The Actuality of the course paper

The use of the direct method, however, is restricted. Whenever the teacher is to present words denoting abstract notions he must resort to the mother tongue, i.е., to translation. The translation method may be applied in its two variants:

• Common (proper) translation: to sleep – ұйықтау; flower – гүл; joy – қуаныш
• Translation — interpretation: to go —бару, жүру, ұшу; to come — бару, жүру, ұшу; to drive — жүргізу(нені?) көлікті, поезды, автобусты, трамвайды; education —тәрбие, білім.

The translation method is efficient for presenting new words: it is economical from the point of view of time, it ensures the exact comprehension of the meaning of the words presented. As far as the stages of instruction are concerned, the methods of conveying the meaning of unfamiliar words should be used as follows:

1. visual presentation prevails in junior forms;
2. verbal means prevail in intermediate and senior forms;
3. translation in all the forms, especially in senior forms.

From psychology it is known that the process of perception is a complicated one; it includes various sensations and, at the same time, is closely connected with thinking and speech, with pupils' attention, their will, memory, and emotions. The more active the pupils are (luring the explanation of new words the better the results that can be achieved.

The choice of methods and techniques is a very important factor as it influences pupils' assimilation of words.

And, finally, pupils are recommended to get to know new words independently; they look them up in the word list or the dictionary. The teacher shows them how to consult first the vocabulary list at the end of the book, then the dictionary.

Once dictionaries have been brought into use the teacher should seldom explain a word, he should merely give examples of its use or use it (as if the class already knew it) in various speech patterns. This is the case at the senior level.

The choice of the method for conveying the meaning of a word depends on the following factors.

1. Psychological factors: pupils' age: the younger the pupils are the better is the chance for the use of the direct method; pupils' intelligence: the brighter the child the more direct the method.
2. Pedagogical factors: the stage of teaching (junior, intermediate, senior); the size of the class; in overcrowded classes the translation method is preferable because it is economical from the standpoint of time required for presentation, so more time is left for pupils to do exercises in using the word; the time allotted to learning the new words; when the teacher is pressed for time he turns to the translation method; the qualifications of the teacher: the use of the direct method requires much skill on the part of the teacher. The direct method is usually a success provided the teacher can skillfully apply audio-visual aids and verbal means.
3. Linguistic factors: abstract or concrete notions; for conveying the meaning of abstract notions the translation method is preferable; extent (range) of meaning in comparison with that of the other language; in cases where range of meaning of a word does not coincide in the mother tongue and in the target language, the translation-interpretation should be used (e- g., education).

Whatever method of presenting a new word is used pupils should be able to pronounce the word correctly, listen to sentences with the word, repeat the word after the teacher individually and in unison both as a single unit and in sentences. However this is only the first step in approaching the word. Then comes the assimilation which is gained through performing various exercises.

Retention of words. To attain the desired end pupils must first of all perform various exercises to fix the words in their memory. Constant use of a new word is the best way of learning it. For this purpose it is necessary to organize pupils' work in a way permitting them to approach the new words from many different sides, in many different ways, by means of many different forms of work. The teacher can ensure lasting retention of words for his pupils provided he relies upon pupils' sensory perception and thinking, upon their auditory, visual, and kinesthetic analyzers so that pupils can easily recognize the words while hearing or reading, and use them while speaking or writing whenever they need. To use a word the pupil should, first, search for it in his memory, choose the very word he needs, and then insert the word in a sentence, i. е., use it properly to express his thought. Thus correct usage of words means the correct choice and insertion of the words in speech. For this reason two groups of exercises may he recommended for vocabulary assimilation:

Group I. Exercises designed for developing pupils' skills in choosing the proper word.

Group II. Exercises designed to form pupils' skills in using the word in sentences.

Group  1 may include:

1. Exercises in finding the necessary words among those suggested. For example:

— Pick out the words (a) which denote school objects:

(1) a pen, (2) a cup, (3) a blackboard, (4) a desk, (5) a bed, (6) a picture, (7) a car (pupils are expected to take (1), (3), (4), (6); , or (b) which denote size:

(1) red, (2) big, (3) good, (4) small, (5) great, (6) green (pupils should take (2), (4), (5).

