Teach English in Donghuangshui Zhen - Taiyuan Shi

Teaching methodologies have matured over the years and modern teaching methods are becoming increasingly based on science and research. One such modernization is the rising use of games in a language learning environment. The student perception of a typical class has become such that a traditional, lecture-based approach is perceived as boring and uninnovative. The task for teachers and lesson planners now is to not just get through all the intended subject material, but to keep the lessons fun and engaging while doing so. Almost everyone, regardless of age, enjoys playing and with modern technologies such as the smartphone, their exposure to activities such as engaging with social media and playing games on their phones only increase one’s propensity to favor games. Games do an amazing job of getting students interested in the learning process, which is important to help activate students that were mainly passive before due to disinterest. The biggest boon to a student’s success in language learning is their own willingness and enthusiasm in actively participating in the learning process. Whether through provoking one’s competitive spirit, or invoking their interest by using a topic they are passionate about within a game, there are many ways in which games can capture the attention of students. The social aspect of language learning is another area in which games are massively helpful. It is a given that at many points during the language learning process, students will have to communicate with others in the target language. It is much easier to try new language with someone you are closer to. Speaking to someone you know less well often makes one more careful as to try not to make mistakes, thereby closing off the avenue of learning from mistakes. Games help in this respect by building relationships between the participants and equalizes potential disparities by making everyone a contestant of the game rather than senior/junior or boss/employee type relationships. Many games also heavily mimic how one would use a target language in a variety of differing real world situations and as such fulfills perhaps the biggest reason most people decide to learn a language in the first place: to apply that language to their lives. For example, classroom activities like cooperative games where you must give your team the correct instructions or guessing games where you are describing places can be directly applied to travelling abroad where you need to ask for directions. The use of games also directly solves problems common to many learners. It makes it easier for those that are shy and afraid to speak in regular circumstances due to fear of wrong pronunciation or grammatical correctness to participate. It encourages those who are too reliant on passive learning to create output of their own. In short, it enables students to actively use the target language in a friendly environment where mistakes are not harshly scrutinized. The times where classes can be purely lecture based are quickly passing, especially so in a language learning context. The growing dominance of ESA structured lessons and liberal use of games in classes is clear evidence of this. This trend will only continue as students and teachers alike continue to build up expectations that a class will be fun and engaging and something to look forward to rather than something to dread. The job of a language teacher in this ever-interconnected 21st century then, will be to wholly embrace games as the immensely powerful tool that it is and utilize it to its fullest extent to create a learning environment where the students are set up for nothing but success.