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THE USE OF GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG
LEARNERS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Awan Ardhianto
112010120
ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2017
THE USE OF GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Awan Ardhianto
112010120
ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2017
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THE USE OF GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Awan Ardhianto
112010120
Approved by:
Rindang Widiningrum M, Hum
Supervisor
Anna Indrayanti Timotius M, Ed
Examiner
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: Awan Ardhianto
: 112010120
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: Faculty Language and Arts
: Undergraduate Thesis
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Approved by
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Rindang Widiningrum M.Hum
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Anne Indrayanti Timotius M.Ed
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Copyright Statement
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Satya Wacana Christian Univesity, Salatiga.
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Table of Content
Approval Page...........................................................................................................................iii
Publication Agreement Declaration..........................................................................................iv
Copyright Statement...................................................................................................................v
Table of Content........................................................................................................................vi
Abstract......................................................................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................4
The Study.................................................................................................................................10
Finding and Discussion............................................................................................................13
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................19
Acknowledgment.....................................................................................................................21
References................................................................................................................................22
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THE USE OF GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
Abstract
The use of games in the area of English teaching for young learners has been widespread. This
research investigates the kind of games that used by teachers to teach young learners and the
challenges faced by teachers in using the games. This is a qualitative research in which the data
is presented in a qualitative description. The research was conducted by interviewing two
teachers of Apple Kids Salatiga. Other sources such as video and observation protocol was also
used as the data in observing the class activity. The findings of this study revealed that there are
several kind of games used by the teachers which are Matching Game and Kinetic Game.
Teacher challenges on the use of the games was also found in this study, they are class control,
difficulties in encouraging students who did not interesting participate in the game, and
difficulties in gaining students‟ understanding when explaining the rule of the game.
Keywords: Games, English Language Learning, Young Learners
INTRODUCTION
English is the most popular language learned in Indonesia. English is given in every stage
of school in Indonesia. In order to make English be familiarized, it has to be taught in early age
of children. And in order to help children learned Englsh well, some teachers used games to
teach English, especially to teach young learners. From the use of games, hopefully will help
children understand the material better. In here, there are two factors why games should be used
to teach English to young learners; there are benefits of using games for young learners, and the
characteristic of children.
There are some benefits of using games to teach in classroom. The previous study
conducted by Sigurðardóttir (2010, p. 28) mentioned that games are fun activities that helps
students to be more interactive and active in the learning process. Games make the classroom
environment become more comfortable and friendly. Games can encourage students to
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participate and express their idea, also provide a real life situation which will be useful for
students to give them a real life problem which they can try to solve it. In an elementary school
context, the researcher find students to be less engaging when confronted to express their ideas.
They just listen to the materials without any communication to the teacher. On the other hand,
when games are involved in the teaching process, students become active and cooperative with
the teaching process.
Another benefit of game is stated by Anyaegbu, Ting, & Li (2012, p.158), which stated
that games are proved to raise motivation and interest of Chinese primary school in
China.‟Motivation is seen as a strong desire for learning and acquiring knowledge of English; as
an engine and steering wheel of an automobile, something that can move students from boredom
to interest‟ (Anyaegbu, Ting, & Li, 2012). It is said that Chinese education is more teacher
centered but serious games student-centered. In their study the students are asked whether they
like traditional learning or games and the majority of them replied of favoring the use of games
in a teaching and learning process. The majority of the students preferred serious games
classroom while few students prefer traditional Methods of teaching.
The idea of using games in the teaching process has been spread in schools nowadays.
Many teachers have not utilize games as their teaching and learning methodology. Learning from
a book or material is not only the main point of school. Teachers only focus on the material that
should be taught to the students. In order to have an effective English classroom, teacher should
provide the students with interesting material such as pictures of cartoons or videos. TalakKiryk (2010, p. 5) said that teachers should be creative to make games that may gain students‟
attention. Teaching and learning process should be interesting, easy, and fun to make the
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students more enthusiastic. Moreover, games make students more interactive and
communicative.
Games is the main activities of children in their daily lives. In order to use games to teach
young learners, we have to know about the characteristic of children. Children have the tendency
to be stressful for doing the same activities and learning process every day. Teachers have to be
creative to make the classroom more interesting. Hypothetically, the use of games may help
teachers to handle the students in the classroom and hopefully improve the students‟ skill
resulting in a more effective teaching and learning process. Based on the finding of ViolettaIrene (2013), they concern with the issues of age, motivation, the brain processes, and various
other themes. They realize the importance of starting learn English at a young age.The idea that
young learners have a significant ability to absorb knowledge faster than adults co-exists with the
approach of games in a teaching-learning process. The idea is that games have the appealing
factor towards young learners. It attracts students‟ attention towards the teaching-learning
process and so, helps young learners to learn better in class. This indicates that games should
effectively accommodate the condition of young learners‟ ability to learn faster. If proven, games
can facilitate young learners to not just pay attention to the teaching-learning process, but also
the process of learning itself; resulting in an alternative solution towards teaching and learning
strategies.
The findings of this study are expected to help the teachers to make an interesting
teaching and learning process, moreover help the students understand the material better.
Teacher can develop their activities and design games that can make the classroom more
enjoyable and can fit with students‟ learning styles.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the use of games for young learners by the teachers
and challenges they face when they use games in classroom. The research question of this study
are (1) What kinds of games do the teachers use in teaching English? (2) What are challenges
faced by the teachers of using games in teaching English?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Games
Many teachers believe that games can help them to make teaching and learning process
understandable for students, especially for young learners. There are some explanation about the
definition of games, which stated that games are activities with rules, a goal, and an element of
fun. Game is typically involved several players; a game with only one player is usually called a
decision problem. The formal definition lays out the players, their preferences, their information,
the strategic actions available to them, and how these influence the outcome” (Turocy & Stengel,
2001). Another definition from Talak-Kiryk (2010, p. 11) define that games are fun activities
that promote interaction, thinking, learning, and problem solving strategies. Often, games have
an aspect that permits the players to produce information in a short time period. Some games
require the players to engage in a physical activity and/or complete a mental challenge.
I conclude that there are several points that should be in the games, there are:
competition, rules, goal, and player. With game, people believe that it will make them happy
because the aim of game is to make people happy. Games in language teaching is an activity that
gives students opportunity to interact, think, and learning a language through physical or mental
activity.
