing some action and at the same time practicing the new subject
matter.
One of the best ways to remember things is to use physical movements when
46

learning new words or phrases (as said in the chapter on TPR, p22). That is why it
is essential for the teacher to use instructions only in the target language and
consequently perform them to children.
For example pupils should be used to follow basic instructions as for instance
Sit down! Keep quiet! Wash your hands! Come to me! Open your book! and so
on. In class this means practicing language all the time.
In general pupils learn better the words they discovered themselves. This can
be supported by teacher for instance when using mnemonic by pronunciation (e.g.
for word accommodation two children (CC) and their mothers (MM) were
looking for accommodation); giving visual support (children can associate new
words with pictures) or just performing the new word and constant repetition.
They understand the rule better if they find it out themselves. Of course they must
be supervised well by the teacher not to learn new grammar rules or
pronunciation in an utterly wrong way. Memorizing is a good way for learning
songs, poems or grammatical rules, however, it can be damaging to the learner as
long as the rhythm and pronunciation is not correct. That is why I recommend
using dialogue, role-play or chants and songs, where the teacher can control the
correctness of pupils utterances and provide them e.g. with correct pronunciation,
rhythm and intonation by playing a CD or a tape.
Role-play is a good way to combine guided practice with a kind of free activity.
Pupils enjoy such activities much more than being forced into learning by heart or
memorizing. Dialogues and role-plays that require physical movements or action
work best with young children. With low primary learners it is good to use
puppets or teddies that would ask children questions, so that they were encouraged
to answer more freely.
With children you can do two types of activities. The first one is just following
some prescribed patterns, children learn it and memorize by repeating the
sentences after you and then try it to use them in sentences. Or you can extend the
activity by asking for more information or adding some more words or sentences.
Children can write the suggestions on the board so that the others can see them.
This will help for better fixation of the new word structure in learners mind. You
can practice vocabulary or grammar rules in this way. It is helpful and easier if
your pupils get familiar with vocabulary of the discussed topic before the
47

launching the activity.

Importance of dialogues and role-play according to Ytreberg (1990: 41):
Pupils speak in the first or the second person while the texts are written in the
third person.
Pupils learn to ask questions as well as answer.
They use shorter structures to convey and to respond appropriately.
They do not use only word but also the other means of expression, e.g. gestures,
intonation, stress, tone of voice, body movements.
They can encourage pupils to chats or discussions, if they feel free to speak.
(Anyway children can be shy to express themselves, as they do not have an
appropriate vocabulary. For that reason they should be allowed to use their mother
tongue).

1.7.4.2 Drama activities

Under the term drama I always imagine some theatre performance or a play in
which more than two people take part. In fact, with drama activities for young
children it is very similar. Children engage in socio-dramatic play which means
they behave as if they were some other people or they choose roles and perform
situations mostly from real-world life they engage in doctors, customers,
teachers or shopkeepers
Such simulated situations provide children a deeper understanding of their livers.
By acting children practice their speaking abilities and develop self-confidence.
Drama activities contribute to developing other skills as well as cooperation,
making agreements or expressing themselves.
Role of the teacher in drama activities
The teacher can take part in the activity together with children by interacting
with pupils in role teacher can provide them with challenges, dilemmas to face
and problems to solve (for instance, by asking them to help sort out a dispute or
solve a mystery) (Myers, Burnett 2004: 37).

48

Myers further distinguishes between different roles of teacher. He/she can

choose to take either high-status role, as for example the king that enables him/her
to direct children and take control of the whole activity. On the other hand, the
teacher can choose a low-status role, for example one of the seven dwarfs of the
Snow-white. In this case children feel equal and independent, as the teacher is one
of them, which gives them confidence to speak out and take responsibility within
the situation. Drama activities are one of the best ways to practice fluent speech
and help children use language in a natural context.
Not only playing a story or acting in a drama is motivation and funny for
children. They always need somebody to watch their performance. Usually the
audience is the other part of the class who is not performing at the moment or
other schoolmates.
Furthermore, children like watching drama. According to Sesnan young
audiences enjoy watching people fighting, shouting, and pushing each other
around in a play, but this should only be a small part of drama. Good drama
involves all the emotions. A good actor rarely shouts and is able to make the
audience laugh and weep, feel angry, feel happy, or feel sad by good
acting(1997: 220).
There are plenty of topics that can be performed as a drama. I like performing
stories with my primary children that we have read. Or I read a story slowly, so
that children could understand and after reading they were supposed to perform
the plot. They were allowed to use mother tongue while acting as long as the
purpose by young children was to prove their listening comprehension, anyway
older pupils had to speak only in the target language.
Other interesting topics are either the ones from real world (children v. parents;
at the shop; at the doctor) or some historical events, stories involving animals or
just convincing somebody to do something.

Sesnan (1997: 221) points out important rules in drama:

49

an actor should never stand backside to the audience, because they might not
hear him/her properly

two actors should not speak at one time

there should not be more than 5 people at the stage at one time

an actor may speak to the audience so that the other actors appear not to hear
this is called an aside

1.7.4.3 Rhymes, chants and songs

All children seem to love songs and rhymes since their early childhood.
Mothers teach their children rhymes to memorize and perform it like a game.
They like saying them again and again. Rhymes are repetitive; they have natural
rhythm and they have an element of fun, of playing with the language (Ytreberg
1990: 27).
Children often create their own rhymes, they change words or start telling the
rhyme and finish it in their own words that support their creativity and stimulate
their mind to think about the words. When listening to a song, it takes children a
little time to learn it. They repeat the words with music background, which makes
the memorization easier. You can very well make use of songs, for example during
the learning process by using it as a whole-lesson activity or just to diversify some
part of the lesson. Small children learn songs by heart without thinking about the
words or the structure, but they unconsciously gain the basics of rules and
vocabulary. There are plenty of known songs as well as materials that provide you
with great songs and rhymes activities. There are many sources, where teachers
can find supporting activities, for example:
Dakin, J. Songs and Rhymes for the Teaching of English; Longman 1968
Graham, C. Creating Chants and Songs. Oxford University Press 2007
As children repeat words of songs and chants after the teacher or a CD, they
build their confidence and a feeling of achievement, as they are able to remember
the whole stanzas. Moreover, they like learning songs, because they can sing them
to their parents at home.

