A study on using games in writing lessons of grade 10th students at Yen Khe high school – Phu Tho province

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In the early 1990s, due to the impact of English as a globe language, more
people around the world than ever before are studying and learning English. It
was introduced in Vietnam as a compulsory subject at both lower and upper
secondary levels and as selective subject at primary level in Vietnamese general
curriculum.
However, of four language skills, writing is one of the most challenging
ones for learners. It’s an extension of human language across time and space.
Writing most likely began because of political expansion in ancient cultures,
which needed reliable means for transmitting information, maintaining financial
accounts, keeping historical records. Writing allows us to share our
communication not only with our contemporaries, but also with future
generation. It permits people from the near and far distance past to speak to us.
Although writing is an essential skill, many students at high school have
trouble with it. They were not required to learn proper spelling or grammar.
They believe that they can not achieve, they are even not aware of the
importance of writing skill in their learning. They often get low marks when
doing the tests on writing skill and it affects their learning’s result. In the four
skills in one unit, the researcher finds that writing skill is the most difficult and
students always find it boring and difficult to learn and hard to write well a
specific topic or task. The researcher finds out that most of the students have
faced many problems in learning writing. They often feel tired and stressed
during the writing lesson.
In addition, with the introduction of communicative language teaching,
English language teaching and learning has become much more demanding for
teachers and learners just like any other innovation poses challenges for its
users. Thus, games have become crucially important for English language
learners and teachers not only because they provide enjoyment and relaxation,
but also as they encourage students to use their language in a creative and
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communicative manner. Games encourage learners to direct their energy
towards language learning by providing them with meaningful contexts.
Besides, games provide language teachers with many advantages when they are
used in classroom. Because of this fact it is vitally important for teachers to
create a positive learning environment, and to try to spark interest amongst their
students both in the foreign language and culture because that is important to a
successful language learning process. Games help achieve these goals as they
help satisfy the requirement of the national curriculum that language learning
should be enjoyable for students. Because of these advantages, it is useful for
teachers to apply games in teaching writing skill.
In language teaching, language games have proved themselves not merely
as “time filler activities” but as an important factor which can create more
chances and interest to motivate students to write. This is the reason why I
decided to choose the title for my thesis: “A study on using games in writing
lessons of grade 10th students at Yen Khe high school – Phu Tho province”.
2. Previous studies
2.1. In the world
There are several researches in using games to teach English language.
Mania Moayad Mubaslat (2011) studied The Effect of Using Educational Games
on the Students’ Achievement in English Language for the Primary Stage. She
attempts to determine the role of educational games on learning a foreign
language, and to compare games with more traditional practices as effective
learning tools on the basic educational stage students at governmental schools in
Jordan, an experimental research is conducted using three groups out of six
randomly. Ying-Jian Wang (2011) wrote Investigating the Impact of Using
Games in Teaching Children English. This study examines the overall effects of
using games on the improvement of young children‟s English proficiency in
relation to the following criteria: motivation; vocabulary acquisition; and

anxiety due to peer pressure. The overarching aim of the research is to

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investigate the relationship between the usage of games and students‟ English
proficiency.
2.2. In Vietnam
In Vietnam, there are many studies on using games in teaching English or
teaching other aspects of language like speaking, vocabulary or grammar.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and Khuat Thi Thu Nga (2003) studied
“Learning vocabulary through games”. The study found that learning
vocabulary through games is one effectiveness and interesting way that can be
applied in any classrooms. The results of this research suggest that games are
used not only for mere fun, but more importantly, for the useful practice and
review of language lessons, thus leading toward the goal of improving learners’
communicative competence.
Luu Trong Tuan and Nguyen Minh Doan (2010) wrote Teaching English
grammar through games. This study focuses on a review and analysis of the
literature on teaching English grammar encompassing an overview of grammar
definitions and teaching grammar approaches, as well as definitions of games,
classifications of games, the influence of using games on the language learners’
performance. Prior researches on teaching English grammar through games have
been included as well.
This is the first time “A study on using games in writing lessons of
grade 10th students at Yen Khe high school – Phu Tho province” was carried
out in Phu Tho province. Different from other studies, it focuses on the using of
games in writing lessons.
3. Research purpose
The study aims at:

1. Investigating the current situation in using games in writing lessons of grade
10th students at Yen Khe high school by:
- Finding out the students’ attitudes towards using games in their writing class.
- Finding out their understanding about the benefits and difficulties when using
games in writing lessons.
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2. Suggesting some writing games to improve the writing skill of grade 10 th
students at Yen Khe high school and carrying out the experiment to assess their
effectiveness and then drawing conclusions.
3. Research questions
The research will find the answers for the following questions:
1. What is the current situation in using games in writing lessons at Yen Khe
high school?
2. What solutions can be recommended to use games more effectively in the
writing class and improve the writing skill of grade 10 th students at Yen Khe
high school?
3. Are the suggested writing games effective?
4. Methodology
4.1. Research Methods
In order to accomplish this thesis systematically and adequately,
qualitative and quantitative were used.
- Quantitative method: The survey questionnaire is used to collect
information for the study. The survey questionnaire including pre-survey
questionnaire and post-survey questionnaire. They are for grade 10th students
Yen Khe high school.
- Qualitative method: An interview was carried out with English teachers
to get information about some benefits and difficulties she or he may meet in
using games in writing lesson.

4.2. Research Procedure
The research has been done by the following steps:
• Firstly, identify the related documents to give background of writing,
writing games and other related aspects..
• Secondly, study about the current situation in using games in teaching
and learning writing at Yen Khe high school.
• Thirdly, from collected data analyze to get the final results.

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5. The significance of the research
The findings of study are believed to be useful to help teachers who teach
foreign language, especially writing, improve the knowledge about games. In
addition, it helps them widen knowledge about some benefits and difficulties in
using games when teaching writing class.
This research is carried out with the hope that it can suggest good
methods on using games in writing lessons and also provide for pedagogical
students to improve their knowledge about using games in writing lessons of
grade 10th students at Yen Khe high school.
6. Scope of the research
The study cannot cover the all activities for high school students within
the framework of a minor study. Therefore it only puts emphasis on some games
which are instructed to use while doing writing tasks designed in the textbook.
The subjects of the study are 40 students in class 10A4 of grade 10 th
students at Yen Khe High School - Phu Tho province.
7. Design of the research
The study consists of three main parts, references and appendices.
Part 1: Introduction
This part introduces an overall view of the research.

Part 2: Content
This part consists of 4 chapters:
Chapter 1: Theoretical background
In this part, the study presents definition of major terms used in this study,
including overview of writing skill, teaching writing, overview of games…
Chapter 2: Methodology
This chapter provides the detailed information about participants of the
study and details the tools for data collection, data analysis and the procedure of
conducting.
Chapter 3: Current situation of using games in writing lessons of grade 10 th
students at Yen Khe high school.
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Chapter 3 focuses on investigating the current situation on using games in
writing lessons of grade 10th students at Yen Khe high school – Phu Tho
province.
This chapter will consist of:
Findings: From the data analysis, the researcher finds out the current
situation on using games in writing lessons of grade 10th students at Yen Khe
high school and notes some benefits and difficulties in using games when
teaching writing class.
Chapter 4: Experiment and the results
In this chapter, the researcher will analyze the collected data from postsurvey questionnaire and interview. Then, the researcher recommends some
solutions to use games more effectively in the writing class and improve the
writing skill of grade 10th students at Yen Khe high school
Part 3: Conclusion
This part includes the summary of the major findings of the study, gives
implications of study for teachers of English, for students, for researcher, lists
limitation of the study recommendations for further studies and presents

conclusion.
References
Appendices

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PART B: CONTENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
In this chapter, the researcher reviews the background of the writing skill
and games. Those are important factors which help the researcher resolve
problem in this research.
1.1. An overview of writing skill
1.1.1. Definition of writing skill
Writing is one of the important skills in teaching English. It has always
occupied place in most English language course. Meyers (2005) says that
“Writing is a way to product language, which you do naturally when you speak.
Writing is communication with other in a verbal way. Writing is also an action a
process of discovering and organizing your idea, putting them on paper and
reshaping and revising them.”
According to Klein (1985), “Writing is the ability to put pen and paper to
express ideas through symbols, this way, representations on the paper will have
meaning and content that could be communicated to other people by the writer.”
He refers writing skills are specific abilities which help writers put their
thoughts into words in a meaningful form and to mentally interact with the
message. He also states that writing is not just about conveying content but also
about the representation of self.
Michael (1981) studied that “Writing could be a semantically visible and
permanent representation of the auditory and transient phenomena of speech.
He stated that writing is a primary means of recording speech, even though it

