Using games to promote students’ motivation towards learning English

Abstract EN

This study aims to find out the role of games in promoting students’ attitudes towards learning English from the teachers’ perspective.

The researchers used a 30-item questionnaire which was given to 20 male and female UNARWA teachers who teach English for the Palestinian young children aged 6-10 years old (grades 1-4) in the schools of Jenin Refugee Camp, Ya’bad, Araba, and Rommana where the whole authority belongs to United Nations Educational, Relief and Work Agency (UNERWA) during the second semester of the academic year 2010-2011.

The researchers used means, t- test and one way ANOVA to analyze the collected data.

The researchers found out that most of the teachers of English in the above-mentioned schools agree that games have influence on the students’ attitudes towards learning English and that the use of them in the class is not just for fun but it also serves many educational purposes such as creative thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, role playing and collaborative work among others.

In the light of these findings, the researchers suggested using games as energizers and short warm-up activities not only to sustain attractiveness to learning, but also to bring real life to learning.