A Comparative Study: Games in Grammar Teaching and Traditional Methods

This report investigates the efficacy of using games as a method of teaching grammar, particularly within the context of English as a Second Language (ESL) education. It begins by highlighting the benefits of game-based learning, such as increased student engagement and improved comprehension of grammatical concepts, in contrast to the traditional methods, which are often perceived as cumbersome and less motivating for young learners. The report traces the evolution of grammar teaching methodologies, from traditional approaches to more interactive and communicative methods. It emphasizes the advantages of games, including their ability to create a relaxed learning environment and encourage participation from introverted students. Furthermore, the report delves into the ESL context, discussing how visual aids and interactive activities can enhance language acquisition. It also explores the disadvantages of traditional methods, such as their focus on memorization and lack of real-world application. Finally, the report suggests various game-based activities that can be incorporated into ESL classrooms to make grammar learning more engaging and effective, offering a comparative analysis of both teaching methods and suggesting practical strategies for educators.

Running head: GAMES IN GRAMMAR TEACHING
GAMES IN GRAMMAR TEACHING
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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Chapter 1
1. Introduction to teaching grammar using games
Teaching grammar with games can serve as an excellent method to improve some
grammatical knowledge. It has been found to impose a marked significance in improving
the grammatical concepts related to parts of speech, vocabularies and simple articles. Games
serves as an excellent means of communication that can be used to internalize the
vocabulary and the structure the grammar correctly (Alsagoff et al., 2012). It is known that
students are always more interested towards games and less on deskwork. Hence such
activities would lead the students to pay attention in the grammar classes. The rules of the
games are simple but they are of so much fun that the students are automatically attracted
towards the learning methods.
2. The evolution of teaching grammar methods
The traditional system of grammar teaching mainly focuses on the structuring of the
sentences, parts of speech involving books, but the teaching methods have changed a lot.
Many studies have found it to be ineffective in teaching grammar to the young learners.
Traditional system of grammar learning is not only cumbersome; it also fails to motivate the
students from learning grammar (Nunan & Richards, 2015). Traditional methods of
grammar teaching mainly focused on how languages are constructed at the sentence level
and does not provide an impressive platform from to the students on learning how to apply
grammar in daily life outside the classroom (Alsagoff et al., 2012). Traditional grammar
teaching used the common methods of teaching grammar till 1960. Later on in the 19th

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century there was a reform movement against the grammar translation method. The aim of
the movement is the need for changes in the conventional methods. The methodology of
grammar underwent a history of changes. The different grammar methodology that was
adopted was grammar translational methods, direct methods, oral approaches, audio-lingual
methods and communicative approach (Hassan & Selamat, 2017). Game is an activity
which is bounded by a set of rules but also bears element of fun in it. This concept led to the
evolution of grammar games. Educators have found that students are always lazy to do tasks
and therefore tried to find out a way that could involve the learners in the learning. All these
factors drive the introduction of games in the learning of grammar (Hassan & Selamat,
2017).
3. Why teaching grammar with games works better than traditional methods?
Games in grammar do not require much preparation and the students generally take up
their own responsibility for what they think grammar is all about. It also provides
opportunity for the teacher to find out what their students have learned without extra
attention. All the students in the classroom remain extremely absorbed in the classroom
activity (Alsagoff et al., 2012). In general games are associated with a relaxed environment
and even the students who are introvert have the opportunities to participate in the games.
Games help to encourage entertain and promote fluency to the students. Previously the
grammar learning methods were more complicated and required extensive learning (Hassan
& Selamat, 2017). Young learners often do not have the patience to do extensive learning or
cannot self motivate themselves to the learning of grammar. Traditional methods of
grammar learning involved books, but in the games the teachers needs to make rules for the
games (Chanseawrassamee, 2012). Grammar learning through games can be considered as

