Skkn using language games in warm up activities to motivate 10th grade students to listen in listening lessons in ba đình high school

THANH HOA PROVINCE DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION AND TRAINING

BA ĐÌNH HIGH SCHOOL

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE

USING LANGUAGE GAMES IN WARM-UP ACTIVITIES TO
MOTIVATE 10TH GRADE STUDENTS TO LISTEN IN
LISTENING LESSONS IN BA ĐÌNH HIGH SCHOOL

Implementer: Nguyễn Thị Lan Anh
Job title: Teacher
School: Ba Đình high school – Nga Sơn
Experience initiative: English

THANH HOÁ 2022

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1

2

1. Rationale of the Study

1

3

2. Aims of the Study

2

4

3. The Participants

2

6

4. Method of the Study

2

7

PART II: CONTENT

2

8

I. Literature review

2

9

1. Definition of game

2

10 2. Roles of game

3

11 3. Features of a quality game

3

12 II. The fact of teaching and learning on listening skill in Ba Đình
high school

4

13 1.The fact of students’view on listening skill

4

14 2. The fact of using language games in warm-up activities

4

15 3. The difficulties before, while and after playing language games

5

16 III. Suggestions on using language games in warm-up activities in
listening lesson

6

17 1. Procedures in using games to improve listening skills

6

18 2. Class Observation

11

19 3. Using language games in a flexible and appropriate way

12

20 4. Using variety of language games

12

21 5. Sample work

13

22 IV. The benefits of using language games in warm-up activities in

listening lessons

16

23

18

PART III: CONCLUSION

24

1. Conclusions

18

25

2. Limitations of the and suggestions for further study

19

26

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

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PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the Study
In Vietnam, in the recent years, the teaching and learning of English have been
gaining significance firstly because it is an international language; secondly it is
also seen as a means to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between
Viet Nam and other countries. There have been an increasing number of people
desiring to know English with the hope of keeping up with the latest modern
technology in the world. English has now been taught not only at all universities
and colleges, but also at almost every senior high school and it is considered as a
compulsory subject at secondary schools.
At PB school, where the author studies, English is a compulsory subject
in the curriculum and it is considered as a major subject for the high school
examination. It is taught with the purpose that students have some basic
knowledge of English in order to communicate and to use it as a key to science
and technology. However, there still exist many difficulties facing English
language teachers at PB school, especially in teaching listening skills to
students. The teachers of English at PB school find it difficult to teach listening
lessons successfully.
Listening has long been considered a difficult and boring subject by many
second language learners. It takes much time and energy to make progress in
this skill. For listening teachers, it is a difficult task to get students involved in
listening lessons.
At my school, teaching listening is really a problem. In addition to the
lack of well-equipped facilities, teaching listening methods are not satisfactory.
Another problem is students’ low level of proficiency in terms of vocabulary,
grammar, pronunciation, skills and so forth. It is the reason why students find it
difficult and tough to listen to and they are not confident enough to do listening
tasks successfully. Moreover, learning habits do not help much to improve their
listening in classroom.

In English classroom, teachers are mainly concerned with teaching what
students are tested in the exams, which is known as teaching to the test
phenomenon. As a result, after graduating from school, students are good at
using grammar structures and vocabulary, but find difficult to listen English
naturally. In listening lessons, students usually feel bored and frightened. To
motivate and encourage students to learn listening is not an easy task for
teachers. At the beginning, to stimulate students to learn, warm-up activities
should be stressed. Using language games in warm-up activities becomes a good
choice.

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The main reasons above lead me to my choice of the subject: Using language
games in warm-up activities to motivate 10th grade students to listen in
listening lessons in Ba Đình high school.
2. Aims of the Study
The study is aimed at:
 Investigating the effectiveness of using language games in warm-up
activities in listening lessons of grade 10 in Ba Đình high school.
 Providing some suggestions and implications for the improvement of
listening teaching in Ba Đình high school in terms of using language games in
warm-up activities.
3. The Participants
In this individual research, the researcher will only focus on the
effectiveness of using language games in warm-up activities in teaching
listening skills to two large classes 10A1, 10A6 at Ba Đình high school. The
listening activities are selected and adapted the text book. The data collected
from classroom observation, informal interviews and questionnaires are then

analyzed by the researcher
4. Method of the Study
 In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the major methods
employed include:
 Survey questionaire with the aims at finding out the difficulties of students
when learning listening and their attitude to language game in warm-up
activities.
 Interview with teachers of English to find out thier diffculties when
teaching listening, and the reasons they use language game in warm-up activities
and what their criterials to choose a game are.
 Personal observations
PART II: CONTENT
I. Literature Review
1. Definitions of Game
A language game also shares the similar characteristics with the ordinary
game. However, language games mostly involve in developing and improving
language skills. Greenal (1984) has defined games as one kind of activity which
is used to consolidate language already taught or acquired, and which occurs
during the free stage of a lesson or during occasions such as English club
meetings. And the term game “is used whenever there is an element of
competition between individual students or teams in a language activity.”

