1. O FROM THE ARTICLE: The role of fun and
games activities in teaching young learners
by Shelagh Rixon, found in Brumfit, C. J.
Moon and R. Tongue. (1997) (ed) Teaching
English to Children. Essex: Longman.
O Prepared by: Adriana, Angela and David
2.
3. O By “FUN AND GAMES” we can understand
all those activities which involve play and
enjoyment. For example: singing, clapping
hands, solving puzzles, drawing and
colouring.
• Young children learn
better through play.
• Fun should have a role,
rather than just be a
feature of, children’s
education.
4. Four main objectives for foreign
language learning at the primary stage
O Language learning should assist the
educational objective of encouraging the
conceptual development of the child.
O Language learning should form part of the
development of the child.
O Primary school language learning should
promote the formation of a possitive
attitude to language learning in general.
O Primary language learning should result in
the acquisition of appropiate elements of
the language.
5. Language pay-off
It is one of the most obvious parameters to
consider.
LANGUAGE LEARNED BY HEART AS PART OF
AN ACTIVITY
O What’s the time, Mr Wolf?
OI went to market and I bought
OSongs
6. Language picked up as a result of an
enjoyable activity
O Telling stories to students can result in
natural language acquisition on their part,
but one needs to be careful about the type
of story used.
7. Creative use of language in an
activity
Some activities allow more creative use of the
language, where ‘new’ utterances can be
produced by the child.
O‘Find the difference’
8. Language pay-off from conceptual
engagement
Many intelligence test puzzle-type activities
also involve language use, or can be made to
ask young learners to express the ‘answer’ in
English.
9. O A simple reinforcement of time engagement.
Clock sequence
O Putting words into categories can produce useful
vocabulary revision.
Animals: cat, horse, dog, mouse
o Picture ‘dominoes’ which demands both lateral
and logical thinking, together with an expression
of that thinking in English
10. Informal language analysis through puzzles
and making activities
Some activities in which the child plays with or
through the language provide him/her with an
informal way of looking at the form of the language
itself. Activities such as
O‘Find the word’ : a letter grid with hidden words
O‘Dot-to-dot’puzzle
OColouring puzzles
OModel-making
11. Cultural dimensions
O Most of the activities mentioned above exist
in real life.
O It is important to do some research into fun
and games activities which already exist in
the culture of English-speaking children.
O Teachers need to make sure that children
enjoy the activities.
12. Choosing or adapting activities for your
situation
O Going outside the classroom
‘Simon says’
O Songs and rhymes
