Home
Gerald de la Salle's Presentation for the March 2010 National KOTESOL Conference
INTRODUCTION
In order for students to improve their English conversational skills, they need plenty of opportunity to practice speaking. Thus, conversation classes need to be heavily student-centred. Unfortunately, it seems that many EFL instructors are not giving their students enough class time to practice speaking. Many don’t fully appreciate what student-centred education is actually about. Some believe it’s sufficient for instructors to stand in front of the classroom and interact with their students by asking questions and requesting them to repeat various expressions.
Regardless of which type of English class you may be teaching and the level of your students, it’s always nice to play games in the classroom. But which games? The best games are those that: 1) allow all students to participate; 2) successfully improve students’ English ability; and 3) make learning fun. This can be a real challenge, especially when classes exceed 30 students. If a game does not accomplish these objectives, then it’s usually not worth playing.