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Kinds of Games for Teaching
Many students still believe that learning English must be difficult and boring. Here,
teachers are demanded to be innovative and creative, so that students become proactive in
participating the learning process of English. Because of that, teaching and learning English
should be suit to the condition of psychological atmosphere of the students. With the use of
games, students are expected to learn English in a fun and progressive way. According to
Agustina (2012), games have a variety of techniques. Some of the techniques commonly used by
the teachers are:
a. Gap information
Gap information is a simple game for two or more students. In this activity, students should look
up for the information that the other students have. Each student or group should accomplish the
task competitively.
b. Guessing game
In this game, a student will be given information of which the other students must guess.
c. Role-playing game
In this activity, the students are given a role to play based on a given card which describes a
character that the students should play.
d. Puzzle
Puzzles are an activity where the students share information to solve a problem. The problem
may be in the form of random words or alphabets.
e. Card game (Exchanging and Collecting Games)
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This game can be play both individually and in a group. The goal of the game is to collect the
required set of cards by exchanging the cards with another student or group so that the students
may gather information to complete the game.
f.
Matching game
This game has a basic different rule although it involves the same practice of exchanging
information. In this game students match the same cards or pictures. This game can be played by
the whole class where students move to find the match of their card or picture with other
students.
Despite of the games listed above, Palanova (2010, p. 10) classify games in language teaching
into 4 categories, there are:
a. Listening games
Listening is the most difficult skill of language. Teachers have to give the students interesting
material in order to maintain the students‟ attention and interest. We can use many activities such
as completing lyric of song or getting information from the video.
b. Speaking games
The aim of this game is to make the students speak and express their ideas. This is the teachers'
job to make the students to interact because as we know that students are prefer to silent rather
than express their ideas. It is the teachers‟ job to encourage the students talk enjoyable. Also,
speaking games is useful to increase the students talking time. The common activity that usually
used in speaking games is role play. It is an activity that make the students pretending to be
someone or being part on something event.
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c. Kinetic games
Kinetic games are useful to encourage the students when they are getting tired and difficult to
concentrate. Kinetic game is an activity that contain of physical activity of the students. Kinetic
games can be joined with another activity too, such as reading, listening, or speaking. The
example activity of kinetic games is jumping onto sheet of paper. It's an activity to learn
vocabulary. Teacher put some colored paper on the ground and students may jump on the colors
that shout out by the teacher.
d. Experiential games
Experiential games are very interesting for the students because students can complete their task
and they can experience the process of it. The real aim of this activity is not to decide the win or
lose but to experience the process and students can learn from it. We can use this kind of games
in explaining procedural text. Teacher gives the students a media or tool to make something.
Then, teacher explains the step that should be done by the students.
From the explanation above about the classification of games in teaching, it seems that
games can be used in teaching and learning process. There are a lot of games with their strength
and weakness. Teacher will realize that not all the games can be effective for both learner and
learning process itself. We have to select carefully which game that appropriate to the students.
Also, as it mentioned by Oblinger (2006, p. 4), we cannot merely make the student as the subject
of learning. We have to consider that the use of games is to make the students understand the
material well. So, we have to put the students in the game development itself. Student can
critique to the specified games. At the end of this, students will chose whether which games that
makes them comfortable and appropriate with their learning process.
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Characteristic of Young Learners
Wibowo (2009) explain that Kindergarten and elementary school students are define as
young learners. Children from the first years of formal schooling (5 or 6 years old) to eleven or
twelve years of age is catagorized as young learners. He also mentions two groups of young
learners, there are:
1. The five to seven years old (beginning stage)
The characteristic of beginning stage of young learners, there are: they can talk about
what they are doing, they can tell about what they have done, they can plan activities, they can
use logical reasoning, and they can understand direct human interaction
2. The eight to ten years old
The characteristic of eight to ten years old, there are: they can understand abstract, they can
understand symbol (beginning with words), and they can generalize and systematize
As stated by Talak-Kiryk (2010, cited in Pivec and Dziabenko, 2010) in) the learning
process should be interesting and should be fun to learn. Also, he stated that activities that
promote interacting, thinking, learning, and problem-solving are games. Talak-Kiryk (2010, p. 8)
believes that games are effective tools for learning because they offer students an environment in
which they can explore alternative decisions without the risk of failure. Ara (2009, p. 178) stated
that the reason of using game is that although children have an innate ability to learn a language
well, they do not learn properly if they find their lessons boring and unexciting. He mentioned
some interesting activities such as songs, rhymes and games are very useful tools for teaching
them a foreign language. Through these activities children will learn in an enjoyable
environment without making them feel the pressure in learning foreign language. In elementary
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school context, games are used by the teacher when they feel that students are bored or the
material has finished. It is expected that teachers do not provide game activities to the students in
big amount to prevent interruption during the teaching and learning process.
Challenges faced by the teachers of using games in teaching English
Based on Ayu and Murdibjono (2012), the problems which were faced by the teacher were as
follows:
The management of time was not really good because of unprepared material and
technical problem.
It was difficult to find suitable material for playing games.
The criteria of assessment were not clear.
Sometimes there was not enough room for students to move around and the voice level
could disturb other nearer classes.
Some of students who were really lack of motivation often did not participate in the
games, especially when the games were done in groups.
Another study conducted by Palánová (2010, p. 42) suggests that teachers should be aware of
the use of game activities. Teachers should decide the „right time‟ to use games in the learning
process to make the teaching and learning process meaningful and effective for students. Teacher
should consider the amount of time that should be spent for the learning process to avoid
overtime and overuse with the use of games in the learning process. Moreover, this study
believes that games can establish the teacher and students relationship. With a positive relation
between a teacher and the students, it is expected to make the learning process effective. Related
to this study, in elementary school context, games are used by the teacher when they feel that
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students are bored or the material has finished. It is expected that teachers do not provide game
activities to the students in big amount to prevent interruption during the teaching and learning
process.
THE STUDY
This study was conducted in a qualitative descriptive method for the data collection.
“Data collection of qualitative descriptive studies focuses on discovering the nature of the
specific events under study” by Lambert (2012, p. 205). The specific event in this study was the
use of games by the teachers. This study focused on the use of games that have been used by the
teachers to teach young learners in Apple Kids Salatiga.