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an excellent method for the evaluation of the students. Previously assignments and exams
were the only means of evaluating or assessing the students. Many young learners are
scared of exams, and hence fail to perform in exam which may result is faulty evaluation of
a student (Alsagoff et al., 2012). Games on the other hand create a non hostile and fun filled
environment in the class rooms where the teachers can evaluate the students on the basis of
their performance in the games.
Chapter 2
1. Teaching in ESL
Teaching in ESL context allows an ESL child to study English and the school subjects
simultaneously. This learning involves a lot of visuals and graphics. With pictures and posters a
child can start developing anticipation regarding the context (Ersoz, 2016). In traditional
teaching the texts are so convoluted that it would be difficult for a native speaker to decipher the
context. Whereas diagrams can help an ESL student to understand the content of the text, may be
not to the full, but to some extent. The color and the picturisation of books often have impacts
upon child's brain.
2. Teaching grammar in ESL context
The teaching patterns rest solely at the hands and discretion of the teacher. In this
context, the aspect of teaching English grammar in the form of second language had been taken
into consideration. As commented by Baecher, Farnsworth & Ediger (2014), English is the non-
native language of almost 72% people and is learned as a compulsory second language paper in
most contexts. However, the traditional and the strict patterns of learning often delimit the scope
of the student in getting a better hold of the subject. The word and language power in a foreign

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language could only be developed with reading and studying the subjects depthfully. For the
purpose of which sufficient interest needs to be generated within the students by means of
interactive and gaming sessions. The teacher could use colourful presentations and posters for
teaching the students about articles, prepositions. The students could be asked to participate in
some of the poster making sessions where they are asked to use cuttings from old newspapers,
articles to make collages representing certain actions (Uysal & Bardakci, 2014). The teacher can
ask the student to describe the story in the picture with the help of reporting and doing verbs.
Here, small and interesting gaming techniques could be used by the teacher to better inculcate
the students with the rules of English grammar. The teacher could also take the help of puzzles to
access the grammar skills of the students.
3. Approaches and methods to teaching grammar
There are some points that have to be maintained while teaching grammar in ESL classes.
If the teacher does not belong to an English speaking background, then it is necessary to brush up
the English knowledge before approaching the students. Secondly it is essential to differentiate
between inductive and deductive teaching and how to utilize both at times. Before entering the
classrooms it is necessary to plan the ESL lessons (Alsagoff et al., 2012). As we have discussed
earlier, one can also seek help of games to impart grammar knowledge to the students. Before
entering the classes there are certain questions that need to be addressed such as the objectives of
the class, the learning background of the learners, the learning style of each student and what
resources are available in the classroom (Rutherford, 2014).
4. The traditional method of teaching grammar

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The traditional practice of grammar was problematic as they required students to produce
the outputs immediately. It cannot be denied that production can help in increasing the
fluency and accuracy; grammar cannot be developed in the internal system (Purpura,
2013). In the new system of grammar teaching the learners are first provided with the
information about a linguistic structure, then they are provide with the knowledge of how
a particular process strategy can negatively influence their outcome (Nunan & Richards,
2015). The traditional grammar system was merely a text book thing and did not provide
the students with the opportunities to use grammar in their daily life (Kawaguchi & Ma,
2012).
5. Disadvantages of traditional method in teaching grammar
With the onset of digitization more emphasis has been placed upon the modern methods
of teaching compared to the traditional methodologies. In this regard, learning grammar through
traditional approaches has been discussed over here. They seem to have a number of limitations,
which have been seen to have profound effect on the learning capabilities of the student. As
commented by Wang & Smith (2013), sufficient attention is not paid over teaching the basics
such as reading, writing, listening and affluently speaking in English. Therefore, the traditional
scope of learning is limited by giving more emphasis to a teacher centred way of learning rather
than empowering the students (Ryu, 2013). Thus, here the teachers are placed at the centre of the
learning activities and approaches.
However, as asserted by Uysal & Bardakci (2014), sufficient opportunities are not given
to the students to imbibe and practice creativity within their learning process. In this context,
reading in a language different from ones mother tongue requires that the student deciphers the
meaning associated with each and every word completely while reading the sentence, which

