why should we use game? (part2)

From 'The Use of Games For Vocabulary Presentation and Revision'

by Agnieszka Uberman
'Forum' Vol. 36 No 1, January - March 1998 Page 20.

Using Games

'Many experienced textbook and methodology manuals writers have argued that games are not just time-filling activities but have a great educational value. W. R. Lee holds that most language games make learners use the language instead of thinking about learning the correct forms (1979:2). He also says that games should be treated as central not peripheral to the foreign language teaching programme. A similar opinion is expressed by Richard-Amato, who believes games to be fun but warns against overlooking their pedagogical value, particularly in foreign language teaching. There are many advantages of using games. "Games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of input more likely" (Richard-Amato 1988:147). They are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can give shy students more opportunity to express their opinions and feelings (Hansen 1994:118). They also enable learners to acquire new experiences within a foreign language which are not always possible during a typical lesson. Furthermore, to quote Richard-Amato, they, "add diversion to the regular classroom activities," break the ice, "[but also] they are used to introduce new ideas" (1988:147). In the easy, relaxed atmosphere which is created by using games, students remember things faster and better (Wierus and Wierus 1994:218). S. M. Silvers says many teachers are enthusiastic about using games as "a teaching device," yet they often perceive games as mere time-fillers, "a break from the monotony of drilling" or frivolous activities. He also claims that many teachers often overlook the fact that in a relaxed atmosphere, real learning takes place, and students use the language they have been exposed to and have practised earlier (1982:29). Further support comes from Zdybiewska, who believes games to be a good way of practising language, for they provide a model of what learners will use the language for in real life in the future (1994:6).'

'Games encourage, entertain, teach, and promote fluency. If not for any of these reasons, they should be used just because they help students see beauty in a foreign language and not just problems that at times seem overwhelming.'

When to Use Games

'Games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end of a lesson. Yet, as Lee observes, a game "should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments when the teacher and class have nothing better to do" (1979:3). Games ought to be at the heart of teaching foreign languages. Rixon suggests that games be used at all stages of the lesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen.'

'Games also lend themselves well to revision exercises helping learners recall material in a pleasant, entertaining way. All authors referred to in this article agree that even if games resulted only in noise and entertained students, they are still worth paying attention to and implementing in the classroom since they motivate learners, promote communicative competence, and generate fluency.'

http://www.teflgames.com/why.html

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why should we use game?

From 'Games for Language Learning'

by Andrew Wright, David Betteridge and Michael Buckby
Cambridge University Press, 1984.

'Language learning is hard work ... Effort is required at every moment and must be maintained over a long period of time. Games help and encourage many learners to sustain their interest and work.'

'Games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. The learners want to take part and in order to do so must understand what others are saying or have written, and they must speak or write in order to express their own point of view or give information.'

'The need for meaningfulness in language learning has been accepted for some years. A useful interpretation of 'meaningfulness' is that the learners respond to the content in a definite way. If they are amused, angered, intrigued or surprised the content is clearly meaningful to them. Thus the meaning of the language they listen to, read, speak and write will be more vividly experienced and, therefore, better remembered.

If it is accepted that games can provide intense and meaningful practice of language, then they must be regarded as central to a teacher's repertoire. They are thus not for use solely on wet days and at the end of term!' (from Introduction, p. 1)

http://www.teflgames.com/why.html

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listen and draw

This is a listening activity for practicing describing a person, object, animal or place and drawing according to the details described. It is also possible to describe an imagined person, object, animal, or place using this activity.

Preparation

Write a description of a person, object, animal, or place, keeping in mind that the learners will be asked to draw it. Make an enlarged copy of the description to display

Procedure

1.       Read a description of a person, object, animal, or place. First of all, ask the learners to listen to the     

      whole description without drawing. For example:

      Teacher:

      My neighbor is a very tall, thin woman. She wears a T-shirt. She wears narrow trousers. She has 

      big fee, very big feet. And she wears big black boots. She has a square face and a long, pointed 

      nose. She has two small eyes right in the middle of her face. She is always miserable and she has a 

      long, miserable mouth. She has a lot of hair. She never combs her hair. It is full of birds. She has     

      long thin arms and always carries her little cat in her arms.

2.       Then read the description again, slowly, and ask the learners to draw what you describe. You may 

      decide to encourage the learners to ask you questions for more clarity. Be willing to read the descriptive 

      several times.

3.       Display all the pictures drawn by the learners and display an enlarged copy of the text you have used. 

      Check the pictures against the text to see if the details are correct.

4.       Let the class vote for the top five most accurate pictures

5.       Consider asking the learners to do similar activity in pairs or groups.  Descriptions and pictures can then 

       be displayed.

Notes

a.       This is a classic ‘communication game’. There is an information gap: the speaker has the information and 

       the learner does not, and must listen to understand it. The drawing shows, non-verbally, how well he or 

       she understood.

b.      If the teacher describes, then it is a listening game for the learners, but if the learners describe, it is also a 

      speaking game. The art of describing is a very necessary art in daily life. 

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Speaking: describe and identify

this game is designed for speaking activity, it allows students to use descriptive language and vocabulary determined by teacher' choice of words or picture

preparation: write a single word on a number os small cards or pieces of paper, one per learner, plus few extra. the words are going to be described by the learners well enough for other learners to identify what has been described.

procedure
1. demonstrate the idea of this game by describing something and asking the class to identify what you have described. the subject and language you use should be appropriate to the learners' level of proficiency and the language you want to practise with them

2. after all the students understand, ask one of the more confident learners to take one of the word cards at random from your hand. he or she must describe the meaning of the word on the card so well that others can identify what it is.

3. give each learner a card and instruct them to prepare a written description of the word on the card. this task is ideal for homework.

examples
cat: it's an animal. it has four legs and a tail. it says miaow. it eats mice.

4. ask some or all of the learners to read out their desriptions to the whole class

                                                       source: games for language learning, Andrew Wright et al

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ice breaker

Ice breaker is the best way to heat up a new class, where the students haven’t known each other. It helps them to be more confident, risk-taking, communicative, and happy to work together with other learners. In addition, it helps them to be focus on the language lesson rather than on other distractions.

While the warmers is useful at the beginning of the lesson with a class where the students already know each other. Here I have gathered some ice breakers and warmers which will be useful in language classroom. It will be updated weekly………

Match the person to the information

An ice breaker uses general descriptive language. It helps students to know each other by hearing, reading, then trying to retrieve a piece of information about them.

Preparation: two strips of card or paper about 10 cm x 2 cm for each learner.

Procedure

1.      Give the learners two cards each and ask them to write their name on one card and a sentence about themselves on the other. For example:

Card 1 : DAVID

Card 2 : I like walking in the country and looking at nature

The name should be written in capital letters, so that the handwriting on the two cards cannot be easily matched, or it would also help to use a different pen for each card.

2.      Put the learners into groups and have them take turns introducing themselves to the group and reading out their sentences.

3.      Tell the learners to shuffle the group’s cards together, then lay them out face down on a table.

4.      The learners take turns to try to find matching pairs of cards. To do this, they turn two cards face up. If they think they have found a pair, they point at the relevant person and say, for example: this is David. He likes walking in the country and looking at nature. If they are correct, they keep the cards. If they are wrong, they turn them back on the table face down.

Source: game for language learning, Andrew Wright et al.

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