Context of the study
The context of this study was Apple Kids Salatiga. The reason why the researcher chosen this
kindergarten as the context of the study was because the school used a variety of games in
English. There were five level or five classes in the Apple kids school; little apple, green apple,
yellow apple, orange apple, and red apple. Each class had different level of age and number of
student. The range of age of the student were between 2,5 until 5 years old. Also, the school was
in the same city with of the researcher, this decision was made based on consideration that the
researcher was an undergraduate student who has limited access.
Participant
The participants of this study were the teachers of Apple Kids Salatiga. There were two of
ten teachers was chosen to be interviewed. The reason was because it was not possible to
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interview minor-aged students. Also, two teachers could represent the entire teacher because they
have experienced teaching in each of the class. The researcher interviewed two of the teachers
considering the time that given by the school to the researcher for observing the school.
Data collection instrument
The researcher used observation protocol and interview. First, observation protocol was used
to observe the activity that use by teachers in classroom. Observation protocol helped the
observation more organized and structured. This tool was used to answer the research question
about the kinds of games used by the teachers. Second, interview was used in this study because
it helped the researcher answer the second research question. The interview was then recorded
using an audio recorder.
Observation sheet
Teacher’s a e:
Classroom:
Topic:
Date:
Duration:
Number of students:
Experiental game
Kinetic game
Speaking game
Example
Listening game
Matching game
Card game
Role-playing
game
Puzzle
Guessing game
Gap information
Kind of games
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Data collection procedure
In the procedure of the data collection, first thing to be made were the observational protocol.
First, the researcher designed the observation protocol. Second, the researcher contacted the
participant for an agreement. Third to be prepared were the permission letters from
administration office of the faculty of language and art. The permission letters were sent to the
target schools to be approved by the headmaster of the school.
After the letters were accepted, the researcher started to contact the participant to be involved
in the research. The participants were observed two times because considering the time that
given by the school to the researcher for observing the school. The researcher came to the school
and started the observation when the teaching and learning process began. The purpose of the
observation was to examine what kind of games that been used by the teacher. The researcher
took a note for something important that would be useful to enrich the finding of the research.
The last, after the researcher got the data from observation, the researcher asked the teachers
to be interviewed. Each participant was interviewed around 10 minutes and the interview was
conducted in English. It was done to know the challenges faced by the teachers when they used
game in the teaching and learning class.
Data analysis procedure
After obtaining all the data from observation protocol and interview, first, the data was
classified based on the kind of games stated in the literature review. Second, after got the data
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from interview with the teachers, the data was transcript. Then, the transcription data was used to
identify the teacher challenges when using games to teach young learners.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This section presents the findings and discussion of this study to answer the research
questions about kind of games used for teaching and teacher‟s challenge of using game for
teaching in Apple Kids Salatiga. In this study, there were only two kinds of games found. The
findings and discussion is then divided into two categories based on the first and second research
questions. The first category is „Kind of Games Used in Teaching English‟ and the last one is
„Teachers‟ Challenges of Using the Games‟. Teachers‟ reasons of the using of the games are also
included in second category.
Kinds of Games Used in Teaching English
Based on the observation, the researcher found that there are two kinds of games used by
the teacher to teach English. The first one is Matching Game. In the first observation, teacher
divided the students into group in pairs. One student had to pick one peer to play with. Then,
each student will be given color cards. Teacher asked the students to pick up balls and blocks
they had prepared in front of the class based on the color of students‟ cards. After that, the
teacher asked the students to put the blocks and balls they picked together with the cards based
on each color. The following extract is the proof from the observation which conducted during
the class activity.
Extract 1
Teacher : “What color is this?” (Showing a flash card which provides picture)
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Students : “Pink!”
Teacher : “Right! Now, I want you to pick up one friend to play with. Then, I will give you
cards. Find balls and blocks in front of the class based on the color cards you have!”
(Teacher distributed the color cards)
(1st Observation, teacher A)
In the second observation, teacher also used a Matching Game with a topic about Healthy
and Unhealthy Food. In here, teacher started to show cards which provide pictures of food. Then
the students have to stick the card with healthy food picture on the right side of book and the
card with unhealthy food on the left side of book. The following is the extract of the second
observation:
Extract 2
Teacher : “Guess, what is this?” (Showing cards with picture of apple and candy)
Students : “Food”
Teacher : “Good! Apple is good for your body, but candy can make you get a toothache. Which
one is healthy? Apple or candy?”
Students : “Apple, miss….”
Teacher : “Right. Okay, now I will give you cards of food and stick the cards of food which is
good for your body on the right side of your book. And, stick the cards of food that
can make you get sick on the left side of your book!” (Teacher distributed the cards).
(2nd Observation, teacher B)
According to Reese (1999, cited in Chirandon, Laohawiriyanon, & Rakthong, 2010),
matching games such as matching a picture with target language can activate student‟s
background knowledge in presentation stage. This is because students are demanded to find a
match for word, picture, object, or card. Therefore, it might help students with their cognitive in
foreign language learning.
The second kind of games is kinetic game also found in this study. This kind of game was
found as a combination with Matching Game used during the classroom observations. It can be
seen in the first observation where students collected balls and blocks based on each color cards
gave by the teacher. In here, it can be categorized as a Kinetic Game since the students have to
run into front of the class to pick up the balls and blocks and then go back to their sit to put them.
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This kind of games could help to develop students‟ intelligence in learning. As Gardner (1999,
cited in Chirandon, Laohawiriyanon, & Rakthong, 2010) mentioned that bodily kinesthetic is one
of three types of intelligences after spatial and interpersonal intelligence.
The observations showed that the use of games help increasing students‟ motivation and
concentration in learning. It also used to avoid class boredom during the teaching process. It was
supported by the teacher‟s statement that the used of games is more effective to help students in
learning. The following is the teacher‟s statement from the interview:
Extract 3:
“Almost every day we use games for teaching. The aim is to avoid boredom of the students.
Games often implement in teaching spontaneously, especially when the students begin to lose
their focus and do not pay attention anymore to the teacher‟s. I make the game more competitive
so that it will increase students‟ motivation.”
(Teacher A)
The interview result was supported by Darfilal (2014), who stated that the use of games
in language teaching and learning helps students to feel comfortable and more confident in
acquiring the target language. He also added that games emotionally brings a positive effects
such as the feeling of happiness, excitement, amusement, and surprise. Moreover, games add
variety to usual classroom activities. Hence, students will not get bored with the usual routine in
their class when they experience those feelings through game.
