VERBAL

EXPLANATION

The Use of Games:

For Vocabulary
Presentation and
Revision

THE USE OF
GAMES FOR
PRESENTING
AND REVISING
VOCABULARY TEACHING
VISUAL TECHNIQUES VOCABULARY
TECHNIQUES
Vocabulary acquisition is increasingly viewed as crucial to
language acquisition. However, there is much disagreement
as to the effectiveness of different approaches for presenting
vocabulary items. Moreover, learning vocabulary is often
perceived as a tedious and laborious process. In this article I
would like to examine some traditional techniques and
compare them with the use of language games for
vocabulary presentation and revision, in order to determine
whether they are more successful in presenting and revising
vocabulary than other methods. From my teaching
experience I have noticed how enthusiastic students are
about practising language by means of games. I believe
games are not only fun but help students learn without a
conscious analysis or understanding of the learning process
while they acquire communicative competence as second
language users
 VISUAL TECHNIQUES

These pertain to visual memory, which is

considered especially helpful with vocabulary
retention. Learners remember better the material
that has been presented by means of visual aids
(Zebrowska 1975:452). Visual techniques lend
themselves well to presenting concrete items of
vocabulary-nouns; many are also helpful in
conveying meanings of verbs and adjectives.
They help students associate presented material
in a meaningful way and incorporate it into their
system of language values.

VERBAL EXPLANATION

This pertains to the use of

illustrative situations,
synonymy, opposites, scales
(Gairns and Redman
1986:74), definition (Nation
1990:58) and categories
 USE OF DICTIONARIES
Using a dictionary is
another technique of
finding out meanings of
unfamiliar words and
expressions.

Using Games
The advantages of using games. Many experienced textbook and methodology manuals writers have argued that games
are not just time-filling activities but have a great educational value. W. R. Lee holds that most language games make
learners use the language instead of thinking about learning the correct forms (1979:2). He also says that games should
be treated as central not peripheral to the foreign language teaching programme. A similar opinion is expressed by
Richard-Amato, who believes games to be fun but warns against overlooking their pedagogical value, particularly in
foreign language teaching. There are many advantages of using games. "Games can lower anxiety, thus making the
acquisition of input more likely" (Richard-Amato 1988:147). They are highly motivating and entertaining, and they can
give shy students more opportunity to express their opinions and feelings (Hansen 1994:118). They also enable learners
to acquire new experiences within a foreign language which are not always possible during a typical lesson.
Furthermore, to quote Richard-Amato, they, "add diversion to the regular classroom activities," break the ice, "[but also]
they are used to introduce new ideas" (1988:147). In the easy, relaxed atmosphere which is created by using games,
students remember things faster and better (Wierus and Wierus 1994:218). S. M. Silvers says many teachers are
enthusiastic about using games as "a teaching device," yet they often perceive games as mere time-fillers, "a break from
the monotony of drilling" or frivolous activities. He also claims that many teachers often overlook the fact that in a
relaxed atmosphere, real learning takes place, and students use the language they have been exposed to and have
practised earlier (1982:29). Further support comes from Zdybiewska, who believes games to be a good way of practising
language, for they provide a model of what learners will use the language for in real life in the future (1994:6). Games
encourage, entertain, teach, and promote fluency. If not for any of these reasons, they should be used just because they
help students see beauty in a foreign language and not just problems that at times seem overwhelming.
 CHOOSING APPROPRIATE GAMES

