...The use of games in the language classroom Sigríður Dögg Sigurðardóttir Lokaverkefni lagt fram til fullnaðar B.Ed.-gráðu í grunnskólakennarafræði við Háskóla Íslands, Menntavísindasvið Apríl 2010 Lokaverkefni til B.Ed. –prófs The use of games in the language classroom Sigríður Dögg Sigurðardóttir 180785-2219 Háskóli Íslands Menntavísindasvið Kennaradeild, grunnskólakennarafræði Apríl 2010 2 Abstract This essay focuses on the use of games inside the classroom and it argues that games can be a good teaching method when teaching foreign languages. It looks at why games should be used as a teaching method and how in order to maximize the positive result on language learning. Also this essay explains various game categories and it gives an example of at least one game from each category which can be especially good in language teaching. In addition this essay looks at the four language skill areas: reading, writing, listening and speaking and it gives reasons for why games can be beneficial in the training of each one. Last but not least I created 3 new games that can be utilized inside the language classroom. 3 Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 6 2. A review of the literature of Games ................................................................................ 7 2.1 Games ......................................
Words: 11180 - Pages: 45
...from you family and friends? Been forced into a game where to stay alive is the only way to win? That is what the hunger game is. A violent game that 24 contestants are chosen to fight one another and the winner will never have to work again. In the Hunger games Suzanne Collins uses characterization to show how Katniss uses survival techniques the love for her family and friends and tested her trust to the people around her. The love Katniss show in the book is very relevant right at the beginning of the book when Prim, Katniss younger sister, is choose to be in the hunger games. Katniss’s love for her sister propels her to volunteer and take Prim’s place in the Hunger Games. She knows that if she goes into the hunger games she will die but does it anyway. Katniss doesn’t just love her sister she also loves her mom, the town she lives in, and a boy named Gale. She desprentaly want to go home once she leaves and fights for her freedom to go home throughout the book. Her relationship with gale is confusing to her but reader know that she loves him “Finally, Gale is here and maybe there is nothing romantic between us, but when he opens his arms I don't hesitate to go into them” (Collins 38) She tries to deny it but readers should be able to figure it out. Katniss knows how to survive and survival is the key factor to winning the hunger games. From the beginning you know that Katniss can hunt and this helps win the hunger games but survival is not just hunting its being smarter...
Words: 369 - Pages: 2
...Simulations Games And Experiential Learning in Action, Volume 2, 1975 OMSIM: AN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT GAME George A. Johnson Idaho State University Thomas E. Hendrick University of Colorado INTRODUCTION This paper describes a new game oriented towards a production/ operations management environment called OMSIM [4] (Operations Management SIMulation). The authors have been developing and refining OMSIM for the past three years and are currently subjecting it to extensive classroom testing on over 400 students in nine course sections taught by four different instructors at the University of Colorado. The early responses from students are gratifying; most say that it is challenging, realistic, properly frustrating, and provides an integrating decision making experience. Our stimulus to build OMSIM was not caused by the absence of several excellent games which emphasize production/operations decisions; pedagogical simulators in this area have been commercially available for about six years. PROSIM [3] and The Decision Making Game [2] both appeared in 1969. A year later JOBLOT [1] was published, with PROSIM V [5] following in 1971. Having utilized [2], or attempted to utilize, [1], two of these games at the University of Colorado and reviewing the structure of the other two, we would characterize The Decision Making Game and PROSIM as games of beginning to moderate complexity, with JOBLOT and PROSIM V being classified as complex. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF OMSIM OMSIM has been designed...