Teachers’ Challenges of Using the Games
In every teaching and learning process, there must be challenges for the teachers. Based
on the interview that had been conducted in this study, it was found that there are three kinds of
challenges teacher faced in using games for teaching. The first one is class control. It is obvious
that children are active learner compared with adult. They have more strength to do an active
activity like playing game which sometime required them to move from one spot to another in
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the class. Sometimes, it is hard for the teacher to manage the class since the students are too
eager and active while participate in the game. Below is the extract from the interview:
Extract 4:
“First, the challenge is class control. Students will sometimes screaming and run out of control.”
(Teacher A)
According to Stojkovic and Jerotijevic (2011), one of the reason for avoiding games is
due to the discipline issue. This is because learners, particularly young learners, might get
excessively noisy when playing games. On the other hand, Darfilal (2014) said that although
maintaining students‟ attention for too long is difficult and implementing games in class could be
a disaster, it does help to create a good atmosphere in classroom. In every learning activity, such
as playing games, there must be some challenges teacher might face. Therefore, it is better for
the teacher to consider about the possible discipline issues that might occur and take an action to
prevent the problem.
The second challenge is to encourage students‟ motivation and mood during the game.
Sometimes, teacher found some students who are sick and they did not interest enough joining
the game. It somehow could influence their peers‟ mood since children are more likely to imitate
their peers in doing an activity. The interview extract is as follows:
Extract 5:
“Second, sometimes there is a student who doesn‟t interest to join the game because he is sick. It
will influence his peers, because children often like to imitate their friends.”
(Teacher A)
Sometimes, not all of students are interested and lose their motivation in playing games
when they feel not good. It cannot be avoided. Paul (1996, cited in Darfilal, 2014) said that from
time to time students can reject games so teachers should be attentive to their students‟ reactions
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and the class atmosphere. Thus, encouraging students‟ mood might a quite difficult in this
situation, yet, teachers cannot force their students to play games.
Then, the third challenge faced by the teacher in using games is the difficulties in
explaining the games‟ rules. The teacher often found it hard for her in gaining students‟
understanding in explaining the rules of the game. Since, the students are still very young.
Mostly, the students are still 3 or 4 years old. Therefore, teacher had to explain slowly so that the
students will understand. The following is the extract of the interview:
Extract 4:
“It is difficult when I should explain the rule of the game. My students are still 3 until 4 years
old. The students are still very young to understand the rule perfectly. That‟s why I often find it
hard in explaining the game‟s rule.”
(Teacher B)
Explaining the rules instruction is not easy especially when the students are still very
young. One of the possible risk that might occur is that students only playing the game without
knowing the rule clearly. Stojkovic and Jerotijevic (2011) argued that one of disadvantages in
applying games in teaching and learning is inadequate rules instruction can cause playing too
much and lack of learning. Thus, a game should be carefully prepared and well organized. The
rules instruction should be given in a clear manner with consideration on the age of the students.
CONCLUSION
This study was aimed at finding out kind of games used by teacher in teaching English
for young learners and the challenges faced by teacher in using game. In order to do that, two
observations and an interview section was conducted. The study found that there were two kinds
of games used by the teacher of Apple Kids Salatiga. The first one was Matching Game which
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used to enable students categorized color or type of food. It was used with visual aids support
like flash card and real objects. The second one was Kinetic Game which used as a combination
with the Matching Game. This game was good to stimulate the motoric skills of the students.
As for the challenges teachers faced, the first one was class control. Since, young learners
were a very active learner; teachers often found difficulties in how to control the class. The
second challenge was the difficulties in encouraging students who did not interesting participate
in the game. The last challenge was the difficulties in gaining students‟ understanding when the
teacher should explain the rule of the game, since the students were still very young to
understand the rule perfectly.
The findings of this study gave consideration for any English teachers to accompanied
their teaching with games. Particularly, for those who teach young learners. It can be concluded
from the findings of this study that games helped both the teacher and students in teaching
learning process. Games provided a fun atmosphere that can avoid class boredom, increase
students‟ motivation, and help students to improve their cognitive and motoric skills. The finding
was similar to Yolageldili and Arikan (2011), who found that games used by Turkish EFL
teachers in their English classes who consists of young learners lower students‟ anxiety, since it
encourages, entertains, and promotes fluency.
Nonetheless, the finding of this study cannot be generalized into all research sites. Other
similar research could give a different result because this research was focused on teaching for
young learners. It was suggested for other researchers to conduct a further study with different
research site, for example on teaching for adult learners.
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Anyaegbu, R., Ting, W., & Li, Y. (2012). Serious Game Motivation in an EFL Classroom in
Chinesse Primarry School. China. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of
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Ara, S. (2009). Use of Songs, Rhymes and Games in Teaching English to Young Learners in
Bangladesh. Use of Songs, Rhymes and Games in Teaching English. Bangladesh:
Dhaka University.
Ayu, L. D., & Murdibjono. (2012). The Use of Game in Teaching English at SMA N Pare 2, 4–
6. Retrieved from
online.um.ac.id/data/artikel/artikel2F52ED8757B2931EE9B7AE011A1263E5.pdf
Chirandon, A., Laohawiriyanon, C., & Rakthong, A. (2010). The Effects of Teaching English
through Games. The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social
Sciences (1-8), 2–4.
Darfilal, I. (2014). The Effectiveness of Using Language Games in Teaching Vocabulary: The
Case of Third Year Middle School Learners.
Lefever, S. (2007). English for Very Young Learners.
Masrom, U. K., & Yusof, D. S. (2013). English Games as a Constructivist Approach in Project
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McClarty, K. L., Orr, A., Frey, P. M., Dolan, R. P., Vassileva, V., & McVay, A. (2012). A
Literature Review of Gaming in Education. PEARSON.
Meizaliana. (2009). Teaching Structure Through Games To The Students of Madrasah Aliyah
Negeri 1 KEPAHIANG, BENGKULU. Semarang: Diponegoro University.
Moursund, D. (2006). Introduction to Using Games in Education: A Guide for Teachers and
Parents. Teacher Education, College of Education . University of Oregon.
Oblinger, D. (2006). Simulations, Games, and Learning. Educause learning initiative. 4.
Palánová, K. (2010). Use of Games in English Language Teaching. Brno, Masaryk University.
10–42.
Patrick Felicia. (2009). Digital games in schools: A handbook for teachers complements the
study How are digital games used in schools. Belgium: European Schoolnet.