The horse is   a (wild, domestic) animal. They (ale, drank) some water. The (sleep, fly) is an insect. The (rode, road) leads to Minsk.

2. Exercises in finding the necessary words among those stored up in the pupils' memory. For example: Name the object the teacher shows (the teacher shows pupils a book, they say a book). Give it a name: (I) we use it when it rains; (2) it makes our tea sweet; (3) we sleep in it (pupils are expected to say an umbrella, sugar, a bed). Fill in the blanks: They saw a little hut in the forest. The hut was...

Say (or write) those words which (a) you need to speak about «inter, (b) refer to sports and games. Say (or write) the opposites of: remember, hot, day, get up, answer, tall, thick.

Name the words with a similar meaning to: city, go, cold, reply (pupils should name town, walk, cool, answer).

Make a list of objects one can see in the classroom.

Say as many words as you can which denote size (colour or quality).

Play a guessing game. The teacher, or one of the pupils, thinks of a word. Pupils try to guess the word by asking various questions: Is it a ...? Is it big or small? Can we see it in the classroom?

It is next to impossible to give all the exercises the teacher can use for developing pupils' skills in finding words both among those suggested when pupils just recognize the necessary words and those stored up in their memory when pupils "fish out" the words they need to do the exercise. There are plenty of them. Those mentioned, however, will be helpful for consolidating and reviewing the vocabulary in eight- and ten-year schools. 

Group   II may include: Exercises in inserting the necessary words in word combinations, phrases, sentences; the words and sentences being suggested. For example:

Combine the words:

- sky; rain; snow; weather; blue; heavy;

- speak; late; run; fast; come; loudly;

Pupils have to say or to write:

- blue sky; heavy rain; white snow; line weather.

- speak loudly; run fast; come late.

3. Exercises in using word combinations, phrases, sentences stored up in pupils' memory in connection with situations given. For example: Say what you can see here. The teacher shows his pupils pens and pencils of different colour and size for them to say a blue pen, a long pencil, etc. Or he can use situational pictures for the purpose. Say where the pen is. The teacher puts the pen in different places for pupils to say on the table, in the box, under the bag, over the blackboard, and so on.)

Make statements. The teacher either displays objects or uses pictures for pupils to say this is a blue pencil, it's raining hard, the girl can't skate.

Make two or three statements on the object or the picture. The same objects or pictures may be used for the purpose. Exercises of this type are more difficult since pupils should search their memory for the necessary words, word combinations, or even sentences to describe an object or a picture.

4. Exercises which help pupils to acquire skills in using lexicsin speech which may be stimulated by:

- visual materials;

- verbal means;

- audio-visual materials.

A few more words should be said about the use of audiovisual aids and materials in teaching lexics. The teacher has great possibilities for pictorial and written representation of words on the blackboard. He can use either printed pictures, or pictures drawn by himself or by the pupils for classroom teaching and, finally, pictures cut out of periodicals. He should use slides, film-strips, maps, plans, objects, etc. All aids and materials may be used in presenting, assimilating, and reviewing the lexics at every stage and in every form in teaching a foreign language.

There are three problems the teacher is to deal with in lexics retention:

• the number of exercises to be used;
• the type of exercises to be used;
• the sequence or the order of complexity in which the selected exercises should be done.

In solving these problems the teacher should take into consideration:

The aim of leaching a word. Do pupils need it for speaking or only for reading? If it is a word designed for speaking then it should go through most of the exercises mentioned above. If it is a word designed for reading only then it is not necessary to use exercises for developing pupils' skills in using the words in oral language.

The nature of the word. There are English words which are difficult for Russian-speaking students. To master these words pupils should do a great number of exercises which require the use of the words in speaking.

The desirable relationship between these two groups of exercises, as our experiments have proved, should be in the ratio I : 2, that is most of the exercises must be connected with developing pupils' skills in using the words in sentences and in connection with the situations offered.