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helps in better inculcation of a foreign language. However, the strict and inflexible traditional
approaches delimit the opportunity for a student to build sufficient curiosity regarding the
language. Here, learning is limited to following the rules and conventional approaches followed
while solving typical grammatical problems. As asserted by Avinash (2016), there is the lack of
pronunciation practice in teaching grammar through traditional methodology. On the contrary,
the students here are bombarded with linguistic information.
Writing had been used an effective tool for learning subjects since time immemorial.
However, the traditional learning styles and approaches considered writing a form of
punishments for teaching students about misspelt words and wrong sentence constructions. In
this regard, a student who had made a mistake in writing a sentence is punished by the teacher in
a manner, where the student has to take note of the corrections made by the teacher and write
down in the same in the copy for over 25 times. This was done to develop visual memory in the
student, which would prevent them from repeating the same mistake again in the future
(Illingworth & Hall, 2015).
A) Memorizing
The current study focuses upon the different methods of learning English which are the
traditional methods and the modern methods. Here, the traditional methods place more emphasis
upon memorizing than understanding the rules of English grammar. This could be established by
reading the sentences again and again or writing, re-writing them. However, studies had been
conducted in the past, which disregarded the contributions of memorizing alone in understanding
a lesson (Baecher et al., 2014). Therefore, in this regard a simplified five step procedure for
teaching grammar could be discussed over here which are as follows:

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 Building up the knowledge of the student about the rule initiation of grammar
 Familiarising the students to the rules by exposing them to similar grammatical exercises
 Checking student’s comprehension on a regular basis
 Expanding the knowledge of the student through promotion to the next level
B) Attention span of the digital age students
With the advent of technology people use emojis and short text forms for communicating
with each other. This has drastically reduced the attention span from 12 to 8 seconds. The rise of
gadget has reduced the dependence on books and research for gathering knowledge. The digital
age students have reduced levels of patience owing to the availability of internet resources at
hand, where from they can retrieve information within seconds (Ryu, 2013). This limits their
curiosity to search books and gain knowledge from there and gradually affects the learning and
memorizing skills of the students.
6. Using games to teach grammar
Teachers can introduce games in the classrooms for the introducing the zeal of grammar learning
among the students. There are certain popular games that are used in ESL classes for a quick
grammar review such as Shoot for points, where a ball is given to the students and they are
allowed to shoot them for points, but they are given the chance to shoot by asking them questions
related to grammar, may be a correct construction of sentences (Chanseawrassamee, 2012).
Other games that can be used are board games and games involving cards, snakes and ladders
related to the grammar subject. There one interesting game called Tic- tic -toe where the
grammar topics to be reviewed are written on nine index cards, then they are arranged by facing
them down on the table in a 3x3 grid (Vazirabad, 2013). The students are then asked to choose

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the cards containing the questions. Another game involves where the students are divided into
two teams where a ball is placed at the centre (Jalali & Dousti, 2012). A student needs to answer
the questions correctly for getting the opportunity to shoot for the goal.
7. Advantages of using games to teach grammar
The use of the games in the learning of the grammar can facilitate self motivation and
helps in retaining the lessons at the sub conscious levels.
The use of games in teaching grammar not only motivates the student but also enhances the
competition and the cooperation in the classroom. It also facilitates the bonding between the
students and helps the students to absorb grammar at the sub-conscious level (Purpura, 2013).
Many young learners will not get the motivation to learn anything new, they don’t understand
why it is important to learn grammar but their intrinsic motivation encourages playing games.
Hence they end up playing games where grammatical knowledge’s are obtained subconsciously.
Cross words, puzzles can help in improving the memory skill. Several concentration games can
be played for sharpening the memory. For example studies reveal that board games in ESL
grammar lessons can facilitate knowledge retention among the adult learners.

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