GAMES AS WARMING-UP ACTIVITIES IN YOUNG LEARNERS’ CLASSROOMS AT AN ENGLISH COURSE.

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Noviani Aisyatin, 2013

Games As Warming-Up Activities In Young Learners Classrooms At An English Course Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

GAMES AS WARMING-UP ACTIVITIES IN YOUNG

LEARNERS’ CLASSROOMS AT AN ENGLISH COURSE

(A Descriptive Study at an English course in Bandung)

A Research Paper

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Sarjana Pendidikan degree

By

Noviani Aisyatin 0606368

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

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GAMES AS WARMING-UP ACTIVITIES

IN YOUNG LEARNERS’ CLASSROOMS

AT AN ENGLISH COURSE

Oleh Noviani Aisyatin

Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni

Agustus 2013

Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.

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PAGE OF APPROVAL

GAMES AS WARMING-UP ACTIVITIES IN YOUNG

LEARNERS’ CLASSROOMS AT AN ENGLISH COURSE

(A Descriptive Study at an English course in Bandung)

by:

NOVIANI AISYATIN

0606368

Approved by:

Main Supervisor,

Prof.Dr. Fuad Abdul Hamied, M. A., Ph.D NIP. 195008211974121001

Co-Supervisor,

Riesky, S.Pd., M.Ed. 19810525202005011002

The Head of English Department Faculty of Language and Arts Education

Indonesia University of Education

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ABSTRACT

This paper is entitled Games as Warming-Up Activities in Young

Learners’ Classrooms at An English Course. The purpose of this research are: (1) to investigate types of games used by a teacher as warming-up activities in young learners’ classrooms; (2) to find out the advantages of games used by a teacher as warming-up activities in young learners’ classrooms; and (3) to find out the difficulties encountered by teacher during the implementation of games as warming-up activities in young learners’ classrooms.

Data were collected by using observation and interview. This study involved young learner teacher of an English course and her students. The result showed that the teacher applied some types of games proposed by Hadfield (2001) and Evans (1979) as warming-up activities. The advantages of games covered affective, cognitive, class dynamics, and adaptability categories. However, the teacher found it difficult to design appropriate game for the students, giving clear instruction, managing time, grouping the students, and simplifying the instruction.

According to the findings, it is recommended that English teachers apply games as warming-up activities in young learners’ classrooms since games are fun for children and help both students and teachers in teaching learning process.

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LIST OF CONTENTS

1.4 Significance of the Research ………. 5

1.5 Research Method ……….. 6

1.5.1 Research Design ………. . 6

1.5.2 Participants ………... 7

1.5.3 Data Collection ………. 7

1.5.4 Data Analysis ... 8

1.6 Clarification of Terms ………. 8

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FOUNDATION 2.1 Games in Language Teaching ……… 9

2.2 Warming-up Activities in Language Teaching ... 16

2.3 The Nature of Teaching English for Young Learners... 17

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2.5 Related Theories of Games Usage in Language Teaching ………… 20

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Statement of The Problem ……… 25

3.2 Research Design ……… 25

3.3 Site and Participant ……… 26

3.4 Data Collection ……… 27

3.4 Data Analysis ………... 28

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 The Types of Games Used by the Teacher as Warming-up Activities … 30 4.2 The Advantages of Using Games as Warming up Activities in Young Learners’ Classroom ...……… 35

4.3 The Difficulties Encountered by the Teacher in Implementing Games as Warming-up Activities in Young Learners’ Classroom… 40 CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 Conclusions ……….. 43

5.2 Suggestions ……….. 44 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Advantages of games……… 13

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A: Observation and Interview Transcripts

Appendix B: Observation Sheets

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1.

Background

English is considered as a foreign language in Indonesia. Indonesian

learners have studied English formally since elementary school until

college. Nowadays, English courses have been widespread in Indonesia to

fulfil the need of English language learning informally. Some courses offer

to teach English in a rigid way, but some others offer to teach English in a

fun way. These courses usually have different teaching objectives and

teaching procedures that affect the way of language teaching.

