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.

An additional challenge is the fact the most institutions in Korea, do not have any games!  Often English teachers in Korea are referred to as English “lecturers” and many Korean educational administrators falsely assume that English teachers merely need to lecture, even in conversation classes. This might explain why schools in Korea provide English teachers with few teaching resources.

Occasionally, some schools or teachers have a few games such as “Scrabble”. This also seems to be the game that is most readily available in Korean stores. But does “Scrabble” really do a lot to improve anyone’s English? The game is slow, a little boring, and focuses on making simple words (many of them obscure), rather than building English sentences. It can also be played without speaking or saying anything. Because it doesn’t really require any speaking, students tend to speak a lot of Korean during this game (except for adult continuing education students). A good game for learners of English should focus on building English sentences rather than merely creating words.

A further problem is that store-bought games are usually not intended to develop English language skills. Their purpose is to entertain. If any store-bought games are useful English learning tools, they were probably not intended to be.

In the past year, I have researched over a hundred store-bought games and experimented with a number of them (at great personal expense) in my English classes. I teach all levels and to all age groups.  I found that many games are boring and most do little to build English language skills. Some are extremely expensive. Fortunately, I have discovered an entertaining game that really does develop English language skills. It is a card game called “Man Bites Dog”. It might not have been intended as an English language learning game, but for intermediate and advanced level English students, it’s a very useful learning tool.  

“Man Bites Dog” is a card game where players each receive five cards containing various words or expressions. The players use the cards to try to construct newspaper headlines. Each card has a different point value and the first person to reach 500 points is the winner. The newspaper headlines may be funny or unbelievable, but they must be structurally sound. In essence, the students or players are required to create proper sentences disguised as newspaper headlines. Acceptable headlines would include: “Blind Dog Weeps for Mayor”; and “Mob Boss slays blonde singer”. An unacceptable headline would be “D.N.A. tells on Blonde”.   According to the rules, if the majority of the players decide that a headline does not make sense, the player who made the headline must submit a new headline and if that is impossible then he or she gets no points for that hand.

No game is perfect. This game, as an English tool, is not appropriate for beginners. Also, the game contains about 40 cards with words and expressions that need to be taught to the students before playing.  These are useful words and can be integrated into any curriculum. Or, the vocabulary can be a lesson in itself. The rules are very short, simple and do not have to be bent. It’s fast playing and can be played by 3-6 players (or 3-6 teams consisting of two players each). It can easily be played on regular Korean style, classroom desks. Unlike other store-bought, word games (such as “Srabble”, “Upwords”, “Quiddler”, “Tri-Versity”, “Boggle”, and “My Word”) “Man Bites Dog” encourages students to speak, using full and proper English sentences. Students are required to analyze and discuss the sentences. They learn to concentrate on ensuring that each sentence has at least one verb and a noun. It develops vocabulary and the ability to speak or write proper sentences. It’s fun and very inexpensive. Instead of paying 25,000 to 30,000 won for a “Scrabble” game at a Korean store, you might find it more useful to buy a few boxes of “Man Bites Dog”, teach the vocabulary, and then have your students play it. It’s probably not available in Korea but it’s advertised for only $8.99 on Amazon (Produced by University Games Corporation. More information is available at AreYouGame.com).

By: Gerald de la Salle
Published in TALL ESL Magazine March 2006 (ISSN: 1718-3677)