Words: 2828 - Pages: 12
...The Game of Golf When I started playing golf with my father at the age of seven years old, I never could have imagined how much this game has taught me about life, motivation, and myself. My senior year in high school I was playing as the number one and captain on the varsity golf team. That honor was bestowed on me, because I was supposedly the best man on the team. Which just happened to be true. It was an honor that I truly enjoyed because golf had been a hobby, sport, and passion I had worked extremely hard at for close to a decade. But playing first man also had its drawbacks. The one that I will speak of here is the style of speaking that I had to use while playing in a tournament. It was five o’clock at night on a crisp fall afternoon. A bitterly cool wind swept across the hilly landscape as the leaves blew into the air, out of the woods, and onto the multi-tiered green. I stood behind my ball to line up my ten-foot birdie putt in hopes of breaking my own personal high school record. I pick a line at the hole and step up to the putt with the confidence to make it. As the mallet of the putter swings back like a pendulum, the ball rolls and rolls right on line at the hole but then stops just inches short of a birdie. I walk up, slightly disappointed at the miss, and tap in my par putt to finish out the final match of the season. The game of golf is a game of inches, as even the slightest miscalculation or imperfection can lead to failure. Fast forward to the following...
Words: 1058 - Pages: 5
...is my narrative essay on how the match happened. To start with, you should know that we at the Boca Juniors had just lost six games in a row. We were on the losing streak to end all losing streaks. We were now facing our biggest rivals and our odds were 6 to 1 for winning. People clearly didn’t think we had it in us to win and River Plate had been doing a lot better than us. As the game began we started with a heavy attack. We put almost all of our players over into the River Plate half. This was working out very well at first because we were creating a lot of opportunities. The trouble was that there was a massive opening in our defense and at least three times they broke through and had a run at the goal. Luckily at least one defender caught the attacker and they didn’t score in the first half. During our heavy attack we managed to get a goal against River Plate. We carried on our attack until the second half. At that point we started playing a little more conservatively. This meant that River Plate had more chance to attack because there was less pressure to defend. They did score a goal at one point but it was declared offside. There is a lot of bad blood between our sides and there were quite a few yellow cards and blatant fouls. At one point we had a man sent off and we had to play with one man short. At this point the ongoing odds for our game within the bet365 company went up again. Yet again they believed we were going to lose the match. After a few more yellow cards...
Words: 518 - Pages: 3
...STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM This survey on online games user of San Gabriel elementary school specifically question shall be answered: 1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of: 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Family income 2. What are the effects computer online games on the study habits of selected grade VI pupils at San Gabriel Elementary School? 3. Is there any significant difference on the effects of computer online games to the respondents’’ study habits in terms of their profile? HYPOTHESIS This study tested the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference on the perception of the respondent between the effects of computer online games and the study habit of grade VI pupils of San Gabriel Elementary school. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This research is important to the Parents of the youth. For them to know what are thing that influence using online games. Also to prevent the bad influence of online games to their children, for parents to be able to protect their children from influence of online games. To the youth, they should know the effects of online games to their study habit. Children should know the limitation of using online games and set their priorities. To the teacher, the second parents of the youth. This research is important to guide them to handle this kind of situation and to know how to assess their pupils. Future researchers can make use the results of this study...
Words: 856 - Pages: 4
...cause severe physical damage and in many cases leads to an early death due to physical damage sustained from the substance. Non-chemical addictions, also called behavioural addictions such as pathological gambling often result in severe financial hardship, damage to long fostered social relationships, including family. and can involve criminal prosecutions, as can chemical addictions. Although I have used the term addiction in this website, its use is contentious in professional and academic communication as its meaning often differs across contexts and can be imprecise. Instead, terms such as 'pathological gambling' or 'substance abuse' are used in the diagnosis of addiction related diseases. Video Game Addiction Researchers have explored the notion of video game addiction since the mid eighties, however the research on the topic is disparate and preliminary. Research is accelerating now. Due to the abovementioned shortfalls of the term 'addiction', the phenomnon has also been...
Words: 2385 - Pages: 10
...The Hunger Games At this time, most of the people, especially those who have nothing, are willing to do anything or even sacrifice himself just for the sake of someone he loves. The movie, “The Hunger Games,” is all about friendship, family, problems of the society and being you as an individual. Nowadays, it is very obvious that most of us want an equality which can never be happen. In the movie, I saw that there’s a barrier between rich and poor. Rich people make the poor ones as their entertainment while poor people do nothing but to follow. Like our government, it is visible to us that having a position in government makes them superior. In just a blink of an eye everyone follows, everyone becomes a slave, and everyone is powerful when you are in a position. Wrong doing becomes a trash when it pertains to our government. They do nothing but to buy anything even the service of our dear servants. Money is very powerful, where it can buy anything. As a citizen we have the rights to fight for what is right! We should know how to act for something that we want to accomplish. Come to think of it, without us government officials are nonsense. We are the reason why they are in that position that’s why we are responsible for their good doings. Not because we’re poor they have the rights to do anything they want. Those corrupt government officials must be jailed. They don’t deserve to be respected because the stole some of the money that is not for them. Instead...
