Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Communicative Games

3 Answering questions There must be many questions emerging from the students when they are playing the games, since they learn new words and rules. The teacher should assist the students by answering some questions to get the games done well. 4 Extending the student’s ability The teacher has to create games which will get students leaving their comfort zone. The games should be challenging and engaging that they will extend the students’ ability. 5 Cheating creatively In playing games, individually or in a team, there must be sides that left behind. To make your students left behind too far from others, you have to be able to cheat in a playful ways. 6 Giving all students a chance All students in the class have the same chances to participate in the games. Everyone has to get involved in playing the games. The teacher is the one who is responsible to wisely arrange the team. The teacher has to encourage shy students to participate and avoid the active students dominating the activity. 7 Taking a part The teacher cannot leave the students play the games alone without any guidance or participation of the teacher. The teacher may take a part, yet do not be too dominant. In conducting communicative games, Klippel 1984: 8 states that the teacher has to refrain from continually correcting the students or using her greater skill in the foreign language to her advantage. If the teacher joins in the activity, she will then no longer be able to judge independently and give advice and help to other groups, which is the teacher’s major role if she does not participate directly. A further advantage of non-participation is that the teacher may unobtrusively observe the performance of several students in the foreign language and note common mistakes for revision at a later stage. Further, Klippel assumes that the teacher should be careful not to correct students’ errors too frequently. Being interrupted and corrected makes the students hesitant and insecure in their speech when they should really be practicing communication. It seems far better for the teacher to use the activities for observation and to help only when help is demanded by the students themselves; even then they should be encouraged to overcome their difficulties by finding alternative ways of expressing what they want to say. To make communicative games as fruitful as possible, there are few things to remember as suggested by Moss Ross-Feldman 2003. 1 Keep teacher talk to a minimum. Explain as much as possible by demonstrating the process, explaining in different ways, and repeating. Don’t worry if every learner doesn’t understand every part of an activity. Move on when the majority of the learners get the idea, and then circulate and help as needed – unobtrusively. One way to gauge the success of a class for English language learners is to observe how much or how little the students are depending on the teacher. The more learners are working independently, in pairs, or in small groups, the more successful the class. 2 Literacy- and beginning-level learners, as well as those at intermediate and advanced levels, are highly competent individuals. They may lack English and for some school skills, and it i s the teacher’s job to help them with that. These adults have successfully weathered many difficulties to get to class. Give them credit they deserve. 3 Have fun. Communicative activities are designed to be lively, interactive, and fun. When people are comfortable they are likely to learn more. An active, cooperative class is a class where a great deal of learning – social, cultural, and linguistic – is evident. A teacher should consider how to choose games as well. Here are some tips how to choose games suggested by Tyson 2000. 1 A game must be more than just fun. 2 A game should involve “friendly” competition. 3 A game should keep all of the students involved and interested. 4 A game should encourage students to focus on the use of language rather than on the language itself. 5 A game should give students a chance to learn, practice, or review specific language material.