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2. Roles of games
Games are often wrongly regarded as an end of term activity or something
to fill in last five minutes of a lesson. In fact, they are becoming an
indispensable activity in language syllabus because they play vitally important

roles in language teaching and learning.
While Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby (1984: 1) point out that, “Games
help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work.” Games
also can provide intense and meaningful practice of language, and then they
must be regarded as central to a teacher’s repertoire. Moreover, games can be
found to give practice in all skills (reading, listening, writing, and speaking), in
all stages of the teaching and learning and for many types of communication.
Besides, Carrier (1980) draws out some advantages of language games:
Games add variety to the range of learning situations.
Games can be used to change the pace of a lesson and so maintain
motivation.
Games can be used to punctuate long formal teaching units and renew
student’s energy before returning to more formal learning.
Games can give ‘hidden’ practice of specific language points without
students being aware of this.
Games encourage student participation and can remove the inhibitions of
those who feel intimidated by formal classroom situations.
Games can change role of the teacher from that of formal instructor to that
of manager or organizer of activities that students enjoy participating in. this can
be useful in reducing teacher-student distance or conflict.
Games can increase student-student communication, and so reduce the
domination of the classroom by the teacher.
Games can act as a testing mechanism, in the sense that they will expose
areas of weakness and the need for remedial work.
3. Features of a quality game
“The teacher must take many factors into account when deciding which
game would be most appropriate and most successful with his students at any
time.” (Carrier, M (1980:7)). It means that when the teacher wants to choose a
game for his teaching purpose, he has to ponder whether the game can be used
in the lesson and whether the game he uses should be up to a certain standard

and meet certain requirements.
To answer for this question, there are some features of a quality game for
a listening class.

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Firstly, the most important function of games is to create meaningful
contexts for communication.
Secondly, the terms “information gap” and “opinion gap” are mentioned
to contribute for the success of a game.
Thirdly, an “information gap” or “opinion gap” needs some content.
Klippel. K (1984:4) claims that, “information and opinion gap exercises have to
have some content worth talking about. Students do not want to discuss the
interest which is aroused by the structure of the activity may be reduced or
increased by the topic.” Moreover, the relevant of a game must include relevant
language in game. Then, the students can enjoy and value a game if the content
and language used are relevant to them.
Fourthly, another important feature of a language game is the variety of
the game teachers use. The techniques used by teacher included guessing,
information gap, searching, matching, exchanging and collecting, combining
and card games, problems and puzzles, role play and simulation techniques. It is
obvious that the variety of forms and games is essential to help teachers attract
and interest their students during the lessons.
Fifthly, it is vitally important that the games be interesting, simple and
easily comprehensible.
In a word, there have been a few different views about features of a good
language game. Nevertheless, the elements of meaningful contexts, information
gap, opinion gap, relevant content and language as well as co-operation would

be taken into account if the teachers want to constitute a good game. It may be
hard to say what the best game is because it depends on many factors such as
certain situation, certain students and each teacher, and other factors.
II. The fact of teaching and learning on listening skill in Ba Đình high
school
1. The fact of students’ view on listening skill
Most of students think listening is a difficult skill. Some of the students
think listening is a very difficult skill, Some students thinks it is not very
difficult, it is a normal skill, and only a few of them think it is easy to learn
listening. Therefore, the majority of students find it hard to study listening skill.
The teacher, therefore, should encourage students to learn listening by some
ways, language games may be their choice.
2. The fact of using language games in warm-up activities
The majority of students say that their teachers sometimes use language
games in warm-up activities for listening lessons. Some of the students say their
teachers usually use language games in warm-up activities. The rest of students

