Nick Michelioudakis (B. Econ., Dip.

RSA, MSc [TEFL]) is an Academic

Consultant with LEH (the representatives of the Pearson PTE G Exams in
Greece). In his years of active involvement in the field of ELT he has
worked as a teacher, examiner and trainer for both teachers and Oral
Examiners. He has written numerous articles many of which have been
published in a number of countries. He likes to think of himself as a
‘front-line teacher’ and is particularly interested in one-to-one teaching
and student motivation as well as Social and Evolutionary Psychology. When he is not
struggling with students, he likes to spend his time in a swimming pool or playing
chess. To download articles or handouts of his, you can visit his site at
www.michelioudakis.org.

USING COMMERCIAL GAMES IN CLASS

For human beings playing games is one of the ways they get to know the
world. Children seem to be born with a fascination for all kinds of games
– a fascination some of them never seem to outgrow (hence the appeal of
strip-poker at later stages!). Now while it is true that the latter game
might not be quite so appropriate in a classroom context, the three
commercially available games discussed in this article are. Before that
however, I believe there are 3 questions which we need to consider:

Why should we use games? The most obvious reason is for language
practice; this can either be fluency practice or, depending on the game,
more ‘focused’ in order to practice certain ‘target’ structures or
vocabulary areas. In addition games are ideally student-led activities,
which helps shift the balance of power from the teacher (T) to the
learners. However the most important reason has to be motivational.
Students (ss) love games partly for their own sake and partly because
they are so different from the humdrum activities they are usually asked
to engage in.

What kind of games should we use? In my opinion the basic criterion

should be ‘How much language does the game generate?’ or ‘How much
does it help the learners develop their language skills?’ Unfortunately, all
too often we are carried away by motivational considerations and fail to
look at this factor properly. Take miming games for instance where a
student mimes a word and the others try to guess it; while this can be
great fun, there is precious little to show for all this hard work – about 1
word a minute!
 U s i n g C o m m e r c i a l G a m e s i n C l a s s - P a g e |2

How should we use them? Whether you want to use games to reinforce
a particular language point or just for the sake of variety, it is important
that the ss know exactly what they have to do. So it is vital that a) you
give clear instructions, b) you demonstrate what the ss will have to do
and c) you check your instructions in order to make sure that the ss have
understood everything, d) you have 2-3 trial runs for trouble-shooting
purposes. You cannot be sure that ss have got things right unless you
actually see them at it!

The games

Game 1: 20 Questions. [Actually, this should be

called ‘20 Clues’. It is played in pairs. One of the
ss picks up a card with a word on it (e.g.
‘Mountain’) and 20 clues (e.g. ‘I’m high’ or
‘People climb me’). The other s (who cannot see
the card) selects clues at random and tries to
guess what the word is. The listener has 2
minutes to ask for clues and hazard a guess. S/he
only has 3 guesses. The fewer the clues s/he
uses, the more points s/he gets].
Comments: Like the following one, this is a guessing game. However,
as the clues are written down and the ss do not really produce any
language, it is very easy for the game to become too slow, so it is
mandatory that there is a strict time limit (say 2 minutes) for each card.
An interesting variation would be to have the ss write the clues, which
would be more language-productive. Here are two sample cards (I have
reduced the number of clues to 15).

THING PERSON

1 Some say I am evil 1 I lived to be about 80 years

2 I come in different shapes 2 old
I wrote about the life of
3 and
I cansizes
be carried 3 Socrates
Many academics study me
4 To some, I am power 4 I was a noble man
5 I am metal and paper 5 I am from Athens
6 I can be collected 6 I can write in Greek
7 I can be silver or gold 7 I lived before Christ was
8 I can go down the drain 8 Iborn
am opposed to hedonistic
9 I can be raked in 9 ethics
I wrote dialogues

NICK
 U s i n g C o m m e r c i a l G a m e s i n C l a s s - P a g e |3

10 Some people bury me 10 I am an author

11 Everyone works for me 11 I am male
12 I can have a head and a tail 12 I founded a university
13 I am part of everyday life 13 My name can refer to
14 I can be found around the 14 relationships
I wrote about the nature of
15 world
I can come by the pound 15 love
I like Philosophy

MONEY PLATO

Game 2: Articulate. [This is best played in groups of 4 (2 pairs).

