Using Games in Teaching English: A Comprehensive Guide
Unit 6: Using Games in Teaching English
6.1 Why Use Games in Class?
There are many reasons to use games in class:
- Games are fun and children enjoy playing them.
- Playing games is a vital and natural part of learning in real situations where children experiment, discover, and interact with their environment.
- Games can add variation and increase motivation while providing an incentive to use the language they are learning because the game makes it useful (they need to use the language to reach a goal in the game).
6.2 What is a Language Game?
A language game is a game that has a set of rules which guide the children’s actions and an element of strategy, because children must successfully apply their language skills. Games can be competitive, but there are also cooperative games where children can work in groups. Language games also develop a child’s analytical thought because they present a challenge, requiring children to respect the rules while trying to reach the goal of the game.
6.3 Integrating Games into the Syllabus
Games are a useful option when a teacher wants to supplement the normal material or replace activities they dislike. It is important to read the syllabus of the course properly because we can find aspects of the language that are not covered in the curriculum. Another important aspect is that games can make lesson planning easier. Once we have played the games a few times and feel comfortable with them, we can introduce them in classes without any extra effort.
Advantages of Using Games:
- Students can help to control the rhythm of a lesson and change an unmotivated child’s attitude into a motivated one, encouraging more participation and receptiveness to the rest of the lesson.
- They are useful to introduce new materials, practice recently learned language items, and introduce new items.
How to use a language game depends on the “personality” of the group of children. Depending on the group, it might be better to use rouser games (movement games with an element of competition, which wake a class up) or settler games (craft activities and games that focus on listening and writing). A game can be a rouser or settler, depending on how we decide to play it.
Points to Consider:
- A game must be more than just fun. It needs to have a language component and focus on clear objectives.
- Play different games from lesson to lesson. Children may call for games they know because they are familiar. We can adapt games for use with various themes and different levels of ability.
- Vary the order in which you play the games. If they are played in the same order, children can predict what’s coming. Avoid the repetitive trap and surprise the children.
- Always end an activity when the fun is still at its peak. We should have extra material for children who finish an activity quickly or who don’t seem interested in continuing to play. We can create new games or variations of existing ones.
- Think ahead. We need to have the class preparation done before the children arrive. We must have a game and its rules very clear before we play it in class, as it is easy for a class to collapse and difficult to reorganize. We need to check all the materials we need and be sure to have plenty of extras.
- Making games into part of the syllabus: Creating games can involve a lot of language use and is also an excellent craft activity. Game creation involves many skills as well as active decision-making on the part of the children. So, children can participate in the creation of games.
6.4 Language Level
Determining a learner’s language level is hard and very difficult, especially if the learner is a young child, but it is not decisive for playing games. Language level doesn’t reflect the real challenge of the games, which you will find in the nature of the activity itself. In addition, games have numerous variations and you can adapt them in the way that would be most suitable for your class.
6.5 Class Size
The larger the group, the more difficult it becomes to set up activities which promote active language use. It is best to divide a class up into smaller groups. For large classes, there are activities based on physical response, like “Simon Says”. We can divide a large class into groups:
- Turn players into teams. Activities that are suitable for eight players can also be suitable for 24 players by splitting them up into groups of three. Encourage English as the language of communication between team members and insist that one player from each team must produce the target language.
- Set up “game stations” in the classroom: This consists of setting up everything we need for each game in a different part of the room. The stations should be clearly marked.
There needn’t only be games at each station. Set up a book station with lots of interesting picture books to look at or read, a listening station with a tape-player for listening to songs or stories, a computer station, and a game station. We can create a teacher station where children can come and speak to us.
6.6 Dealing with Children Who Are “Out” of Games
When a game has winners and losers, often losers are “out” of the game. Also in non-competitive games, some children finish quicker than others. There are options for dealing with these matters:
- A “consolation” round: Losers from one group go on to compete with the losers from another group, or compete in another different game, running parallel to the first one. In this way, the stigma of losing is reduced and the child’s interest is still maintained in the game.
- The central game board: The teacher can create something like a roulette wheel where the kids can find different games when they spin it. The children go off and play the game. When they finish, they return to the roulette wheel, spin it, and move to something new.
6.7 A Word on the Mother Tongue
There are times when a mother tongue explanation can be helpful, especially if we want to play more complicated games which include concepts and procedures the children have not yet learned. But we have to try to speak in English as much as we can and only use the mother tongue in situations where it is absolutely necessary.
6.8 Useful Game-Playing Terms
There are some phrases which are essential in playing games. Some phrases are: Whose turn is it?, You are out, Give… (etc.)
6.9 Essential Materials
It is a good idea to collect some basic materials and to cooperate with other teachers, and make a common “box” of materials. There are certain materials like scissors, pencils, etc. that we must always have handy in the classroom.