50

You can do many activities with songs, for instance use it for vocabulary or
numbers practice (Ten Little Indians), as a change activity, connect them with the
new topic or use them during a drama activity. You can as well let just one part of
the class sing a half of the song and the other part finish it to the end. Many songs
also involve body movements, like clapping as children hear the specific word,
moving hands up and down or jumping. The class can begin or end the lesson
with some song or rhyme for fun, activating minds or as pronunciation practice.
Singing as a whole class develops teamwork and everybody takes part in the
activity.
Graham believes that through songs and chants children learn to feel rhythm
the rhythmical heartbeat of the language which underlies the ability to speak
English accurately and with confidence (2006: Foreword).
With the help of songs and chants not only pronunciation but also listening is
being practiced.
Chants are very similar to songs; only the words are not sung but said in the
rhythm of the song. I agree with Graham, that with the help of chants you can
work on the sound system of English and it is very useful for acquiring of correct
stress and intonation patterns of the spoken language. Children remember
vocabulary or grammar patterns effectively as the process of acquiring is based on
repetition and rhythm and association with other similar words.
As a teacher you can change the original version and you can make the chant
of your own or the children can create it themselves, which ensures and element
of fun and creativity in the learning process (see practical part; Animal chant).

1.8 Helen Doron Early English

51

Speaking about listening activities, I would like to mention methodology I met

during my teaching practice:
Helen Doron Early English (hereinafter referred to as HDEE) is a method of
teaching children to speak and understand English in the same way they learn
their mother tongue naturally and with confidence and ease.
Helen Doron is a British, internationally renowned linguist with a long list of
qualifications, including and MA in Linguistics. She is in contact with the team of
teachers all around the world. She provides them with the highest quality learning
materials, updated regularly to ensure classes stay continually fresh and fun.
The basis of the system HDEE is the childs listening audiocassettes / CDs
twice daily at home. They absorb the sounds and rhythm of the language and
acquire the second language in the same way they learnt their mother tongue by
repeated listening and positive reinforcement (furthermore, they play activities in
the class) (www.helendoron.com).
The basic rule of HDEE is that learning should be fun and only highly trained
and skilled teachers can lead the course. It is the methodology and material that
ensure the unique success in HDEE learning. The exceptional fun and musical
learning materials, designed by experts are brimming with activities that promote
pleasure in acquiring new skills by enhancing engagement and motivation for all
age ranges (www.helendoron.com).
HDEE teachers are highly trained experts, who have to take part in intensive
training and they are specially qualified to cultivate the kind of fun-filled,
motivating and successful learning environment for children. During the course
teachers receive continuous training updates and support and they participate in
regularly scheduled seminars and conferences. For future HDEE teachers there is
a wide support service, like already mentioned seminars and conferences or e.g.
email forum, Teacher web portal that gives the teacher an access to document
downloads and other valuable tools for the lessons or Teacher prop site with fun
and games that can be downloaded.
Education of teachers is taken very seriously. Teachers accepted into the
training program must have high level of knowledge, skill and excellent English
proficiency. They attend an extremely intensive course, which is limited only to
twelve participants. Except the daily course they are required to prepare for the
52

next days session, which takes minimally one hour in the evening. They need to
submit written essays and provide good performance on practical demonstrations.
However, the most important aspect of all is to be creative and enjoy working
with children.
Undoubtedly, HDEE classes seem to be highly efficient, creative, and
successful. The necessity of learning the English language is becoming important
for the future and more and more parents want their children speak second
language since their early age. Anyway, I do not agree that Helen Doron teaching
methods are the best of all. It is quite new system of learning English and it is
accepted with great success. On the contrary, there are many language
kindergartens that can provide very similar conditions in language teaching and
learning.
During my attendance in Chalabalova kindergarten in Brno I could see how
efficiently children can learn languages if the teacher wants to work with them
and dedicates the time and effort to create appropriate environment, very similar
to that described by Helen Doron. The experience from the said kindergarten is to
be found in the next chapter.

1.9 Chalabalova Kindergarten

53

During my attendance in Chalabalova School I was involved in the leaning

process and the daily program of children. Since last year there has been a new
language project subsidized by the city of Brno, which comprises ten
kindergartens in Brno including Chalabalova kindergarten. Children get the
learning material for free and they have language classes every Thursday.
The teacher in the kindergarten creates and activity for children concerning a
particular topic. They create figures, draw pictures or make models. Everybody
enjoys participation in these activities and children use their works later in
language classes where the teacher involves childrens new skills and knowledge
into the learning activities.
In Chalabalova School children learn according to Dalton plan. Solving
problems, making decisions, communication and cooperation with other people
are the principles of this educational approach. Every individual can choose
reliable and effective way of learning for himself. He makes effort in developing
his own skills and the school offers him only methodical instructions to the
learning.
Because children are trained to work on their own, the teacher can put his/her
mind to less-skilled and weaker children, who need special help. Every child has
its own working tempo and can fulfill the task with regard to its own abilities and
expectation. Children are provided with enough space for enterprise, thinking,
ideas and imagination and they enjoy the inner feeling of freedom and joy of the
creative work. Every individual needs certain time to master the task. It trains
them in concentration and understanding.
The instant feedback is very important and effective to find out where the child
made a mistake and to know how its progress is.
Dalton plan prefers not only development of knowledge, skills, ability to
communicate with others but also enterprise, independence and cooperation of
pupils.
In the classroom there is a week plan hanging on the wall, so that all children
can see it. Every day has different color and every task has different number,
which provides an effective remembering and learning specific topics. Children
can do the tasks in a random order. When they fulfill the task, they label their
product with a stamp and ad it to their portfolio. Teachers as well as parents can
look at the work and results of their children. Portfolio consists of things
54

