用丰富多彩的英语游戏激活中学英语语法课堂

张  千

（杭州外国语学校，浙江  杭州  310023）

摘  要：英语语法学习不论是对英语初学者还是程度较高学习者来说都是枯燥乏味的过程，教师多采用的是机械语法训练。英语游戏能够激发学生学习兴趣、保持学习热情以及增强学生的英语语言应用能力和交际能力。中学阶段，教师在课堂上采用形式多样的游戏将使英语语法学习充满乐趣，学习效果得到优化。

关键词：英语游戏；语法教学；游戏作用；游戏设计

中图分类号：G633    文献标识码：A        文章编号

一、引言

  英语语言学习对大多数中国学生来说是一个艰苦漫长的历程。要学好这门外语，学习者必须付出长期的努力才能掌握听、说、读、写、译等各方面语言能力。有很多学生在日复一日地应对各种机械训练后，对英语语言学习渐渐失去兴趣，觉得语言学习就是枯燥地记忆背诵条条框框。根据《普通高中英语课程标准（实验）》的要求，除了语言技能、语言知识、文化意识以外，教师应该关注学生情感态度和学习策略的培养。如何让英语学习变得有趣、英语课堂生动活泼起来是我们广大教师一直关注的问题。

  笔者在与学生交流英语学习心得体会时，很多学生谈到最感头痛的就是语法课。一般的语法课都是这样的模式：老师在前面喋喋不休地讲解语法知识要点，学生在下面昏昏欲睡或者不知所云；一张又一张的语法练习卷压得学生喘不过气来，学习效果又不明显。为打破这种沉闷的气氛，激发学生的学习兴趣，我们可以充分利用各类英语游戏活化语法学习，让学习语法成为一件快乐而又轻松的事！

二、英语游戏的作用

（一）激发学习兴趣、保持学习热情

“兴趣是最好的老师。学生如果缺乏兴趣，教学则成为死亡之吻；学生如果缺乏动机，教学不过是一种惩罚性的厌恶疗法。”(鲁子问，王笃勤，2006) 教师设计的课堂活动要能够培养学生积极的情感态度，要给学习者提供体验自我的快乐。英语游戏对帮助学生建立积极的情感态度起着重要作用。从广义上来说，游戏就是玩，是一种娱乐形式。游戏能够激活学生的情感-愉悦、愠怒、惊讶，激发他们的竞争意识。英语课堂上有效开展游戏活动能够大大激发学生的学习兴趣，让他们对英语课甚至是“无聊的”语法课都能充满期待。

（二）提供语言情境、开展有效操练

教师可以根据学习内容创设具体情境，将语言学习融入游戏活动中，让学生“想要”积极参与其中，在学中玩，玩中学。许多游戏能够为学习者提供高密度地语言操练。在游戏中，学生通过互动交流能够感知英语语言在现实语境中的意义。通过游戏， “…the meaning of the language they listen to, read, speak and write will be more vividly experienced and, therefore, better remembered.” (Andrew Wright, David Betteridge and Michael Buckby, 1979)

（三）创设信息沟、增强交际能力

我们学习语言的目的是为了交流信息、传达观点。在英语课堂上，很多时候老师提问，学生已经知道老师想要的答案，这种情况下不存在信息沟，学生自然对老师的授课内容缺乏好奇心。Jeremy Harmer 曾指出， “A key to the enhancement of communicative purpose and the desire to communicate is the information gap.”(2003) 课堂上，教师可以利用游戏活动创设信息沟，让学生在交流中运用语言、获取信息。例如这样一个小游戏：Describe and draw a picture-One student has a picture and does not show it to his/her partner. The student tries to describe the picture so that the partner can draw it. 我们不难看出，两位学习者之间存在一个信息沟，他们需要通过描述、询问、绘画、确认等一系列活动交流才能完成任务，同时又增强了英语交际能力。

三、英语游戏在语法教学中的设计应用

  目前针对英语语法学习的游戏有很多，教师可根据学生英语能力水平和学习内容需要选用或创新各类游戏。接下来笔者将结合自己的教学实践，例谈一些英语游戏在语法教学中的应用。

（一）Monster Mad Libs

语言知识: 编故事, 词汇词性练习，如noun, verb, adj.等。

语言技能: 听、说、读、写

课堂掌控: 教师指导下的活动

学生水平: 初中二、三或高一年级英语学习者 

时间限制: 5分钟左右

准备材料 :不完整的英语小故事

游戏过程:

i. Work in pairs. One student, the READER, gets an unfinished story from the teacher. He /She doesn’t tell his partner, the WRITER, what the story is about. Instead, he/ she asks the WRITER to give him/her words. These words are used to fill in the blank spaces in the story.

ii. After filling all the blanks in the story. The READER shows the story to the WRITER. They will find that they have written a story that is fantastic, screamingly funny, shocking, silly, crazy, or just plain dumb.

iii. Finally, Teacher can ask some students to read their stories and choose the most interesting one.

