Bobergs+English+Class

**Bobergs English Case Study**
**Class:** English Language **Number of Students:** 7 **Year:** 2 **Number of Lessons:** 1 (2 hour duration)

**//Outline//** We were given the opportunity to take a lesson in Bobergs, with some students who were learning English as a second language. We only had one lesson with them, so we decided to focus on improving their language skills through two fun games.

**//Game One: Guess Who//** The purpose of this game was to assume the identity of a relatively famous individual, and then work out the identity of the other members through asking a series of yes / no questions. For example, “are you a famous singer?” or “did you star in the film Mission Impossible?” The students were provided with 30 minutes for internet research; with the aim of both researching information on a famous person of their choice, and also researching possible questions to ask others. After this they were split into two groups and given around 20 minutes to guess everyone’s identity.

**//Game Two: Scattergories//** The purpose of this game was to encourage the students to explore their English vocabulary. We provided a list of 10 categories (such as “Boys Name,” “Food” and “Things You Would Find in a Kitchen”), and each team had to try and think of entries for each category which started with one out of three possible letters. In the first round we allocated “S,” “D,” and “R,” so possible answers for “Food” could have been “Salad,” “Duck” or “Risotto.” There was the possibility for double points if two letters were used (“**R**ice **S**alad”) and triple points if all three were used (“**R**anch **S**alad **D**ressing”). The students were given three minutes to think of answers, and there were two rounds; both with different letters and categories. To provide added competition the students were split into two teams, and a score was tallied across the two rounds. At the end of each round we read out a list of potential answers for each of the categories.

**How Did It Relate To Our Research?** Our main aim of the lesson was to help develop their English skills, which has much relevance to their own lives and their future as fluent English speakers. The Guess Who task not only required them to understand questions asked of them, but also research and form their own questions to ask others. This is a very useful skill to develop, and we were clear that questions had to be asked in full sentences (we provided some examples on the board to help). The Scattegories was similarly useful beyond the classroom as it encouraged them to scrutinize their own vocabulary, and add to it with the example answers which we provided (**//Strong Links Beyond The Classroom//**). With the short time available it was not particularly easy to think of ways to personalise learning in this class, but one method which we tried to incorporate was choice in the Guess Who task. By choosing a famous person which they had a particular interest in, we felt this would help them become engaged with the task, and more motivated to expand their knowledge of that person (**//Curriculum Entitlement and Choice//**). The games themselves encouraged a certain amount of self evaluation. In the Guess Who task we thought that the interaction would encourage them to evaluate their chosen questions; as they may have been faced with more insightful questioning from their classmates. The Scattergories task also encouraged as the students were keen to compare their answers both with those from the opposing team, and also from the answer list which we prepared (**//Assessment for Learning//**).

**How Did It Go?** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">In practice the results of this class were mixed. The students seemed particularly unmotivated in the Guess Who task, partly because they were confused by the instructions and unclear of the purpose of the game. We did ask the class if they fully understood, but as we were unclear what level their English was at; it was only obvious when the task was underway that they were confused. At the suggestion of a student we acted out a round of Guess Who to act as an example, and this seemed to help the students greatly. However, in general only a few students showed enthusiasm or interest. If we had thought to do the example at the start of the lesson that might have been different. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The Scattegories task was much more successful. The students really got into the game, and were spurred on by the competition between the two teams. They were also keen to hear the possible answers which we came up with, which hopefully benefited their English vocabulary. The teams were so engaged with the task that there were some allegations of cheating; as the second team to read their answers had additional time, and the chance to copy the other team’s suggestions. This was addressed in the second round by insisting that all responses must have been clearly noted on the handout.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">**What Did the Students Think?** <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Student responses to this lesson were very positive with a unanimous 10 out of 10 rating. It should be noted, however, that this rating could mainly reflect their enjoyment of the games rather than actual learning. There were numerous positive comments that they enjoyed the games and liked the lesson in general. Two comments were //“It’s good for learning English”// and //“Scattergories was really interesting.”// There were only a couple of negative points, which reiterated that they were initially confused by the Guess Who task and that it would be beneficial to provide the acted out example at the start of the game. “Guess Who" at first, we didn't understand the game. After showing example, that went well.”

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">In general I think this lesson was flawed, but successful. We should have provided clearer instructions and demonstrated examples. I learned from this lesson that just because students say they fully understand a task, this is definitely not always true, and this is an important consideration when English is the second language. While there was limited opportunity for Personalised Learning in this class, I think that the games were very beneficial; allowing the students to incorporate their own interests, practice using English questions, and expand / evaluate their vocabulary.

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