The age of learners is a major factor in making a decision about the

way of teaching. Harmer (2007) claimed that people of different ages have

different needs, competencies, and cognitive skills. We expect children to

enjoy the learning process through play. As stated by Paul (2003), a child

who encounters a new English word, expression, or pattern through games

is far motivated to learn and to internalize the new English word, expression

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Children, as young language learners, must make efforts to

understand the new language, while teachers have to teach the language

without making learners got stressful. As stated by Wright, Betteridge, and

Buckby (2006), language is a hard work. An effort is required to understand,

to adapt, and to use the new language in conversation and in writing

composition. The effort should be maintained at every moment and over a

long period of time. In line with this condition, games are needed to help

and encourage learners to sustain their interest and work. Games also help

teachers to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful.

It is also supported by Paul’s (2003) statement that games are not simply for

practicing language targets. He also added that the most effective learning

can be achieved through games.

According to Paul (2003), games are one of the best ways to make

children feel deeply involved in the lesson. It is also suitable with one of the

characteristics of young learners provided by Scott and Ytreberg (2004),

that young children love to play and learn best when they are having fun

through the play. Children will be engaged in doing something that makes

them enjoyed.

The use of games in teaching process is important to achieve an

effective learning. The teaching process usually consists of several phases.

Sheils (1988, as cited in Errey’s articles (2012) in TEFL Boot camp articles

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framework. In the three-phase framework, the teaching process is divided

into three phases named pre-activity, whilst activity, and post activity.

Sheils (1988) explains that the pre-activity is the first phase of

teaching in which the teacher can build a learning environment to raise up

the interest of learners in the lesson, to activate the prior knowledge of

learners and to prepare learners for the language that can be necessary to

perform the main task. The next phase is whilst activity which is the main

phase of delivering teaching materials. In this phase the teacher can engage

learners in the main tasks including oral or written tasks. The last phase is

post-activity. This phase includes the reflection of the ideas and language

produced during the main activity and language drill.

Learners usually try to judge the first impression of the lesson in the

pre-activity phase. They will be engaged in the lesson when the teacher can

raise up their interest. The teacher can use games to engage learners to the

lesson. It is related to the characteristics of games itself as proposed by

Evans (1979), that games are entertaining and exciting for learners by the

competition and suspense of the outcome and the winner of the game.

Games may be designed to activate prior knowledge and to prepare

language needed in the main task.

According to Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby (2006), games have

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context in which learners should take part to understand what others say or

write and also force learners to express their point of view or give

information. In this case, games give a chance for learners to experience the

language rather than to study the language. The other advantage of using

games is that they provide repeated occurrence and use of particular

language form. In other words, games provide meaningful drills that allow

learners to have better absorbency in receiving the lesson. It is because

meaningful drills give opportunity to the learners to involve the emotion and

the meaning of the language. In line with the importance of learners’

comfortable feeling to each other and also to improve their self-confidence

which can make them focus on the language lesson, Wright, Betteridge, and

Buckby (2006) claim that games are considered as a way of warming people

and help them to focus their minds to the lesson.

The issue above gives a stimulus to the researcher to do a study

related to games usage as warming-up activities in young learners’

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1.2. Research Questions

The research is focused on the following questions.

1. What types of games are used by the teacher as warming-up activities in

young learners’ classrooms?

2. What are the advantages of implementing those games as warming up

activities in young learners’ classroom?

3. What are the difficulties of implementing those games as warming up

activities in young learners’ classrooms?

1.3.

Purposes of the Research

The purposes of the research are to investigate the types of games

used by teacher as warming-up activities in young learners’ classroom. In

addition, the research is conducted to find out the advantages of and

difficulties in implementing the games as warming-up activities in young

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1.4. Significance of the Research

Educational practitioner such as teachers, students, and other

researcher hopefully can get some good impacts of the research. For the

teachers, this research may give them more information about the use of

games in learning process and the advantages of the games. Meanwhile,

students may have a better way to understand the material through games. In

addition, for other researcher, this research may support better research in

natural settings, attempting to making sense of, or to interpret phenomena in

terms of the meanings people bring to them.

