Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Goku]

I have bounced on both sides of the topic, but now I'm taking serious consideration to the value of games for English language learning.

A large majority of English games, I feel, are simply reiteration of knowledge they already know. So, I feel that students aren't learning anything, just recalling or reiterating knowledge. There is no learning process, and a recalling/repetion process of learning is debatable.

This has caused me to question many of the games I use.

Now I know that many team tasked based games are authentic learning experiences. Such as when I use BAAM with the students, their passion for learning comes out and they search for the answers in their book. There is definatley learning there (however, I can't be sure, because I've never tested them on the same knowledge after)

On the flip side, I was looking at some of the materials that the previous FT left behind. Wow... Everyone saw her as a fun good teacher, but then I looked at her stuff. Now she put a lot of effort, mind you there are lots of lamented crap everywhere. I can't even sort it all. But I saw some worksheets that are like:

"Write down a story about doctors"
"What colors do you like"
"What is your favorite animal"

Using this method would assume the kids already know the material. So it's just an activity where they are applying it. I question, is this learning? is it even reinforcing learning? What kind of games foster learning? What games don't?

[D.D.]

We are here to get them to use the knowledge they already have. Information is cheap these days and it is learning how to use it that is important.

[Cerriowen]

Repetition is really important, even if they already know it. You didn't learn to talk by hearing something once or twice and then never again.

Every time you learn something, there's a tiny... uh... string... attached through your brain, connecting the pieces of knowledge to other pieces. Every time you go over it again, and use it, and process it... the threat is added to in thickness, and makes more ties and connections to new pieces of knowledge.

Most of my kids have memorized "Hi, how are you"? but couldn't have a really basic conversation of even 3-4 minutes without major errors.

[lifeinkorea]

I have been teaching over 5 years, and I have yet to need a game (INSTEAD of a lesson). There are so many lessons to do and prepare. I am not saying it's a bad idea, but I would prefer to add games to lessons than substitute.

[John_ESL_White]

But I saw some worksheets that are like:

"Write down a story about doctors"
"What colors do you like"
"What is your favorite animal"


Those don't sound like games to me.

If you have a lesson that goes along with "write down a story about...." then it's 100% not a game.

Sounds like you have games and worksheets mixed up.

[some waygug-in]

I work at a middle school 2 days a week and my co-teacher specifically asked me to only play games and to not do anything from the textbooks.

I think its effectiveness depends on what kind of game, how well it is set up and how appropriate it is (level wise) for the students.

Last week I played pictionary, but I wrote a list of adjectives on the left and a list of nouns on the right. The students had to choose one word from each side and draw a picture. The other students had to guess what was being drawn.

ex: A fat policeman.


After a couple of rounds I added a second column of adjectives and the students had to choose a word from each.

ex: A big happy elephant.


They seemed to enjoy it.

[cubanlord]

[Juregen]

[some waygug-in]

What surprised me, although perhaps it shouldn't have, was how little some of these kids can read. Some of them couldn't even read the names of animals I had written.

Things like, lion, zebra, frog etc.

[Fishead soup]

Personally I like what it commonly refered to as Chinese Whispers. The goal of the game is to trasmit a message through a line of students and have the last student write the message on the board. This activity involves teamwork. All students are involved in the activity and no one is sitting idle. In a short period of time you can get the students to use quite a lot of English. This activity is similar to Beehive activities an activity that is usually encouraged for large classes.

For teaching directions I sometimes get the class to transform the classroom into a maze blindfold a student and have him walk through the maze.

20 questions is good for teaching adjectives of appearance. You can also use it for celebrities.

Janga- This is a common game played in Thai juicy bars. If you've been to the land of smiles you've probrubLy played this. Remove a block from a tower until it falls. I write basic questions on each block and have the students ask other students the questions. They play until the tower falls students love this game. Buy the game from most department stores and write the questions on each block. Requires almost no translation into L-1.

[MissMaggie]

I must have a game or role-play at the end of every lesson. The point of the game is not to teach them something new, it is to get them to use what they have learned, and to be excited about using english to help them with the game.

Today I played "hot potato" with my 3rd graders using a flash card as the potato. When the music stopped, the class would ask "What's This?" and the student holding the card would have to tell us what it was. By the end of the class there were only 2 or 3 kids who didn't know all the vocabulary. I get the impression that these kids are more or less lost causes to begin with at this school anyways. The rule seems to be that if they don't understand, you just give up and move on without them.

[Pwillig]

Repetition is extremely important. It's one thing to simply take information in, but quite another to express it.

[some waygug-in]

This week I'm using a game called "what did I say?"

I wrote two columns of sentence fragments on the board.

A big fat chicken

Some smelly gorillas

A rude, nasty boy

etc.

Column 2 had various endings;


ate my lunch

stole my bike

hit my sister

etc.

I had about 7 or 8 fragments in each column.

One student has to come to the front and make a sentence using 1 fragment from each column..... but he has to cover his mouth with his hand. The other students have to guess what he said.

It takes a while to get going, but they got into it after a while.

After a couple of rounds I added a third column...

and died.

and ran away.

and laughed.

etc.

[Goku]

[Goku]