Uses of language games in ELT

INTRODUCTION
The idea of play-way method of teaching English was proposed in the late 19th century as
it was thought that interesting games, if included in the teaching activity, would increase the
motivation of the learners; learning will take place in an atmosphere of freedom and
enjoyment. This idea has been incorporated in all the later methods of teaching English in the
form of language games. Language games can introduce a healthy competition among the
learners in English classes.they are useful for improving the learner’s knowledge of
vocabulary,grammar, and his language skills.

1.Spelling games

a) Invisible man:
Draw two stick figures on the board, each figure should have the same number of parts.
The goal is to make your team’s stick man invisible before the other team does. Give each team
a word to spell. If they spell it correctly, erase one piece of the stick figure. If they do not spell
the word correctly, leave the stick figure unchanged. Then repeat with two new words. The first
team to make his man invisible wins.

b) Speling bee:

Divide your class into two teams and have each team stand along an opposite wall of the
classroom. Give one word at a time to each student, alternating teams. If the student spells the
word correctly,he/ she goes to the end of the line until his/her turn comes up again. If he/she
spells the word incorrectly, he/she sits down. The last team standing wins.

c)magnetic letters:
Using a magnetic board and a few sets of magnetic letters, see which player can create the
most words in a set amount of time, around five minutes, from his set of letters. After the five
minutes is up, check the words and explain any unfamiliar vocabulary. The person with the
highest number of words wins the game.
 2.word games
Some of the games included in this section can also be used for spelling practice. These
are games that help learners to increase their word power. Learners of higher classes may be
advised to solve the crossword puzzles which appear in weekly magazines and answer the
section ‘increase your word power’in the reader’s digest magazines regularly.

a) word ladder:
Groups of words, which are related to each other in meaning, are chosen and a few of
them are written on the rungs of a ladder.The other words are written by the learners. The
game can be an individual or a group game.for example, words such as ‘see, watch, look,
observe, notice,glance’ can be chosen for the game.

b) The longest word:

Divide the students into two to four teams. One team selects a letter of the alphabet, e.g.
Choose a word beginning with that letter (e.g. silver) and give the teams a clue for the word,
e.g. a metal commonly found in rings. The first student to correctly guess the word wins the
letter for their team. The winning team then chooses another letter. The aim of the game is for
teams to get enough letters to make a long word. At a suitable point, end the round and let the
teams try to make the longest word possible from the letters they have won. The team with the
longest word wins the round and is awarded the same amount of points as there are letters in
their word. Play several rounds. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

c)word race:
Divide the students into teams of three or four. Tell the students that they have one
minute to write down as many words as possible that match with certain criteria, e.g. words
beginning with certain prefixes, words containing double letters, etc. Teams score one point for
each word they write. Inflections are not allowed, i.e. changing a word to express different
grammatical categories, e.g. hit, hits, hitting. Award a team only one point for the word if they
do this. Play several rounds using a different criterion each time. After each round, have the
teams swap papers for marking. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins .

3. grammar games
A number of games have been suggested for teaching grammar in an interesting way in
many books.
 a) For word-classes:
Learners, individually or in groups, can be asked to write adjectives or verbs or nouns or
adverbs. One who writes more words wins.

b) Grammar races:
Divide the students into four teams. Choose one student in each team to be the 'runner'
and one student to be the 'writer'. Assign each team with a number and allocate a space on the
board for each team to write. Have the writers stand next to their space by the board. Give
each team a different keyword. The keywords should be vocabulary you wish the students to
revise. Each team must then come up with sentences using their keyword. When a team thinks
of a sentence, they tell the runner. The runner then goes to the board and tells the sentence to
the writer who writes it on the board. After a few minutes, stop the round and evaluate the
sentences from each team. Award one to three points for each sentence, depending on the
grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary usage. If you spot a mistake, ask the other teams
to identify and correct it. The first student to raise their hand and correct the mistake scores
the points for their team. Play a few rounds using different keywords each time. The team with
the most points at the end of the game wins.

4. Reading games
A number of games are suggested for improving the reading skills, especially in early classes.
A few of them are given below:

a) Story completion:
Two stories are written on cards and the each story is cut into sentences. The class is divided
into two groups. Each group is given a set of cards with sentences and the group has to arrange
the cards to cr eate the story. The group, which does it first wins.

b) Reading tennis:
A story is written on a flash card. The class is divided into two groups. The card is given to
the first group and the first student reads it within a specified time. If he reads it correctly, he
gets a point; otherwise the card is given to the second group for the first student in that group
to read. This is repeated till all the students in each group read the story. This game is suitable
for the beginning class for practising reading aloud.
Advantages of language games
1. Enjoyable method of learning language.

2. Help to improve vocabulary.

3. Increase motivation for learning language.

4. They promote communication in English language.

5. They provide meaningful situations for practicing language.

6. Reduce anxiety related to learning and making errors.

7. Encourage spontaneous use of English language.

8. Integrate different linguistic skills.

9. Increase learner participation in class.

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