What do you think about playing games in your classroom as a tool for teaching and learning a foreign language? Many people regard games as a way of wasting time because you can`t see instant progress in the students. In fact, games are seen as part of a recess rather than an essential part of the class and that´s why you can still observe many teacher presentation lessons in Chile`s classrooms . However, we can use games as a way to control behavior and as a subconscious technique to teach a foreign language like English.
Students love games because, as I said before, they don`t see them as an essential part of the class. Therefore, they relax and are willing to be a part of this massive recess. They start “magically” speaking in English (in the foreign language) if doing so they can obtain points for their group, and yes, it is true that the English used is not going to be of the best quality, but at least they are applying what they have in their hard disks. Students love competition and as teachers we should take advantage from that and teach not only a certain language , but also values regarding a fair competition. Also, and I will finish up with this, always use games as a way of prizing students for good behavior. We can always come back to have those boring English sessions but the idea is to make it fun to learn.
Games are not a waste of time!
Here I will give you the names of some games
- Vocabulary games: hungman, hot potato, musical ball, riddles etc.
- Speaking game: guess game (description game).
- Phonetics game: tong twisters, the telephone.
- Grammar: puzzles.
Links of interest regarding games
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