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say their teachers rarely use language games in warm-up activities. Not all the
listening lessons, the teacher organize for students to play language games
during the lessons. Therefore, to make the lessons more interesting and make
students relax and interested in the lessons, the teachers should use language
games more frequently.
The kinds of language games the teachers use in warm-up activities. Most
of the teachers use the variety of language games in warm-up activities to teach
listening skills: crossword, jumbled words, jumbled sentences, bingo, memory
game, miming, guessing, and others. Of these kinds, most students answer they

usually play miming, memory games, and guessing. It seems that these kinds of
language games are easy to play and especially easy for teachers to organize and
it doesn’t take the teachers too much time to prepare for the games.
3. The difficulties before, while and after playing language games
To find out the difficulties before, while and after playing language games
in listening lessons, the researcher carried out 3 questions:
Em có gặp khó khăn gì trước khi chơi trị chơi?
A. Có (em hãy tick vào khó khăn em gặp phải)
B. Khơng
1. khơng hiểu luật chơi
2. khơng tìm được bạn chơi
3. khó khăn khác:.....................................
Em có gặp khó khăn gì trong khi chơi trị chơi?
A. Có (em hãy tick vào khó khăn em gặp phải) B. Khơng
1. trị chơi khó
2. lớp ồn
3. lớp q đơng
4. trị chơi khơng hay
5. các bạn trong nhóm khơng hợp tác
6. khó khăn khác:.....................................
Em có gặp khó khăn gì sau khi chơi trị chơi?
A. Có(em hãy tick vào khó khăn em gặp phải)
B. Không
1. lớp ồn
2. em không tiếp tục tập trung được
3. mất thời gian để ổn định trật tự lớp
4. khó khăn khác :
...............................................................

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Question asks about the difficulties before students play language games,
41% of students have difficulties because they do not understand the rules of
games or they can’t find the partners to play games. Question mentions the
difficulties of students while playing language games, 55.6% of students say
they find it difficult to play games because of some reasons. They think the
games are too difficult, the class is noisy and crowded. The game is not very
interesting or the other members are not cooperative. 44.4% of students think
they have no difficulties in playing language games. Question mentions the
difficulties students have after playing language games. 54.5% of students have
difficulties after playing games. They have trouble because of some reasons.
Firstly they find it hard to concentrate on the lesson. Secondly, the class is too
noisy after games. And it takes time to continue the lesson. It can be seen that
most of teachers have difficulty in playing games. The reasons are various,
however, the ability to understand the language is the main reason. The
effectiveness of the games for that reason is so limited.
To organize a language game in warm-up activities, teachers have to take
many factors in consideration. The time for each class hour is limited, and the
lesson content is usually long. Even if the teachers have language games at
hand, there is not enough time to play games, which is a difficulty. Another
difficulty is that teachers have to do many other things besides teaching, they
have to make the tests, mark students’ papers and many others so they have little
time to prepare and look for the language games that are suitable for most of
students. Moreover, the classes are so crowded and have mix-ability students.
One game can not suit for all students’ levels and needs ,therefore, when playing
games both teachers and students have difficulty. Because of a large class with
students of different proficiency, it is not easy to control the whole class.
Students may not like the games or do not understand what is talked about, they

may not find the group members or the group members are not cooperative,
that’s why the games sometimes cannot be successful.
III. Suggestions on using language games in warm-up activities in
listening lesson
1. Procedures in using games to improve listening skills
1.1. Before using games
1.1.1. Preparation
The success or failure of a game depends mainly on the way teachers
prepare for the game. That is the reason why teacher should pay much more
attention to the preparation.

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Firstly, the teacher should decide which game to use. When deciding which
game would be most appropriate and most successful with the learners, the
teachers must take many factors into account. He has to consider the level of the
learners but also:
What is the main aim of having a game?
What is the interest of the learners?
The time the game should be used in class because the interest and motivation of
learners in games may be different on a Tuesday morning from late on a Friday
afternoon. Having considered these factors an initial choice of game should only
be confirmed if the teacher is certain it is feasible in the class. It means that the
teacher should ensure that the aids and materials are available so that the
learners can encounter the game’s requirements.
Secondly, the teacher must prepare the game thoroughly after having
decided which game to use and when to use. Though games may be good fun,
they need to be carefully prepared and organized.

