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Grammar is always looked upon as a necessary but
a very boring part of any foreign language study, and it is especially challenging when
teaching children four to five years old. One way to reinforce grammar structures for
children is through the use of games and songs. Best of all I like finger games and songs
as they can be used both to introduce and drill grammar structures or conversational
formulas. In just five minutes you can teach children to use the phrases: "How do you
do?", "Where are you?", "Here I am." Following are some
suggestions for teaching finger games:
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Tell the children that they will learn a song
about Tommy Thumb and his friends. Show the children each of the fingers on your hand, and
sing a song about each finger. Then ask the children to sing after you, repeating each
verse until the children have learned the song. Make sure that everybody learns the words,
and pronounces them correctly.
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Tommy Thumb, Tommy Thumb,
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fingers are clasped in your fists
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Peter Pointer, Peter Pointer,
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Since children enjoy variety, here is another
activity which reinforces the same Wh- question structure: Put several small dolls
on a table in the front of your class and ask the children to shut their eyes. Take away
one of the dolls and then ask the children to open their eyes so they can see that one of
the dolls is missing. The teacher then sings the following song, about the missing doll:
"Pretty doll, where are you?" The children respond by singing the question all
together. Then one of them answers using the structure "Here I am. How do you
do?"
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Later I have the children shut their eyes again,
and I ask one of them to hide somewhere in the room. When the children open their eyes and
see that someone is missing, they sing the song "Where are you?"addressing the
missing child who appears and sings the answer "Here I am. How are you?"
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The children not only enjoy the song, they also
start to use the structures in their speech.
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These finger games can be used with university
students, but for a different purpose. I think that listening to a lecture is hard work,
and the students need some sort of relaxation in the middle of it. Five minutes of a
different activity such as finger exercises gives them that opportunity.
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The following is another finger game which helps
students exercise not only their fingers but their memory as well.
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fingers are clasped in fists
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Two fat gentlemen met in the lane.
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They bowed most politely.
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"How do you do? How do you do?
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Two thin ladies met in the lane.
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index fingers bow in turn and then together
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They bowed most politely.
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"How do you do? How do you do? How do you
do?" again.
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Two tall policemen met in the lane.
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They bowed most politely.
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"How do you do? How do you do?
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Two little boys (girls) met in the lane.
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They bowed most politely.
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"How do you do? How do you do?
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Two little babies met in the lane.
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They bowed most politely.
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"How do you do? How do you do?
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This kind of diversity gives students the
opportunity to change their activity and relax. In the case of small children they learn
grammar without realizing it.
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There are many other games and songs which can
be used successfully in teaching English as a foreign language to both young children and
grown-ups. The following is one which could be useful in teaching grammatical structures,
like "Have got.; Have you got?; Yes, I have; No, I don't; What color is.? It is.;
Give me the,., please" on topics.
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Children (students) sit around a table on which
are piled a number of cards on any topic that the children have studied. The teacher
begins the game, explaining the procedure by her actions and speech. She takes a card from
the pile, looks at it and addresses a doll (or a child who has been prepared): "I've
got a bear. Have you got a bear?" The child answers: "No, I don't. Give me the
bear, please." "Here you are." "Thank you."
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The dialogue continues when the child takes the
card and addresses the same question to the child on her/his left. He now has two cards
and knows the names of both of them. The child who completes the dialogue can ask for one
of the picture cards. The game goes on until the children take all the cards. Each of them
has the opportunity to ask and answer the questions. The result of the game is that the
children not only learn certain grammatical structures, but also the rules of
communication.
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The variants of the game may be used when you
want to introduce "What" questions: "What have you got? A bear. What color
is a bear?" and so on. It may be a "Guessing Game": "Do you have a.?
No, I don't/Yes, I do." The variants depend upon the goal of the lesson and the
material to be taught.
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Angelina
Bezrukova is Chair of the Foreign Languages and Methodology of Young Children at
Khakas State University, Russia. |
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