Boosting young EFL students’ speaking through game activities

Abstract

English is treated as a foreign language in Indonesia. The language is introduced to students inpublic schools from Grade 7. This qualitative study investigated English teachers’ efforts in using gameactivities in teaching speaking and the problems faced in its implementation to EFL (English as a ForeignLangauge) young learners, aged 12-13 years old, at a public middle school in Banda Aceh. Two Englishteachers from two classes of Grade 7 students were audio-recorded and observed while teaching, andfurther given a questionnaire. The findings found that both teachers used game activities in their classes.Problems faced by the teachers in implementing these activities revolved around their preparation, classparticipation and class management. The discussion is elaborated in the paper. The study suggests that wellplanned preparation, better class management and a focus more on the students’ participation are neededto reduce difficulty in carrying out these activities in large class sizes.