1.1.2. Organizing class
In order to make the setting up of a game be carried out as quickly and
smoothly as possible, the teacher must decide in advance how to organize the
students and the classroom.
The class organization plays very important roles in deciding the success
of the game. Therefore, the teacher should know beforehand if games should be
conducted in pairs, groups, teams or whole class.
According to W.R. Lee, because the learners especially the young
children will feel safe and confident when they are sitting in pair or group work,
the division of class into teams or groups should not be changed and redone on
every occasion.
In conclusion, each teacher should base on their teaching conditions to
decide what arrangement should be made to suit their students.
1.1.3. Giving instructions
To make the learners understand the rules of games and know how to play
games, the instructions given are very important. Each game has its own specific
instructions, but several general points can usefully be made.
The instructions of the teacher must be ensured that they are clear, simple,
precise and explicit so that the students, who in any case have language
difficulties, will not be confused and understand the instructions.
Another point is that it will be vitally important to let students ask
questions. The teacher should sit with the students and pose questions himself,

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both as a demonstration and as a prompt when students are unsure of what to do
next.
In addition, all the rules of the game should be provided as well as the

system of scoring in order to avoid the students’ confusion and trouble latter.
Also the students should be announced the time limit for the game. It is not easy
to predict how long a game may last, however, it is important for the teacher to
consider these points when preparing for a game:
1. What is the minimum amount of time needed to play this game once?
2. Is it likely that the class will wish to play the game several times over?
3. What is the maximum amount of time available in the lesson?
In brief, the instructions given by teacher are very important and necessary to
step by step interest the learners to participate in the games.
1.2. When using game
This stage is the main part in game playing process. In this stage the
teachers have to control class, correct the mistakes and score the students.
1.2.1. Controlling class
Since language games are used not only for fun but also for language
teaching purposes, the teacher must control the class to make sure that after
performing games, students can get the language points, can speak naturally.
Therefore, the roles of teacher in every game are very important. The teacher
should go from group to group, listen and observe students’ performance, check
that they have understood and are carrying out the instructions. The teacher may
have to answer the students’ questions about procedures, new words, etc. so
he/she should go visit quickly to each group within the first two minutes
After that the teacher should go round again helping with vocabulary
questions, correcting if it is appropriate, giving encouragement and if necessary
inspiration for those games which require some imagination. However, it is
advisable for the teacher not to jump in the game and wait until he is asked for
help. Therefore, she/he had better try to elicit from students themselves rather
than simply providing what they need, which makes students feel more
comfortable and self-confident.
One of the inevitable of a speaking class is the noise. Therefore, when a
teacher wants to level down the noise, the followings should be taken into

account.
Firstly, the teacher has to make sure that the students are close enough to
each other. This is particularly important for group and pair work. A spread out
group is noisier than a huddle.

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Secondly, the teacher can appoint a chairman for groups. The chairman
can have several functions, one of which can be to make sure that only one
person talks at any one time.
Thirdly, the teacher can tell the students to talk quietly. This is an obvious
piece of advice but often ignored. The students normally appreciate the
problems as much as anyone else and if they are reminded, they should do as the
teacher says.
1.2.2. Correcting the mistakes
The teacher should consider making mistakes the inevitable and natural
part of the process of playing games. It is also very important to make the
students be aware that making mistakes is not a big problem. If students are
afraid of making mistakes and keep silent, they will learn little. However, the
students who know of making mistakes are involved in playing game process
can learn much more than the former. According to Micheal Carrier, correcting
mistakes “must be left up to individual teachers to decide whether or not
students’ language errors should be corrected during or after a particular game.”
Because correction may reduce students’ motivation, it is suggested that it
should not be too prominent. It means that the teacher should not correct every
mistake at any time, in any where. It would be preferable for the teacher to make
a note of major errors, and then correct them. When a small group of students
are working together and copying each other’s mistakes, in this case, it is

advisable for the teacher to correct mistakes. In less structured situations, such
as role-playing or communication games, correction should be avoided where it
would be over-intrusive on the part of the teacher. If the students can correct
himself or herself, it would be very good. The teacher should increase selfcorrection or peer’s correction.
All in all, the teacher should be careful when deciding to correct the
mistakes or not to take advantages of playing games.
1.2.3. Scoring
According to Lee.Wr, 1979:7, the thing the teacher should take in account
is that “psychologically, it is better to give points for success than to false them
away for failure, even if this procedure keeps the scores very busy.” It is obvious
that the students will have the feeling of success and therefore, it will stimulate
them to lake more effort. There are many ways of recording scores. The
following ways of recording scores are suggested by WR, Lee (1979:8) and
Selagh Rixon (1988:62)
 Noughts and crosses

