The useful alphabet (self-initiated independent learning)
Aims:Speaking skill
Level:Beginner
Time:5-10 minutes
Organisation:Individuals
Procedure:Each student gets a letter and has to find 5, 10 or 15 words she/he thinks would be useful for them. They then report to the class, perhaps as a mingle activity, using word cards (on one side they write the letter, on the other the information on the word - spelling, pronunciation, definition).
Chain Spelling (Shiri-tori)
Level:Easy to Medium
The teacher gives a word and asks a student to spell it, and then a second student should say a word beginning with the last letter of the word given. The game continues until someone makes a mistake, that is, to pronounce the word incorrectly, misspell it or come up with a word that has been said already, then he/she is out. The last one remaining in the game is the winner.
This game can be made difficult by limiting the words to a certain category, e.g.. food, tools, or nouns, verbs, etc.
Spelling Contest
Level:Any Level
First, if you have a large class you have to divide it in 2 teams. Then the teacher says a word or a sentence depending on the level for the students to spell. Students should spell these correctly with not even one mistake. The team that has more points is the winner.
Hangman
Level: Any Level
Divide the class into two teams. On the blackboard, draw spaces for the number of letters in a word. Have the players guess letters in the word alternating between the teams. If a letter in the word is guessed correctly, the teacher writes it into the correct space. If a letter is guessed which is not in the word, the teacher draws part of the man being hanged. The teams which can guess the word first receives a point, then start the game over.
Now let we see what pronunciation games are.
Errors made in pronouncing a foreign language vary to a certain extent from one mother tongue to another, although some are widespread. Listening and speaking habits formed during the process of acquiring the mother tongue make it hard for the learners to hear and make differences of sound which are unimportant in that mother tongue. In such circumstances it is no good asking impatiently Can’t you hear what I am saying? Yet it can be helpful to isolate the sound and point out visible features of its formation, such as the position of the jaws and lips. Indeed, this in itself may enable learners to hear it better. Until they can hear that there is a difference between what they say and what they should say, there will not be much advance.
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Pronunciation drills, which can take the form of games or contests, should be held regularly, but not for long periods; five minutes every lesson may be enough, with a longer stretch occasionally. They should be as meaningful as possible. Although it is necessary to isolate sounds from time to time, sentence examples such as ‘The man outside ran away’ and ‘The men outside ran away’ do help learners to realise that what may seem a very small difference of sound can accompany a big difference of meaning. But at an elementary stage, while the learners’ vocabulary is very small, these drills and games may have to be based on isolated words and sounds.
Learners can act as the teacher in activities but should not do so unless their pronunciation is reasonably good. The teacher tells the learner what to say or writes it on a piece of paper. If it is spoken accurately the learner’s team can win a point, apart from any points others may win with their answers. It is interesting that inability to make their fellow learners understand what they are saying does a lot to convince learners of the shortcomings of their own pronunciation.
As the games and activities, which follow are all meant to help pronunciation.
Are you saying it?
Level: intermediate
Age: any (except young children)
Group size: whole class, teams, groups
It is not enough to be able to recognise differences between speech sounds; one must also be able to produce them. Production exercises can also take the form of games. For instance: as a means of overcoming persistent difficulties with the pronunciation of sounds, a team contest may be arranged. Suppose the difficulty is poor discrimination between /v/ as in veal and /w/ as in wheel. Assuming that the formation of these sounds, in particular the lip positions, has been demonstrated one team can take /v/-words and the other /w/-words, and then change. To begin with, a few members of each team are called upon to say one or the other kind of word (these will be on the board or can be given orally). Then small groups within each team can be given a minute or two to find two-word or three-word phrases containing both /v/-words and /w/-words. Points are awarded for the way in which they say these, and the opposite team can be involved in the adjudication.
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Possible phrases: very wet/very warm, worse verses, wet violets.
What are you saying?
Level: intermediate
Age: any (expect young children)
Group size: whole class
There are some numbered sentences on the board, which differ slightly from one another in pronunciation but greatly in meaning. Examples:
1a. I can’t find my class.
b. I can’t find my glass.
