Teaching English as a Foreign language and the Use of Educational Games
Thouqan Saleem Masadeh *
Curricula and Methods of Teaching, Najran University, Saudi Arabia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This paper is a literature review on the issues of using games to improve the performance of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students in the classroom. Its main aim is to determine the importance of using educational games as a teaching method in EFL classes. For this sake, a set of previous studies and a lot of related research are reviewed. Results show that there is an agreement on the benefits EFL learners can get as a result of using Educational games. Most of the studies have asserted the fact that the fun and enjoyment embedded in such games help these EFL learners overcome their shyness and meanwhile motivate them to use the language as a means of communication with others in different contexts. Furthermore, findings show that using games in EFL classrooms is beneficial for teachers because games can change the educational process from teacher-centered into learner centered and place transfer much of the responsibility to the learner.
Keywords: EFL learner, EFL teacher, educational games, teaching method, nature of games