Words: 750 - Pages: 3
...Jonathan Sandoval SG420 Game Bug Report March 31, 2013 If one wants to start a career in the video gaming industry as a tester, one must be able to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated events. Writing a video game concern might seem like a simple task but it comes with a great deal of responsibility. This is a communication from which other people will base a plan of action on. Those actions often include committing costly resources to resolving the issue. When writing a Game Bug Report, it is important to provide as much information as one can in order for the bug to be “fixed”. The faster the bug is found, the faster the bug will be fixed, thus helping everyone in the long run. A bug report can be broken down in four sections. Title: * Summarizes the important factors of the issue. * Simple overview of what, where, when, why and how it is caused, highlighting the most important considerations in the game. * Indicates how severe it is. * Is used by others to plan a course of action, so it needs to be understood at a glance. Description: * Succinct description of who, what, where, when, why and how it is caused without leaving out any details. * Here you should describe accurately EVERYTHING about the concern. * Describe it in such a way that the reader can reproduce it SOLELY from the description and understands completely what is happening. * You may use industry standard jargon to help accurately describe the issue...
Words: 938 - Pages: 4
...Society and Video Games Video games are still a very new form of media. Compared to other forms of entertainment like books, television, or movies, video games are still new and very misunderstood. As video games rise in popularity many people like to blame them for the problems of modern society, although other forms of entertainment involve common elements. Video games need to be seen just as equal to a fan of movies or books. They do not always have to be mindless entertainment and can also be helpful in your daily life. Just like how people do not judge all television shows based on The Jersey Shore or Teen Mom, video games should not be judged by popular games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto which are at times just mindless entertainment but not harmful. If you do not know what these are then just think about the most popular things amongst your favorite form of media or hobby. A common argument that parents and people unfamiliar to video games like to address is how unhealthy they can be. In a sense this can be very true but enjoy it in moderation, too much of anything can be a bad thing. Other studies have found an association between compulsive gaming and being overweight, introverted and prone to depression. The studies didn't compare the benefits of gaming with such downsides. (Hotz. 2012) I come from a family of people who enjoy video games very often and none of us are considered overweight or have any signs of health problems but we may be...
Words: 2239 - Pages: 9
...families are allowed only two children, but the government requisitioned his birth. After a short six years of torment from his genius older brother Peter, and love from his genius older sister Valentine, Ender is recruited into the army after passing tests, and quickly rises to the top of the class. Loved and hated by other students at Battle School, Ender is isolated by his success, in the games that the students play, and by his teachers treatment of his excellence. The adults do not give him the chance to settle in and find a peer group instead they push him with such urgency that they are willing to break the entire Battle School system down. Colonel Graff, the one who found and groomed Ender, runs Battle School and risks his reputation, and humanity's existence, on his strong belief that Ender is the one who can defeat the Buggers. Battle School consists of games. there is a Fantasy Game, a game room (like an arcade), and the battle room, where war games are played in zero gravity. The battle room plays a key role in Battle School, and students often get so caught up in the game that they seldom realize that they're at the school to defeat the Buggers. One such student, Bonzo Madrid, comes to hate Ender, and Bonzo plans to kill him. Ender's excellence pulls through in battle after battle, despite being given a green army and the most intense schedule ever given an army. Bonzo's rage turns murderous, and they fight in the...
