Humanistic Teaching

An approach to learning English

Last week I said I'd talk about ways of using praise in games. Two activities that rely on positive feedback are the Clapping Game and The Flashcard game. Both of these can be found in Co-operative Learning by Doctor Spencer kagan (Kagan 1994). Here is how I have adapted these activities for use with Japanese students.

The Clapping Game

With a small group, one child leaves the room. The others choose a hiding place for a preselected, small, soft toy. When the child returns to the room the group directs the child to where the toy is hidden by clapping and cheering and saying, "Yes!". This is like the old children's game hot and cold where a player is directed to touch a particular object chosen secretly by given the verbal hints, "cold, "warm" and "hot". Clapping and cheering is much better for team building. With very young children I usually make sure that at least part of the toy is visible. Sometimes we also use gestures to indicate whether the toy is in, under, behind something etc. With large groups split them into small groups and have a soft toy for each. When the team member finds the toy another has a go. play until everyone has had at least one go looking for their item.

The Flash Card Game

With this activity students divide into pairs and take turns teaching each other a small number of flashcards. In Cooperative Learning Dr Spencer Kagan suggests that students make their own flashcards, for example of items they have missed in a pretest. This way every individual has their own personal set of flashcards. In practise, I have stuck with using regular flashcards, typically with word on one side and picture on the other. I introduce the game by going through a set of cards with a two minute time limit. I show the cards to the entire group and illicit answers. For each correct answer given I put the card in a suitable container, such as a basket, and give a different word of praise each time, the more exaggerated the better. I wait no more than 2 seconds for a correct answer. If none is given I say the answer and put the card to the back of the pack. When the time is up we count the number of answered cards and I often make a point of recording the result as a target for a future challenge.

Next, I choose a student at random and select five or six cards from the answered cards and model the activity again. This time as the student identifies each card I hand it over. In this way the student ends up with all the cards. The two elements I focus on is only showing the card for a short time before giving the answer and putting the card to the back, and giving praise as the card is handed over. I then get the student to be the quiz master for me. I will always um and arh or even misname one or two cards so the student can have practise at giving a correct answer quickly and not waiting too long.

After modelling the activity this way the students divide into pairs and I give each pair a set of five or six cards to use. If the students can read I will include one or two cards from those missed in the group activity. If they can't the I will stick with cards identified by the group. For the duration of the pair activity I play some upbeat BGM. I usually use Magellan's Beat by Govi as it lasts around six minutes which I find a suitable length for the activity. It is important to have one or two extra sets of cards so that as a pair finish with one set you can swap them with another. Also, in order for the activity to work the students must be fairly familiar with the vocabulary items.

I will confess that when I first encountered this activity I was highly dubious of it, especially the idea of giving praise. However, it is the praise that turns the activity into a game. With children I focus on getting them to praise with feeling. With more able English users I will stress the importance of using a different method of praise each time. I still remember the time I was doing the activity with a high school boy and he shouted, "You are my brother!"

Naturally, for students to be able to praise each other in English they need the vocabulary to do so. The first four adjectives I introduce to children are, "Great!", "Fine", "So-so" and "Terrible!". After these comes, "Fantastic!", "Wonderful" and "Ace". I don't use the flash card game for teaching vocabulary. For that I will use a game like Snake.

I think the idea of using praise to manipulate students is abhorrent. But kind words are better than horrid ones and building rapport is very important. Used in moderation the Flash Card Game can use praise to help do this. Cheers!

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