concerning auditory and visual analysis, numerical and special tasks, imaginations
and materials for English class.
Children can attend educational lectures with their parents, where they get to
know, what they the latter are exactly doing in the kindergarten. The teacher leads
logopedic prevention. This means that children stop playing as the teacher begins
to play a song on the radio which is the signal for them to tidy up the room. They
make a circle and do various pronunciation exercises; they limber up the organs of
speech, say tongue twisters, clap their hands counting the syllables or learn songs
or rhymes. They are perfectly prepared for speaking and listening activities that
they utilize later at school.
Children also make decorations and models and beautify the classroom with
their products. Every day they speak about some topic, e.g. it is spring so they talk
about how chickens are born and grow from eggs. They also often go out and
describe the objects there. However plastic and graphic activities are very
demanding in organization and cleaning. The teacher must be very patient and
have good organizational skills.
English class
Children attend their English class every Thursday for forty-five minutes in the
morning. They are divided into three groups because of the high number of them
(teaching English to twenty-five small children would really require excellent
patience and many other skills of the teacher). The small group moves into a
language classroom. They usually work up the topic they had talked about earlier
in the kindergarten; the organization of the groups and going to the English
classroom is part of the lesson used for training the routines.
I attended a few language classes so that I could compare working with
children in kindergarten and in elementary school.
Children in kindergarten are very natural and very lively. They are excited
almost about every activity you offer them. On the other hand, you need to be
organizationally very skillful and patient. At elementary school children can work
up the task from the beginning to the end, but in the kindergarten you must be
very creative of changing activities. The activities must be short, funny and full of
body movements, so that children do not get bored and lose their interest.
Children pay more attention when they enjoy themselves. There may be a
55

situation, when you practice for example parts of the body abut suddenly it begins
to snow outside. If one pupil sees it, you can be sure that the whole activity will be
disrupted. At this moment the teacher must use the creativity and for instance
begin to cut out the snowflakes or talk about winter hobbies with children.
In this way I would like to point out the awareness of the teacher, who needs to
know how to react quickly in different situations and what kind of teaching
methodology to use.
Perfectly trained and skilled language teachers should be the basic presumption
for language teaching to small children because the essential skills that a child
acquires either in the kindergarten or in lower primary class make the ground for
the later learning process.
However, there is one more vital aspect that I ensured myself of during my
teaching experience a good teacher should not only manage the highest level of
expertise in methodology but he/she must also master perfect pronunciation.
Children hear English repeated during activities almost every day. If the
teacher speaks with incorrect accent, stress or intonation, the whole learning
process is disrupted.
In general, children may not pay close attention to the words or even try to
understand them at first, but through repetition, the sounds, words and sentence
structures become familiar.
Children acquire an understanding of the language naturally but they must be
provided with perfect pronunciation of words from the very beginning. The
younger the child is the easier and more natural it is to acquire a native-speakerlike mastery of accent and grammar.

That is to say I fully agree with Brumfit and Moon, who state that: There is
no evidence to suggest that teaching foreign languages to young children actually
produces bad results, unless the teachers are untrained or there is no satisfactory
resourcing.
First, teachers need the language. Basic competence is essential. However, we
should note that this may pose problems in some educational traditions, especially
56

where foreign rather than second languages are being learnt. Opportunities for
foreign language access will vary considerably from country to country. It may
therefore be necessary to train foreign language competence closely co-ordinated
with teaching methodology for this level. Secondly, of course, teachers need
competence in primary teaching methodology. The skills necessary for teaching
at this level are very different from those needed elsewhere in the education
system.
We need to emphasise the role of story, dance, role-play and puppet activity,
model-making and so on, and we shall need to centre much of our teaching on
topical rather than formal organisation (1984: vii-viii).

1.9.1 Sample activity lesson

(Chalabalova kindergarten)
Children come to the classroom and the teacher asks them: Make the circle. What
was the weather like this morning? Warm? No! Cold? Yes! It was a frosty
morning.
The teacher brings a chair into the middle of the circle and asks one pupils to sit
on it. Sit down please. The rest of the class is walking around and singing a song
Frosty morning. They perform what they are singing wash my face comb my
hair
The teacher stops the song. Sit down! Everybody sits on the floor immediately.
Stand up! Jump! Hands up! No Libor, dont sit down, I said, hands up! The
teacher performs the action together with pupils. Touch your head! Touch your
tummy! Not shoulders touch your tummy! Where is the tummy? Right Kristin,
thats your tummy. Touch your shoulders!
The teacher plays the song Head, shoulders, knees and toes (see the Appendix
VI., VIII).
Sit down in a circle; we will talk about the weather. Budeme si povdat o poas.
Teacher uses mother tongue when speaking about new topic or when she notices
that children do not understand or are loosing interest. Jak je poas? Aprlov.
57