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Sánchez, M. M., Morfin, A. P., & Campos, V. E. (2007). Interactive games in the teachinglearning process of a foreign language. Interactive games in the teaching-learning
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Stojkovic, M. K., & Jerotijevic, D. M. (2011). Reasons for Using or Avoiding Games in an EFL
Classroom. 1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and
Applied Linguistics, 940-947.
Sudartini, S. (2010). Teaching English through Games for Children. Yogyakarta State
University.
Talak-Kiryk, A. (2010). Using Games In A Foreign Language Classroom. MA TESOL
Collection, 60, 5–11.
Turocy, T. L., & Stengel, B. v. (2001). Game Theory. CDAM Research Report LSE-CDAM.
Texas A&M University, London School of Economics.
Violetta, K., & Irene. (2013). Young learners: How Advantegeous is he early start?
Wibowo, W. (2009). Effectiveness of using Pictures in Teaching and Learning English
Vocabulary to the 4th grade students of SDN I Ampel Boyolali.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I gave my highest gratitude to Allah SWT, God the Almighty for the blessings given to me
in completing this thesis. My gratitude goes as well as to my beloved parents for the love,
support, and continuous prayer. This thesis is the result from their hard work as well in
financially supporting my study in Faculty of Language and literature, Satya Wacana Christian
University. My achievement has never meant to be more than to make you proud.
I would like to acknowledge my wonderful supervisor, Rindang Widiningrum, M.Hum.
because she had guided me and contributed so much energy, time, thoughts, and advices in my
thesis completion. I also want to acknowledge and thank my thesis examiner, Anne Indrayanti
Timotius, M.Ed.
21
LEARNERS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Awan Ardhianto
112010120
ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2017
THE USE OF GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Awan Ardhianto
112010120
ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2017
i
ii
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THE USE OF GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Awan Ardhianto
112010120
Approved by:
Rindang Widiningrum M, Hum
Supervisor
Anna Indrayanti Timotius M, Ed
Examiner
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vi
Table of Content
Approval Page...........................................................................................................................iii
Publication Agreement Declaration..........................................................................................iv
Copyright Statement...................................................................................................................v
Table of Content........................................................................................................................vi
Abstract......................................................................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................4
The Study.................................................................................................................................10
Finding and Discussion............................................................................................................13
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................19
Acknowledgment.....................................................................................................................21
References................................................................................................................................22
vii
THE USE OF GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
Abstract
The use of games in the area of English teaching for young learners has been widespread. This
research investigates the kind of games that used by teachers to teach young learners and the
challenges faced by teachers in using the games. This is a qualitative research in which the data
is presented in a qualitative description. The research was conducted by interviewing two
teachers of Apple Kids Salatiga. Other sources such as video and observation protocol was also
used as the data in observing the class activity. The findings of this study revealed that there are
several kind of games used by the teachers which are Matching Game and Kinetic Game.
Teacher challenges on the use of the games was also found in this study, they are class control,
difficulties in encouraging students who did not interesting participate in the game, and
difficulties in gaining students‟ understanding when explaining the rule of the game.
Keywords: Games, English Language Learning, Young Learners
INTRODUCTION
English is the most popular language learned in Indonesia. English is given in every stage
of school in Indonesia. In order to make English be familiarized, it has to be taught in early age
of children. And in order to help children learned Englsh well, some teachers used games to
teach English, especially to teach young learners. From the use of games, hopefully will help
children understand the material better. In here, there are two factors why games should be used
to teach English to young learners; there are benefits of using games for young learners, and the
characteristic of children.
There are some benefits of using games to teach in classroom. The previous study
conducted by Sigurðardóttir (2010, p. 28) mentioned that games are fun activities that helps
students to be more interactive and active in the learning process. Games make the classroom
environment become more comfortable and friendly. Games can encourage students to
1
participate and express their idea, also provide a real life situation which will be useful for
students to give them a real life problem which they can try to solve it. In an elementary school
context, the researcher find students to be less engaging when confronted to express their ideas.
They just listen to the materials without any communication to the teacher. On the other hand,
when games are involved in the teaching process, students become active and cooperative with
the teaching process.
Another benefit of game is stated by Anyaegbu, Ting, & Li (2012, p.158), which stated
that games are proved to raise motivation and interest of Chinese primary school in
China.‟Motivation is seen as a strong desire for learning and acquiring knowledge of English; as
an engine and steering wheel of an automobile, something that can move students from boredom
to interest‟ (Anyaegbu, Ting, & Li, 2012). It is said that Chinese education is more teacher
centered but serious games student-centered. In their study the students are asked whether they
like traditional learning or games and the majority of them replied of favoring the use of games
in a teaching and learning process. The majority of the students preferred serious games
classroom while few students prefer traditional Methods of teaching.
The idea of using games in the teaching process has been spread in schools nowadays.
Many teachers have not utilize games as their teaching and learning methodology. Learning from
a book or material is not only the main point of school. Teachers only focus on the material that
should be taught to the students. In order to have an effective English classroom, teacher should
provide the students with interesting material such as pictures of cartoons or videos. TalakKiryk (2010, p. 5) said that teachers should be creative to make games that may gain students‟
attention. Teaching and learning process should be interesting, easy, and fun to make the
2
students more enthusiastic. Moreover, games make students more interactive and
communicative.
Games is the main activities of children in their daily lives. In order to use games to teach
young learners, we have to know about the characteristic of children. Children have the tendency
to be stressful for doing the same activities and learning process every day. Teachers have to be
creative to make the classroom more interesting. Hypothetically, the use of games may help
teachers to handle the students in the classroom and hopefully improve the students‟ skill
resulting in a more effective teaching and learning process. Based on the finding of ViolettaIrene (2013), they concern with the issues of age, motivation, the brain processes, and various
other themes. They realize the importance of starting learn English at a young age.The idea that
young learners have a significant ability to absorb knowledge faster than adults co-exists with the
approach of games in a teaching-learning process. The idea is that games have the appealing
factor towards young learners. It attracts students‟ attention towards the teaching-learning
process and so, helps young learners to learn better in class. This indicates that games should
effectively accommodate the condition of young learners‟ ability to learn faster. If proven, games
can facilitate young learners to not just pay attention to the teaching-learning process, but also
the process of learning itself; resulting in an alternative solution towards teaching and learning
strategies.
The findings of this study are expected to help the teachers to make an interesting
teaching and learning process, moreover help the students understand the material better.