There are many factors to consider while discussing games, one of

which is appropriacy. Teachers should be very careful about choosing
games if they want to make them profitable for the learning process.
If games are to bring desired results, they must correspond to either
the student's level, or age, or to the material that is to be introduced or
practised. Not all games are appropriate for all students irrespective
of their age (Siek-Piskozub 1994:37). Different age groups require
various topics, materials, and modes of games. For example, children
benefit most from games which require moving around, imitating a
model, competing between groups and the like (Siek-Piskozub
1994:38). Furthermore, structural games that practise or reinforce a
certain grammatical aspect of language have to relate to students'
abilities and prior knowledge. Games become difficult when the task
or the topic is unsuitable or outside the student's experience. Another
factor influencing the choice of a game is its length and the time
necessary for its completion. Many games have a time limit, but
according to Siek-Piskozub, the teacher can either allocate more or
less time depending on the students' level, the number of people in a
group, or the knowledge of the rules of a game etc. (1994:43).
 WHEN TO USE GAMES
Games are often used as short warm-up activities or when there is some time left at the end of a lesson. Yet, as Lee observes, a
game "should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments when the teacher and class have nothing better
to do" (1979:3). Games ought to be at the heart of teaching foreign languages. Rixon suggests that games be used at all stages
of the lesson, provided that they are suitable and carefully chosen. At different stages of the lesson, the teacher's aims
connected with a game may vary: 1. Presentation. Provide a good model making its meaning clear; 2. Controlled practise.
Elicit good imitation of new language and appropriate responses; 3. Communicative prastice. Give students a chance to use
the language (1981:70). Games also lend themselves well to revision exercises helping learners recall material in a pleasant,
entertaining way. All authors referred to in this article agree that even if games resulted only in noise and entertained
students, they are still worth paying attention to and implementing in the classroom since they motivate learners, promote
communicative competence, and generate fluency. However, can they be more successful for presentation and revision than
other techniques? The following part of this article is an attempt at finding the answer to this question.
Vocabulary presentation. After the teacher chooses what items to teach, Haycraft suggests following certain
guidelines. These include teaching the vocabulary "in spoken form first" to prevent students from pronouncing the
words in the form they are written, placing the new items in context, and revising them. A number of techniques can
be adopted to present new vocabulary items. The presentation of new vocabulary is classified according to verbal
and visual techniques following Gairns and Redman's classification. Among visual techniques are flashcards,
photographs and pictures, wall charts, blackboard drawings, word pictures, incongruous visuals, realia, mime, and
gesture. Students can label pictures or objects or perform an action. Verbal techniques consist of using illustrative
situations, descriptions, synonyms and antonyms, scales, and, as described by Nation (1990:58), using various forms
of definition: definition by demonstration (visual definition), definition by abstraction, contextual definitions, and
definition by translation. Allen and Valette (1972:116)

THE USE OF GAMES FOR PRESENTING

AND REVISING VOCABULARY

also suggest the use of categories-organising words into sets, subclasses and subcategories often aided by visual presentation.
Those learners who are more autonomous can make use of other techniques such as asking others to explain the meaning of
an unknown item, guessing from context or using either of a variety of dictionaries. I shall now proceed to present practical
examples of games I have used for vocabulary introduction and revision.
Description of the groups.

For the purpose of vocabulary presentation, I

chose two groups of third form students. With
one of them I used a presentation game and
with the other translation and context
guessing. In both groups, students' abilities
varied-ranging from those whose command of
English was very good, able to communicate
easily using a wide range of vocabulary and
grammatical structures, and those who found
it difficult to communicate. The choice of
lexical items to be introduced
After covering the first conditional and
time clauses in the textbook, I decided
to present students with a set of idioms
relating to bodily parts-mainly those
connected with the head (taken from
The Penguin Dictionary of English
Idioms ). The choice of these
expressions was determined by
students' requests to learn colloquial
expressions to describe people's
moods, behavior, etc. Moreover, in one
of the exercises the authors of the
textbook called for examples of
expressions which contain parts of the
body. For the purpose of the lesson I
adapted Gear and Gear's "Vocabulary
Picture-Puzzle" from the English
Teaching Forum (1988:41). Students
were to work out the meanings of
sixteen idiomatic expressions. All of
them have Polish equivalents, which
made it easier for students to
remember them.
 DESCRIPTION OF VOCABULARY PICTURE-
PUZZLE

To prepare the puzzle, I cut two equal-sized

pieces of cardboard paper into rectangles. The
selected idioms were written onto the rectangles
in the puzzle-pieces board and their definitions
on the game board. On the reverse side of the
puzzle-pieces board, I glued colorful
photographs of landscapes and then cut the
puzzle-pieces board into individual pieces, each
with an idiom on it. The important thing was
the distribution of the idioms and their
definitions on the boards. The definitions were
placed in the same horizontal row opposite to
the idioms so that when put together face to face
each idiom faced its definition.
CONCLUSIONS

Recently, using games has become a popular technique

exercised by many educators in the classrooms and
recommended by methodologists. Many sources, including the
ones quoted in this work, list the advantages of the use of games
in foreign language classrooms. Yet, nowhere have I found any
empirical evidence for their usefulness in vocabulary presentation
and consolidation.

Though the main objectives of the games were to acquaint

students with new words or phrases and help them consolidate
lexical items, they also helped develop the students'
communicative competence.
REFERENCES

Abbs, B. and I. Freebairn. 1989. Blueprint intermediate. Harlow: Longman. ---. 1989. Blueprint two. Harlow:
Longman.
Allen, E. and R. Valette. 1972. Modern language classroom techniques: A handbook. 35 New York:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.
Digby, C. and J. Mayers. 1992. Making sense of vocabulary. Hemel Hemstead: Prentice Hall International.
French Allen, V. 1983. Techniques in teaching vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gairns, R. and S. Redman. 1986. Working with words: A guide to teaching and learning vocabulary.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gear, J. and R. Gear. 1988. Incongruous visuals for the EFL classroom. English Teaching Forum, 26, 2. pp.43.