Abstract:

This article is the result of an exhaustive bibliographic review about the validity of didactic games in the process of teaching foreign languages with emphasis on English. For the writing of this text three important axes were used as a) concepts of games from psychology and didactics b) types of research concerning games and their classifications, and characteristics according to the ages of the students c) the influence of the implementation of didactic games in the teaching of foreign languages. As a result of this research advantages and disadvantages of the use of games in teaching English as well as possible research topics related to this theory are offered. The contribution of this text is to offer the reader an updated view about the use of didactic games in the teaching of English.

The methodology followed for the elaboration of this article consists of three phases: Where did we search?
What was searched for? And what was excluded from the review? The theme of this work deals with games from the point of view of psychology and didactics, as both disciplines are closely related to the field of the learning processes of man as a social entity. The didactic game according to Chacón (2008) is a strategy that can be used at any level or modality of education but in general the teacher uses it very little because he does not know its multiple advantages.

What characteristics should a didactic game have? According to Chacón (2008), once the objectives have been established, it is necessary to know its characteristics in order to carry it out in a practical way, without forgetting that they must contemplate the following: Didactic intention, didactic objective, rules, limitations and conditions, a number of players, a specific age, fun, tension, teamwork, competition.

As research questions: What strategies exist to improve the English class? What are the advantages and disadvantages of didactic games in the English teaching learning process? What influence do didactic games have in the process of teaching English in basic education?
The field of this research is the teaching of languages and its objective was: To analyze the influence of games as a didactic strategy in the process of teaching and learning English. The target group for this research is students from basic education.

Where did we look for? In Pedagogy and Didactic Journals in Google scholar, as well as specialized papers and articles about the use of games as a didactic strategy for teaching English. The searching included articles in Scielo and Redalyc.

Inclusion criteria:
The articles and papers related to research questions and their variables- Articles between 2008 and 2019.-Studies related to models, strategies- methods and approaches for the construction of the final article.-Articles found in Google schollar , Scielo and Redalyc and full articles.

Keywords:

Didactic games, foreign languages, English, basic education.