Definition of Communicative Games
describe where the person was, what he did, who he talked to. So as not to make the guessing too difficult, the ‘victim’s’ day should not be divided into more than six
two-hour periods. The people who waited outside are called in and return to their groups. There they try and find out
– by asking only yes no questions – how the group thinks they spent the previous day.
4 Lie detector
The students are divided into groups. One member of each group leaves the room. In their absence the groups decide on a set of five to eight questions they want
to ask the students. These can either be personal or factual questions. The students who went outside now return to their groups. They have to answer all questions,
except one, truthfully; in one case they may lie. The rest of the group has to decide which answer was a lie. They have to give reasons to justify their opinion. The
student tells them if they were right. 5
Coffeepotting The groups sit down facing one another. Then the teacher, without letting the
others see it, shows all the members of the smaller group a piece of paper with an activity written on it. The members of the bigger group now have to guess this
activity. In their questions they use the substitute verb ‘to coffeepot’, e.g. ‘Is coffeepotting fun in winter?’ Both yes no questions and wh-questions are allowed,
but not the direct question ‘What is coffeepotting?’ The students in the smaller group are allowed to give evasive answers, though they should be basically correct. Each
person in the smaller group is questioned by two members of the other group. As
soon as a student from the guessing group thinks he has found the solution, he whispers it to the teacher and
– if correct – joins the answering group. The game is finished when the original numbers of the group have been reversed.
6 What’s in the box?
Each student works with a partner. One student from each pair fetches a box and looks inside without letting his partner see what is in the box. The second student
has to guess the object. If you think the students don’t know the names of the objects, a piece of paper with the name and the pronunciation written on it should be placed
in the box. When the first student is quite sure his partner has guessed the object correctly he tells him the name. The second student then fetched a box and lets the
other one guess. 7
Partner puzzle Each student works with a partner. One student in each pair receives the
complete picture, which he must not show to his partner; the other student gets the puzzle pieces. The first student now has to tell the second how to arrange the pieces;
neither is allowed to see what the other is doing. 8
Ordering The students work in pairs. Each partner has half the pictures from a comic
strip. First, each student describes his pictures to his partner. They do not show each other their pictures. They decide on the content of the story and agree on a sequence
for their total number of pictures. Finally, both pictures sheets are compared and the solution discussed.
9 What would happen if…?
Every student receives one or two slips of paper with sentences like these on them: ‘What would happen if a shop gave away its goods free every Wednesday?’
‘What would you do if you won a trip for two to a city of your choice?’ One student starts by reading out his question and then asks another student to answer it. The
second student continues by answering or asking a third student to answer the first student’s question. If he has answered the question he may then read out his own
question for somebody else to answer. The activity is finished when all the questions have been read out and answered.
10 Spending money
Each student writes down what he would spend a given sum of money on, e.g. 50p, £5, £20, £50, £100, £500, £1,000, £5,000, £100,000. Students sit together in
small groups and describe what they have decided to buy with a particular amount of money and why they would like to make this purchase.