must be acknowledged as a secondary medium of communication.” According to
him, writing is about more than making our thoughts and idea visible and
concrete. He said that writing is a form of thinking; it is thing king for particular
audience, and for particular occasion. He considers that writing is also the
important expression language activity.
Pretty and Jensen (1980) have an opinion that writing is process of
expression thought of thinking and feeling and of shaping experiences, and it is
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an important medium for self expression, for communication, and for
the discovery of meaning.
From definitions above, it can be concluded that writing is a way to
product language that comes from our thought. By using writing, we can share
our idea, feeling or anything that exist in our mind. It is written on paper or a
computer screen. It is influenced both by personal attitudes and social
experiences that the writer bring to writing and the impact of the particular
political and institutional context. It is also a process that we write is influenced
by constraints of genre and has to be present in learning activities.
So far we have looked at some definitions of writing which have been
drawn from different writing theories and models by various researchers. Now,
it’s useful to have closer look at writing.
1.1.2. The importance of writing skill
Writing is one of language skill which has given an important contribution
to human work. There are so many records of recent activities that we can read
today, which can also be read in the future. Some important features of writing
activities that are usually done by people such as teachers write some important
things on blackboard, or students may write some notes that are dictated by the
teachers, lots of people who are going to apply for job in offices write English.
In academic, Galah (2008) stated “English department students, especially, need

to learn writing and prepare for the final academic assignment, thesis writing.”
This, in terms of student’s needs, integrated in writing is necessary.
1.2. Teaching writing
1.2.1. Approaches to teach writing
Looking from the viewpoint of the product approach, White (1991)
thought of writing as “a permanent record, a form of expression, and a means of
communication”. The provision of a model was indeed seen as being very
important. The teacher or the textbook was the source of language, and a good
model was crucial.

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In view of the process approach, White saw writing as “an act of
discovery and a potentially powerful educational tool. It is with these thoughts
in mind that both of us, reader and writer, may know embark upon our journey
of discovery”. By engaging in the process of writing itself writers ultimately
discover what it is that they want to say.
In short, each approach has its own view of writing, which has reflected
that approaches to teaching writing have been improved and gradually met
writers’ preferences and purposes. Below is a brief description of common
approaches to teaching writing among which the product and process approach
are applied in this study.

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Table 1.1. Common approaches to teaching writing
(Synthesized from Richards & Rodgers, 2001 and Canh, 2004)
Approach

GrammarTranslation
Structural

Audio - Lingualism
structural

Language View

Learning Theory

Writing Purposes

Writing Skill Development

Teaching approach
Teaching Techniques
Assessment Method

C. L. T
Structural

Eclectic Teaching
structural functional

functional

Task -based Teaching
structural
functional interactional

Behaviorism

behaviorism

interactional
cognitivism constructivism

Constructivism

cognitivism

Enhance students

encourage students to

help students write

Enhance student’s

constructivism
enhance students purposeful

grammar and

reinforce structures,

purposefully, meaningfully,

grammar and vocabulary interaction and

vocabulary accuracy

vocabulary learned orally

communicatively

fluency

communication in writing

Accurate control of

copy out sentences, write

develop fluency accuracy,

Sentence patterns and

accurate and fluent sentence

basic sentences

out variations of structural awareness of sentences

sentence combination in

patterns and sentence

patterns and

sentences.

paragraphs or essays

combination in grammar

Process
use of various tasks

process and product
tasks emphasize

analytic and holistic

communication and meaning
analytic and holistic

patterns, sentence

combination

combination in paragraphs or

Product
tasks given in

product
drills and tasks given in

essays
process and product
authentic and meaningful

situations
Analytic and Holistic

variant situations
analytic and holistic

tasks
analytic and holistic

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1.2.2. Product approach
Hedge (2000) studied that product approach or “text-based approach”
encourages students to mimic a model text, which is usually presented and
analyzed at an early stage.
This approach focuses the students’ attention on the form and content of
the finished product like an essay or composition, involves formal practice, and
requires writers to create an excellent text. A model suggested by Steele (2005)
for such an approach is summarized in the table below:
Table 1.2. Product approach

Stages
Content
1
Model text

Controlled practice
2

Example
Formal letter-paragraph-formal request
Formal structure “I would be grateful if you

3

An organization of ideas
The end result of the

would…”
A form of a formal letter
Students’ fluency and competence of language

4

learning process

through the end-product (skills, structures,
vocabulary …)