Words: 621 - Pages: 3
...Video Games First off, you would imagine how thrilled our team was to have to write a paper during the holidays, with a deadline just two days after the winter break, so we came up with a clever way to bypass all the research work needed and just start writing about things we already knew and also loved doing, in order to grasp a more subjective approach on the chosen topic. People often say that if you don’t truly believe in the things you are working on and don’t have fun whilst doing them, you won’t be successful in any of your endeavors. This means you have to work with passion, because the first person you are ultimately going to sell the idea of the finished product is yourself, and if you can’t fully embrace the concept, it’s going to be even harder to pitch it to someone else. That being said, we quickly searched for a topic that each member of our team could relate to, and also provide valuable insight upon his experience and personal preferences on the subject at hand. In the end we settled on the topic of video games, due to the wide variety available these days. Figure 1. Pacman machine Figure 1. Pacman machine The first ever commercially produced video games were arcade games back in the early ‘70s in the United States, and I think we all remember in movies those huge machines that took up quite a lot of space in pubs, where people could play games such as Pacman, Space Invaders or Donkey Kong. They were very successful and in fact, they...
Words: 1628 - Pages: 7
... Issue 1, pp.122-‐128, 2013 THE IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMES ON STUDENT GPA, STUDY HABITS, AND TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS: WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? Jordan Weaver, Walsh University, jordanweaver@walsh.edu Philip Kim, Walsh University, pkim@walsh.edu Richard L. Metzer, Robert Morris University, rlmst26@mail.rmu.edu Julie M. Szendrey, Walsh University, jszendrey@walsh.edu ABSTRACT Playing video games has become one of the largest leisure activities in the world. This study examines the effects video games have on college students, their grade point averages, time management, and study habits. Existing literature has linked video game usage as being negatively correlated with each of these three variables. This research, using a sample of the undergraduate student population at a private university in northeast Ohio, found a statistically significant correlation between video game usage and grade point average. Statistically significant relationships were not found between video game usage and the variables of time management skills or study habits. It is important that college students are aware of these possible negative effects of video game usage on their academic performance. This research can serve as a foundation for future research on the impact of video game playing and student performance. Keywords: Videogames, GPA, Study Habits, Time Management Skills, Student Performance INTRODUCTION The video game industry has flourished to become the world’s largest entertainment...
Words: 3326 - Pages: 14
...Computer games are the most popular enter tainments in modern societies and they target a variety of people in different ages. The addiction to the rivalry and excitements of the games make them the most common recreational programs for today's teenagers, so that they do anything to reach a higher level of the game, they immerse in the game so much that they completely separate from their surroundings. Challenging with the obstacles and reaching a higher level in the game, make the players excited and losing the game make them anxious.1 Computer games started in 1972 with Pang, a computer tennis game, and then developed in hardware and software systems. Improvement of quality and variety of games increasingly spread it in the society especially adolescences.2 It is believed that computer games like watching TV provides opportunities for visual learning. Especially because these games are more active compared to watching TV, they are considered more effective.3 Since these games are known as the second entertainment after TV, opponents of these games emphasize on their negative effects such as stimulating anger and violence, costing a lot of money and having negative effects of physical and mental health, which are much higher than the positive effects of the games such as increasing the coordination...
Words: 668 - Pages: 3
...English 1010 13 October 2014 The Brain on Video Games Are video games just for entertainment purposes? Although many believe that video games are for passing the time and entertainment. Many people I’ve ask said they “corrupt the brain, ruins the attention span and worsen the social skills” In the media we see headlines saying how video games are damaging our brains, but are they really damaging anything? A negative always has to have a positive. I am going to show you that gaming has benefits for your brain. Not only is it entertaining, it also has benefits for the brain During my middle school years, I played a lot of Grand Theft Auto (GTA). While playing GTA I learn there was more to it than committing crimes and making my avatar number one. While playing you need to memorize several game patterns such as the weapon specification and also many maps. The players are also put to unraveling a complicated puzzle that requires you to process enormous amounts of data. There are resources inside the game, those resources are key to survival; players have to constantly manage these in the most effective manner. Rather than rotting my brain I was doing the opposite. With playing GTA I have improved my memory, my problem solving and my resource management. I’ve also improved my hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills. GTA isn’t the only game that I found out was helpful, but it was the most surprising to me since it was a game that most people blamed for their own violent...
Words: 685 - Pages: 3