2a. Ballet-dancers work very hard.
b. Belly dancers work very hard.
3a. The trees are full of birds.
b. The trees are full of buds.
4a. We shall leave there.
b. We shall live there.
Students take it in turn to read any sentence aloud (there should be about twenty on the board, based on the learners’ actual difficulties with sounds) and various members of the same team mention the number of the sentence they think has been read.
The same or different
Level:intermediate
Age: any (except younger children)
Group size: whole class
This game can be played with sounds, words, or sentences. It goes roughly as follows: the teacher says two sentences and the learners decide whether they are same or different. Examples:
Teacher: ‘We began to think.’ ‘We began to sink.’ Are they the same? I’ll say them once more…Peter?
Peter: ‘The second one was different.’
Teacher: Right. Listen again: ‘That’s a good road.’ ‘That’s a good road.’
John: ‘Different.’
Teacher: ‘Listen again.’ (Repeats them)
John: ‘The same.’
Teacher: Yes, now listen again. ‘I’d like to look at your bag.’ ‘I’d like to look at your back.’ Hands up.
And so on. Sometimes the sentences are given in pairs, sometimes in threes or fours, and often they will be identical, often different. The teacher should sometimes say ‘Listen again’ even when the answer is right.
It is essential that each sentence of a pair should be spoken in exactly the same way (e.g. with the same stress and intonation) apart from the one difference between them.
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Which is which?
Level: intermediate and advanced
Age:any (except younger children)
Group size:whole class
These drill-games are like those described under ‘The same or different’, but more is excepted of the learners. They do not simply have to decide whether the utterances are different or the same, but to identify them.
The presentation can be oral or both oral and visual.
Suppose the pupils can hear there is a difference between /i/ and /ı/ as in ‘You must leave there’ and ‘You must live there.’ Let’s call ‘leave’ (go away) A, says the teacher, and ‘live’ (live in a place) B. Now, listen. Which is this? ‘You must live there.’ Tom? Mary? Yes, it’s B. now what about this? And so on, with scoring of team points if necessary.
Learners can take the teacher’s place if they are good enough, but must be supervised.
Responses can be either oral or written. If the responses is written, pupils write A or B or the words themselves.
For the sake of fun and to keep the class alert, introduce occasionally a sound which is neither of the two, even if the word in which it is put is non-existent, as in You must /lev/ there. Neither is the only acceptable response.
If isolated words are being used, several can be given at once, the class being told, for instance, Write A if you hear the vowel sound of ‘bed’ (the thing you sleep in) and B if you hear the vowel sound of ‘bad’ (the opposite of good). Now – ‘set, set, sat, set.’ The answer should be A, A, B, and A.
Say what you mean
Level:intermediate and advanced
Age:any
Group size:whole class
Here is a type of pronunciation game in which there is a very close link between sounds and meaning.
The teacher says, for instance, What do people sometimes wear on their heads? Hats. Right. Do they wear huts on their heads? Of course not. But some people live in huts. Where? Does anyone live in a hat? (There could be matchstick figures on the board of somebody wearing a hat and somebody sitting at the door of a hut, as well as ridiculous ones of somebody with a hut on his head and somebody sitting on a hat.) Now, listen. Tell me whether I am right or wrong. Some people live in hats…Some people live in huts…Some of us wear huts…and so on. Write R for right and W for wrong.
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Likes and dislikes
Level: intermediate and advanced
Age:any (except young children)
Group size:whole class
This game can be adapted so that the ultimate focus of attention is a pronunciation point. Examples: X likes watches but he doesn’t like clocks; wheels but no bicycles or cars; windows but not doors; twilight but not dawn or dusk (i.e. he likes words containing /w/). Y likes veal but he doesn’t like meat; violets but not flowers; virtue but not goodness, volcanoes but not lava; lovers but not sweethearts (i.e. he likes words containing /v/.)
There is a semantic link between what is liked and what is disliked, and the listener’s attention first focused on the meaning, which is puzzling. For example, how is it possible that somebody can like wheels but not a bicycle?
This is the sort of game that cannot be played many times, perhaps only once within its field of reference (here pronunciation).