1.2.3. Process approach
Basing on the communicative approach was studied by Hedge(2000), the
process viewed writing as “thinking” and “discovery”. Thus, this approach tends
to focus more on the varied classroom activities which promote the development
of language use like brainstorming, class discussion, rewriting, etc.
White (1991) said that many researchers have agreed that writing is a
process and consists of some stages and activities such as generating, focusing,

structuring, drafting, evaluating, and reviewing and Hedge (2000) stated
composing, communicating, crafting, improving, and evaluating. The author of

this study tends to follow Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc’s view towards
the writing process which is shortened as follows:

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Table 1.3. Process approach
(Bang, Nguyen & Ngoc, Nguyen Ba, 2001)
Stages

Activities
Reading (extensively) a passage
Skimming or scanning a passage

Pre-writing

Brainstorming
Discussing a topic or questions
Model analysis
Clustering with a key word, free association
Controlled writing:
Gap-filling sentences/paragraphs
Sequencing jumbled words
Transformation writing
Completing sentences

While - writing

Parallel sentences
Guided writing:
Questions & answers
Writing based on cued words
Writing based on provided information
Free writing:
Writing about pictures
Writing in response to a situation
Feedback & correction

Post-writing

Revising
Editing
Evaluating

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1.2.4. Product vs. process approach
Steele (2005) shortened differences of the two approaches in the following table.

Table 1.4.The differences between product and process approach
Product writing
Imitate model text
Organization of ideas more

Process writing
Text as a resource for comparison

Ideas as starting point

important than ideas themselves
One draft

More than one draft

Features highlighted including

More global, focus on purpose, theme,

controlled practice of those features

text type, i.e., reader is emphasized.

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Individual

Collaborative

Emphasis on end-product

Emphasis on creative process

Obviously, the two approaches are not necessarily “incompatible”. The
two approaches can be integrated with each other in the classroom. To put it
another way, teacher intervention through the model text can aid the learning
process. Thanks to this, students can be aware of producing something to be read

by someone else.
1.2.5. Principles to teach writing skill
Brown (1994) pointed out some principles of language teaching and learning:
- Emphasize that writing is a means to communicative meaning, about
oneself and the real world. It not just using a grammatical structure correctly or
writing with clear penmanship.
- Start with controlled activities and later ask the students to communicate
freely.
- Early in the course, have the students write about concrete subjects. These
include physical descriptions of people and places and tangibles topics like food,
animals, school and home.
- Practice the use of basic action words and language functions early in the
course. These include words like eat, sleep, study, walk, run and drive and
functions like introducing, describing, giving information, and asking questions.
Later add more difficult verbs and functions. As the students writing ability
progresses they can practice writing about more abstract things like ideas,
opinions and feelings.
- When ever possible, relate the writing assignments to the speaking topics
from class. This will help to integrate the skill areas and give the students
additional practice with the same functions, vocabulary, and structures.
- Expect the level of writing to be higher than the level of speaking.
Because students have more time to communicate clearly when writing and

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when speaking, the standard of correct use of grammar. This does not mean the
students should write perfectly, but it does mean they should be more careful.
- Provide an audience broader than just the teacher. Whenever writing, the
writers should be aware of who the reader is. The teacher should always specify

who the “audience” of reader is.
- State a purpose for the assignment. Your writing assignment should
answer the question: “Why am I writing this?”
- Provide several kinds of feedback. The feedback should be direct or
indirect, specific and related to what has been taught. Also, the feedback should
not be overly negative. Always try to balance the corrections and criticisms.
1.3. Overview of game
1.3.1. Definition
According to Haldfield (1999) “A game is an activity with rules, a goal
and an element of fun. Games should be regarded as an integral part of the
language syllabus, not as an amusing activity for Friday afternoon or for the
end of the term”.
This definition highly evaluates the importance of games in teaching. It
adds to teachers’ techniques in teaching that games serve not only as an
‘amusing activity’, but as a technique to carry out tasks to learners amusingly as
well. Haldfield (1999) adds “Games can be used at all stages of the progression
from controlled to free practice, serving at one end of the range as a memory
aid and repetition drill, at the other as a chance to used the language freely and
as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. They can also serve as a
diagnostic tool for teacher, who can note areas of difficulty and take appropriate
remedial action.” Haldfield further emphasizes the effective use of games.
Students are always lazy to do the tasks. Therefore, games are used suitably in
the way in which learners are led to participate in the games so that learners can
have a chance to practice or use the new language items they have just learnt
eagerly and willingly instead of forcing them to do the tasks unwillingly. It is
more effective in a way that students can play and learn at the same time.
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Lee (1991) defined: “Games in the stick sense, which have a definite

