The role of games in learning English plan

The Power of Concentration
Objective: To improve listening comprehension skills by following directions, exactly as stated, to solve a numerical problem. Language level: advanced Equipment and material: pencil and paper
This is a difficult game and requires complete concentration.
Begin by reading the following instructions, repeating them as many times as is necessary. Inform the students that they must do exactly as they are told. If they make one minor mistake everything else will also be wrong.
Instructions:
1. Write the number that represents one-fourth of a century. (25)
2. Under this number write the number of quarters in a dollar. (4)
3. Do not follow the next instruction if the city of Chicago is in the state of Colombia. (It is not.)
4. Under the number of quarters in a dollar write the number of nickels in a quarter. (5) If this is larger than the number just above it, write the number of pennies in a dime (10) to the right of the total of the last two numbers (9), which you place under the number of nickels in a quarter.
5. Now cross out the number of pennies in a dime, if you have written it, but only if the sum of the first two numbers you wrote on your paper is more than ten. (It is.)
6. Add all the numbers you have written down, including the one you may have crossed out. (25, 4, 5, 10, 9 = 53)
7. Multiply the total by two. (106) this is known as the total num­ber.
8. If the city of San Francisco is west of the city of Chicago, sub­tract 6 from the total number. (100)
9. Divide the resulting number by the number of quarts in a gal­lon. (4)
10. The resulting number should now be the number of pennies in a quarter. (25) It is also the answer to the first question.
Answer: 25 4 5 9
53 X2
106 -6-;
100 -£-4


PSYCHOLOGY GAMES
Here you can find games which might all lead after _awareness the workings of the human mind and senses. This is an area of interest for everyone, in which there is much individual variation of opinion and experience. Our games exploit this fact in ways which encourage concentration and language use.
Telepathy
Language: Asking questions about the content of pictures, e.g. is he running?
Skills: Listening and speaking, with reading in the variation.
Control: Controlled.
Level: Beginners,
Time: 10-15 minutes for class work. 10-15 minutes for pair work.
Materials: Picture cards.
Preparation: You need six to eight picture cards of, for example, actions. It is better to have all the actions in the picture done by one sex, so this element need not be established.
Procedure: Class work leading to pair work.
Make sure the learners know the picture cards in your hand. They would be able to remember all of them. Then ask if anyone believes in empathy. Discuss telepathy with the class in the mother tongue for a moment, raising interest in whether or not there is any truth in it. ‘Fiat you will do an experiment. Select one of the picture cards at random and show it to only half the class. Tell them they must concentrate on the card, and send out 'telepathic signals'.
Tell the other half of the class that you will give them three chances to receive the 'telepathic signals'. In our experience it is astonishing how often the message seems to be received! It is then inevitable for people to feel the need to try it again. Do it perhaps five times. Catch time record if the 'message' was received within three attempts, e.g.
Learner 1: Is he swimming?
Teacher: No.
Learner 2: Is he running?
Teacher: Yes! Well done.
Then suggest that the same experiment is done in pairs. Each learner should draw three or four stickmen showing different actions. (Or they might write down three or four short sentences.) Then one learner in each pair takes both sets of drawings, and, hiding them from the other learner behind a book, places his/her finger on one of them. The other learner then has three guesses. You could ask them to do the experiment ten times with utmost concentration. And they should record each time the right guess is made within the first three attempts.
Variation: Class work.
Ask if anyone in the class believes in telepathy. (You will probably do this in the mother tongue.) Say that you intend to carry out an experiment to test telepathic communication.
Write four .short texts on the board.
Ask one learner, who is prepared to be a 'medium', to think of one of the texts.
Ask the rest of the class, whether they believe in telepathy or not. to try to concentrate on which they think the 'medium' has chosen and to write down that particular text.
After two minutes, ask each learner to read out his/her text, in turn. (In this activity it is remarkable how everyone wants to listen to everyone else. Everyone wants to be right!)
Ask someone to stand by the chalkboard and to place a tick beside each text as it is referred to.
When all the ticks have been added up, ask the 'medium' to say which text he/she was thinking of. Decide whether he/she has managed to transmit his/her thoughts!