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খবর-দার

০৩ নভেম্বর, ২০১৯ ১০:১৮ পূর্বাহ্ণ

Vocabulary building game becoming popular

Scrabble, a word game for language learning has become popular in the schools of the northern region. Scrabble is a very interesting learning tool. It teaches people to expand their vocabularies and helps to improve word-derivation skills. The game has also great significance for developing the core skills of learning among students.

It is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns, and be included in a standard dictionary or lexicon.

The board game is popular around the world as it is a great tool for building vocabulary. One can find this useful for learning –exploring new words and settling disputes with the opponents.

 An International competition, the “1st ever International Scrabble Championship” for school children was held at Kaliganj Karim Uddin Public School under Lalmonirhat district in the month of April of this year.

Of the participants, 10 students of nine schools were from Nepal, while 66 students came from 32 schools in Bangladesh.

An English teacher, Rawsan Jahan at Robertsongonj High School & College, Rangpur said, “The board game got popularity in the northern districts of the country. It is very effective for vocabulary forming which is helpful for English Language learning. Students will lose the fear of English language playing the game. It helps students to improve their memory and immune system.  Moreover, the game plays an important role for personal and interpersonal development.”

A student named Jehan Islam of the school said that he had been playing Scrabble since 2017 and his English vocabulary was improving through playing it. He was very happy to join the  “1st ever International Scrabble Championship” for schoolchildren held at Kaliganj Karim Uddin Public High School this year.  

“Mobile application Scrabble Word Checker (with Collins Scrabble Words 2015) should be consulted to confirm spellings during the game,” she added.

Khurshiduzzaman Ahmed, the head teacher of Kaliganj Karim Uddin Public  High School[KUP] and also the president of Bangladesh Scrabble Association [BSA] , said, we  have been organising national scrabble championship for the last three years in Lalmonirhat district.  The “1st ever International Scrabble Championship” for schoolchildren was held in our school this year. The third national scrabble championship was held recently at T.N School & College, Patgram under Lalmonirhat district. A total of 128 students of thirty nine schools from eight districts of Rangpur division took part in the tournament. Of the participants, top ten  from six schools of the division have been selected to join an ‘International Scrabble Championships’ event scheduled to be held in Nepal on the following  12 January  2020.

He also said the game helps to build vocabulary and develop strategic, intellectual capacity and social bonding skills. Moreover, the highly competitive fun game can be beneficial to a person’s emotional wellbeing through developing confidence. He would take steps to popularise Scrabble among students in all schools in the country and students in his school have so far been keen on learning the game.

Ahanaf Masfiq, a student of KUP School and also a participant from Bangladesh, said, he was very excited to be selected for the International Scrabble Championship.

He has been playing the game for the last two years. He enjoys playing the game.  “I will continue to play the game as it really helps to learn the English language.”

An observer of the National and International Scrabble Championships, Zakir Hossain also Principal of Robertsongonj High School & College, Rangpur said, “Scrabble can be a good way to get children interested in English Language, without telling them they are about to receive a word lesson, so growing  interest  in the English vocabulary and a reason to learn is very  important.”

He also said, “Language proficiency, creativity, critical thinking, networking and leaderships are essential skills in today’s global context. Scrabble helps students to be creative and analytical forming new words in order to learn language and create opportunities to develop networking with national and international partner schools. The students also got the chances to develop their leadership skills by playing the game.  So, the game has great significance.”