Vte, pro je poas aprlov? Pan Zima se bije s Jarem. Star Zima k: Snow
and frost and cold! Jaro je jako mlad kutko jak se ekne kutko? Chicken!,
shout the children. Jump like a chicken! Everybody begins to jump as a chicken.
Ok, stop! The chicken says: pleas, please, warm spring! Please, please sun! Say
it with me. The teacher sees that some children are loosing attention so she
quickly changes the activity. Tte se do baznu? Yeeees! So swim! Everybody
lies down on the floor performing swimming.
Ok, make a queue. Whats a queue? You know it. Right Franta, ada! Make a
queue! Everybody is given a sheet of paper with pictures. Children only get the
paper if they say please and thank you. They sit at the tables and prepare the
crayons. They begin to color the pictures concerning weather. The teacher gives
the instruction: the umbrella is yellow. Whats yellow? Right, the sun is yellow. So
paint the sun with yellow as well. The sky is blue. Yes blue.
The teacher has a puppet of Cookie the cat. Cookie is red. While children are
painting, the teacher plays a song. Stop and come here! Cookie has a surprise for
you!
Children run to the teacher. She is sitting on the floor and holding a small suitcase.
Whats in the suitcase? Children are shouting: Obleen! Yes, clothes, says the
teacher. She takes out the items of small clothes and sends them around the circle
so that everybody can touch it. Cookie came from England and he understands
only English. Children can ask him questions about the weather in England. Was
it sunny? No, it wasnt. Was it rainy? Yes. Was it warm? No, Cookie answers. The
teacher always helps children with the questions.
Children come to the blackboard where the teacher has drawn the items of clothes.
Do you know what this is? Sukn! Yes, its a skirt. Say skirt. Skirt! Who has a
skirt? Kristin! Yes, Kristin has a skirt. What is this? Svetr! Yes, it is a jumper. Say
it. Later children are learning the song Clothes in washing machine to revise the
vocabulary.
(More practical lesson plans are to be found in the practical part).

1.9.2 Evaluation

58

To sum up the last two chapters, it is obvious that the English class was very
vivid, full of different activities and exciting for children. I could see that children
enjoyed the activity and they loved the teacher. They were allowed to speak in
their mother tongue as the speaking skill and the vocabulary range is not of a high
level, which contributes to better confidence of expressing themselves. As I have
mentioned many times, children are very natural and immediate, the activities
must be varied and short so that the teacher can keep their attention. That is why I
must report an important fact again the teacher must have very good
organizational skills and great patience.
This lesson was not much different from the lesson I attended in the above
described Helen Doron class, there is just one significant difference children are
allowed to speak their mother tongue.
It still remains a question, if using mother tongue is good and if it can provide
an effective learning process. In my opinion it is a good way how to let shy
children express themselves. As far as the teachers using native language is
concerned, it seems to be essential when you need to calm the class down or
explain some instructions. At the same time first language can be used for the
translation of problem vocabulary or when reading or revising a story.
During my teaching practice children were reading a story in their native
language and then the children performed the plot in English they used only
English words and simple phrases.
Brumfit accepts that the teacher can use the first language for introduction and
orientation in the text and for eliciting what the children already know about the
topic by asking them question (1991: 165).
On the other hand I found out, that each time the teacher spoke in English,
children absorbed the sounds and patterns of the language naturally. For giving
instruction, I used gestures and demonstrated what I wanted children to do. After
some time, children got used to instructions in foreign language and they have
learnt a lot more English.

2. Practical Part

59

As I have already mentioned my teaching experience in the theoretical part, I

would like to present sample lesson plans concerning game-like activities in the
practical part. I take advantage of my own teaching experience in Vizovice
elementary school. I also involve methods and approaches described in the
theoretical part.
The aim of the practical part is to show how games can be incorporated in the
effective learning process to young children.
Lesson Plans
Mime and guess (Kufr)
Lesson Plan 1
Level: lower primary class, beginners
Length of lesson: 45 minutes
New lexis: depends on the topic you want to practice: Animals, Technology,
Common objects and things, Jobs
Materials: cards with words
scissors
chair
table for writing achieved points
Skills to be practiced:
Listening during the pre-activity children have to listen carefully to descriptions
of common objects so that they can guess the correct answer.
Speaking describing things and objects, using adjectives It is small / big / fat /
thin / new / old / alive / modern
Aims: cooperation with partners
body movements skills (TPR), performance
getting the message
acquiring language by imitating
Pre-activity: Describing things and objects according to the pictures.
Pupils are divided into two groups or teams that will compete with each other.
60

Before the lesson I had prepared set of cards with pictures of common objects
(e.g. pen, clock, glasses, bottle, computer). As the first activity I choose one of
the pictures but do not show it to pupils. I begin to describe the picture and
children must listen carefully so that they recognize the mysterious thing. Type of
description: It is small, we use it every day, I can call my mother with it.
Children find out it is a mobile phone.
Variation: Children can describe the picture instead of the teacher, but it can be a
problem for beginners as they are not able to express themselves properly.
Main activity: The activity is based on knowledge of appropriate word groups.
This one is aimed at animals and the knowledge of description and performing of
animals. Children remain divided into two teams. Each team chooses a leader
who sits on the chair and will guess the correct animal. He cannot ask any
question. The other members of the competing group choose five pictures and
begin to perform an animal on the card. They are allowed to make sounds. The
leader has to guess right at the short time as possible so that they win all the five
points for each picture. When the time is over, the teams change positions and the
next performance can begin.
Variation: Children are not allowed to make sounds this will make the activity
more difficult and children need to use as much imagination and fantasy as
possible.
For more skilled children there is no need to use picture cards, but the names of
animals can be written as words. This will prove learners knowledge of
vocabulary.
Evaluation of the activity: Children develop the cooperation within their own
team; they need to perform best to help their fellow. They practiced body
movements activity to provide a useful message. Vocabulary concerning a special
topic is being revised.
Combination of learning process and body movement ensures an effective
activity, which provides fun for children, is interesting and keeps all the learners even the shy individuals - to participate. The problem with shy children is omitted,
61

because this activity is not a speaking activity. Anyway at the beginning of

performance children need to distribute the roles.
There can be a problem, if the pupil sitting on the chair and guessing the word is
not aware of the appropriate term of the animal. In this case he/she can say it in
L1, but the group loses a point.

