The Game Show Effect? Motivating Vocabulary Activities for Language Classrooms

As a universally popular and accessible form of entertainment that transcends national boundaries, the TV game show is a phenomenon recognisable to language learners throughout the world. Thus, as a means of teaching, the potential use of such formats has wide-ranging implications for classroom practice.

Many language learners face difficulties when trying to develop their lexical knowledge due to traditionally employed methods which focus less on the cognitive processes required for such constructive increases in their vocabulary knowledge. The task of the language teacher therefore is to develop a more stimulating environment in which language learners are better able and more

In this workshop, I presented a series of activities, lexically related, based on popular TV game show formats such as ‘blockbusters’ and ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’. These shows can be easily adapted by teachers for use in the language classroom. They offer opportunities for the recycling of vocabulary in a motivating and engaging way.

Firstly, the workshop allowed participants to discover and reflect on the potential of such activities through the process of participating in actual classroom activities and then discussing their relative values. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to share their ideas on the comparative practical applications, thus making it relevant to their particular teaching contexts.

The activities I presented can be downloaded from my blog:

http://www.yearinthelifeofanenglishteacher.com/2010/04/iatefl-harrogate-...