beginning and end, are governed by rules…” Similarly, Hadfield (1990) defined
games as "an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun." Games are not
carried in chaos. Games have the rules, and for it is necessary players to digest
these rules before the start so that they can play the games smoothly without
committing them.
According to Greenall (1990), “The term ‘game’ is used whenever there is
an element of competition between individual students or teams in a language
activity.”
From definitions above, it can be concluded that a game is an activity with
rules, a goal and an element of fun. Games should be regarded as an integral part
of the language syllabus, not as an amusing activity for Friday afternoon or for
the end of the term.
1.3.2. Characteristics
When appears ‘an element of competition’, all above rules are most
needed. Besides, games are, in this case, emphasized to encourage students’
solidarity in teamwork in which they have to try their best to do the tasks or
maybe to code any requirements given in the games for their team spirit.
Therefore, games comprise many factors such as rules, competition, relaxation,
and learning. The main focus of using game in class is not only to help students
to learn more effectively but also to have fun. However, to use games in
classrooms, it is equally important that before playing, the rules of the games are
clearly explained and well understood by the students. There should be only a
few, well-explained rules. Demonstrations also can be very helpful because it
can help students understand the game and help them follow the rules. In a
nutshell, as mentioned by Caillois (1957) “A game is as activity that must have
the following characteristics:
- fun: the activity is chosen for its light-hearted character
- separate: it is circumscribed in time and place
- uncertain: the outcome of the activity is unforeseeable
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- non-productive: participation is not productive
- governed by rules: the activity has rules that are different from everyday
life
- fictitious: it is accompanied by the awareness of a different reality”
1.3.3. The importance of games in writing skill
According to Wright, Betteridge and Buckby (1984) language learning is
hard work. Effort is required at every moment and be maintained over a long
period of time. Games help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest
and work. Games help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is
useful and meaningful. We should not lose sight of their pedagogical values,
particularly in foreign language teaching and learning. Games are effective as
they create motivation, lower students' stress, and give language learners the
opportunity for real communication.
One of the best ways of writing this is through games. Though different in
the viewpoints, the linguists want to emphasize the ultimate aim of using games
in teaching writing is that teachers want a better lesson in which their students
benefit much.
1.3.3.1. Games motivate learners writing
Harmer (1998) asserts that motivation students bring to class is the
biggest factor affecting their success. Finding an effective way to motivate
learners writing is always the interest of teachers, researchers and linguists. He
stated, games are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can give shy
learners more opportunity to express their opinions and feelings in writing
lesson. At that time, students who are shy also attend the activities with fun,
forgetting their shyness and feeling of fear. Further, games add interest to what
students might not find interesting. Sustaining interest can mean sustaining
effort. If the teacher just follows the tasks given in the textbook, students have to
do the tasks in writing and reading, then the teacher herself will lead a grammar

lesson to a boring, hard-digesting experience to their students and surely, do not
meet the need for a more interesting and effective grammar class. At that time,
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game is the most useful. Games employ meaningful and useful language in real
contexts. They can be used to give practice in all language skills and grammar
points in this case, and be used to practice many types of communication. If
these games are good then learners will be learning while they are playing.
Avedon & Sutton-Smith (1971) believe the main reason why games are
considered effective learning aids is that they spur motivation and students get
very absorbed in the competitive aspects of the games; moreover, they try harder
at games than in other courses. It can be clearly seen that games can capture
students' attention and participation. Moreover, they can transform a boring class
into a challenging and interesting one. They hold, games also help the teacher to
create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. The learners
want to take part and in order to do so must understand what others are saying or
have written, and they must speak or write in order to express their own point of
view or give information. Thanks to games, shy language learners will have
more chances to write and speak, show their feeling and opinions in English as
much as they can.
1.3.3.2. Games promote learners’ interaction.
Interaction comprises the nature of classroom pedagogy and classroom
behavior. Pair or group work is one of the main ways to promote interaction. As
Jacobs & Kline Liu (1996) expresses, many games can be played in pairs or in
small groups, thereby providing a venue for students to develop their skills in
working with others such as the skill of disagreeing politely and the skill of
asking for help.
In most games, learners have to play in groups in which everyone has a
turn, encouraging everyone to take a turn, rather than letting others do all the

