AAO: Board Game player guides
* This blog post is provided as an “Alternate Assessment Option”. The intended audience is modern language instructors.
OVERVIEW:
Looking for a good project for upper year classes? This might be an option.
MacOdrum Library has a collection of +/- 50 board games. Click here or scan the QR code below to see the list. These games can be checked out by Carleton students or instructors. In some cases, they even have class sets. And, while not all the games have potential for teaching and learning languages, quite of few of them do; especially for students at beginner levels. But what is missing for these beginners is the language they need to play them.
What I am proposing in this AAO is that students in upper-level classes, create “Playing guides” for students at more beginner levels; possibly as an alternative to a presentation or essay assignment.
An example of a suitable game might be something like “Hanabi”. In this game, students only need to know colours and numbers!
These guides are not simply translated versions of the instructions for a particular game. No. Because, while they may include instructions (clearly written for learners at a beginner level), they also offer necessary vocabulary, table talk, and a short list of “things you will learn” (e.g. grammatical features, giving instructions, asking questions) that students can expect to encounter when playing the game.
As an extension, student groups may also choose to create short videos of themselves playing the games along with explanations in the target language. We can then post these as help videos on the website.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Write clearly using appropriate language for a specific audience
- Consider different language functions (e.g. giving instructions, casual interactions, “what if” scenarios)
- Consider using board games to supplement their own language learning
