Developing a1 level learner`s grammatical competence through games contents introduction chapter I. Developing a1 and a2 level learner`s grammatical competence through games

Size of group. This is another important factor to be taken into consideration whenever games or game-like activities are put to practice. The size of group in the language classroom strongly affects the suitability of using games in this context. The Game-activities which are devised for small classes may not be suitable for fairly large classes and quite impossible for big ones of more than a hundred. The problem is that if large groups of learners are located in the same classroom to practice the language, the learners’ abilities to personally participate will, definitely, be reduced. This, undoubtedly, will encourage the taking on the role of a passive spectator. Language teachers, on the other hand will feel exhausted all the time as ‘games take too long to prepare for so many students’ . Moreover, some gameactivities involve students to speak throughout the whole activity and learners will get too excited and this, consequently, results in chaos in large classes as they will make much noise and some teachers will get annoyed as controlling large classes is one of the hardest tasks facing even the most experienced teachers. The larger the group is, the more difficult it becomes to set up game-activities, which promote active language use.

Time. Lastly, the time factor is of great importance in deciding whether game-activities can achieve the right balance between product and process and whether it is suitable for a particular group of learners. The real questions here are ‘will the game take me a long time to prepare, compared with the amount of useful work learners will get from it?’ or ‘Is the language learner in a game course capable of learning at a fast rate when s/he is guided by games?’. Mackey (1965) explains that learning a language takes practice, and practice takes time, at least as much time as learning any other skill. What really matters here is to plan game-activities according to what the time structure of the course is. If little time can be devoted to language learning, the most suitable game-activity may be the one with the minimum learning load and the maximum range of meaning and expression and the greatest relative productivity. However, it must not go unmentioned that using games in the same lesson will take up too great proportion of the time devoted for the learning time. Moreover, dividing learners into groups in every class can easily be a time-wasting operation.

The organization of training, aimed at developing the ability of children to independently analyze linguistic phenomena, highlight the main thing, establish cause-and-effect relationships, consciously apply knowledge and learned methods of activity in independent foreign language speech, is designed to improve visual-figurative thinking and develop thinking in concepts.
I.A. Zimnyaya believes that the initial stage in secondary school is understood as the period of learning a foreign language, which allows laying the foundations of communicative competence, necessary and sufficient for their further development and improvement in the course of studying this subject. The initial stage, as a rule, includes grades 1–4 of general educational institutions. To lay the foundations of communicative competence, a sufficiently long period is required, because students need to familiarize themselves with the language being studied as a means of communication from the first steps. This means that they must learn to understand foreign speech by ear (listening), express their thoughts by means of the language being studied (speaking), read, understand a foreign text read to themselves, and write, that is, learn to use the graphics and spelling of a foreign language when performing writing tasks aimed at mastering reading and speaking, or being able to express their thoughts in writing. Indeed, in order to lay the foundations for each of the listed types of speech activity, it is necessary to accumulate linguistic means that ensure the functioning of each of them at an elementary communicative level, allowing them to move to a qualitatively new stage of their development in the future.
The initial stage is also important because the success in mastering the subject at subsequent stages depends on how the learning goes at this stage. The English methodologist G. Palmer, who attached great importance to the beginning in the study of a foreign language, wrote: “Take care of the first two stages and the rest will take care of itself”.
In addition, it is at the initial stage that the methodological system that forms the basis of teaching a foreign language is implemented, which from the first steps allows the teacher to enter this system and carry out the educational process in accordance with its main provisions.
V.M. Filatov writes that the construction of the initial stage may be different in relation to the language material, its volume, organization; consistency in the formation and development of oral and written speech; taking into account the conditions in which the educational process is carried out; revealing the potential of the subject itself in solving educational, educational and developmental tasks facing the school.
Self-esteem in young children is very high. Children do not personally take the teacher's remarks and instructions to themselves, if they are of a general nature, they will react only when they are addressed personally. Requirements for the behavior of children in a foreign language lesson should be introduced gradually, reaching the full volume by the end of the first year of study. For young children, demands should take the form of requests or wishes. Violation of the requirements of the teacher should cause him regret or slight resentment, and not punishment or irritation.
Young children are characterized by significant individual differences arising from the different experiences of children in the family, kindergarten, school. The process of getting used to school by children takes place in different ways: someone behaves confidently, someone - anxiously, someone - capriciously.
Passov E.I. believes that some children may still experience difficulties in communicating in their native language. Others are too impulsive or, conversely, passive. It is necessary to pay attention to impulsive children from the first lessons, to work more actively, to assign different roles, to constantly include them in common activities. When teaching a language, it is necessary to take into account the temperament of children. To do this, the teacher must work in constant contact with parents and other teachers. The first meeting of children with the teacher is always of great importance. An affectionate voice, a friendly smile, a kind attitude are very important for them.