Rationale In the introduction part of their article 'Learning Vocabulary through Games' in the Asian EFL Journal in 2003, Nguyen & Khuat (2003, p.2) pointed out the importance of vocabulary: In learning a foreign language, vocabulary plays an important role. It is one element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing all together. In order to communicate well in a foreign language, students should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them accurately. Uberman (1998) states that vocabulary acquisition is increasingly viewed as crucial to language acquisition.
Wilkins (1972) emphasizes that while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. However, Uberman (1998) also points out that learning vocabulary is often perceived as a tedious and laborious process. In the introduction about vocabulary, Hadfield (1999, p.4) said: Remembering new words is hard. Words are slippery things: before you know it, they’ve wriggled away and are gone.
It takes a lot of effort to keep them where you want them. To lighten the burden of teaching and learning vocabulary of both teachers and students, numerous methods are introduced to teach vocabulary and using games to teach vocabulary has been proved effective for years. Games have been believed to add fun to classroom, lower anxiety, give students more opportunity to develop their language skills, problem-solving skills, cooperative and social skills and so on. Games add interest to what students might not find very interesting.
Sustaining interest can mean sustaining effort (Wright, Betteridge, & Buckby, 2005). After all, Page 1 learning a language involves long-term efforts. Games bring in relaxation and fun for students, thus help them learn and retain new words more easily. Games can also lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input more likely (Richard-Amato, 1988, p.
In the easy, relaxed atmosphere which is created by using games, students remember things faster and better (Wierus & Wierus 1994, p. Moreover, games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging (Aydan Ersoz, 2000). They are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can give shy students more opportunity to express their opinions and feelings (Hansen 1994, p. They also enable learners to acquire new experiences within a foreign language which are not always possible during a typical lesson.
Furthermore, games can involve all the basic language skills, i., listening, speaking, reading, and writing and a number of skills are often involved in the same game (Lee, 1995). The learners want to take part and in order to do so must understand what others are saying or have written, and they must speak or write in order to express their own point of view or give information (Wright, Betteridge, & Buckby, 2005). In addition, games provide a context for meaningful communication. Even if the game involves discrete language items, such as a spelling game, meaningful communication takes place as students seek to understand how to play the game and as they communicate about the game: before, during, and after the game (Wright, Betteridge, & Buckby, 2005).
Games also encourage and increase cooperation (Aydan Ersoz, 2000). Many games can be played in small groups, thereby providing a venue for students to develop their skills in working with others, such as the skill of disagreeing politely and the skill of asking for help (Jacobs & Kline Liu, 1996). On the market, there are several teaching materials available about vocabulary games such as “Communication Games” & “Vocabulary Games” by Jill Hadfield (1984,1990, 1997, 1999), “Top Class Activities: 50 Fun Games and Activities by Top ELT Writers” by Series Editor: Peter Watcyn-Jones (1997). However, most of the Page 2 materials focus on introducing a variety of ready-made games in order to serve the purpose of teaching one specific language item without mentioning to the principles of using vocabulary games, their limitation and unanticipated problems.
Moreover, most games in such materials are designed without basing on any current course books and without associating closely with a typical type and age of learners. Teachers, therefore, find it difficult to apply them in reality.