The case study method was chosen because the research explored an

issue through one case in a bounded system. According to Creswell (2007),

case study research is a qualitative approach in which the investigator

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collection involving multiple sources of information and reports a case

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1.5.2. Participants

The participant involved in the research was a teacher of an

English Course in Bandung. The selection of the participant was based

on the claim of a teacher that uses some types of games in her teaching

as warming up activities.

1.5.3. Data Collection

Classroom observation and interview are the research

instruments employed to collect the data. Classroom observation was

used to get a brief description of the kinds of games occurred in

warming-up activities stage of language learning. Observation was

recorded in a form of video and observational notes. Observation video

was transcript and coded according to the kind of games occurred.

Observational notes were compiled to support the data gained from

observation video. The instruments were used to answer the first

research question.

The second instrument is interview. Interview was used to get

information from the teacher to find out advantages and difficulties that

were faced by the teacher. This instrument was done to complete the

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1.5.4. Data Analysis

After collecting the data from observation and interview, those

data were analyzed in three steps. The data were analyzed in some

analytic cycles consist of (1) identification, (2) categorization, and (3)

interpretation.

1.6. Clarification of Terms

To avoid unnecessary misunderstanding, there are some terms in this

paper which are clarified as follows:

a. Game is an entertaining and competitive activity involving skill,

chance and endurance governed by a set of rules.

b. Warming-up activities are opening activities in pre-activity phase to

warm up classroom situation

c. Teaching procedure is a set of teaching phases.

d. Young Learners refers to learners at age 6 – 12 (first to six graders of

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25 Noviani Aisyatin, 2013

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methodology of this research. It contains four

sub-chapters, namely (1) statement of the problem, (2) research design, (3) site

and participants of the research, (4) data collection techniques, (5) data analysis.

3.1 Statement of the Problem

There are three issues that were investigated in this research, namely (1)

the types of games used by a teacher as warming-up activities in young learners’

classrooms, (2) the advantages of those games, and (3) the difficulties of the

implementation of those games as warming up activities in young learners’

classroom.

3.2 Research Design

Qualitative approach was used because it allowed the researcher to study

about games in a natural setting and interpret its advantages and difficulties.

Qualitative method placed the researcher as an observer of the teaching process in

the research. Furthermore, this research explored the activities in a classroom

without interfering the teaching process. In line with this, Creswell (2007) stated

that the natural setting in collecting data is one of the characteristics of qualitative

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Case-study was selected as the research design because as Creswell (2007)

said, the case-study research is a qualitative approach in which the observer

explores the bounded system over time. This research investigated the advantages

and the difficulties of games in a bounded teaching procedure. This research also

involved multiple sources of information such as observation and interview and

reported the result in a case description.

3.3 Site and Participant

An English course in Bandung was chosen to be the site of this research

based on the researcher’s pilot observation. Through the pilot observation, the

researcher found out that the standard operational procedure (SOP) of the English

course cited games as warming up activities in the beginning of the lesson.

The participant was a female teacher who teaches 7-8 students in the level

Junior 3. The reason of the selection of the participant is that the teacher cited

games as warming up activities in her lesson plan. She is a new teacher in the

English course. She has been trained in this English course for three months

before the management of the course gave her the real class. The students of

Junior 3 who were taught by her were chosen because the students in this level are

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3.4 Data Collection

Classroom observation and interview were used as instruments to collect

the data. The explanation of each instrument is as follows:

Classroom observation was conducted to investigate (1) the types of games

that were used by the teacher as warming-up activities in young learners’

classrooms; and (2) the advantages of implementing those games as warming up

activities in young learners’ classroom. The observation was conducted five times

(5th October 2012, 12th October 2012, 24th October 2012, 26th October 2012 and

31st October 2012).

Observation sheets were used during classroom observation. The

observation sheets were designed based on observation protocol by Creswell

(2007). In the observation sheets there were two columns namely descriptive

notes and reflective notes. The descriptive note was used to record some aspects,

such as portraits of the informant, the physical setting, particular events and

activities. The reflective note was used to record the reaction of the observer.

