Games and engaging activities in the ESP/EAP classroom

Dragana Bozic Lenard

2019, Options, practices and possibilities of EAP and ESP practitioners
English for Academic Purposes,
Language Learning,
Games in learning and teaching,
English for Scientific Purposes
Publication Date: 2019
Publication Name: Options, practices and possibilities of EAP and ESP practitioners

Both teaching and learning a foreign language requires hard work and a great deal of effort on
both sides. The traditional chalk-and-talk approach to teaching and reviewing English grammar
and vocabulary may be supplemented by other activities like (online) puzzles, crosswords,
reflections, puzzles, quizzes, games, experiments, etc., which can be done as whole class work,
group work, pair work and individual work. The aim of the paper is to present the use of such
activities in ESP/EAP classes (in our case, Technical English classes), which, when selected
carefully and appropriately, contribute to the acquisition of the content being taught and
increase the effectiveness of language learning and teaching. Although there are both
advantages and shortcomings of using such activities in (ESP/EAP) teaching, generally speaking,
they support teachers’ efforts to increase student motivation and engagement in class. These
activities can be used at any stage of our lessons, be it to warm up the class before the lesson
begins, to give students a break or to keep them engaged or interested during the lesson, or as
a recap exercise at the end of class. Since it is absolutely important for the students to be
familiar with the activity they are about to do, the teacher must explain the rules in detail, write
instructions on the board or even simulate the activity. Although there is an abundance of
activities that can be used in ESP/EAP classes, in this paper we present only a few that can be
used to both revise and recycle vocabulary and grammar studied in previous classes. It is
important to add that most of these activities, though sometimes (slightly) modified, can be
used in ESP/EAP classes of any type and at any level. In this paper, we illustrate the following:
experiments, Word Association, Collocation Pelmanism, Taboo, Plickers, Kahoot, Socrative, and
QR codes, and mention some of their variations as well.
 My chosen activity
Activity Name: Reflection Paper
I will let my student to read and understand the story of Romeo and Juliet which
is written by one of known writer in the world William Shakespeare. Then after
they read and understand the whole story, they will make their own reflection
paper about it.
Directions: Read and understand the story of Romeo and Juliet by William
Shakespeare. After reading the story make your own reflection paper in a long
bond paper.

Example: The scene that created the most emotion for me was when Juliet was getting
screamed at by lord Capulet, because she did not want to get married. This scene was sad,
because Juliet is getting rushed and forced by her parents to marry Paris. I think that this is sad,
because it’s not fair. Juliet's parents are not really listening to Juliet. One quote from Lord
Capulet in this scene was “Hang thee, young baggage! Disobedient wretch! I tell thee what: get
thee to church O’ Thursday, Or never after look me in the face: Speak not, reply not, do not
answer me; ”
In my opinion I think that the most tragic character in Romeo and Juliet, is Juliet. I think that
Juliet is the most tragic character, because she was willing to kill herself to be with Romeo. This
is tragic, because you should never have to kill yourself. Juliet thought that she had to kill
herself because her chances with Romeo were hopeless. She thought this, because her parents
do not want her to marry Romeo. Her parents do not want her to marry Romeo, because
Romeo is a Montague, and they want her to marry Paris. I also think that Juliet is the most
tragic character, because she drank the potion that would make her sleep for two days. Once
that occurred, there was a funeral for Juliet, because they thought she was dead. This is very
tragic, due to the fact that she went through all of this because she loves Romeo.
The most valuable strategy to help me understand the story, that I used while reading, was to
read the script and then read the translated version online. This helped me understand the
story better, and it also helped me with my translations. I also liked watching the movie
because it gave me a visual understanding of the story.