If the two sounds concerned are both included in the statement, the ‘solution’ will be found very quickly and the resulting ‘impact’ on the learner will be weaker. Examples: X likes wheels but he doesn’t like veal; watches but not violins. This is also more inconsequential, as the semantic link between the two items is not close.
In balanced activities approach, the teacher uses a variety of activities from these different categories of input and output. Learners at all proficiency levels, including beginners, benefit from this variety; it is more motivating, and it is also more likely to result in effective language learning.
Speaking/conversation games
Hotel Receptionist
Aims:Cooperation, team spirit, speaking skill, miming
Level:Beginner/Intermediate
Time:10-15minutes
Organisation: Groups
Procedure:Students sit in the form of a reception desk. The teacher gives sentence to one person in the group, student reads and memorises. This student is the guest. The guest has lost his/her voice and must mime the problem or request to the collective receptionist. The receptionist aks questions to discover what the guest wants.
The language is limited so suitable for a renge of abilities- students gain confidence as they realise they are not performing to a potentially hostile audience but simply working together as one group.
Pairs interview
Aims:Speaking skill, asking questions, answering
Level:Pre-intermediate
Time:-
Organisation: Pairs
Procedure:This is useful at start of a course to help people get to know one another and to create a friendly working relationship. It also establishes the fact that speaking is an important part of a course right from the start.
Put the students into pairs. They should interview the other students, asking any question they wish, and nothing down interesting answers. When finished they introduce the person they interviewed to the rest of the class.
If you are concerned that the class may not have enough language to be able to ask questions, you could start the activity by eliciting a number of possible questions from the students.
Planning a holiday
Aims:Make decisions, Speaking skill, writing skill
Level:Pre-intermediate/Intermediate
Time:20-30 minutes
Organisation:Groups
Procedure:Collect together a number of advertisements or brochures advertising a holiday.
Explain to the students that we can all go on holiday together, but we must all agree on where we want to go. Divide the students into groups of three and give each group a selection of this material. Their task is to plan a holiday for the whole group (within a fixed budget per person). Allow them a good amount of time to read and select a holiday and then to prepare a presentation in which they attempt to persuade the rest of the class that they should choose this holiday. When they are ready, each group makes their presentation and the class discusses and chooses a holiday.
Back to back
Aims:Speaking skill, listening comprehension
Level:Beginners
Time:10-20 minutes
Organization:Pairs
Procedure:The teacher should bring a tape recorder to the lesson. While the music is playing or the teacher is clapping, everybody walks around the room observing other’s people clothes, hairstyle. As soon as the music stops, each student pairs up with the person standing nearest and they stand back to back. Taking turns, each of them makes statements about the other’s appearance.
After a few minutes the music starts again and all partners separate. When the music stops a second time, the procedure is repeated with a different partner.
A day in the life
Aims:Speaking, writing skills
Level:Intermediate
Time:10-15 minutes
Organization:Groups of four to students each
Procedure:The class is divided into groups. One member of each group leaves the room. The remaining group members decide on how the person who is outside spent the previous day. They draw up an exact time schedule from 8 am to 8 pm and describe where the person was, what he did, who he talked to.
The people who waited outside are called in and return to their groups. There they try to find out- by asking only yes/no questions- how the group thinks they spent the previous day. When each ‘victim’ has guessed his fictions day, the group tries to find what he really did.
Secret topic
Aims:Speaking skill
Level:Intermediate/ Advanced
Time:15-20 minutes
Organisation:Pairs, class
Procedure:Two students agree on a topic they want to talk about without telling the others what it is. The two students start discussing their topic without mentioning it. The others listen. Anyone in the rest of the group who thinks he knows what they are talking about, joins in their conversation. When about a third or half of the class have joined in, the game is stopped.
Which job?
Aims:Speaking skill, logical explanation
Level:Intermediate
Time:15-20 minutes
Organisation:Groups of six students
Procedure: The students work together in groups. Each group member writes down the ideal job for himself and for everybody else in the group. The job lists are read out and discussed in the groups. Students explain why they feel the ideal jobs suggested for them would/wouldn’t be ideal.
