LITERATURE REVIEW

Vocabulary constitutes the words that make up a language. In using language to express feelings and ideas and also to communicate with one another, words are used. The words one chooses to communicate, determines the accuracy and also the clarity of the message. Various reasons affect the development of vocabulary in learners. Words learnt through active use are more likely to be remembered than words which have merely been read or heard.

The focus on vocabulary in language teaching has occasionally varied over the years. With audio-lingualism, grammar was stressed leaving vocabulary looked upon as less important. Then came the shift to communicative language teaching somewhere in the 1970’s. With it came the shift of vocabulary to a more important role. Comprehension-based approaches such as the Natural Approach also emphasises the importance of learning vocabulary in the early stages of language learning.

The importance of learning vocabulary can be seen clearly in the Malaysian syllabi for English at both the primary and also secondary level. There is a section of the content recommendation that lists a word list comprising key vocabulary items relevant to specific topic areas.

There are a number of approaches that can be used to teach language. Each and every approach or combination of approaches require the imagination and also the resourcefulness of the teacher in order to present instruction that is both interesting and meaningful in manner.

It is common knowledge among teachers and educators that learning is most likely to occur when pupils are involved. Therefore, the reading instructions of teachers are designed to meet the needs of the students. Creative teachers add extra zest to their language learning activities in the sense that they use eclectic approaches. Even their basic skill instruction never seems to be lacking in ideas.

Creative teaching ideas are truly the energizers that can be used to liven up any type of language learning activity. One effective way to do so is by using games in the classroom, which brings us to language games in the classroom. The best part about using language games to teach is that the students use and learn English through having fun. The classes are made educational and also exciting and fun.

These activities stem from a humanistic philosophy of learning. This philosophy places students at its core. The teacher plays the role of empowering learning through ‘whole person’ involvement. With an over-emphasis on cognitive learning, the affective domain has been neglected. Students need to be involved in the learning process. This is because students will not learn unless they enjoy the learning.

Two games have been chosen. The first is ‘Word Mystery: What Can You See?’ In this game, the students have to make up words from a certain word given. The purpose of this game is to enable students to learn, review and expand their use of vocabulary. Through this game, the teacher can also reinforce spelling and at the same time reinforce vocabulary.

This game is suitable for students of any level. The main word that is given can be changed to more difficult words, as in it will be difficult to make up words from the given word. This game is also sustainable in nature. The student can play this game alone at home without the supervision of a teacher. The students can look up the words made up in the dictionary to check the spelling and also to look for any other suitable words that can be used.

This game can be used by teachers’ in the classroom. It does not require many materials, just a piece of paper. The student uses his or her creative ability to see what words can be made up from the initial words. To make the game even more challenging, the rules can be altered. For instance, for a lower ability class, the teacher will request them to make up words with 2 or more letters.
On the other hand, for an advanced class, the teacher can request the students to make up words with 4 or more letters. For our game, we want the students to come up with 20 words but more words can be made up. Thus, the students can be given a time limit and allowed to find as many words as they can. We have stressed on the ability to come up 20 words so as to also stress on who can find words faster.

The second game, ‘Charade’ is an effective way to teach students to put ideas into language. When a students is acting out the word given and the other friends are guessing, they are all indirectly putting their thoughts into language without them really knowing that they are doing so.

This game can also effectively communicate ideas, feelings, thoughts and solutions through body movements. This covers the affective and kinaesthetic domain of learning. Finally, through this game inventiveness in non-verbal communication skills are encouraged. Once again this touches the kinaesthetic and affective domain of learning.

This game can only be played in a group. This encourages teamwork between the members of a group. Groupware is a good way to let students learn. They can ask their friends questions that they are to shy to ask their teacher. In other words collaborative learning takes place. In contrast to collaborative learning, students in teacher-centred activities primarily respond to questions asked by the teacher and rarely initiate speech.

The game ‘Charade’ can be played not only in classrooms but also at parties and so on, thus enabling the learning process of vocabulary to go on outside the class. Thus, this game is also sustainable in nature. It does not require any materials, but there has to be someone who sets up the game, as in sets up the words or phrases that are to be acted out. This person then cannot play but will act as a judge.

In conclusion, when selecting a game, teachers should keep in mind that many of the activities can be put down on paper for either independent or small groups. This allows the students to work with nominal teacher supervision.
When selecting ideas, an appropriate game should be chosen to meet certain skills of students. Language games are a very effective way to teach students vocabulary, and with that train of thought have we chosen the games that we have chosen.

The two games that we have chosen are sustainable in nature and can be used to effectively improve the student’s command of vocabulary. The difficulty of the game can be easily controlled by altering the rules that govern the game. Therefore, the two games that we have shoes are suitable to be used as language games in and also out of the classroom.


















REFERENCE

v Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S. and The Soon Choon. (1995).ELT Methodology- Principles and Practice. Penerbit Fajar Bakti.

v Thompson, R. A.1973. Energizers for Reading Instruction. New York: Parker Publishing Company, Inc.