Language games
Students expect not only practical strategies and tips on how to deal with specific tasks but also language input and revision. After teaching a grammatical or lexical point, try practicing it in an enjoyable way. We simply need to explain the rules of the game and demonstrate it clearly (it could be ourselves performing the task, or a video of the game is being played). Organise students into groups and either set up a competition or allow learners to enjoy the experience without worrying about having to ‘win’. The following lanauge games are generally popular with teachers the world over.
1. Quizlet has over 100 million flashcard sets that can be used for speed matching, creating definitions for words and phrases, spelling purposes and long term retention of vocabulary. Students can also use their smart phones to play this game or revise vocabulary via Quizlet at home.
2. Hot Seat does wonders for lexis as well. For a real challenge, set time limits (usually 60–90 seconds per lexical item). It works well for collocations and idioms rather than single words, to be boarded and guessed at by whoever is in the hot seat. For advanced students, a complex guessing game called Catchphrase is ideal – watch TV show host Jimmy Fallon playing HERE.
3. Call My Bluff works with a multitude of grammar points. Students are asked to write down four sentences about themselves (using, for instance, conditionals), one of which is not true. They then mingle, elaborate on the sentences and see if their classmates can spot the falsehood. Teachers should model this at length, at the beginning, to ensure students understand what to do.
4. Running Dictation. This game can be attempted with famous quotations that the students later have to discuss. Less detail-oriented learners will have no choice but to pay attention to every word in the given sentences, developing the good habit of ‘noticing’.
5. Just a minute. Students are given a topic and one minute to talk about it without any repetition, deviation or hesitation. Watch Stephen Fry provide a great example HERE.
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