Personalities
Aims:Speaking and writing skills
Level:Beginners
Time:10-15 minutes
Organisation:Individuals
Procedure:The teacher unites a list of names on the board. She asks the students to select the six personalities they would like to invite to their classroom to give a talk and rank them in order the preference. They write their choices in order on a piece of paper. All the papers are collected.
The list of the names:
o William Shakespeare
o Walt Disney
o Cinderella
o James Bond
o Napoleon
o Monet
o Sting
When the final list for the whole class has been completed, students who selected the most popular personalities are asked to explain their choice. Then at home they write down the questions what they will ask from them.
Our town
Aims:Describing a town, writing skill
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Time:-
Organisation:Groups
Procedure:Divide the class into groups. Give each group the task of describing one feature of their town. For example:
– places of interest
– good places to eat at
– entertainment facilities
– sports facilities
– local industries, etc.
Each groups should write their description in such a way that the feature described sounds attractive to someone visiting the town. Each student should also make his own copy of the description.
Then form new groups, making sure that they contain at least one representative from each of the original groups, and ask them to write a full report on their town based on these descriptions. The report may be accompanied by a map showing the location of various places of interest, etc.
How do you feel?
Procedure:Tell the students to close their eyes; they might like to place their heads on their arms. Ask them to think about how they feel; they might think about their day so far, or about their previous lesson with you and what they remember of it, what they learnt and what their problems might have been. After a few minutes, students who are willing to do so can say what their feelings are.
Describing Appearances & Characteristics of People
Level:Easy to Medium (Low to low intermediate)
Each student is then give one sheet of paper. One student sits at the front of a room. He/she describes a person and the rest of the class draws the person being described.
It is more interesting if the person being described is known by everyone. Once the student has finished describing that person then he/she reveals who it is and each student shows his/her drawing. The laughter from this is hilarious as the impressions tend to make the character in question look funny.
It is a good idea to encourage students to ask the interviewee student questions about who they are describing.
Crazy Story
Level:Any Level
This is an activity that will make your students speak in class and be creative.
- Ask students to write a word on a piece of paper and tell them not to show anyone. This word should be a verb (or whatever you'd like to rewiew).
- The teacher starts telling a story, then stops and chooses a student.
- That student will continue the story and must use his/her word. This student then chooses the next student to continue the story.
- The last student must end the story.
- After the story is over, the students then try to guess what words each student has written on his/her paper. The student who guesses the most words wins the game.
Suppose That
Level: Easy to Medium
This works well as a fluency activity
- You are the black sheep of your family. Explain to us why.
- You won a motorcycle and you are planning to embark on a voyage. Explain where you go.
- You arrive face to face with a person who you owe 100 dollars to. What do you say?
- You help an old woman across the street. It turns out that she is a magician. To thank you, she offers you four wishes. What do you ask for?
- You arrive home at midnight, you open the door and
Group Dialogue
Level: Any Level
Following a simple warm-up where each person must say a word associated with the word mentioned by the person before him or her, I have them repeat the same procedure but with complete sentences, as if it were a discussion between two people. For example: student 1, "Hi how are you Joe?"; student 2, "Oh pretty good Sue. How about you?"; student 3, " Well, not so good."; student 4, " Why not?", etc. The dialogue must procede in such a way that the last person concludes the discussion and they bid each other goodbye. You never know where the conversation will lead and it's excellent for listening, even without a point system!
Writing games
Something for everybody
Aims:Speaking and writing skills
Level:Intermediate/Advanced
Time:10-15 minutes
Organisation:Groups/class
Procedure:Imagine that you, that is all of you together, have 200 $ left over from a bargain sale you organised. You should now think of what you could do with the money so that everyone in the class is satisfied. First write down all the ideas you have without talking about them or commenting on them, then rank them. When you have found one suggestion you all agree with, present it to the class. The class then tries to agree on a common proposal by arguing and presenting reasons.