Vocabulary game

62

Hidden pictures
This activity is a kind of vocabulary game in which the learners attention is
focused mainly on words. It provides vocabulary practice and improves the
memory.
This game can be used as an out-of-class activity, because it requires more spatial
conditions. The classroom is not very suitable because of the lack of places for
hiding things.
The activity may be linked with arts, it depends on teacher, if he/she wants to
spend one whole lesson only with drawing pictures or he/she ask the art teacher to
have an extra lesson, where children will draw pictures for the English game.
Lesson plan 2
Level: beginners
Length of the lesson: 45 minutes
New lexis: vocabulary: House
Materials: pictures that were made by children
Skills to be practiced:
Writing children write definition of the pictures on other cards
Reading proves the knowledge of vocabulary
Speaking children need to ask their partners for the proper picture or definition
Aims: vocabulary practice
developing communicative skills

The main activity: Some days in a year you can diversify an educational process
with some kind of out-of-class activity. Children enjoy surprise and change and
they will not expect it. The only thing you need are the pictures that children drew
in their arts class.
This activity demands teachers preparation before you start an activity. You need
to go to the nature or the place you will carry out the activity and hide the pictures
and definitions at different places. Then bring children to the place and let them
find all the cards. They can be divided into small groups or work in pairs. Each
63

group or pair finds different pictures with different definitions.

Now tell the children to find the correct definition for each picture. The group
who will collect the most card-pairs is the winner. Learners are supposed to
practice common phrases, e.g. Whats in your picture? What word do you have?
Variation: You can extend the activity by letting children describe pictures to their
classmates so that they can guess the correct answer.

64

Number game
Children begin to learn numbers since their early elementary stage. It is vital to
involve number games in learning process. In this way learners become aware of
numbers quickly and in funny way.
Bing Bang
Lesson plan 3
Level: elementary
Length of the lesson: 45 minutes
New lexis: numbers
Materials: own sheet of paper, pen
Skills to be practiced: speaking,
listening
counting
pronunciation of numbers
Aim: to improve counting practise
Pre-activity: You can use the game Bingo as a pre-activity. Children write on a
piece of paper 5 numbers from 1 to 20. Teacher is reading the numbers in a
random order and children are listening carefully. If they hear a number they have
on their piece of paper, they cross it out. The pupil who crosses out all numbers is
the winner.
Variant: You can let a pupil read the numbers, but pay attention to the correct
pronunciation.
Main activity: Bing bang
This game allows counting practice of numbers from 1 to 100, so it is not suitable
for very beginners.
Any number can be chosen as a buzz number called bing. If you choose 5 as a
bing, children one after another begin to count from 1 and instead of 5 they

65

should say bing. Also all the multiples of the number 5 become bing. If somebody
forgets to say bing, he/she is out of the game.
You can make the game little bit more difficult, as you choose e.g. number 3 and
children are supposed to say bing not only to multiples of 3, but also to numbers,
where the number 3 appears. Which means, they will count: one, two, bing, four,
five, bing, seven, eight, bing, ten, eleven, bing, bing, fourteen When the game
reaches 30, all the next nine numbers must be said in bing. The counting should
go around the class as rapidly as possible so as it is exciting for children. The most
difficult game comes, when you use more than one number for bing, so the
children repeat bing almost each time.
Variants: You can choose two numbers, e.g. 3 and 7. For number 3 and numbers
containing 3 stands bing and for number 7 bang. All the multiples of 3 become
bing and the all of 7 bang. Do not forget to say bing bang for number 21. When
the learner makes a mistake, he/she is out of the game.
Evaluation of the activity:
Children have to keep really concentrated during this game; they need to follow
the number order carefully. As a teacher you must check the correct pronunciation
of the numbers. This activity provides a real fun and excitement and it does not
take a long time. You can make as many variants with different numbers as you
want.
By the pre-activity children prove their listening skill so that they catch the correct
number. If a number is crossed out without teachers saying, the child fails the
game.
I used to play this game with my children and they really enjoyed it. However, it
is not suitable for very young learners as they cannot count more than to twenty.

66

Vocabulary game
The washing line
This kind of listen-and-find activity requires a lot of physical movement and
enough space in the classroom. It is designed to provide physically active listening
practice, which can be used as a pre-activity before some other following speaking
activity. Or it can be used as an end-of-class activity for revising new vocabulary.
Lesson plan 4
Level: elementary
Length of the lesson: 45 minutes
New lexis: clothes
colours
Materials: rope
two boxes or bags
different items of clothes
clothes pegs
numbered pictures on each of them there is an item of clothes
Skills to be practiced: vocabulary
pronunciation
listening
Aims: to provide vocabulary practice and exciting body-movement activity
Pre-activity: It is essential to pre-check the childrens knowledge of new
vocabulary even if they had learned it previous lesson. You can do it as following:
Take the cards of clothes and show them to pupils one after another and always
pronounce the clothes term. For example there is a skirt in the picture and you
say: Blue skirt! And show the picture to children. You can repeat it two times.
After revising all vocabulary, stick the pictures on the board and number them.
Now you can either say the numbers and children should guess the word or you
can say the term again and children writer the appropriate letter. Do it in any order
67

you like but do not forget to write the correct order on a piece of paper so that you
remember it and you can check it after the activity.
Variations: You can use pictures made by children. When the children draw the
picture, it helps them to remember the items and terms better. With this kind of
activity you can revise almost all kinds of vocabulary (parts of the body, days in a
week, directions as well as verbs and so on).
Main activity: Get two children at the front of the class who will hold the rope.
Divide the class into two teams and each team should choose a representative.
Now ask for an item: Could you bring me a yellow sock? The two representatives
search in the bags or boxes for the clothes item and the one who chooses the right
thing should hang it on the line. The first who hangs all the clothes items is the
winner. Then another two children are going to compete. The game is over, when
one team has their line full of clothes.
Variants: With more skilled children you can do the activity to practice the writing
skills. Try to make it similar to bingo: each child draws his/her own washing line
with four or five things hanging on it. So that drawing does not take a long time,
they can just draw four squares and write e.g. blue skirt in it. Teacher reads out a
list of items (I have a pink T-shirt and green sock here. I also have blue trousers
and brown jumper). If somebody crosses off all his/her items on the line, he/she
is the winner of the game.
Evaluation: This activity is more suitable for practicing separate vocabulary rather
than the whole phrases. If you do not have the possibility to use real objects you
can just compensate it with two sets of pictures or word cards.

