Playspent: A practical case in using web-based games in EFL

Introduction

?Playspent is an action maze game where you take the role of an unemployed and single parent who has to make it through the month, solving real life-like problems as they come. Using this simulation game within a classroom context may provide for a powerful learning experience: through the simulation, students will be immersed in a context where they will interact with English in an ‘authentic’ way -i.e. students react to the input as they would do in real life. Besides, given the nature of the game, the activity may well be adapted to integrate both language and critical thinking skills.

Lesson plan

Here’s a sample lesson plan you can devise using Playspent as the core activity. We arranged it to be dealt within a framework of two 1h30m classes. The targeted group comprises adult students of English as a Foreign Language with an Intermediate level.

Of course, feel free to adapt and use it yourself -and to give us feedback on how it proved!

Outline of SESSION 1 (1:30 hours)

a) Video Activity

Click here to go to the video: http://youtu.be/dJIl1Zr9l7c

Use the contents of the video as a lead-in activity to foster debate.

b) Pre-Teach Vocabulary

Here is the link to the Quizlet Flascard Set.

c) Group or pair work.

Write in your own words self-explanatory and original sentences with the vocabulary in Quizlet. Each group has a set of different words.

d) Uncovering the Language of Advice

Noticing Language: sentence correction betting game.
Consolidating language: Write some advice for the situations given and report to the whole class.
Using language: Write an E-Agony Aunt letter to the woman in the video.

Outline of SESSION 2 (1:30 hours)

a) Collaborative mind-map.

b) Play Game in Pairs

Solve situations as they arise.

Complete the game’s written requests
Final Report

c) Final Tasks

Personal Finance 5 Best Practices. Write a blog post in groups.

Click here to view a document with complete teacher notes on how to handle the activity.

Game-Based Learning: a Rationale.

Why using web-based games in a language classroom? Among other reasons, Game-Based Learning (GBL) fosters:

digital native students’ motivation. Learners prefer very fast information, parallel process, multi-task, graphics, random access, and network groups, expecting instant gratification or frequent rewards and even failure.
genuine communication and collaborative group-work, in-class gaming in groups but also interactive games playing with people world-wide.
authentic input – real language in a real life context. The world into the classroom and students can ‘respond’ in a personalised way.
the union of significant content with play and learning English through any subject. It also improves their organization, leadership, reflection, spatial skills etc.
different kinds of learning styles development- multimedia input merging visual, aural, kinaesthetic, etc.
independent learning, using computers and the Internet gives students access to a wide range of resources: dictionaries, grammar, encyclopedias etc
practice in all skills, in particular receptive ones, reading and listening, but also productive, writing and speaking, if wisely used in a task.

Resources & Bibliography

Interested in finding some more games or researching further on introducing 2.0 games in the classroom? Visit our resources collection on Diigo (last updated on 21st May, 2011)