Writing a questionnaire
Aims: Writing skill, making a questionnaire
Level:Pre-intermediate-Advanced
Time:10 minutes
Organisation:Pairs
Procedure: the students preferable working in pairs, write questionnaries which they can use to interview one or more other students in the class. Questionnaries can focus on specific topics and even particular items of language.
| Find someone who? | Name |
| Can play the piano | |
| Is interested in fairy tales | |
| Likes horror films | |
| Has a brother and a sister | |
| Always gets up early | |
| Has a special pet |
Writing puzzles
Aims:Writing skill, making sentences, answering correctly
Level:Beginner-Advanced
Time:5-10 minutes
Organisation:Individuals/pairs
Procedure: The students working individually or in pairs. They should write one or more puzzles which they give to other students to answer.
| What is it? It lives on the tree. It is a small animal. It jumps very quickly from one branch to another. It eats nuts. |
Writing jumbled texts
Aims:Writing skill, dialogue or short-story writing, sentence connection
Level:Pre-intermediate-Advanced
Time:20-25 minutes
Organisation:Pairs/groups
Procedure:the students work in pairs or small groups to write a dialogue or a short story, which they then cut up into separate sentences and give to another pair or group to put together.
| They met Little Red Riding Hood who has a small umbrella. |
| Suddenly the wolf ran out from a cave. |
| When they entered the forest, it began to rain. |
| It stops raining. |
| The children were trembled because they were afraid of the wolf. |
| And finally Jack and Jill, Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf had a picnic in the middle of the forest. |
| Jack and Jill went to the forest to play hide-and-seek. |
Book reports
Aims:Writing skill, reading skill
Level:Intermediate/Advanced
Time: -
Organisation:Individuals
Procedure:Ask eachstudent to write a report on a book he has read. If there is a class library, he should choose book from this and place the report he has written inside the book for the guidance of prospective readers. If there is no class library, the book reports may be circulated among the students in the class in a folder. Similarly, the students may be asked to report on new records or on films they have seen.
Noticeboard
Aims:Writing skill, correct usage of the language
Level:Pre-intermediate-Advanced
Time:-
Organisation:Individuals
Procedure:Ask the students to write ads or notices for things which they would like to sell or buy. These should be pinned on the class notice board or circulated round the class in a folder. The notice board may also be used as the location for some of the activities.
Class wall sheet
Aims:Writing skill, team spirit
Level:Pre-intermediate-Advanced
Time: -
Organisation:Groups
Procedure:Ask each student to write a contribution for a class wall sheet- items of class news, items of general interest. Divide the class into three or four groups and ask them to edit the various contributions. They must also decide how these will be arranged on the wall sheet. These wall sheets, when completed, should be displayed for the other students to read.
Writing clues for crosswords
Aims:Writing skill, sentence making, imagination
Level:Pre-intermediate-Advanced
Time:15-20 minutes
Organisation:Pairs/Groups
Procedure:For this the students, working in pairs or small groups, are given a crossword puzzle (perhaps made up by another groups). They then have to write the clues. The clues can consist of a series of sentences.
Instructions for a game
Aims:Writing skill, game-like learning
Level:Pre-intermediate
Time:10 minutes
Organisation:Groups
Procedure:For the single board game below, the students working in groups, can write their own instructions for moving round the board. For example:
o If you can ride a bicycle, go forward 3 squares
o If you got up before 9 o’clock, go back 2 squares
o If you haven’t had breakfast, go back 4 squares
To play this game, the students take it in turns to throw a dice, moving round the board first from left to right, then right to left. When they land on a square, they look at the instructions to find out about their move. The first player to reach ‘home’ is the winner.
| Start | A | D | E | G | H | K | W |
| R | T | C | P | V | Z | F | I |
| J | L | S | B | M | O | Y | T |
| F | J | D | Z | I | V | R | C |
| H | E | A | N | Q | P | K | Home |
Jumbled story
Aims:Writing skill, make up a story
Level:Pre-intermediate-Advanced
Time:15-20 minutes
Organisation:Groups
Procedure:The students, working in groups, have to write two short stories of about four to six sentences each. The stories can be about the same person or similar event. The stories are then cut up into separate sentences and given to another group to sort out into the two original stories.
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