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 Climbing ladders
 Climbing the mountain
 Hangman (build up one line at a time)
 A fight of steps
1.3. After-using games
1.3.1. Ending the game
It is necessary fir the teacher to give signal to the whole class to stop
playing game. According to A. Wright (1984:6), “As with all events in the
classroom, it is advisable to stop a game and change to something else before
the learners become tired of it. In this way their good will and concentration are

retained.” Also in Opal Dann (1983:7) “the ideal time to stop is when students
want another turn. In a large class, however, stopping the game is a big problem.
The most effective way to solve this problem is to use a horn or clapping
hands.”
After signaling to stop the game, the teacher has to declare the points of
each team, group. The teacher can call a certain student in any teams, groups
and ask him to count and state the points. This will increase the objective
evaluation of the game.
1.3.2. Summarizing and commenting
Whatever a game is, students like to hear how well they are doing to
receive encouragement commented on as well as having errors corrected.
Therefore, it is advisable for the teachers to give remarks and summarize the
language points after the end of the game.
It is preferable for the teacher to give good remarks in order to motivate
and encourage students to participate in game activities. The encouraging
comments should be given to the students. According to A. Wright, the
following praise should be used
Good, quite good, very good, ok, fine, excellent..
Well done, right, correct, good job
The negative comments should be kept more general for example, not
quite right, not very good. I don’t think this one is as good as that one.
Besides, the teacher’s aim should be to share what people did well with
the rest of the class so that everyone can learn form the experience or to invite
suggestions for solving problems from the whole class.
As language games are used for language teaching, it is necessary for the
teacher to summarize what language points or skills the language games focus

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on. The main point of this is to show the students that what they do with
language is interesting. To do this, the teacher can ask some students to repeat
the main language points in the games or ask them to tell the purposes of the
games they have just played. In conclusion, the teacher should consider their
teaching conditions to decide what to do in each stage.
2. Class Observation
The researcher carried out to observe 3 classes at 3 different classes, grade
10 taught by 3 different teachers. When visiting these three classes, she realized
that all 3 teachers used language games in warm-up activity in listening lessons.
They all find that language games are useful and should be used in warm-up
activities to motivate and encourage students to learn listening.
Firstly, the investigator observed class 10A1 in which students were
taught Unit 12- Music. In the warm-up activities, the teacher asked students to
look at the four pictures and guess what people’s jobs are. The teacher gave four
pictures of Van Cao, who was a composer, picture of a teacher, picture of a
singer and a doctor. The pictures looked so funny so all the students felt
interested and eager to raise their hands to answer and guess the jobs of these
people. This activity lasted only 5 minutes. Then the teacher asked students “Do
you know Van Cao? Who is he?” and lead in the lesson.
The second observation was done in class 10A2, with Unit 13- Films and
Cinema. In warm-up, the teacher asked the whole class to look at the picture and
say the words- the kinds of film. The teacher gave students 7 numbers and asked
students to choose the number to open the picture so they can guess the word.
The words are: detective film, action film, thriller, cartoon, science fiction film,
love story film and comedy film. As can be seen, all the pictures were so
popular, therefore all students could answer the words easily. This game lasted 7
minutes.
Finally, the observation was carried out in class 10A3, with Unit 14- The
World Cup, the teacher organized the memory game for students. The teacher

asked students to watch a clip about the football players. Then the students had
to name the footballers. After watching the clip, they had 1 minute to remember
the names of the footballers. After that, the teacher called 2 students from 2
groups to go to the board and write down the names of the footballers as many
as possible without watching the clip. Finally, the teacher checked with whole
class. Which team wrote more names would be the winner. It seemed that the
game made the students so excited and eager to join. They all felt relaxed and
confident. The game lasted nearly 10 minutes.