writing or talking and other actions, and discouraging one or two people from
shutting out others. Naturally when playing games, students are trying to win or
to beat other teams for themselves or on the behalf of their team. They are so
competitive while playing since they want to have a turn to play, to score points
and to win. In the class, learners will definitely participate in the activities.
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Therefore, in groups or in pairs, they are more willing to ask questions,
communicate and discuss with their partners and think creatively about how to
use English to achieve the goal. The competition in the games gives students a
natural opportunity to work together and communicate in English with each
other a lot.
1.3.3.3. Games improve learners’ language acquisition
Avedon & Sutton-Smith(1971) said, thanks to the motivation and
interaction created by games, students can acquire their lessons better and more
interestedly than other ways. Games can stimulate and encourage students to
participate in the activity since naturally they want to beat the other teams…
Apart from having fun, students learn at the same time. They acquire new
language. They studied students begin to realize that they have to use the
language if they want others to understand what they are saying. Furthermore,
they emphasized, games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input
more likely. It is clear that in the easy, relaxed atmosphere which is created by
using games, students remember things faster and.
The meaning of the language students listen to, read, speak and write will
be more vividly experienced in a game and, therefore, then they will better
remember the language they learnt.
1.3.4.4.. Games increase learners’ achievement
As far as we know, games can involve all the basic language skills, i.e.,
listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and a number of skills are often

involved in the same game. Further support comes from Zdybiewska (1994):
“…games are a good way of practicing language, for they provide a model of
what learners will use the language for in real life in the future exercises that
practice and utilize the new language have been completed, games can then be
introduced as yet another means for enabling greater comprehension.”
As strongly emphasized above, games can motivate learners, promote
learners’ interaction, and improve learners’ acquisition. As a result, games can
increase learners’ achievement, which means that learners’ test scores, ability of
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communication, some skills, knowledge of vocabulary, or other language skills
can improve. We are teaching a new generation of students, which requires
unconventional teaching strategies be put into practice in the classroom. And
when schools use the games, the student benefits speak for themselves--a greater
desire to learn and higher test scores.
In brief, games prove to be a useful tool employed regularly in language
teaching. Games not only offer learners a highly motivating, relaxing class, but
most importantly meaningful practice to all language skills. Consequently,
games can motivate learners, promote learners’ interaction, improve their
acquisition and increase their achievement.
1.3.4. Some games used in the writing lessons.
There are many games used in teaching writing skill. Each of them has
particular benefits. According to Alexis Ludwig and Amy Swan (2007), they
provided some classroom games to improve writing skill in “101 great
classroom games”. Some popular games are:
 Jumbled paragraph
Purpose: Through this game, teacher asks students to rearrange a number of
sentences into the correct order and complete the paragraph.
Materials: Student: Piece of paper and pen/chalk and board.

Teacher: a handout with a number of sentences which are mixed from a
paragraph.
Procedure
- Divide the classroom into two or three groups. Each group chooses their
“captain”.
- Teacher gives each group a hand out
- Teacher asks them to rearrange these sentences into the correct order and
complete the paragraph.
- Which group finishes first will be the winner.
 Story pass

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Purpose: In this game, students will write a story together or complete a story
from prompts.
Materials: picture or handout
Procedure
- Put a picture or a first sentence as writing prompt.
- Divide student into small groups and have them create a story from that
prompt.
- Each student takes a turn writing one sentence to add to the story and passes it
to the next student.
- Keep it going around in the group until they have finished
 The odd one out
Purpose: Pick out one sentence which is off topic from others.
Materials: Teacher: several packs of four sentences.
Procedure
- Teacher divides class into small groups.
- Give each group a handout which includes some packs of sentences. Each pack

has a sentence which is off topic.
- Each group has to pick out the sentence which is off topic.
- Which group finishes first will be winner.
 The missing sentence
Purpose: Complete the given paragraph with a list of missing sentences from
many different paragraphs.
Materials: Teacher: Some paragraphs with a missing sentence.
Procedure:
- Divide class into some small groups.
- Give each group a handout.
- Ask them to put the missing sentence into the suitable paragraph
- Which group fishes first will be the winner.
 Fishy facts
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Purpose: Choosing the correct sentence from four options.
Materials: Teacher: some fish cash (the cash has shape like a fish), a big box
Procedure
- Teacher divides class into some groups. Each group chooses their “captain”.
- Groups take turns choosing a fish by catching it from the box.
- The captain of each group read the prompt in the body of the fish and whole
group, then, choosing the correct sentence in the tail of fish.
- The game ends when all of the fish are caught or at the end of the set time.
- The player with the most fish is the winner.
In conclusion, this chapter shows the back ground of writing and the
overview of games. Especially, the researcher lists some writing games which
will be applied in the experiment.

