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Grammar Games
Grammar Games
When teaching grammar with games you have to consider many aspects at the moment of
choosing one. First of all you have to take into consideration your students ‘age. This is very
important because you cannot use the same game to teach the simple present to children and to
teenagers. Here are some points that are important to be aware when selecting a game for our
students stated by Hong and which Vernon mentions in her article “Teaching Grammar with
• If the game taxing level fits with the students ability one.
ADVANTAGES
Here are some advantages of using games to teach grammar mentioned by some authors in an
article written by Vernon, S. According to Saricoban and Metin when students learn grammar
through games, later on they can apply and utilize more easily that knowledge. Another benefit
stated by these two authors is that games let students to "practice and internalize vocabulary,
grammar and structures extensively." Due to they are bared over and over again to the same
target grammar. In addition, when students are playing, they fell motivated and this facilitates
their lore. Talking about inner motivation Saricoban and Metin affirm that games excite
competition among students, so they are more willing to acquire the target grammar. Aydan
Ersoz, another important author, claims that transforming a grammar lesson into a game permits
your students to gain knowledge of the target grammar in context in a meaningful manner.
DISADVANTAGES
Vernon, S. mention that some games are just “time fillers”. That is that they don´t involve a
specific skill, sub-skill, grammar point, etc, to practice or learn with them. These types of games
are simply to have fun, so they only waste your teaching time. For that reason you have to
choose carefully which game you are going to use in your class.
Classmates Pile
This is my variation of the game “If you had the chance” by Rinvolucri and Davis (1997) in one
of their grammar games books. This game is appropriate to practice different grammar
structures. E.g. second conditional, etc. First teacher asks students to arrange their sits in a
circle. Everybody sits down, and teacher presents the grammar structure he/she has chosen for
students to practice. Teacher can give a brief review of the grammar point chosen if it is
1.A student has to say the grammar structure chosen, in this case (2nd conditional as in
Someone who had eat a tiger if they had the chance, move two to the right.
2.Students who would do what their classmate says if the had the chance; have to move two
spaces to the right and maybe sit on another student lap. If not, they stay in their seat.
3.Then the student on the right that is on the chair (not in a students lap) of the one who has said
Students are going to be piling one above another, and teacher decides when to stop and change
“Piling Classmates” is proper for children up to 12 years old due to they are full of energy as
Rinvoluncri and Davis (1997) mention in their “If you had the chance” game. It is needed to
Whose am I?
I change the structure of this game a little bit from the one of Rinvolucri and Davis(1997) in one
of their grammar games books. In my version this is a role-play game. First; teacher has to bring
to the class: clothes, or china paper for customs, and sleeps of paper with characters´ names of
singers, actors, cartoons, or even of well known politicians. Then in the classroom teacher
explains to students that he/she is going to give them a sleep of paper with a characters’ name
which they have to keep in secret. Now, teachers tells them they must use in their presentation
certain grammar structures (e.g. past simple, future, etc,) depending on the students level. Take
into consideration that if you are going to ask to your students to use any future structure, then
the character they have to represent must be alive in order to talk about their future plans. Then
Rules :
1. Students have to characterize its famous person and talk as they were he/she/it for one
minute, in other words they have to talk in first person using the grammar structure the teacher
3. The rest of the group has to guess, at the end of the minute, to whom is their classmate
representing to.
It is important to tell students that they have to make not that easy the guessing game.
This game is suitable for teenagers up to 16 years old because it is fun. They are representing
famous people with their personal touch. It surely catches their attention, which is very difficult
One disadvantage of the “Whose am I?” game is that teacher maybe faces some troubles with
students who are very shy and don´t want to past to the front and present.
Eyes
This is a problem solving game of Rinvolucri and Davis(1997). Here teacher presents to
students a face with eyes in the back (could be a picture card or teacher can draw it on the
board). Then students are asked to jot down advantages and disadvantages of having eyes on the
head’s back.
If people had eyes in the backs of their heads, then they ____ would /might/
This structure is supplied by Rinvolucri and Davis(1997) to practice second conditional, besides
students have finished written at least ten sentences, teacher group them in teams of four and
each group shares their sentences and chose one of the most interesting advantages and one of
the disadvantages. Then, each team has to represent them at the front of the class (could be
through a picture, or acting it). Finally, teacher asks students to vote for the most imaginative
This game is appropriate for lower to upper-intermediate levels adults because there is the fact
that “eyes” is a funny game which make them get involved in it, it awakes their imagination.
And as they are adults up to 17 years old this type of games helps them to forget about their
http://www.scribd.com/ 18542173-English-Teaching-ResourcesMore-
Grammar-Games.pdf
http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/Teaching_Grammar_with_Ga
mes_in_the_ESL_Classroom.htm
http://math-and-reading-help-for-
kids.org/articles/Ways_to_Teach_Grammar_to_Students.html