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To sum up, the warm-up activities made students feel interested in the
lesson. However, they only related to the topic mostly. It can be seen that during
the language games, students feel excited to the games, however, when starting
the lesson and doing the task in the listening lessons, students still find it hard to
do the tasks or they don’t feel like to do the tasks because of their difficulties
3. Using language games in a flexible and appropriate way
As a teacher, the researcher finds out that in most cases, a language game
can be used in different classes despite the mix-ability classes. The way to
organize the game is not different in each class, so in some classes it is
successful and makes the students feel interested. While in other classes, some
or even most of students do not feel excited to play and even feel bored. For that
reason, teachers should take into account the flexibility and appropriateness of
using language games for each class.
Take Unit 13- Films and Cinema as an example. The game is organized to
play by seeing the pictures and guessing the kinds of films. To make the game
more interesting, the teachers should extract some films and show for all
students to see, and guess the kinds of films. By this way, the teachers have to

prepare a lot at home.
Detective film, teachers should extract a clip from Sherlock Holmes film
or others
Action film, teachers should extract a clip from Kung Fu killer or others
Thriller, with a clip from Deep Blue Sea
Cartoon, with a clip from Tom and Jerry
Science fiction film, with a clip from Star Wars
Love story film with a clip from Winter Sonata
Comedy film with Mr. Bean’s holiday
In some classes with more weak students, students may not know the
English words for the kinds of film, therefore, the teachers may let the students
speak in Vietnamese. The purpose here is to make the students interested in the
listening lesson only.
4. Using variety of language games
Because of the time limit so most of teachers use guessing, memory or
miming in warm-up activities. However, if these kinds of games are played
frequently, students feel bored and demotivated to play the same kinds of games.
Therefore, the teachers should use variety of language games to make students
excited and surprised. The other games include Bingo, Treasure Hunts, or
Crossword. Moreover, the ways to count the points for students is also a good

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way to interest the students or even the ways to organize the games for students
to play.
5. Sample work
A warm-up activities is often a short and fun game which the teacher can
use with his students. The purpose of warm-up is to prepare them to learn by

stimulating their minds. Warm-ups should last about five minutes.
Unit 1: A Day in the Life of...
 Type of game: Matching
 Material: hand-outs
 Time: 3-5 minutes
 Classroom management: group work
 Procedure
The teacher divides the class into groups of four students. The teacher
gives each group a hand-out as below. Students have to work in groups and
quickly match the sentences with each job. Which group finishes first and has all
correct answers will be the winner.
Hand-out
A
B
1. He gets up very early.
He is a
2. He works with children.
farmer
3. He works in the streets.
4. He works on the farm.
5. He gets people from
one…...
place to
He is a
another place.
teacher
6. He works in the school.
7. He lives in the country.
8. He corrects homework.
9. He meets a lot of people.

He is a cyclo
driver

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Unit 4: Special Education
 Type of game: Jumbled words
 Material: hand-outs
 Time: 3-5 minutes
 Classroom management: group work
 Procedure
Teacher asks students to work in groups of 4 to find out the words from the
jumbled ones.
Teacher calls on students to write down the words on the board.
Ask students to speak out all these words
Jumbled words
Words
 tume
 feda
 budm
 bulc
 potho
 redchinl
 emberm

Unit 5: Technology and You
 Type of game: Memory
 Material: Picture of modern inventions in Paper A0

 Time: 5-7 minutes
 Classroom management: group work
 Procedure
Teacher has students work in groups of 4 and discuss to find out the name
of modern inventions.
Teacher asks students try to remember as many names of modern
invention as possible.
Teacher asks 2 of students in 2 different groups to go to the board to write
down as many inventions as possible without seeing the picture. Who writes
down more will be the winner.
Pictures

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Unit 7: The Mass Media
 Type of game: crossword
 Material: power-point, hand-outs
 Time: 5-7 minutes
 Classroom management: group work
 Procedure
Teacher divided the class into 2 teams, gives one hand-out for each 4
students
Teacher shows the crossword on the PowerPoint, then give out the
suggestions one by one.
The team raises hands first will have the chance to answer the cross-word.
If they give the correct answer, they will score 1 point, if they give the wrong
answer, the other team will have the turn to answer. The team who has the

correct vertical word will have 3 points. After the game, who has more points
will be the winner.

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L I

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W
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P
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Suggestions
1. Which skill should we practise in the lesson today?
2. What do you call a film or a play that is intended to be funny, usually
with a happy ending?
3. What should I buy to read for information everyday?
4. Which TV progamme should I watch if I like physical activities?
IV. The benefits of using language games in warm-up activities in
listening lessons
Based on the date obtained, the researcher has achieved several important
findings which fall into four categories: the benefits of using language games in
warm-up activities in listening lessons, the frequency of using language games
in warm-up activities, the difficulty in organizing and playing language games,
and the suggestions on using language games in warm-up activities in listening

