THE ROLE OF GAMES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Abstract

Any language is quite powerful, but it can also be very fun. The feeling of enjoyment makes language even more powerful. Language and a game enhance and enrich one another. The combination of language and a game gives rise to language games. They play an important role in foreign language learning and teaching. As Paul Rooyackers points out, Language games allow children to stretch their communication abilities, enhancing vocabulary, conversation, and storytelling skills (Rooyackers 2002).

 As Blanka  Klimova points out, “ a game is a natural means for children to understand the world around them. Therefore, it should be part and parcel of their learning, including the learning of foreign languages” (B. F. Klimova 2015).

Classifying games is diverse and quite complex, as they often overlap. George Jacobs prefers Hadfield’s version of classifying games. Hadfield divides language games into two types: linguistic games and communicative games. Linguistic games focus on accuracy, such as supplying the correct antonym. On the other hand, communicative games focus on the successful exchange of information and ideas, such as when two people identify the differences between two pictures that are similar to one another but not identical.  The second taxonomy that Hadfield uses to classify language games has many more categories. As with the classification of games as linguistic games or communicative games, some games will contain elements of more than one type (Jacobs 2019).