Literature Review of CROSSWORD BUILDING.
Written by Nurul Atifah Abdullah and Baizura Mohd Zainon (4 SPL).



“There is one English word that is known everywhere. The word is cowboy.”
(Allen, 1994:7)

Since the standard of English has been deteriorating these days, a lot of people find it essential for teachers to implement new teaching methods in English classes. This then brings us to the usage of language games in classroom to teach vocabulary. We cannot deny that by learning vocabulary, students will get the access of learning the structure of the Standard English.
One thing that accounts for today’s concern with the learning of vocabulary is the fact that students are taking an interest in the study of word meanings. This attitude also helps teachers to carry out a lot of vocabulary lesson successfully. Teachers have never doubted the value of learning vocabulary. They know how communication stops when learners lack the necessary words. Therefore, teaching vocabulary should not be delayed until the grammar is mastered (Allen, 1994).
In the Crossword Building Game, students will get the chance to test the capacity of their vocabularies that have been acquired. The game is simple and sustainable to all students. What makes it interesting is that students need to build a crossword puzzle based on words that had been given before that. The building of crossword is some sort of like playing Scrabble, but in this game the students are given the freedom to build any words, as long as they are a 4 to 6 letter word.
If you play the game, you will be able to experience the importance of acquiring vocabularies and using thinking ability to derive one new word from the existing ones. Somehow, you also need to have a creative thinking to build pattern of the crossword during the given time. The game is not particularly simulation games. They are designed to give practise to students. Rather, they are also intended to facilitate students’ use of vocabulary of the language by bringing their attention to the various words that they have acquired.
The Crossword Building can be easily done without much explanation. It would be necessary to remind students that rather like doing jigsaw puzzles, they are building words by putting meaningful ‘bits’ of structure or morphemes together (Shepherd, 1993). For example, in English, we frequently construct plural words by adding the morpheme –s to the end of a singular word. That kind of morphemes adds some meaning to a word but they do not change the word syntactically or semantically in any fundamental way (Shepherd, 1993).
Referring to a ‘model’ described in the Report of Committee of Inquiry into teaching of English Language, chaired by Sir John Kingman, (1988), the Crossword Building fulfils 3 parts of the model. The 3 parts are the forms of English language (sounds, letters, words, sentences and how these relate to meaning), communication and comprehension (how speakers and writers communicate to describe a vocabulary and how listeners or readers understand them) and acquisition and development (how the child acquires and develops the language).
The model above is also supported by Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist, who said that whatever players conclude in the game, their chances of success must be increased by their experience of explicit learning about language and its place in human life. The game, with their experiential approach to the acquisition of critical linguistic knowledge and skill, are thus one way of helping children to have their effective say, individually and collectively, in school and in their adult lives.
As a conclusion, learning language especially vocabulary through games can really helps students to acquire the language explicitly. Therefore, it is essential for teachers to vary their teaching methods using a lot of language games to capture the students’ attention and interests.







References

Allen, V. F. (1994). Techniques In Teaching Vocabulary. New York: Oxford University
Press.
Shepherd, V. (1993). Playing the Language Game. Buckingham: Open University
Press.