Games in the language classroom
Penny Ur
Rokus Klett conference
Slovenia, 2017
What is a game?
An activity that has
• a simple, easily achieved goal ...
• ... made challenging and ‘fun’ by the addition of artificial ‘rules’ ...
• ... and sometimes competition.
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What is ‘play’?
Activity that
• is done for pleasure and...
• ...has no serious transactional or interpersonal purpose.
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Two games: “Hangman”
“Recall and share”
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bicycle
because people
independent embarrassed
friend roughly
privilege building
enough
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Why play games?
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Why play games in English lessons?
• To increase enjoyment
• To motivate students to participate
• To provide opportunities for effective language learning or practice
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Why play games in English lessons?
• To increase enjoyment
• To motivate students to participate
• To provide opportunities for effective language learning or practice
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Why NOT?
Some students may see them as ‘trivializing’ or childish;
They may indeed not lead to much language learning;
Time may be wasted distributing / collecting cards, boards, dice etc.
Many of the students may not be involved.
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Language play
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Language play is...
... the use of language to produce or understand text that is entertaining rather than seriously transactional.
e.g. Jokes
joking exchanges
imaginative brainstorming
rhythmic or rhyming texts
(Cook, 2000)
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An example: “Exclamations’
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Think of an event, using the present perfect, that would produce one of the following responses.
For example:
‘We’ve just got married!’ ‘Congratulations!’
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That’s a relief! Sorry! Unbelievable!
Congratulations! What a shame! Thank goodness!
Cool! No, thank you. Oh no!
Never mind! Rubbish! Wow!
(Ur, 2009)
Advantages of language play
It provides opportunities for students to produce a lot of language...
... which may or may not focus on a particular language point.
It’s fun.
There is evidence that it leads to good learning (Bell, 2012).
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In conclusion
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We may sometimes play games that have no language-learning value ...
... with a difficult class, to keep them quiet;
... at the end of a long day or week, as a ‘break’ from serious study;
... to fill in time at the end of a lesson.
But in most situations:
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Playing (games) is worthwhile if...
.... It is not only enjoyable, but also:
• leads to good use of time for language learning;
• engages most of the students most of the time; and
• students are aware of its value for learning. (Wright et al., 2006; Ur & Wright, 1992)
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References
Bell, N. (2012). Comparing playful and non-playful incidental attention to form. Language Learning, 62(1), 236-265. Cook, G. (2000). Language play, language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ur, P. (2009). Grammar practice activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ur, P., & Wright, A. (1992) Five minute activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wright, A., Betteridge, D., & Buckby, M. (2006). Games for language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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