At both stages of teaching lexics the teacher should constantly use all kinds of lexical testing to see how his pupils assimilate the form, the meaning, and the usage of the words. For testing the retention of the written form dictations may be suggested. For testing the meaning special tests may be recommended such as writing synonyms, antonyms, derivatives, identification, and some others. For testing the usage of the words the teacher may administer such tests as composing sentences using the words given, composing a story on a picture or a set of pictures, and some others. The teacher should bear in mind that most of the exercises offered for the stages of presentation and retention may be fruitfully utilized for lexical testing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.3. Advantages and disadvantages of using games while teaching lexics

 

In language learning, lexics becomes the most important thing that must be learned by the learners, especially for the young learners. In addition by knowing English words and their meanings, the pupils will find it easy to master English. However the pupils of primary school are included in beginner level, so they still lay in learning English lexics. The problems that they usually faced are the difficulties in memorizing new words and their less interest in learning English.

‘The teacher should apply an appropriate teaching technique to solve those problems. One of the methods which is used by the writer in her job training is by using games. By doing fun activities the students will be more interested, motivated, and easy to understand about the materials.’2

Each teaching method has advantages and disadvantages; likewise the method that the writer used in her job training is games. Although games have so many advantages, games also have disadvantages.

Games are always loved by children. Games are related to fun, movement, and   competition. Children can get bored easily if there is  the   same   activity. Moreover their concentration is shorter than adult’s concentration. So the teacher  must  apply  a  good  and  creative  method  to  keep  the  student’s  concentration  in  learning the material. The use of games in teaching English lexics not only gave benefit both to the teacher and the students but also gave difficulty to them.

The advantages and disadvantages of using games in teaching lexics especially to young learners are as follows:

1. The advantages:

 

• Applying some games in teaching learning process  pupils   could   be   more   interested   in   learning   the   material.   When   the students were interested in learning the material, they would give more attention to the lesson given. That condition gave a good chance for both the teacher and the students. On the occasion the teacher could deliver the material very well and the students could understand what they had learned on that day.
• ‘Applying some games in teaching learning process teacher didn’t need to explain too many materials. The teacher just explained the materials needed by the students because they can understand the material on that day by doing the games. The games could give the students more chance to understand the materials given because through playing they can learned something without realized that’. 2
• Games give a variety of tools to facilitate the teaching-learning process in other words, teachers can make use of tools to facilitate the teaching-learning process”, in other words, teachers can make use of games as they are one of the complementary tasks of a syllabus and with which students can better develop their learning strategies.
• Games make the lesson less monotonous, as they provide a great variety of class activities which help to maintain students attention and interest in the language without getting bored.
• Games stimulate students participation and give them confidence.
• Games transform the teacher’s role from that of formal instructor to that of an organizer or and moderator of the class. In other words, games reduce the domination of the classroom done by the teacher.

 

2.The disadvantages:

 

• Applying games in teaching learning process by attracting student’s interest to games, all of them were active and made noisy.  Sometimes   they   too   much   moved   and   spoke.   That  condition made the   teacher difficult to control them.
• Applying  some  games  in  teaching learning process by doing games   the   teacher   only   had   a   little   time   to   explain   the material and gave some new vocabularies. So there was no longer time for teacher to explain more and help them to memorize all the new lexics. From all the explanation above, it shows that the using of games is good method for teaching  English  vocabulary especially  by  applying the  creative activity one but there were also some disadvantages in using games in teaching English lexics to the young learners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.4. Types of games and exercises for the assimilation of lexics

A game is an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun. There are two kinds of games: competitive games, in which players or teams race to be the first to reach the goal, and cooperative games, in which players or teams work together towards a common goal.

How do we remember new words? How do we expect our students to remember them? How can a new word or a set of new words become integrated into our existing word store? Remembering new words is hard. Words are very slippery things. The simplest activities are based on the information gap principle. In these activities Student A has access to some information which is not held by Student B. Student B must acquire this information to complete a task successfully. This type of game may be one-sided, as in the above example, or reciprocal, where both players have information which they must pool to solve a common problem. The games may be played in pairs or small groups, where all the members of the group have some  information.