Teacher can develop their activities and design games that can make the classroom more
enjoyable and can fit with students‟ learning styles.
3
The aim of this study is to investigate the use of games for young learners by the teachers
and challenges they face when they use games in classroom. The research question of this study
are (1) What kinds of games do the teachers use in teaching English? (2) What are challenges
faced by the teachers of using games in teaching English?
LITERATURE REVIEW
Games
Many teachers believe that games can help them to make teaching and learning process
understandable for students, especially for young learners. There are some explanation about the
definition of games, which stated that games are activities with rules, a goal, and an element of
fun. Game is typically involved several players; a game with only one player is usually called a
decision problem. The formal definition lays out the players, their preferences, their information,
the strategic actions available to them, and how these influence the outcome” (Turocy & Stengel,
2001). Another definition from Talak-Kiryk (2010, p. 11) define that games are fun activities
that promote interaction, thinking, learning, and problem solving strategies. Often, games have
an aspect that permits the players to produce information in a short time period. Some games
require the players to engage in a physical activity and/or complete a mental challenge.
I conclude that there are several points that should be in the games, there are:
competition, rules, goal, and player. With game, people believe that it will make them happy
because the aim of game is to make people happy. Games in language teaching is an activity that
gives students opportunity to interact, think, and learning a language through physical or mental
activity.
4
Kinds of Games for Teaching
Many students still believe that learning English must be difficult and boring. Here,
teachers are demanded to be innovative and creative, so that students become proactive in
participating the learning process of English. Because of that, teaching and learning English
should be suit to the condition of psychological atmosphere of the students. With the use of
games, students are expected to learn English in a fun and progressive way. According to
Agustina (2012), games have a variety of techniques. Some of the techniques commonly used by
the teachers are:
a. Gap information
Gap information is a simple game for two or more students. In this activity, students should look
up for the information that the other students have. Each student or group should accomplish the
task competitively.
b. Guessing game
In this game, a student will be given information of which the other students must guess.
c. Role-playing game
In this activity, the students are given a role to play based on a given card which describes a
character that the students should play.
d. Puzzle
Puzzles are an activity where the students share information to solve a problem. The problem
may be in the form of random words or alphabets.
e. Card game (Exchanging and Collecting Games)
5
This game can be play both individually and in a group. The goal of the game is to collect the
required set of cards by exchanging the cards with another student or group so that the students
may gather information to complete the game.
f.
Matching game
This game has a basic different rule although it involves the same practice of exchanging
information. In this game students match the same cards or pictures. This game can be played by
the whole class where students move to find the match of their card or picture with other
students.
Despite of the games listed above, Palanova (2010, p. 10) classify games in language teaching
into 4 categories, there are:
a. Listening games
Listening is the most difficult skill of language. Teachers have to give the students interesting
material in order to maintain the students‟ attention and interest. We can use many activities such
as completing lyric of song or getting information from the video.
b. Speaking games
The aim of this game is to make the students speak and express their ideas. This is the teachers'
job to make the students to interact because as we know that students are prefer to silent rather
than express their ideas. It is the teachers‟ job to encourage the students talk enjoyable. Also,
speaking games is useful to increase the students talking time. The common activity that usually
used in speaking games is role play. It is an activity that make the students pretending to be
someone or being part on something event.
6
c. Kinetic games
Kinetic games are useful to encourage the students when they are getting tired and difficult to
concentrate. Kinetic game is an activity that contain of physical activity of the students. Kinetic
games can be joined with another activity too, such as reading, listening, or speaking. The
example activity of kinetic games is jumping onto sheet of paper. It's an activity to learn
vocabulary. Teacher put some colored paper on the ground and students may jump on the colors
that shout out by the teacher.
d. Experiential games
Experiential games are very interesting for the students because students can complete their task
and they can experience the process of it. The real aim of this activity is not to decide the win or
lose but to experience the process and students can learn from it. We can use this kind of games
in explaining procedural text. Teacher gives the students a media or tool to make something.
Then, teacher explains the step that should be done by the students.
From the explanation above about the classification of games in teaching, it seems that
games can be used in teaching and learning process. There are a lot of games with their strength
and weakness. Teacher will realize that not all the games can be effective for both learner and
learning process itself. We have to select carefully which game that appropriate to the students.
Also, as it mentioned by Oblinger (2006, p. 4), we cannot merely make the student as the subject
of learning. We have to consider that the use of games is to make the students understand the
material well. So, we have to put the students in the game development itself. Student can
critique to the specified games. At the end of this, students will chose whether which games that
makes them comfortable and appropriate with their learning process.
7
Characteristic of Young Learners
Wibowo (2009) explain that Kindergarten and elementary school students are define as
young learners. Children from the first years of formal schooling (5 or 6 years old) to eleven or
twelve years of age is catagorized as young learners. He also mentions two groups of young
learners, there are:
1. The five to seven years old (beginning stage)
The characteristic of beginning stage of young learners, there are: they can talk about
what they are doing, they can tell about what they have done, they can plan activities, they can
use logical reasoning, and they can understand direct human interaction
2. The eight to ten years old
The characteristic of eight to ten years old, there are: they can understand abstract, they can
understand symbol (beginning with words), and they can generalize and systematize
As stated by Talak-Kiryk (2010, cited in Pivec and Dziabenko, 2010) in) the learning
process should be interesting and should be fun to learn. Also, he stated that activities that
promote interacting, thinking, learning, and problem-solving are games. Talak-Kiryk (2010, p. 8)
believes that games are effective tools for learning because they offer students an environment in
which they can explore alternative decisions without the risk of failure. Ara (2009, p. 178) stated
that the reason of using game is that although children have an innate ability to learn a language
well, they do not learn properly if they find their lessons boring and unexciting. He mentioned
some interesting activities such as songs, rhymes and games are very useful tools for teaching
them a foreign language. Through these activities children will learn in an enjoyable
environment without making them feel the pressure in learning foreign language. In elementary
8
school context, games are used by the teacher when they feel that students are bored or the
material has finished. It is expected that teachers do not provide game activities to the students in
big amount to prevent interruption during the teaching and learning process.
Challenges faced by the teachers of using games in teaching English
Based on Ayu and Murdibjono (2012), the problems which were faced by the teacher were as
follows:
The management of time was not really good because of unprepared material and
technical problem.
It was difficult to find suitable material for playing games.
The criteria of assessment were not clear.
