That's what I heard yesterday at a training session on how to make Grammar more appealing. I almost fell off my chair. I couldn't help raising my eyebrows at a colleague, who made a face to show that she was thinking the same as me, but what surprised me even more was when the teacher trainer agreed with the speaker. Yes, she said, adults don't really like games, they work much better with teenagers. And walking out of the session, the other participants also mentioned that games only work occasionally with adults and only 'if you have a good group'.
I feel so strongly that I just have to express myself on this.
Maybe I have always had very immature, trivial adults, and maybe my teens have always been very stuck-up, serious students who think that enjoying a joke is beneath them, but my experience has been completely the opposite. In fact, sometimes teenagers really do think that a teacher who wants to play is actually patronising them. They want to show that they are growing up, that they are adults already (even if they're not).
I think we all go through these phases. As children, of course we love to play. As we grow up, we worry about what other people think about us and so joking in the classroom seems infantile and we want to prove that we are beyond that. But once we become confident adults, we can relax and enjoy a laugh with our peers again. And teachers need to remember these stages in order to choose the best actvities for the lesson.
I believe in ending a class on a high note, so most of my lessons finish with a game of some sort. I have run 6-week intensive Grammar revision courses where the classroom activities were almost exclusively games and role play. And I know that these lessons were successful because students immediately signed up for more. So what could have made my colleague's students react so badly to playing a game?
1) No explanation of why students were playing games.
Students ultimately have faith in their teacher, they trust that the teacher knows what he is doing and why, but they can sometimes be surprised by the tasks we ask them to carry out. Nonetheless, I really believe that students will do anything a teacher asks if it is presented in the right way and if its purpose is explained. I think that teenagers and adults are able to understand a certain amount of pedagogy and if they ask why we are doing a particular exercise, we can tell them exactly how it will benefit them. The same goes for games. Just as we never ask them to listen or read without a purpose, explain what they will be practising before you start, and there will be no resistence to your plan.
2) Games for the sake of games.
Perhaps a teacher has been told that his lesson is too dry, or too book-oriented. Perhaps he was told that a private language school has to offer 'fun' lessons to contrast with state education. Perhaps he heard of some great game at a training session and decided to use it no matter what in his lesson that night, regardless of topic or lesson aims.
A game has to have a reason; it has to practice some language point. Students are not stupid. They know exactly when they are just being asked to do something to fill time.
3) The teacher wasn't confident enough with having fun.
Maybe the teacher chose the game too fast and wasn't sure of its effectiveness. Maybe he was new to the group and felt less comfortable in their midst than the students did. Maybe he likes complete control and can't cope with the spontanaeity that is innate in many games.
Whatever game you choose, you have to know exactly why you're doing it and for how long you should play before it loses its effectiveness. But also, put yourself in their position. After a long day at the office, wouldn't you like a little bit of fun?
4) The wrong game at the wrong time.
If you teach young learners, you know that activities can be stirrers or settlers, and if you teach Russians, you know that they absolutely hate to change chairs. Perhaps the students had just been slaving over some complex point after a very tough day at work, and now the teacher was asking them to complete some very complicated logic task. Perhaps they'd been asked to make a fool of themselves in front of students they'd only just met. of course there would be reluctance and a lack of enthusiasm.
I keep thinking about those poor adult students who never have any fun in class because the teacher made the wrong choice one time and has used it to form his principles on teaching. We are all capable of choosing the wrong game, but we mustn't give up at the first sign of resistance. A student who has fun while learning is a motivated student and will keep on coming back for more!
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