Besides the observation sheets, videos also used to get deeper information about

the types of games that were used by the teacher as warming-up activities in

young learners’ classrooms, and the advantages of implementing those games as

warming up activities in young learners’ classroom. Moreover, videos were also

used to support observation sheets. Furthermore, the videos were transcribed by

using classroom discourse analysis tool. The researcher labeled student’s

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The second instrument is interview. The interview was conducted to get

more information about the advantages and the difficulties of the implementation

of games as warming up activities according to the teacher perception. Through

the interview, the researcher can ask directly to the participant to tell the process

before and after she implemented the games. The questions in the interview were

not designed in a rigid way. It was also stated by Alwasilah (2002), that the

researcher can explain or paraphrase the questions if the respondents cannot

understand the questions.

After the data that were gained by conducting classroom observation, the

results were transcribed and then categorized into types of games based on

Hadfield’s (2001) theory and Evan’s (1979) theory. Besides the data from

classroom observation, the data from interview were also transcribed and

interpreted to answer the research question about the difficulties of implementing

games as warming up activities.

3.5 Data Analysis

Data analysis in qualitative research should be a simultaneous process and

were begun when the observation started. After collecting data from observation

and interview, those data were analyzed in three steps, namely (1) identification,

(2) categorization, and (3) interpretation.

The data gained from observation sheets and observation videos were

identified by identifying the characteristics of games that were used by the teacher

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were used by the teacher were categorized based on Hadfield’s theory and Evans’

theory. In Hadfield’s theory, games were categorized into competitive game and

cooperative game. Besides categorizes the games into competitive and

cooperative games, Hadfield also categorizes those games into linguistic game

and communicative game. Furthermore, in Evans’ theory the games were

categorized into skill-practiced game, role play game, and simulation game. After

categorization process, the data were interpreted to answer the research questions

about the types of games that were used by the teacher as warming-up activities in

young learners’ classrooms, and the advantages of implementing those games as

warming up activities in young learners’ classroom.

Besides the data from classroom observation, the data from interview were

gained. The gained data were recorded by using voice recorder. To analyze the

data, the researcher transcribed the interview both from teacher and student. Then,

the transcribed data were interpreted to answer the research questions about the

advantages and difficulties of implementing games as warming up activities.

Furthermore, the data were linked to proper literature.

The result of analysis data both from observation and interview will be

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter presents the conclusions and suggestions of the research. The

conclusions are based on the result of the research presented in chapter IV.

5.1 Conclusions

The purposes of the research are to investigate the types of games

implemented by the teacher, to find out the advantages of the implementation of

the games, and to reveal the difficulties encountered by the teacher when she

implemented the games.

The result of data collection and analysis shows that games were

implemented as warming-up activities in young learners’ classroom. The

competitive games can warm-up the situation effectively before the teacher starts

the main material. Meanwhile, the cooperative games can build class cohesion

efficiently. The teacher also implemented linguistic games and communicative

games. Since they can improve students’ ability related to linguistic accuracy and

communicative function.

From the research, it was also found that games as warming up activities

have advantages related to affective, cognitive, class dynamic, and adaptability

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However, there were some difficulties encountered by the teacher. The

teacher seemed to have difficulties to design an appropriate game for the students,

to give clear instruction, to manage the time, to group the students, to simplify the

instruction, and also to improve students’ interest in the game when the students

feel tired.

5.2 Suggestions

There are three suggestions directed to English teachers who often use

games as warming up activities, English teachers in general, and for those who are

interested in conducting similar research.

The first suggestion is for English teachers who often use games as

warming up activities. First, the teacher should be more creative to design

appropriate game for the students, Second, the teacher should avoid unclear

instruction about the rules of the game and simplify the instruction. Moreover, the

teacher should manage the time effectively.

The second suggestion is for English teachers in general. It is suggested

that they apply games as warming up activities in young learners’ classroom since

games are fun for children. Games have been implemented in many teaching

learning processes but most of the time the game is not integrated with the whole

teaching learning process.

And the last suggestion is for those who are interested in conducting

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schools by using other methods, i.e. experimental method where the reseacher

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