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Great Idea: Barrier Games More Great Ideas

for Teaching EAL
Learners
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Early literacy word work

From talk to writing

Focusing on grammar patterns

Enhancing classroom talk

What are barrier games? Questioning strategies

Barrier games are a specific form of an information gap activity. Information Collaborative Activities
gap activities are communicative activities for two or more learners, where
Learner A has information that Learner B needs, and vice versa. In a barrier
game Learner A and Learner B sit with a barrier between them and are DARTs
required to convey information to each other. The information that each learner
has can be in any form, for example: Dictogloss
Learner A and Learner B each have a partially completed version of a map,
diagram, chart, timeline etc. with different information missing Drama and Role Play

Learner A gives instructions to Learner B to enable them to draw or Flashcards

complete a picture or diagram, and vice versa

Learners A and B are given identical sets of photographs, picture cards, Graphic Organisers
real objects (toy cars or animals, shapes etc.) to arrange or sequence in an
identical way Information gap activities
Learner A has a picture or object to describe to Learner B who has to guess
what it is Great Idea: Visuals

Learner B places objects on a blank picture board or grid to match Learner Translanguaging
A’s board

Examples of activities Using ICT

Barrier games are very flexible and can be used with any age-group, in any Substitution Tables
subject and with learners at any level of English language proficiency.
Activities include, for example: Speaking and Writing Frames
1. Completing a timeline:
Great Idea: Scaffolding
One example is the Charles Dickens barrier game. Learners A and B are each Reading for Meaning
given different biographical information about Charles Dickens, and identical
timelines to complete. They have to ask each other questions in order to fill in
their timelines. Great Idea: Modelling

2. Guess the 3-D shape:

Language Drills
Learner A chooses a 3-D shape from a set that Learner B cannot see and
describes it to Learner B who has to guess what it is. ‘It has eight vertices and Jigsaw Activities
six faces. The faces are all equal in size.’ When Learner B has guessed
correctly the roles are reversed. This gives an opportunity for both learners to
practise using mathematical language in a real context. Building Vocabulary

How barrier games work

A simple way of providing a barrier is to place a large book on its side
between the partners. Another technique is for the learners to sit back to
back.

Barrier games can be played by two learners, two pairs of learners, or an

adult and a learner or pair of learners.

Learners who are New to English or Developing Competence can work with
a partner who can provide good language models, and be given more
scaffolding (see top tip below).

It is important to identify the language objectives of the barrier game, e.g.

in a history lesson it might be to practise prepositions of time (before, after,
later etc.), past simple tense or question forming.

Top tip: Provide a model of the language the EAL learner should use. This can
be done by modelling the language orally or providing some written models,
e.g. sentence starters or suitable questions to ask, e.g. The Black Death in
Europe.

Why are barrier games a Great Idea for EAL

learners?
Barrier games can encourage learners to develop speaking and listening skills
within the context of a curriculum topic and are a great way of providing an
opportunity for purposeful communication with learners who can provide good
models of English, as recommended by research (e.g. NALDIC 1999, Swain and
Lapkin 1995).

They support learners with the development of strategies for communication:

rewording, requesting clarification, questioning, giving and following simple
clear instructions (explaining), clarifying or describing.

Barrier games are an excellent way of reinforcing newly-acquired language

and giving the learner an opportunity to practise subject-specific target
language in a real context. They are motivating and provide a sense of
achievement.

The theoretical base for placing EAL learners in a situation where they have a
genuine need to speak in order to complete a task, as is the case with a barrier
game, includes the ideas of Michael Halliday and Jerome Bruner about the
importance of interaction and negotiation of meaning in language
development. Barrier games can also provide an opportunity for exploratory
talk (as defined by Douglas Barnes) used to solve problems collaboratively, as
recommended by researchers like Robin Alexander and Gordan Wells.

References
NALDIC, 1999, The distinctiveness of English as an Additional Language: a
cross-curricular discipline, National Association of Language Development in
the Curriculum, Working Paper 5.
Swain, M. and Lapkin, S., 1995, Problems in output and the cognitive processes
they generate: a step towards second language learning, Applied Linguistics
16 (3), 371-391.
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