GAMES

Games are the stuff of life in

classroom. As well as providing
stimulation, variety, interest and
motivation, they help to promote
positive
attitudes towards
learning English.

CHARACTERISTICS
OF GAMES

 Games may be multi-sensory and involve movement. They may

develop a range of different social, cognitive and language skills.
They may be played using a variety of different interaction
patterns.
Games are above all enjoyable and fun, and this is both the
source of their appeal and what makes them potentially hard to
manage, especially if students do not perceive them, as a apart
of real work.
Games has rules wich need to be adhered to if they are to
function succesfully.

 Another defining characteristic of games is the

existence of some kind of contest. This may be
either a contest between the players, in wich
case the game is competitive, or a contest
between the players and the goal, in wich case
the game is cooperative.

SELECTING
AND
ADAPTING GAMES

When selecting or adapting games to use in

class, its frequently possible to address
the potential drawbacks of competitive
games by making a small shift in the rules
to turn what is potentially a competitive
game in to a cooperative one.

LEARNING
THROUGH
GAMES

Young children have a natural tendency to

express themselves and find out about their
world through play and this can provide
positive foundations for learning a foreign
language too.

Through games children can be given initial

opportunities to recognize and respond to
language non-verbaly.
They can also produce chunks of language, in
contexts wich require enjoyable repetition
and wich draw them in to using English in an
natural and spontaneous way.

Games allow for holistic learning and the integrated

physical,
social,
emotional
and
cognitive
development of young children. As well as
developing language skills, games help to develop
young childrens social skills, such as showing
willingness to cooperate and take turns, listening to
others and learning to follow and respect the rules
of the games. Some games also help to develop
physical coordination and psychomotor skills, visual
spatial awareness and creative thinking or
numeracy.

TIPS FOR
PLAYING GAMES

 Go for simplicity!!! Its often the simplest games

that works the best, especially in large classes.
Make sure that all the children are involved all the
time (even if not directly).
Make sure you know how the games works yourself
before getting the children to play it!

 Give clearly staged instructions and demonstrate and /

or model the game. Play with the whole class first.
Teach children interactive language for playing the
game, if appropriate, eg: its my / your turn and
encourage them to use it.
Be fair and firm about enforcing rules (children expect
and want this)

 If students are playing the game independently,

circulate and monitor. At the same time, however,
give children space to experiment and to show that
they can play the game responsibly on their own.
Stop the game while the children are stil on task
and before they lose interest.
Familiarize the children with the names of games
you play regularly to reduce the need for
instructions.

Thanks !!!