Gelişen ve değişen toplumların en önemli ihtiyaçlarından biri haline gelen yabancı dil öğrenme gereksinimi giderek artmakta. Geçmiş dönemlerde bu ihtiyaç belli bir yaşın üzerindeki bireyler için söz konusu olsa da günümüzde küçük yaştaki bireyler de bu ihtiyacın hedefi olmuşlardır. Yabancı bir dil öğrenme ihtiyacı beraberinde, "Hedef dili etkili bir biçimde nasıl öğrenebilirim?", "Öğrendiklerimi aktif bir şekilde nasıl kullanabilirim?", "Hedef dili eğlenceli bir şekilde nasıl öğrenebilirim?", "Hedef dili öğrenirken 4 temel becerimi nasıl aktif hale getirebilir, onları nasıl geliştirebilirim?" gibi birçok soruyu da beraberinde getirmiştir. Nitekim son zamanlarda dil derslerinde "Ne öğretmeliyim/ ne öğrenmeliyim?" öğrenmeliyim?" sorusu daha çok sorulur hale gelmiş ve bu soruya cevap olabilecek birçok yöntem geliştirilmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu yöntemlerden biri de yabancı dil dersinde oyunları kullanarak onların eğlenceli, kendiliğinden ve eğitici yönlerinden faydalanmaktır.Oyunların eğitici ve öğretici yönlerinden faydalanarak hazırlanan dil dersleri öğrencileri birçok yönden geliştirmekte ve onlara eğlenceli bir dersin kapılarını açmaktadır. Makalemizde oyunların dil derslerinde kullanımının öğrenci açısından ne gibi faydalar sağladığına ve oyunların neden dil derslerine konulması gerektiğini de açıklamaya çalıştık. Çalışmamızın temel amacı ise Aktaş ve İşigüzel'in "Erken Yaşlarda Oyunlarla Yabancı Dil Öğretimi Kuram ve Uygulama" (2013) kitabından ve içindeki oyunlardan faydalanarak örnek bir Almanca dil dersi ortaya koymaktır.

The need for learning a foreign language has been increasing as a result of developing and changing societies. While that need was available for individuals, above a certain age, in the past, young individuals also need to learn a foreign language these days. The need for learning a foreign language has led to some question as follows; “How can I teach the target language efficiently?”, “How can I use what I have learned actively?”, “How can I develop the four skills while I am learning the target language?”. In recent years, the question of how I should teach or learn has been frequently asked instead of the question of what I should teach or learn. Therefore, many methods have been developed as an answer to those questions. One of those methods is using games to benefit from their entertaining and educative features. Language lessons designed following the instructive and informative aspects of games help improve students in several ways and open them a door to enjoyable lessons. In our paper, we focused on what kinds of advantages games provide in language lessons, and also attempted to explain why games should be utilized in language lessons. The main aim of this paper is to make a sample lesson plan for a German as a foreign language class benefiting from the book and the games in it, “Teaching Foreign Language through Games at Early Ages” by Tahsin Aktas and Bahar Isıgüzel. The idea of understanding the other people and benefitting from them, which is one of the fundamental factors in a changing and developing world, has gradually become widespread. From this perspective, the desire to teach and learn foreign languages has also increased. In other words, the more foreign languages we speak, the more efficiently we learn other nationalities’ ideas, cultures, technologies and so forth, and use such knowledge in our own life. Therefore, it can be claimed that knowing a foreign language is not a privilege any more, but a necessity. In light of such needs, throughout the history, many paradigm shifts regarding language learning and teaching have been proposed, and will continue to be proposed. Each new method replaces another method, and consequently, several different questions pertinent to language teaching and learning arise. Thus, the number of the methods used to understand other cultures, to use the target language in an efficient way, and to apply the acquired knowledge to life is slowly increasing. Learning and teaching a foreign language is now viewed as a necessity. Further, the question ‘how will this be achieved?’ has been investigated. As an answer to the question ‘how can I teach or learn a foreign language in an enjoyable way?” several scientists, linguists, and pedagogues have proposed the idea of teaching foreign languages through games. It is no doubt that individuals’ best learning method in which they can express themselves in a comfortable way is games. Indeed, the fact that games are one of basic elements that each and every individual needs makes games a universal phenomenon. In addition, another important issue that has drawn attention is at what age one should start learning a foreign language. As a result of changing needs, the age of onset of foreign language learning is now earlier than before. Further, the focus is now on learning a foreign language at an early age, rather than teaching foreign language per se. Given that, one of the research topics investigated and the methods proposed is to teach foreign language