Members of the same pair sit opposite each other. One of them is given a
card with 6 words belonging to different categories. The player has 1
minute to describe the words for his/her partner to guess. The pair
scores points depending on the number of words guessed. Then it is the
other pair’s turn].
Comments: This is my favourite game.
The focus here is on fluency and using loose
definitions as a strategy for coping with
linguistic deficiencies. It is a very fast game
and it has great face validity in the sense
that paraphrasing is something that we do
all the time in our everyday life. The fact
that the words fall into different categories
can be turned to advantage by preparing
cards with specific topics that the T may
want ss to revise. Here are two sample
cards. The categories are as follows: P =
Person (real or fictional) / W = a place in the World (e.g. a city or a
continent) / O = Object / A = Action / N = Nature (animal or plant) / R =
Random.

P Martin Luther King P Benito Mussolini

W Mongolia W Iraq
O A bookcase O A cage
A Marrying A Accepting
N A sea urchin N A blue whale
R The horizon R Vain

Game 3: Mind-Trap. [This game can be

played in pairs or groups. The ss are

NICK
 U s i n g C o m m e r c i a l G a m e s i n C l a s s - P a g e |4

given cards which have a kind of problem or puzzle printed on the one
side and the (often unexpected) answer on the other. Ss (or groups) take
it in turns to simply pick up a card, read the problem on it and try to
work out the answer. They score points depending on how successful
they are].
Comments: This is an excellent game for developing reading skills. The
important thing here is that ss have to understand exactly what the text
says. If not, they may miss a clue and not be able to find the answer. The
fact that many of the problems involve lateral thinking makes the game
doubly enjoyable. Once again however, pace is something we need to
keep in mind; some problems involve calculations and these may slow
down the game so it might be a good idea for the T to remove them
before the game starts. Below are two sample cards: (The Question
appears on the front and the Answer on the back).

Question
Assuming that you are paying, is
it cheaper to take one friend to
the movies twice, or two friends
to the movies at the same time?
(It doesn’t depend on how much
popcorn they eat!)
Answer
It’s cheaper to take two friends at
the same time. In this case, you
will only be buying three tickets,
whereas if you take the same
friend twice you are buying four
tickets.

Question
Since a person uses about the
same amount of energy walking
for ten kilometers as running for
ten kilometers, would a person
use more energy for running ten
minutes, walking for ten minutes
Answer
In the first situation, the
measurement was distance so the
runner would finish much earlier
than the person walking. In the
second situation, the
measurement is time, so the

Game 4: 20 Questions! [This is not a exactly a

game, it is more of a ‘toy’! It is in a sense the
reverse of Game 1! The idea is that you think of a
word (e.g. ‘chair’ or ‘spaghetti’) and it is the toy
which asks you the Qs! You have 4 buttons which
corresponds to 4 answers (‘Yes’, ‘No,
‘Sometimes’, ‘Not relevant’) and after 20 Qs the
toy guesses which word it was!!]
Comments: Unless you see it, it is hard to believe
– by asking Qs like ‘Is it bigger than a sofa?’ or ‘Do you use it at work?’ it

NICK
 U s i n g C o m m e r c i a l G a m e s i n C l a s s - P a g e |5

gradually narrows down the possibilities and if you do not confuse it with
misleading answers it actually gets it right about 90% of the time! It is
perfect for 1 to 1 lessons and in a classroom context it is ideal as a lead-
in so that students can play the game with each other afterwards. What I
find hilarious about it is that it comes with a built-in cocky personality,
which gives it huge novelty value!

Last Words
How can we tell if an activity is motivating for students? For me the acid
test is this: Would they want to do such a thing if they were not in a
language classroom? Commercial games pass this test – otherwise they
would not be in the market! They have huge advantages: they look like
games and more importantly students know they are games – (esp. if you
use the original cards.) So – buy them and use them! [Incidentally, if a
representative of the manufacturers is reading this, I am still waiting for
my commission!  ]

NICK