“SNOWBALL” TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING ENGLISH

“Snowball” technique is one of vocabulary games which make students enjoy learning vocabulary. This technique encourages students to be active in learning English. “Snowball” technique has a positive effect on the development of the students’ memory.

The aim of this technique is to review the vocabulary. Thus, “Snowball” technique can be a good facility in developing students’ vocabulary in a teaching process.

The procedure of “Snowball” technique is not difficult to apply. The main task of students is to repeat the phrase of the previous person and to expand it either by a word, a word-combination or a sentence (depending on the topic and the rules).

This technique can be used while learning different topics, e.g. “Animals”, “Birds”, “Flowers”, “Trees”, “Fish”, “Colours”, “Foodstuff”, “Vegetables and fruit”, etc.

“Snowball” technique has the following advantages:

1. This technique can make students more skillful in learning vocabulary.
2. The ability of memorizing vocabulary units can increase, because students learn new lexical material in an enjoyable way.
3. “Snowball” technique can be used as an effective warming-up activity, thus helping students to relax and to have fun while studying.
4. It can make the teaching process more attractive and efficient.
5. Besides, this technique can help a teacher to find out students who know the vocabulary and those who have not prepared.
6. “Snowball” technique also evolves the ability to listen to others and helps to develop rote memory.
7. This activity provides repetition of the new vocabulary by all students.

A sample of “Snowball” technique

The topic: “Birds”

1^st person: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale…

2^nd p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale and a titmouse…

3^rd p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse and a parrot…

4^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot and a swift…

5^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift and an eagle…

6^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle and a heron…

7^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron and a sparrow…

8^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow and a hummingbird…

9^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird and a raven…

10^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven and a swallow…

11^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow and a swan…

1^st p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan and a magpie…

2^nd p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie and a hawk…

3^rd p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk and a robin…

4^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk, a robin and a mockingbird…

5^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk, a robin, a mockingbird and a woodpecker…

6^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk, a robin, a mockingbird, a woodpecker and a kite…

7^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk, a robin, a mockingbird, a woodpecker, a kite and an owl…

8^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk, a robin, a mockingbird, a woodpecker, a kite, an owl and a flamingo…

9^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk, a robin, a mockingbird, a woodpecker, a kite, an owl, a flamingo and a cuckoo…

10^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk, a robin, a mockingbird, a woodpecker, a kite, an owl, a flamingo, a cuckoo and a crane…

11^th p.: Yesterday I went to the bird market and bought a nightingale, a titmouse, a parrot, a swift, an eagle, a heron, a sparrow, a hummingbird, a raven, a swallow, a swan, a magpie, a hawk, a robin, a mockingbird, a woodpecker, a kite, an owl, a flamingo, a cuckoo, a crane and a canary…

In order to memorize and repeat the vocabulary one can expand the procedure of “Snowball” technique and propose to find associations with the given words, e.g.:

1 p.: a nightingale (соловей) – Florence Nightingale – an outstanding British nurse, the founder of modern nursing.

1 p.: a magpie (сорока) – a pie which is attacked by magpies, who wanted to taste it, but they got stuck, so the curious magpies are being inside the pie.

2 p.: a titmouse (синица) – the animation studio “Titmouse” –

If you meet a little mouse

Don’t be afraid and don’t escape

Cause it’s so nice as a titmouse

Believe in it and stay awake.

2 p.: a hawk (ястреб) – a well-known film “Hudson Hawk” –

If you see a hawk

It will be a real shock.

3 p.: a parrot (попугай) – Pirates (with parrots sitting on their shoulders).

3 p.: a robin (малиновка) – Robin Hood (a hero from the English folklore). 

4 p.: a swift (стриж) – Jonathan Swift – a famous English poet and writer – The bird SWIFT is quick as lift.

4 p.: a mockingbird (пересмешник) – “To kill a mocking-bird” (a well-known novel by Harper Lee and a film).

5 p.: an eagle (орел) – close to the word “needle” (“игла”) – a symbol from coats of arms of the USA, Russia, Germany, etc.

5 p.: a woodpecker (дятел) – a character of the famous American cartoon “Woody Woodpecker”.

6 p.: a heron (цапля) – Charon (a person who carries souls of the deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron).

6 p.: a kite (коршун) – close to the Russian word “кайф”.

7 p.: a sparrow (воробей) – a character Captain Jack Sparrow from the well-known film “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

7 p.: an owl (сова) – a symbol of wisdom and of the famous intellectual game “What? Where? When?”

8 p.: a hummingbird (колибри) – close to a helicopter (because this bird beats its wings very quickly which is similar to the twirl of rotors of a helicopter).

8 p.: a flamingo (фламинго) – a Russian song “Pink Flamingo”.

9 p.: a raven (ворон) – a poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.

9 p.: a cuckoo (кукушка) – the onomatopoeic word – a film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”.

10 p.: a crane (журавль) – a cranberry (Cranberry is a very tasty thing to eat, don’t waste and take it because a crane can do it).

10 p.: a swallow (ласточка) – “to swallow” (глотать) –

To swallow something

Don’t spread your mouth so widely

Because it is spring

And a swallow can jump in it so fastly.

11 p.: a swan (лебедь) – a character of the American cartoon “The Swan Princess”.

11 p.: a canary (канарейка) – a bird known for its beautiful voice, so it can be bought by some Turkish or Persian princesses in order to entertain them.