through games. Indeed, thanks to games, individuals, starting from early childhood, constantly communicate others, tirelessly use body language, gestures and mimics. Furthermore, with the help of a well-designed syllabus, the issue of pronouncing target words correctly, which is one of thorniest areas of language teaching, can be overcome. One of the most important features of childhood period is that children’s consciousness and language skills begin to develop. Considering that, it will be easier for a child to learn both the mother tongue and the target language at the same time in this period. Therefore, it is important for parents and teachers to be able to make use of games and fun activities at this stage. Again in this very period, the combination of appropriate texts with games appears to be crucial not only for teachers, parents, but also for children in the process of language learning. Considering all these points mentioned above, the features of games and their benefits are in detail explained in our study. One of these benefits is that individuals can use his or her imagination in an active way. Individuals who actively use his or her imagination will easily internalize the target language and get the utmost from the activities. A number of different activities and games that can help individuals develop his or her imagination, and motivate him or her to play games during language learning process are also provided in our study. With the help of games, students will have chances to learn the structures of the target language and the mother language, as well. Further, students will implicitly learn the grammar structures and rules, and be able to apply them appropriately. Also, games that focus highly on interaction will help students gain fluency. In a nutshell, it can be said that games that are suitable for students’ interests and developmental level will be very beneficial in that students will be motivated for the lesson and the target language, as well. To make use of games in such a way is very advantageous on the part of language learners and language teachers. Given that, we decided to investigate teaching German as a foreign language through games, and attempted to create a sample German lesson. In this sample German lesson, we tried to have a student-centered plan, in which 4 basic skills are actively used, by focusing on the positive aspects of games so that students can acquire such skills at maximum. We examined different studies, mostly in Turkish and German, on teaching language through games, and identified the studies that are in line with our own study, and then addressed the findings of those studies in our study. The starting point of our study is the book titled “Theories and Applications of Teaching Foreign Language through Games at Early Ages” by Tahsin Aktaş and Bahar İşigüzel. We focused on “Colors/die Farben” in the target language (i.e., German) by adopting sample games from this book. By this way, we tried to prove our claim that games should be used in language lessons, by demonstrating, with several examples, how games can be applied in language lessons in practice. That is, we did not simply limit the scope of our study only to theoretical knowledge but we also attempted to demonstrate in detail what kinds of advantages games can provide and how games can be applied in language lessons. Although we focused only on teaching foreign language through games at early ages in this study, it is important to note here that using games in adult language teaching environments will equally be important. Games are useful activities not only for young learners but also for adults as long as appropriate games are selected and used with a well-designed lesson plan. The point that is highly important is to design a lesson plan by focusing on the target group’s age, level of knowledge, interests and needs, and taking into account the possible benefits that games can provide. Conclusion * Games provide students with a real-life learning environment and help them implicitly learn the topic in question. *Students have more freedom in game-oriented activities, which results in better learning. *Games create an effective learning environment by helping students develop their imagination. *Group games help develop students’ interpersonal communication skills and empower their social relations. *Games are suitable for group and individual activities. *Games play an active role in developing senses, feelings and skills since they address many senses. *Topics that are considered hard to be learned can easily be learned through games *Games contribute to the development of muscles since many games allow students to be active. *The constant interaction among students during games helps them improve their language *Many games strengthen a number of different thinking skills along with imagination. * Using songs along with games help improve the skills of rhythm and phonetics. *The four basic skills, which are reading, writing, listening and speaking, can be improved through different games.