Investigating the Use of Games and Flash Cards in Teaching Spatial and Temporal Prepositions to Iranian Pre-Intermediate EFL Learners

Abstract

One of the most problematic areas for teachers and learners in English classrooms is prepositions. Two types of prepositions in English are spatial (space) and temporal (time) prepositions. Prepositions are words linking two entities and thereby specifying the relation of the two. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the role of games and flash cards in learning place and time prepositions among pre-intermediate EFL learners. The most common prepositions in this study were <em>in</em>, <em>on</em>, <em>at</em> instructed through game and flashcard modalities. Participants were 75 Pre-intermediatestudentsdivided into three groups as one control group and two experimental groups. After receiving the pre-test, the two experimental groups received the instruction based on game and flash cards modalities while the control group received it based on the conventional methods in six sessions. At the end of the treatment period, to discover the impact of using these modalities, a post-test was administered to three groups. One-way ANOVA analysis of the data determined the positive effect of usinggameand flashcard modalities on improving prepositions among pre-intermediate EFL learners. Results showed that games were more effective than the flash cards in teaching English language prepositions. Yet, flashcards turned out to be useful, too.