案例: 

Superstitions (Before)

When I was a kid, _________(NUMBER) years ago, we used t o believe in superstitions, like it’s bad luck to open a/an ________(NOUN) in the house; if your nose ________(VERB), it means a/an __________(NOUN) is coming to visit; and you will have _____________(ADJ.) luck if you find a four-leafed ________(NOUN). And we ___________(ADV.) believe that if you spilled _____________(TYPE OF FOOD) at the table, you had to throw some over your left ____________(NOUN); if your _________(ADJ.) toe hurt, it meant rain; and if you broke a / an ________(NOUN) , you would have seven years of bad ______________(PLURAL NOUN).

Today kids have different superstitions, such as it’s bad luck to jump on the railroad tracks just before a/ an _________(NOUN) pulls in and don’t throw __________(PLURAL NOUN) at policemen. But, actually, there’s only one superstition I believe in. Whenever I comment on my health, I always remember to knock on a piece of ___________(NOUN).

Superstitions (After)

When I was a kid, _11_(NUMBER) years ago, we used t o believe in superstitions, like it’s bad luck to open a/an __tree__(NOUN) in the house; if your nose __itches__(VERB), it means a/an __ghost__(NOUN) is coming to visit; and you will have __beautiful__(ADJ.) luck if you find a four-leafed _car__(NOUN). And we __happily__(ADV.) believe that if you spilled ___fish___(TYPE OF FOOD) at the table, you had to throw some over your left ___blackboard__(NOUN); if your __silly__(ADJ.) toe hurt, it meant rain; and if you broke a / an _TV_(NOUN) , you would have seven years of bad __apples__(PLURAL NOUN).

Today kids have different superstitions, such as it’s bad luck to jump on the railroad tracks just before a/ an __tiger_(NOUN) pulls in and don’t throw __papers_(PLURAL NOUN) at policemen. But, actually, there’s only one superstition I believe in. Whenever I comment on my health, I always remember to knock on a piece of _chair__(NOUN).

  有人说Mad Libs 是世界上最有趣的文字游戏，甚至那些不喜欢游戏的人也会爱上它。我们可以根据学生的语言水平以及词汇学习需要编写不同的小故事供学生来玩。这个游戏不但能够考察学生对英语词汇词性的掌握程度，还能够帮助学生回顾复习所学过的单词。此外，阅读故事不但可以让学生被自己编造的荒诞不经的故事逗得哈哈大笑，同时也能帮助他们意识到英语句子、篇章应有的逻辑性。值得一提的是，这个游戏不仅仅适合低龄英语学习者，它同样适用于高段学生，甚至是成人，可谓老少皆宜。

（二）Six Eyes

语言知识: 用动词一般现在时形式以及频度副词描述人物行为

语言技能: 听、说

课堂掌控: 教师指导下的活动

学生水平: 初一、二年级英语学习者

时间限制: 10分钟左右

准备材料: 每人一张纸

游戏过程：

i. Five or six students who know each other very well form a group. Each student writes his/her name on a small piece of paper. These are then folded and jumbled.

ii. Each student takes one of the pieces of paper and tries to imagine that they are that person. They must complete the following sentences:

---I always …

---I often…

---I usually…

---I sometimes…

---I occasionally…

---I hardly ever…

---I never …

iii. Everyone else in the group tries to guess who the learner has pretended to be. The student who has been represented by those sentences should then have an opportunity to comment!

  这个游戏不但能够帮助学生对英语的频度副词进行操练，同时又能增进学生之间的了解，建立友谊。此外，教师可以根据实际需要，将游戏稍作调整，练习第二、三人称后动词和频度副词的用法。

（三）What’s behind you

语言知识 : 用There is/ are…, There isn’t/ aren’t…, There are some…, There aren’t any…, Is/ Are there any…? 句型结构描述列举事物或人物等

语言技能: 听、说

课堂掌控: 自由表达

学生水平: 初中一、二年级学生

时间限制: 3分钟左右

准备材料 :无

游戏过程: 

i. Tell the class not to turn around. Ask them what they think is behind them. They might list people, furniture or other things in the classroom.

ii. Students use different there be patterns to describe the things they can remember.

案例:

Student A: I think there is a cupboard at the back of the classroom.

Student B: I think there are some boys and girls behind me.

Teacher: Are there any books behind you?

Student C: Yes, there are some books behind me. / No, there aren’t any books behind me.

“There be” 句型是英语初学者经常容易犯错误的结构。这个游戏将句型操练和记忆游戏相结合，小小的挑战能够激发学生的竞争性和积极性。教师可以增加难度，将classroom换成school campus, 或者是the street outside the school.

四、结语

  游戏能够为不同阶段学习者在学习语法时提供既有意义又具娱乐性的语言练习。除了语法学习以外，游戏同时能够在培养提高学生的听、说、读、写等英语语言能力方面发挥积极的作用。教师可根据学生的能力水平和学习内容要求设计丰富多彩的游戏活动，让英语语言学习成为学习者地快乐之旅！

参考文献：

[1]Andrew Wright,David Betteridge and Michael Buckby.Games for Language Learning(new edition)[M].Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,2001.

[2]Jeremy Harmer.英语语言教学的实践(第三版)[M].北京:世界知识出版社,2003.

[3]鲁子问,王笃勤.新编英语教学论[M].上海:华东师范大学出版社,2006.