Impact of games on teaching vocabulary: A case study with sixth grade Turkish students

Many people find learning a foreign language time consuming, difficult and boring, but it does not have to be this way. With the incorporation of games into the lessons, learning a language can be enjoyable and productive in a relaxed environment. This case study was an attempt to investigate the benefits of using games in young learners' classrooms when teaching English. The second purpose was to identify young learners' attitudes towards vocabulary game implementation in EFL classes. The study was conducted for six weeks in the first term of 2015-2016 academic years at Bahçeşehir College in Diyarbakır, Turkey. The participants of the present study were 20 pre-intermediate level 6th grade students between the ages of 10 and 12. The researcher diary, structured interview and questionnaire were used as the data collection tools. The findings of the study revealed that vocabulary games are beneficial in teaching vocabulary to young learners of English and that the students' attitudes were positive towards the use of vocabulary games. The vocabulary games used in this study were: Vocabulary Shot, Charades, Pictionary, Scrambled Letters, Hangman and Bingo. Key Words: Teaching Vocabulary, Vocabulary Games