Sometimes there was not enough room for students to move around and the voice level
could disturb other nearer classes.
Some of students who were really lack of motivation often did not participate in the
games, especially when the games were done in groups.
Another study conducted by Palánová (2010, p. 42) suggests that teachers should be aware of
the use of game activities. Teachers should decide the „right time‟ to use games in the learning
process to make the teaching and learning process meaningful and effective for students. Teacher
should consider the amount of time that should be spent for the learning process to avoid
overtime and overuse with the use of games in the learning process. Moreover, this study
believes that games can establish the teacher and students relationship. With a positive relation
between a teacher and the students, it is expected to make the learning process effective. Related
to this study, in elementary school context, games are used by the teacher when they feel that
9
students are bored or the material has finished. It is expected that teachers do not provide game
activities to the students in big amount to prevent interruption during the teaching and learning
process.
THE STUDY
This study was conducted in a qualitative descriptive method for the data collection.
“Data collection of qualitative descriptive studies focuses on discovering the nature of the
specific events under study” by Lambert (2012, p. 205). The specific event in this study was the
use of games by the teachers. This study focused on the use of games that have been used by the
teachers to teach young learners in Apple Kids Salatiga.
Context of the study
The context of this study was Apple Kids Salatiga. The reason why the researcher chosen this
kindergarten as the context of the study was because the school used a variety of games in
English. There were five level or five classes in the Apple kids school; little apple, green apple,
yellow apple, orange apple, and red apple. Each class had different level of age and number of
student. The range of age of the student were between 2,5 until 5 years old. Also, the school was
in the same city with of the researcher, this decision was made based on consideration that the
researcher was an undergraduate student who has limited access.
Participant
The participants of this study were the teachers of Apple Kids Salatiga. There were two of
ten teachers was chosen to be interviewed. The reason was because it was not possible to
10
interview minor-aged students. Also, two teachers could represent the entire teacher because they
have experienced teaching in each of the class. The researcher interviewed two of the teachers
considering the time that given by the school to the researcher for observing the school.
Data collection instrument
The researcher used observation protocol and interview. First, observation protocol was used
to observe the activity that use by teachers in classroom. Observation protocol helped the
observation more organized and structured. This tool was used to answer the research question
about the kinds of games used by the teachers. Second, interview was used in this study because
it helped the researcher answer the second research question. The interview was then recorded
using an audio recorder.
Observation sheet
Teacher’s a e:
Classroom:
Topic:
Date:
Duration:
Number of students:
Experiental game
Kinetic game
Speaking game
Example
Listening game
Matching game
Card game
Role-playing
game
Puzzle
Guessing game
Gap information
Kind of games
11
Data collection procedure
In the procedure of the data collection, first thing to be made were the observational protocol.
First, the researcher designed the observation protocol. Second, the researcher contacted the
participant for an agreement. Third to be prepared were the permission letters from
administration office of the faculty of language and art. The permission letters were sent to the
target schools to be approved by the headmaster of the school.
After the letters were accepted, the researcher started to contact the participant to be involved
in the research. The participants were observed two times because considering the time that
given by the school to the researcher for observing the school. The researcher came to the school
and started the observation when the teaching and learning process began. The purpose of the
observation was to examine what kind of games that been used by the teacher. The researcher
took a note for something important that would be useful to enrich the finding of the research.
The last, after the researcher got the data from observation, the researcher asked the teachers
to be interviewed. Each participant was interviewed around 10 minutes and the interview was
conducted in English. It was done to know the challenges faced by the teachers when they used
game in the teaching and learning class.
Data analysis procedure
After obtaining all the data from observation protocol and interview, first, the data was
classified based on the kind of games stated in the literature review. Second, after got the data
12
from interview with the teachers, the data was transcript. Then, the transcription data was used to
identify the teacher challenges when using games to teach young learners.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This section presents the findings and discussion of this study to answer the research
questions about kind of games used for teaching and teacher‟s challenge of using game for
teaching in Apple Kids Salatiga. In this study, there were only two kinds of games found. The
findings and discussion is then divided into two categories based on the first and second research
questions. The first category is „Kind of Games Used in Teaching English‟ and the last one is
„Teachers‟ Challenges of Using the Games‟. Teachers‟ reasons of the using of the games are also
included in second category.
Kinds of Games Used in Teaching English
Based on the observation, the researcher found that there are two kinds of games used by
the teacher to teach English. The first one is Matching Game. In the first observation, teacher
divided the students into group in pairs. One student had to pick one peer to play with. Then,
each student will be given color cards. Teacher asked the students to pick up balls and blocks
they had prepared in front of the class based on the color of students‟ cards. After that, the
teacher asked the students to put the blocks and balls they picked together with the cards based
on each color. The following extract is the proof from the observation which conducted during
the class activity.
Extract 1
Teacher : “What color is this?” (Showing a flash card which provides picture)
13
Students : “Pink!”
Teacher : “Right! Now, I want you to pick up one friend to play with. Then, I will give you
cards. Find balls and blocks in front of the class based on the color cards you have!”
(Teacher distributed the color cards)
(1st Observation, teacher A)
In the second observation, teacher also used a Matching Game with a topic about Healthy
and Unhealthy Food. In here, teacher started to show cards which provide pictures of food. Then
the students have to stick the card with healthy food picture on the right side of book and the
card with unhealthy food on the left side of book. The following is the extract of the second
observation:
Extract 2
Teacher : “Guess, what is this?” (Showing cards with picture of apple and candy)
Students : “Food”
Teacher : “Good! Apple is good for your body, but candy can make you get a toothache. Which
one is healthy? Apple or candy?”
Students : “Apple, miss….”
Teacher : “Right. Okay, now I will give you cards of food and stick the cards of food which is
good for your body on the right side of your book. And, stick the cards of food that
can make you get sick on the left side of your book!” (Teacher distributed the cards).
(2nd Observation, teacher B)
According to Reese (1999, cited in Chirandon, Laohawiriyanon, & Rakthong, 2010),
matching games such as matching a picture with target language can activate student‟s
background knowledge in presentation stage. This is because students are demanded to find a
match for word, picture, object, or card. Therefore, it might help students with their cognitive in
foreign language learning.
The second kind of games is kinetic game also found in this study. This kind of game was
found as a combination with Matching Game used during the classroom observations. It can be
seen in the first observation where students collected balls and blocks based on each color cards
gave by the teacher. In here, it can be categorized as a Kinetic Game since the students have to
run into front of the class to pick up the balls and blocks and then go back to their sit to put them.
