Games in the Primary EFL Classroom. Teaching English as a Foreign Language Playfully to Primary School Students

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Flensburg (Institut für Sprache, Literatur und Medien), course: TEFL in Primary School: Playful English Teaching, language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the importance of integrating games in the primary EFL classroom. The approach to foreign language teaching has shifted in the sense that it is now not only a possibility but rather a requirement that foreign language teaching and learning should be enjoyable. A "teaching technique that is characterized by the elements of fun and play is the use of games". Hence, this paper argues for the implementation of games as a teaching technique in the primary EFL classroom and emphasizes the benefits of doing so regarding the positive impact it has on the language learning process.

Although the pedagogical value of games in the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) is generally acknowledged, the usage of games in primary EFL education is "less documented and even less practiced [...] [since] [r]esearch on foreign language teaching and learning often focuses on older learners". The inclusion of games in children¿s education has been studied but rarely with the focus on foreign language learning. Thus, there is still a lot of research to do when it comes to teaching English as a foreign language playfully to primary school students.