lesson.
Most of students have positive attitude on language games, they think
language games can make them more interested and relax when starting a
listening lesson. The majority of students think language games are effective to
help them learn listening. They feel more comfortable, more relaxing and have
knowledge, the vocabulary about the lesson. Most of the teachers also share this
idea. However, language games still have some drawbacks. After playing
language games in warm-up activities, the class is noisy, it means that students
still talk about the games and discuss the games and it takes the teachers time to
make the class stop talking and start the lesson. The students find it not easy to
concentrate on the lesson. Some students do not find the game interesting so
they do not like the game as well as join the game. Therefore, they become
passive and make other members in their groups cannot do a good job, even feel
bored. In short, language games are useful if the teacher spend time choosing the
suitable games for students, and takes students’ preference in consideration.
The suggestions of students that their teachers should do to make the
games more effective. Students give some suggestions. First, teachers should
use language games which should be appropriate with their ability or their
levels. Second, teachers should explain clearly the rules of games. Next,
teachers should use variety of language games. Last but not least, teachers

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should give some examples for students to follow. These suggestions are very
necessary for teachers to organize the games more effective and successful in
listening lessons.
The interviews with 6 teachers have given some valuable information to
my research. When being asked about the frequency of using language games in

warm-up activities in listening lessons, most of the teachers said they sometimes
use language games in warm-up activities because some listening lessons are so
long, therefore they have to deal with all the tasks in the book, they do not have
time for language games. The reasons for organizing language games in warmup activities in listening lessons are various. Firstly, language games can be used
for fun. Students will be more interested in the lessons and eager to study.
Secondly, language games can provide students with a number of words and
expressions relating to the listening passage. Next, students will have the ideas
about the listening passage. Finally, students can guess the content of the
passage they are going to listen to. Each teacher has their own criteria to choose
a language game which is suitable for students. The first criteria is that the game
should involve the whole class, all class members can play the game and eager
to join the game. The second is that the games have to be relating to the topic of
the listening passage. The third is that the games should be interesting and can
give fun for students. The next is that they should be easy for teachers to prepare
at home, and they do not waste time and money and it doesn’t take long to play
game in the class, 5 minutes is appropriate.
Another question is that what kinds of language game they usually
organize for students to play. Most of them say guessing is the most popular
because it is easy to prepare and also very interesting, memory games and
miming coming next. Being asked about the difficulties of organizing language
games, most of the teachers said that they have to spend time looking for the
games because the language games are not available. Therefore, it takes time
while they have to do many others things such as making lesson plans, making
tests, studying and housework. Moreover, students’ ability is mixed so it is not
easy to choose a language game that meet all the criteria above.
The last question asks the teacher about the measurements for the success
of using language games in warm-up activities in listening lessons. All the
teachers said that after playing games, most of students feel interested in and
excited about the lesson is a signal that the game is successful. Students can gain
some vocabulary and have general ideas about the listening passage. The very

important factor is that students are eager to do the tasks in listening lessons.

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In short, all the teachers organize for their students to play language games.
Although it is not frequently played, it helps encourage students in some
respects and have a good influence on students’ attitude for learning and
studying listening.
PART III: CONCLUSION
1. Conclusions
There have been a lot of problems from current situation of teaching and
learning English at upper secondary school level in Vietnam in general and at
Ba Đình high school particularly. The students’ knowledge of English and their
four skills are still limited though they have been learning English since they
were in grade 3. listening comprehension seems the weakest skill and students
usually have to cope with a lot of challenges. Being a teacher of English, the
investigator has desire to do something to help the students study English more
effectively. Therefore, the study is undertaken in a small scale with some certain
purposes:
Investigating the effectiveness of using language games in warm-up
activities in listening lessons of grade 10 in Ba Đình high school.
Providing some suggestions and implications for the improvement of
listening teaching in Ba Đình high school in terms of using language games in
warm-up activities.
To gain these purposes, first of all, a review of relevant literature on
language games, listening comprehension and motivation shows that language
games can help motivate students to learn English especially listening skill.
Secondly, the investigator delivered the questionaire to students to find out some

information:
 Students’ view on listening skill
 The fact of using language games in warm-up activities
 The difficulties before, while and after playing language games
 Effectiveness of language games in warm-up activities in listening
lessons
 Students’ attitude and preference on playing language games
 Suggestions of using language games in warm-up activities in listening
lessons
Thirdly, the researcher has interviewed some teachers of English to get
some valuable information about their using language games in warm-up
activities in listening lesson. Most of them sometimes use language games in

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