Listening game
68

Animal chant
Lesson plan 5
Level: elementary
Length of lesson: 30 minutes
New lexis: animals
Materials: CD (Graham: Creating Chants and Songs 2007) (tracks 30-31), pictures
of the animals you want to practice (see the Appendices III., IV.)
Skills to be practiced: pronunciation
vocabulary of animals (children clap their hands when they
hear the appropriate animal)
speaking, singing

Aims: developing of speaking children learn a vocabulary chant and then sing it
as a song.
correct pronunciation of the names of animals and keeping the rhythm
Pre-activity: Write three headings on the board: Z, E, C. Ask children to think up
as many animals beginning with Z as possible. They will probably know zebra.
You can provide them with pictures (see Appendix) for inspiration, so that the
thinking does not take too much time. Then ask them to think of all the animals
they know beginning with E and C. Make the class lists on the board or the
children can write the names of the animals on the board themselves. The list
must include elephant and cow, but do not tell children which animals will be in
the song. You can add more capital letters for better vocabulary practice.
Main activity: Tell children, you are going to learn the song. You can either give
them papers with the song words or you can write the words on the board so that
everybody could see the song or children can just learn the song by heart. Ask
the class to listen carefully and clap their hands when you say cow. First read the
words. Then ask children which other animals appeared in the chant (zebra,
69

elephant). Practice saying the chant as a whole class. Afterwards you can play
the song for the children and they try to sing it. Do not forget to clap on cow.
(CD, track 31)
Zebra, elephant, cow. (clap)
Zebra, elephant, cow. (clap)
Zebra, elephant,
Zebra, elephant,
Zebra, elephant, cow. (clap)

Variants: You can create your own chant or song with other names of animals.
But do not forget the syllable pattern the first word must have two syllables, the
second three syllables and the third animal only one syllable. So your song can
be e.g. Monkey, crocodile, snake or Lion, buffalo, cat; etc.
Evaluation: You can give learners a gap-fill paper where they are supposed to fill
the missing word. Anyway with previous activity it would be an easy task. Such
an activity is suitable e.g. for grammar patterns or a vocabulary activity, in which
there are more words and they do not repeat very often.

Listen and draw game / chant

70

Where is my hat?
Lesson plan 6
Level: elementary
Length of lesson: 30 minutes
New lexis: clothes
Materials: CD (Graham: Creating Chants and Songs 2007) (tracks 36-37),
worksheet (see the Appendix V.)
Skills to be practiced: vocabulary - clothes
grammar practice
speaking
correct pronunciation
Aims: to practice grammar patterns, singular and plural Wheres my? / Where
are my? / Its on / in / They are on /in
to practice correct pronunciation and keeping the rhythm
Children do a listen and draw activity and learn a rhyming grammar chant. They
then sing it as a song.
Pre-activity: I give each child a worksheet with the pictures of clothes. First I ask
children: What can you see in the picture? They try to describe the picture with the
door and a drawer and the small pictures with items of clothes.
The main activity: I explain the children that they are going to listen to the song
and they should find out, where these clothes are. I play the record for them.
Wheres my hat? Its on the door.
Where are my socks? Theyre on the floor.
Where are my gloves? Theyre in the drawer.
Where are my shoes? Theyre on the floor.
Wheres my sweater? Its in the drawer.
Where are my sandals? Theyre on the floor.
Wheres my T-shirt? Its in the drawer.

71

Where are my pyjamas? Theyre on the floor.

After children listen to the chant, I ask them if they understood where some of
the clothes are. Then children should prepare their pencils and I play the chant
once more. They try to draw the clothes in the correct place. I can play the chant
again, if the children are not sure about their drawings. More skilful children can
just write words in the appropriate place.
After all have finished, I point to the first small picture and ask: Where is my
hat? Children begin to shout all possibilities they think are correct. First I do not
insist on the grammatically correct answer, it is enough when children say on the
door. After this I elicit the full sentence Its on the door. Children learn to say
singular and plural form. They can show their pictures to the partners or always
one pupil can show the picture and answer the question. I always point to each
small picture, so that children who do not remember the word in English know
which one it is.
After drawing all the pictures into the correct places we practise to say the chant
together as a class. Then I play the song and children can sing.
Variants: Children can perform the song as a TPR activity. They collect some
pieces of the clothes they have or they may be asked to bring them to the class. As
they sing the song, they put the items either on the floor, or in the drawer (if you
have no drawer in the classroom, you may use a chair and just pretend it is a
drawer).
Evaluation: I like this activity very much because it involves a mix of activities
and many skills can so be practiced pronunciation, body movements, speaking /
singing, grammar practice, intonation. Some children need to cooperate during the
activity. They need to make an agreement where to put the things, in case they do
not understand the song properly.