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CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the researcher tends to study about participants, data
collected instruments and the procedure which the researcher will follow to
carry out the experiment.
2.1. Participants
2.1.1. An introduction of students and teachers at Yen Khe high school
The study was conducted at Yen Khe high school, a rural school of Phu
Tho province. The school has 16 classes with over 50 teachers of different
subjects. Currently, there are 6 teachers of English and near 600 students ranges
from grade 10 to grade 12. Most of students come from villages and town in the
district.
- Grade 10th students
Grade 10 students, both male and female, had similar backgrounds, that
is, all of them come from village or town in the district, finished secondary
school with 4 years of learning English. The research studied 40 students of
grade 10 chosen from class 10A4 at Yen Khe high school. All of the informants
have the same time of learning English of five years and they have already
completed the syllabus of English with the new series of English textbook from
grade 6 to grade 9 at lower-secondary schools.
The students under investigation have just finished the first term of grade
10th school year. It can not deny that most students want to learn English well,
but their condition, learning environment and their capacity do not allow them to
do so. Most of them are from farmer families so that their lives are rather poor.
Their learning condition, thus, is not equipped enough. Moreover, outside class
time, they often help their families with farming and housework. Some of them
often have little time for extra-learning and doing homework. Besides, learning
environment is very important, too. When being asked why students at Yen Khe

high school are not good at English, most of the teachers agree that they do not
have good environment. English seems never to be used outside class.
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- Teachers
Yen Khe high school consists of 6 teachers of English aged from 24 to 40.
All of them have been teaching at school for at least two years. The researcher
interviews 2 English trainee teachers at Yen Khe high school.
They are English trainee teachers so they do not have so much experience
in teaching, especially, in using games when teaching writing skill. They also do
not have a lot of teaching facilities and materials to help their work. Despite all
these advantages, they are helpful and dedicated. Most of them want to devote
their whole lives for teaching. They all have a great desire to acquire knowledge
of how to teach English well as well as how to widen their English background.
Also, they are always willing to help their students tackle with difficulties in
learning.
2.1.2. The current textbook “English 10”
The main material for English in grade 10 is a set of English textbookTieng Anh 10. It consists of 16 units and the other 6 lessons are for revision.
Each unit has five parts: Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing and Language
Focus, and each of them has been taught in a period (45 minutes).
- Reading is the beginning of each unit, includes one or more passages
from 180-220 words in length. Through reading, it helps students to familiarize
the topic of each that unit, provides information and materials for the whole
lesson as well as develops their reading comprehension skill.
- Speaking includes activities to practice speaking skill. They can
understand the form of communication of group or individual to improve their
pronunciation to get the target language.
- Listening contains paragraphs or dialogues related to the topic of each
unit which aims at helping students practice their listening comprehension skill.

Besides, listening also helps to consolidate and correct such mistakes in
pronunciation or in using structures of students.

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- Writing consists of exercises which help students develop their writing
skill on kinds of compositions such as writing letter, narrative, description,
giving instruction, etc.
- Language focus provides the pronunciation and grammar structures.
Pronunciation consolidates some sounds, practicing in words and sentences.
Grammar and vocabulary presents main points of grammar and vocabulary in
each unit.
In the current text book “English 10”, Writing is the last and the most
challenging skill in each unit. Because each lesson is not clearly divided into 3
stages: Pre-writing, While-writing and Post-writing. Task 1 is the one which gets
students to be familiar with the model of a writing composition of each unit. The
teacher guides students to do this task as the preparation for the writing task 2.
Task 2 requires students to write about a topic following the model in task 1.
Therefore, the teachers who are teaching the current text book “English 10”,
have to design suitable games for each lesson to make the writing tasks
interesting for their students.
There are totally 16 units, so 16 writing lessons are designed with a view
to making students familiar with real-life situation on text. The required
competences and objectives of the writing section in each unit are shown in the
following table.

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