Language games - a motivational technique in teaching writing: a study on the year 5B students of Sekolah Kebangsaan Siol Kanan, Kuching / Dayang Norfirani Abang Talhata

Writing ability is crucial to a child’s ability to learn. Year 5B students usually feel bored in writing lessons because they have not changed their learning habits, such as writing words on paper, trying to learn by heart or passively memorize through the teacher’s explanations. To help students find language classes, especially writing lessons more interesting, and to achieve more from games, the researcher conducted this study to unravel if language games could help students learn writing effectively. The analysis gathered reflected the students’ weakness in mastering the target language that could lead to their disinterest in writing. Classroom observations, comments from class teachers and information drawn from questionnaires distributed to the students provide the evidence. Despite the low proficiency level in English, the students cooperated in the study and completed the task given. The use of various techniques designed to improve their ability to write are also described. The justification for using games in the classroom has been well demonstrated as benefiting students in a variety of ways. These benefits range from cognitive aspects of language learning to more cooperative group dynamics. Implications of the study are also highlighted and several recommendations with regard to the writing was proposed.