Listening and vocabulary game

72

Parts of the body (Head, shoulders, knees and toes)

Lesson plan 7
Level: elementary
Length of the lesson: 45minutes
New lexis: parts of the body (head, shoulders, eyes, ears, knees, toes,)
shapes (round, square, triangle, rectangle, heart, egg)
this, these
Materials: pictures of faces, that children were supposed to draw for their
homework
cut out pieces of the body rhyme
Skills to be practiced:
Speaking children learn the rhyme, they should pronounce it correctly
Reading the words of the rhyme
Listening the teacher reads the rhyme to the children and performs the action for
better
comprehension
Aims: to learn vocabulary - shapes, parts of the body
to practise grammar structure this is / these are
to provide body movements
to recognize shapes

Pre-activity: As the pre-activity I chose an action song that the children had
already known before Head and shoulders, knees and toes. Each child gets a
worksheet with words and pictures. The pictures help quickly remember of the
vocabulary of body parts (see the Appendix VIII.). This is a warming up activity
while singing children touch parts of their body with both hands, first head, then
shoulders, then knees and then toes, when they hear the proper words.
Variant: Every time we sing the song again, I tell children to take away one word
and clap instead of saying it. For example, as we took away the word knees, the
song sounded: head, shoulders (clap) and toes, (clap) and toes

73

The main activity: For this activity we needed enough space in the classroom so
we moved the furniture to one side of the room. I told children that we were going
to learn one more rhyme about the body (see the Appendix I. and II.). Because the
rhyme was too long, I cut the poem and gave each pair two lines to say. They
made a circle and each pair was supposed to say its lines one after another.
Children remembered the words very quickly. Then I asked children to perform
the rhyme and touch their parts of the body. Pupils did the rhyme as a class
performance.
Children had homework - because last lesson we were learning shapes, they had
to draw a mask of a face at home and they were supposed to use at least three
different shapes in the face: round, square, triangle, rectangle, heart or egg. For
example, the head could be round or heart, the eyes squares or eggs and the nose
triangle or rectangle (see the Appendix VII.).
I told children not to show their pictures to anybody because we were going to
play a gem a kind of shape Bingo. I asked children to draw their shapes on the
separate sheet of paper. Each of them should have three different shapes. I had a
box with pictures of different shapes and I began to pick them out and call them
out. Children had to check their drawing as I called them. The first child who
matched all his/her drawings was the winner. Then I collected all the face
drawings and I showed one after another and asked: What shape is the nose / head
/ ears / eyes / mouth?
As a follow-up activity we tried to perform the body rhyme again.
Evaluation: Children practised not only vocabulary concerning parts of the body
and shapes abut also using dramatic gestures and the listening skill. They were
very interested in the activity and enjoyed it because of the different classroom
organisation and they could show their works to their classmates. When I was
leaving the class at the end of the lesson, I could hear pupils repeating the rhyme
again and again I felt really satisfied for the efficient lesson.

74

A story building activity / Role play

The Three Little Pigs (see the Appendices IX., X.)
Lesson Plan 8
Level: elementary, fifth class
Length of the lesson: 30 minutes
New lexis: straw, bricks, wolf, blow, build, wood
Materials: pictures of the story
classroom furniture chairs and desks that children can use as a scene
Skills to be practised: reading
Speaking
Aims: to draw on childrens language resources to tell a story
to practise speaking and correct pronunciation
Pre-activity: I have brought into the classroom a well-known book for children
The Three Little pigs. I tell children that we are going to play the story. I show
children the front page of the book and ask them, if they know the book. Some of
them had already read it and I ask the rest to tell me, what they think the book is
going to be about. They can see a wolf and three pigs crossing the bridge at the
cover of the book. Most children think they will have some troubles with the wolf.
The main activity: Children are divided into two groups. Each group is given
small pieces of paper with the lines of the story. They should match the story into
the correct order. We check the story together; each child is reading one line. Then
each group is supposed to perform the story. Pupils are given five minutes time to
prepare for the performance. Although it is funny not to speak and use only the
miming, it can be very difficult for the audience to get the right information. It
may be easier if children use direct speech or just comment on what they are
exactly doing. For example: First pig I build a house of straw. The wolf Im
hungry! Ill blow down your house and I will eat you!
Children can use the lines of the story as a support.

75

First one group performs the story and the rest is the audience. Then they change
their roles.

Evaluation: During the activity few problems arouse children could not agree,
who will play the wolf. That was maybe because of the negative character. There
were just four roles to play but one group chose the prologue, who began to tell the
story. The other group chose a narrator, who interrupted the story in small
sequences. The rest of children performed the houses, bridge, etc. It was very
funny as the wolf damaged the houses and children fell down on the floor.
However, I wondered that children were very skillful as they remembered the
lines of the story almost by heart in such a short time.
At the end of the lesson we had a discussion in which type of the house would
children like to live. Surprisingly the wooden house has won!
You can do this activity with older pupils, who are more skillful in speaking and
reading. You can provide younger children with pictures of the story and let them
tell you the plot in their native language. Finally, they can perform the story as a
miming activity, in which they do not need to speak.
You can use role-play or retelling stories to practice all of the four skills
listening, reading, speaking, writing (children can write a short summary or
suggestion of what is the story going to be about, etc.). Also grammatical and
phonological patterns and vocabulary can be practiced efficiently as children
constantly repeat the known words.

76

Pronunciation game
Sound pictures / Find the difference
Lesson plan 9
Level: pre-intermediate
Length of the lesson: 20 minutes
New lexis: any vocabulary that children do not know concerning the pictures
Materials: pairs of pictures for each pair
Skills to be practiced: pronunciation
perception
listening (by describing pictures)
speaking
Aims: to be aware of the sounds and pronounce the words correctly
to develop speaking skill by describing pictures
to catch the information by describing the picture
This activity is very similar to the one, in which children are trying to
distinguish between two pictures and find out, what is different in each picture.
This variant concerns also pronunciation patterns, as children are supposed to find
two things that differ in the sound.
Nevertheless this activity is not suitable for young children. You can try it with
older learners, because it requires skills in describing, speaking and recognizing
phonetics patterns.
The main activity: I prepare copies of picture pairs of children and each pair of
pupils gets two similar pictures (see the Appendices XI., XII.). The pictures are
slightly different. I ask children to describe the picture to their partner. They
should not look at each others picture. When learners find all the differences I
divide the board into two columns in which I write the examples of two sounds in
one picture pair. I write the phonetic symbol of the sound at the top of the column
and children are supposed to find out all the words that contain this sound. For
each difference there should be one key word that contains one of the two sounds.
77

