No matter how many times I play Suspense I am always amazed with the
strength of its appeal and the depth of its range. It guarantees to
naturally beckon and capture the interest of children (and adults) in
learning English. Here's how:
Motivation
The key to motivation with this game is its suspense. After
the first student goes, all the other students try to remember the faces of
the cards that were picked up and turned back down. It never fails.
Students are too busy trying to memorize all the face cards and their
positions to speak Japanese or fool around.
Procedure
To start the game, all the students should be in a circle
around the table or on the tatami. The cards are placed face down.
Moving in a clockwise direction, one student at a time turns over two cards
and names the objects shown. If the cards match, the student keeps them
and goes again. If they do not match, they are turned face down and the
next student to the left goes.
English Focus
Young learners (3-5) simple say the nouns (i.e.,
"cat-duck") as they turn the cards over. Elementary school students form
simple sentences, such as, "This is a cat. This is a duck." More advanced
elementary school students can add a color before the noun and say, "This
is a gray cat. This is a yellow duck." More advanced students can say,
"This is a cute gray cat." The possibilities are endless. The teacher
just adds on more difficult syntax manipulation depending on the level of
the class.
Grammar Points
Students learn grammar by experiencing it as opposed to
listening to explanations, which take away from the pleasure of playing the
game. Under the guidance of the teacher they learn to use the article "a"
in front of countable nouns and use the article "an" in front of words
beginning with a vowel. As they get more advanced they learn to use
"the" in front of "sun" and to use no articles in front of non-countable
nouns. As they advance further they can even start to use plurals. "This
is a pencil; these are pencils."
Interaction Skills
The game promotes social intimacy by virtue of the
students being huddled around in a circle. It fosters respect for peers by
giving each student the opportunity to concentrate and select two cards
without being interrupted by the other students.
Behavioral Control
Students NEVER speak Japanese when Suspense is being
played. If a student does speak Japanese, then he loses his turn. This
sets the English mode for the rest of the group. People want to play this
game badly enough to NOT speak Japanese. As time goes on, students not
only speak and understand controlled English, they also receive recognition
from their teacher and peers for their ability to succeed within an English
framework. Before long they are confident about their ability in English
in this game scenario.
Ending the Game
After all the cards have been picked up, the students
count in English how many pairs they have collected. The one with the most
pairs wins. Suspense enables everyone to be a winner in one way or another.
The students think winning is important, but we as educators know all those
who play the game in English are the real winners.
Helene Jarmol Uchida
Helene Jarmol Uchida is a veteran teacher with teaching, curriculum
development and teacher training experience in the U.S., Greece and Japan.
She is the director of the Fukuoka-based
Little America English Schools
and lectures at Fukuoka Kyoiku Daigaku. She holds the
LATEM seminars every year
in cities throughout Japan and is also the author of 'The Challenge Book',
an interactive English book and CD especially created for Japanese
elementary school students.
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