‘Game makes active aspiration of pupils to contact with each other and with the teacher, creates equality conditions in speech partnership, destroys a traditional barrier between the teacher and the pupil. Game gives the chance the shy to break an uncertainty barrier. In it everyone receives a role and should be the active partner in speech dialogue. In games pupils seize such elements of a dialogue as ability to begin conversation, to support it, to interrupt the interlocutor, from time to time to agree with his opinion or to deny it, ability to listen to the interlocutor purposefully, to ask specifying questions etc. Language games help to acquire various aspects of language (phonetics, lexics, etc.) They divide on: phonetic, lexical, grammatical and stylistic.’3

Lexical games concentrate attention of pupils exclusively on a lexical material. They help to get the vocabulary and to increase it, to illustrate and fulfill the use of words in dialogue situations. There are various kinds of lexical games.

Search games are another variant, involving the whole class. In these games everyone in the class has one piece of information. Players must obtain all or a large amount of the information available to fill in a questionnaire or to solve a problem. Each student is thus simultaneously a giver and a collector of information.

Matching games are based on a different principle, but also involve a transfer of information. These games involve matching corresponding pairs of cards or pictures, and may be played as a whole class activity, where everyone must circulate until they find a partner with a corresponding pairs of cards or picture; or a pair work or small group activity, where players must choose pictures or cards from a selection to match those chosen by their partner from the same selection; as a card game on the ‘snap’ principle.

Matching-up games are based on the ‘barter’ principle. Players have certain articles, cards or ideas which they wish to exchange for others. The aim of the game is to make an exchange which is satisfactory to both sides. And there are many other games and activities. They are: exchanging and collecting games, combining activities, arranging games, board games, card games, puzzle-solving activities.

1) Game “Weather”

Topic area: weather

Vocabulary focus: bright, cloudy, cold, cool, dull, foggy, hot, icy, misty, rainy, snowy, sunny, stormy, warm, windy.

Extra vocabulary: suncream, sunglasses, umbrella, raincoat, foglamp

Structures: be, like+ -ing, need. What … like?

Materials and preparation: Copy and cut up one set of weather cards an one corresponding set of object cards for each pupil in the class.

How to use the games: Communicating whole class matching game

Getting equipped

• Give each pupil in the class a weather card.
• Then give them each an object card. Make sure their subject doesn’t correspond to their weather card.
• The object of the game is to find the right object for the weather.
• To do this, they will have to get up and move around the class asking ‘What’s the weather like?’ When they find someone with the weather card that corresponds to their object (e.g. sunny – sunglasses) they should give them the object.
• When they have given away their original object and got the one they need, they should sit down.

2) Game “Fruit and vegetables”

Topic area: fruits and vegetables

Vocabulary focus: fruits: apples, bananas, cherries, grapes, oranges, pears, pineapples, strawberries

Vegetables: cabbages, carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes

Structures: be, have got, like/don’t like, some/ any

Materials and preparation: Copy and cut up one set of fruit and vegetables cards for each group group of 3-4 students. You don’t need the words on the back. There is a rules sheet for this game at the back of the book. Make one copy per group.

How to use the games: pairwork sorting game

• Divide the pupils into pairs.
• Give each pair a set of fruit and vegetable cards with words on the back.
• Ask them to spread the cards out, word-side up.
• They should divide the cards into two piles: fruit and vegetables
• The object of the game is to try to remember the name of the shop where you get that product
• If they remember correctly, they can keep the card
• The player with the most cards at the end is the winner.

Game “Family members”

Topic area: family members

Vocabulary focus: aunt, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, daughter, father, nephew, husband, son, uncle, wife, mother.

Extra vocabulary: numbers

Structures: be, have, possessive’s

Materials and preparation: Copy the picture cards, family tree and relationship cards. You will need one set for each pair. Cut up the picture cards and relationship cards.

How to use the game: pairwork puzzle

• Divide the pupils into pairs
• Give one set of picture cards, relationship cards and family tree to each pair.
• They should put the family tree and the picture cards face up on the table, so that they can see them
• They should place the relationship cards in a pile with the sentences face up.
• They should take it in turns to take a relationship card from the pi le and read it out. They should then try to put the picture cards in the right places on the family tree according to the information on the card. This will get easier as they turn up more cards.
• The object of the game is to complete the family tree according to the information on the cards.
• When they have finished and the tree is complete, they should turn over the relationship cards so the reverse side is visible.
• They should then take it in turns to take a card and make a statement about the two or three people mentioned. They can check they are right by turning over  the card. If they are right, they can keep the car. The player with the most at the end is the winner.