A member of each pair says the word and the rest of the class repeat it and decide
which column it belongs to.
Finally, learners are asked to find any other examples of words with one of the two
sounds in them.
Variation: You can give children pictures and let them watch the picture for a
while. Then take the pictures away and learners should identify the differences
from memory.
Evaluation: I must admit that during the activity it came to the problem that
children did not know, which words belong to which column. At first they did not
understand the activity very much, but after clear explanation they tried to order
the words into right column.
Also describing pictures caused children troubles because they could not
express themselves properly. The most problematic areas were: There is / there are
children of the forgot to say it; describing the direction on the right / on the
left, at the top of / at the bottom of / in the left/right corner; prepositions of place
opposite / next to / behind / in front of.
Despite of some problems that mostly concerned vocabulary I consider this
game as quite effective pronunciation and sound activity.

78

Conclusion
In the theoretical part of my thesis I tried to characterize young learners and
their process of the second language acquisition and to describe some basic rules
and methods concerning the learning process. I tried to point out the role of games
and why they should be introduced in the ESL classroom. I further discussed the
definition of games and stressed the important role of a highly skilled and trained
teacher, who should support learners creativity and interest in an efficient way. I
also mentioned other activities that stimulate learners communicative
competence, like role-play, drama activities, rhymes, chants and songs. I involved
some practical experience into the theoretical part as I had reported about Helen
Doron course, Chalabalova Kindergarten or different teaching methods and
approaches used during my practice.
In the practical part I dealt with game-like activities in detail. I presented nine
sample lesson plans according to which children can acquire the language in an
enjoyable and stimulating way. Through the activities I wanted to point at the
practical and functional usage of games.
Though games are very popular they should not be overused. They should be
chosen appropriately to pupils level, interest and context and should concern the
presented topic and grammar. Any game can be effective when it is used suitably
to the topic and is controlled by wise and skilled supervisor.

79

Resume
The aim of my final project was to present all the aspects of using games and
game-like activities towards learning and teaching English as a foreign language
and to prove how the games function and how they can be valuable for language
acquisition during the learning process.
The thesis is divided into two parts theoretical and practical. The first part deal
s with young learners in general and characterizes the aspects that are important
for language acquisition. In the practical part there are nine lesson plans,
worksheets and other materials needed for successful game-like activities.

80

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Myers, Julia; Burnett, Cathy: Teaching English 3-11. Continuum London, New
York 2004, ISBN 0 8264 7006 8
Phillips, Sarah: Young learners. Oxford University Press 1993, Oxford, ISBN 0
19 437195 6
Halliwell, Suzan: Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. Longman, New
York 1992. ISBN 13 978 0 582 07109 4
Underwood, Mary: Effective Class Management. Longman, New York 1987,
ISBN 0 582 74622 1
Ytreberg, Lisbeth; Scott Wendy: Teaching English to Children. Longman, New
York 1990, ISBN 0582 74606 X
Brumfit, Christopher; Moon, Jayne; Tongue, Ray: Teaching English to Children.
Collins ELT, London 1991, ISBN 0 00 370288 X
Slattery, Mary; Willis, Jane: English for Primary Teachers. Oxford University
Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0 19 4375633
Sesnan, Barry: How to Teach English. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1997,
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Lewis, Michael; Hill, Jimmie: Practical Techniques. Language Teaching
Publications, London 1992, ISBN 0 906717 55 8
McCallum, George: 101 Word Games. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1980,
ISBN 0 19 502742 6
Lee, W R: Language Teaching Games and Contests. Oxford University Press,
Oxford 1979, ISBN 0 19 432716 7
Rixon, Shelagh: How to Use Games in Language Teaching. Phoenix ELT,
Hertfordshire 1996, ISBN 0 13 400326 8
Vale, David; Feunteun, Anne: Teaching Children English. Cambridge University
Press 1995, ISBN 0 521 42015 6
Ur, Penny: A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press 1991,
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Harmer, Jeremy: How to Teach English. Addison Wesley Longman Limited
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Harmer, Jeremy: How to Teach English. Pearson Education Limited 2007, ISBN
978 1 4058 4774 2
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Ur, Penny; Wright, Andrew: Five-Minute Activities. Cambridge University Press

1992, ISBN 0 521 39479 1
Hancock, Mark: Pronunciation Games. Cambridge University Press 1995
Phillips, Sarah: Drama with Children. Oxford University Press 1999, ISBN
0 19 437 2200
Moon, Jayne: Children Learning English. Macmillan Publishers Limited 2000,
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Richards, Jack C.; Rodgers, Theodore S.: Approaches and Methods in
Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press 2001
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Graham, Carolyn: Creating Chants and Songs. Oxford University Press 2007
Ur, Penny: Teaching Listening Comprehension. Cambridge University Press
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Internet sources:
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
(http://www.syl.com/articles/teachinginfantssupercharginglanguageacquisition.ht

ml)
http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html
www.enchantedlearning.com
http://www.onestopenglish.com
www.macmillaneducation.com
www.learningplanet.com
www.cambridge.org/9780 521008433
www.longman.com
www.oup.com/elt
www.helendoron.com

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Appendix I.

83

Appendix II.

84

Appendix III.

85

Appendix IV.

86

Appendix V.

87

Appendix VI.

88

Appendix VII.

Appendix VIII.
89

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Head

Head

, shoulders

, knees

Knees

and toes,

, shoulders

, knees

Knees

and toes,

And eyes

, and ears and mouth

and toes,

and toes,

and

nose,
Head

, shoulders
Knees

, knees

and toes,

and toes,

Appendix IX.

90

Appendix X.

91

Appendix XI.
92

93

Appendix XII.

Appendix XIII.

94

Appendix XIV.

95

Appendix XV.
96

Appendix XVI.
97

98

99