To: Fabin Peregrini

From: Lis Romero

Subject: How to learn the rules of Present simple
Date: August, 18 2016

REPORT

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify the mistakes that students can make
when writing a test. Some mistakes can be about the misunderstanding of
grammar rules.
Games were used as a strategy to show my students that there are different
and enjoyable ways to learn grammar rules. Moreover, if they forget rules of
present simple, they will recall this game and the rules of grammar.
The result of this research can be useful to show that we need a variety of
effective activities at our disposal in order to be both effective and appropriate at
the moment of dealing with problems of misunderstanding in the classroom.
They are two requirements that we have to satisfy.

Keywords: strategy, diagnostic tool, motivating, challenging.

Introduction:
Grammar teaching sometimes happens as a result of other work the students
are doing-for example, when they study language in a text they have been
reading or listening to, or when a grammar problem presents itself unexpectedly
in the middle of a lesson and we feel we have to deal with it on the spot.
It is known that some students omit the third person-s ending in the present
simple or some students keep thes in the interrogative form. This report
examines the results of the tests and focuses on the mistakes which could
happen with the present simple.
A good technique would be to remind the students of the use of thes through a
game.
According to Haldfield , games can be used at all stages of the progression
from controlled to free practice, serving at one end of the range as a memory

aid and repetition drill, at the other as a chance to use the language freely and
as a means to an end rather than an end itself. They can also serve as a
diagnostic tool for the teacher, who can note areas of difficulty and take
appropriate remedial action.
Haldfield further emphasizes the effective use of games. Students are always
lazy to do the tasks. Therefore, games are used suitably in the way in which
learners are led to participate in the games so that learners can have a chance
to practice or use the new language items they have just learnt eagerly and
willingly instead of forcing them to do the tasks unwillingly. It is more effective in
a way that students can play and learn at the same time.

Method:

This evaluation was carried out in a state school in Florencio Varela. It is a 6

grade.
They are 23 students: 14 girls and 9 boys
Some of the students behave badly and do not work satisfactorily.
The students were given a test in which they had to complete the sentences
with the correct form of the present simple.

Result:
Out of 23 students evaluated forty per cent showed that they knew how to use
the present simple properly. The remaining sixty per cent showed that they did
not know how to use the present simple accurately
I think that the remaining sixty per cent of students would need more practice
through a game implemented as a tool to improve the learning of the rules of
the present simple.
It is well-known that every student does not learn in the same way or at the
same pace, for that reason I changed the way to explain the grammar point.
First, I put on the blackboard three posters (Messi, Violeta, a dog). Then I took a
big cube with every day activities and I throw it. Once I discovered the every
day activity that I had gotten (get up), I chose one famous person from the
posters, then I formulated a sentence and I wrote it, for example, Messi gets up
at 7 oclock.
Then some of my students did the same. They identified the images with the
every day activities and rehearsed the use of third person singular form of the
verb.

Conclusion:

After playing the game, I realized that the students acquired more easily and
unconsciously the rules of the present simple, since their whole attention were
engaged by the activity and then they remembered the grammar rules through
the game.
The next time when a problem like this arises, I will explain it in a different way,
through a game, because they are motivating and challenging. Furthermore,
they encourage students to interact and communicate. I think that the use of
such activity both increases the cooperation in the classroom.

Bibliographical references:

Jeremy Harmer. (4 ed, 2009). The practice of English language teaching.

Pearson Longman.
Jim Scrivener. Teaching English grammar. Macmillan books for teachers.
Mary Spratt, Alan Pulverness, Melanie Williams. The TKT course. University of
Cambridge.
Hadfield,J..( 1990). Language games and activities. Hulton educational
publications Ltd, Britain.