14
This kind of games could help to develop students‟ intelligence in learning. As Gardner (1999,
cited in Chirandon, Laohawiriyanon, & Rakthong, 2010) mentioned that bodily kinesthetic is one
of three types of intelligences after spatial and interpersonal intelligence.
The observations showed that the use of games help increasing students‟ motivation and
concentration in learning. It also used to avoid class boredom during the teaching process. It was
supported by the teacher‟s statement that the used of games is more effective to help students in
learning. The following is the teacher‟s statement from the interview:
Extract 3:
“Almost every day we use games for teaching. The aim is to avoid boredom of the students.
Games often implement in teaching spontaneously, especially when the students begin to lose
their focus and do not pay attention anymore to the teacher‟s. I make the game more competitive
so that it will increase students‟ motivation.”
(Teacher A)
The interview result was supported by Darfilal (2014), who stated that the use of games
in language teaching and learning helps students to feel comfortable and more confident in
acquiring the target language. He also added that games emotionally brings a positive effects
such as the feeling of happiness, excitement, amusement, and surprise. Moreover, games add
variety to usual classroom activities. Hence, students will not get bored with the usual routine in
their class when they experience those feelings through game.
Teachers’ Challenges of Using the Games
In every teaching and learning process, there must be challenges for the teachers. Based
on the interview that had been conducted in this study, it was found that there are three kinds of
challenges teacher faced in using games for teaching. The first one is class control. It is obvious
that children are active learner compared with adult. They have more strength to do an active
activity like playing game which sometime required them to move from one spot to another in
15
the class. Sometimes, it is hard for the teacher to manage the class since the students are too
eager and active while participate in the game. Below is the extract from the interview:
Extract 4:
“First, the challenge is class control. Students will sometimes screaming and run out of control.”
(Teacher A)
According to Stojkovic and Jerotijevic (2011), one of the reason for avoiding games is
due to the discipline issue. This is because learners, particularly young learners, might get
excessively noisy when playing games. On the other hand, Darfilal (2014) said that although
maintaining students‟ attention for too long is difficult and implementing games in class could be
a disaster, it does help to create a good atmosphere in classroom. In every learning activity, such
as playing games, there must be some challenges teacher might face. Therefore, it is better for
the teacher to consider about the possible discipline issues that might occur and take an action to
prevent the problem.
The second challenge is to encourage students‟ motivation and mood during the game.
Sometimes, teacher found some students who are sick and they did not interest enough joining
the game. It somehow could influence their peers‟ mood since children are more likely to imitate
their peers in doing an activity. The interview extract is as follows:
Extract 5:
“Second, sometimes there is a student who doesn‟t interest to join the game because he is sick. It
will influence his peers, because children often like to imitate their friends.”
(Teacher A)
Sometimes, not all of students are interested and lose their motivation in playing games
when they feel not good. It cannot be avoided. Paul (1996, cited in Darfilal, 2014) said that from
time to time students can reject games so teachers should be attentive to their students‟ reactions
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and the class atmosphere. Thus, encouraging students‟ mood might a quite difficult in this
situation, yet, teachers cannot force their students to play games.
Then, the third challenge faced by the teacher in using games is the difficulties in
explaining the games‟ rules. The teacher often found it hard for her in gaining students‟
understanding in explaining the rules of the game. Since, the students are still very young.
Mostly, the students are still 3 or 4 years old. Therefore, teacher had to explain slowly so that the
students will understand. The following is the extract of the interview:
Extract 4:
“It is difficult when I should explain the rule of the game. My students are still 3 until 4 years
old. The students are still very young to understand the rule perfectly. That‟s why I often find it
hard in explaining the game‟s rule.”
(Teacher B)
Explaining the rules instruction is not easy especially when the students are still very
young. One of the possible risk that might occur is that students only playing the game without
knowing the rule clearly. Stojkovic and Jerotijevic (2011) argued that one of disadvantages in
applying games in teaching and learning is inadequate rules instruction can cause playing too
much and lack of learning. Thus, a game should be carefully prepared and well organized. The
rules instruction should be given in a clear manner with consideration on the age of the students.
CONCLUSION
This study was aimed at finding out kind of games used by teacher in teaching English
for young learners and the challenges faced by teacher in using game. In order to do that, two
observations and an interview section was conducted. The study found that there were two kinds
of games used by the teacher of Apple Kids Salatiga. The first one was Matching Game which
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used to enable students categorized color or type of food. It was used with visual aids support
like flash card and real objects. The second one was Kinetic Game which used as a combination
with the Matching Game. This game was good to stimulate the motoric skills of the students.
As for the challenges teachers faced, the first one was class control. Since, young learners
were a very active learner; teachers often found difficulties in how to control the class. The
second challenge was the difficulties in encouraging students who did not interesting participate
in the game. The last challenge was the difficulties in gaining students‟ understanding when the
teacher should explain the rule of the game, since the students were still very young to
understand the rule perfectly.
The findings of this study gave consideration for any English teachers to accompanied
their teaching with games. Particularly, for those who teach young learners. It can be concluded
from the findings of this study that games helped both the teacher and students in teaching
learning process. Games provided a fun atmosphere that can avoid class boredom, increase
students‟ motivation, and help students to improve their cognitive and motoric skills. The finding
was similar to Yolageldili and Arikan (2011), who found that games used by Turkish EFL
teachers in their English classes who consists of young learners lower students‟ anxiety, since it
encourages, entertains, and promotes fluency.
Nonetheless, the finding of this study cannot be generalized into all research sites. Other
similar research could give a different result because this research was focused on teaching for
young learners. It was suggested for other researchers to conduct a further study with different
research site, for example on teaching for adult learners.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I gave my highest gratitude to Allah SWT, God the Almighty for the blessings given to me
in completing this thesis. My gratitude goes as well as to my beloved parents for the love,
support, and continuous prayer. This thesis is the result from their hard work as well in
financially supporting my study in Faculty of Language and literature, Satya Wacana Christian
University. My achievement has never meant to be more than to make you proud.
I would like to acknowledge my wonderful supervisor, Rindang Widiningrum, M.Hum.
because she had guided me and contributed so much energy, time, thoughts, and advices in my
thesis completion. I also want to acknowledge and thank my thesis examiner, Anne Indrayanti
Timotius, M.Ed.
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