Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously disrupted university education process all over the world bringing significant changes in the teaching/learning landscape making educators face the new reality characterized by shifting from classroom to sudden and forced adoption of remote instruction. This has greatly affected the well-being of professors and students alike. The introduction of distance teaching/learning has resulted in the necessity of revising the curriculum, modifying the syllabus, and developing new materials to satisfy students’ changed needs (Shamina et al, 2020). Under the circumstances, one of the priorities of classroom management is to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the students and to create a positive learning environment that is extremely important for protecting students’ confidence, relieving study stress and boosting their learning potential.

At present, there is a long list of free English learning websites apps and social media pages that can be used on computer and mobile devices (Alyaz, Genc, 2016) to enliven the learning process, yet the role of in class (either online or offline) language games as a teaching strategy has become more important than ever. Being entertaining and challenging, including components of beneficial peer competition, games assist enormously in getting students involved with the target language through social interaction (Macedonia, 2005; Gozcu, 2016; Serova, 2018). While developing specific language skills, they also improve team working skills through collaborative learning, increase motivation and positively affect students’ academic self-esteem.

The paper focuses on specific language games, developed by the authors for different methodological purposes. They are mostly aimed at university students but may be adapted for other age groups. They are targeted at a range of language skills: from pronunciation and spelling to vocabulary and grammar and may be used for different proficiency levels (Shamina, 2018). Some are concerned with enhancing professional terminology and upgrading translating skills.

Findings of the feedback surveys run among the students in the study allow the authors come to the conclusion that incorporating language games as supplementary material into the EFL classroom provides students with more learning opportunities and has a general positive impact on their learning efficiency.

Keywords:

An EFL curriculum, innovation, language learning games, learning efficiency.