Game-based learning (GBL) involves integrating educational content into game formats, making learning more engaging and interactive. This teaching approach that uses the natural interest and motivation people have for games has major benefits.
- It enhances engagement – the games’ interactive and enjoyable nature can capture students’ attention and keep them motivated to learn. Learning English doesn’t have to be boring. Games are a great way for students to learn because they keep their mind active and their mood positive. They help learners stay focused and remember things more easily. When they play, they repeat important words and sounds without even thinking about it. This helps students learn naturally since students do not just read or listen — they interact; they make choices, solve problems, and get instant feedback, which helps them feel more confident.
- It provides immediate feedback – games often give instant feedback on performance allowing learners to understand their mistakes and correct them on the spot. This can accelerate the learning process and improve mastery of skills. Students can even use games to review what they’ve already learned or prepare for a quiz or test.
- It supports differentiated learning – games can be tailored to individual styles and paces, making them suitable for a diverse range of learners and helping each student achieve their potential; games are also great for all ages. Whether you are a child or an adult, beginner or advanced, playing games gives your brain a workout.
Next, we are going to have a look at three of the most popular digital game platforms for learning English:
Games to Learn English is an innovative platform dedicated to enhancing English language learning through interactive gameplay. Created by Owen Dwyer, the website offers a variety of games designed to help learners master English in an engagingly and effectively. Each game focuses on practical vocabulary building skills (and grammar practice), making learning both fun and functional. The creators of Games to Learn English know that motivation is key to language acquisition. That’s why their games are crafted to be both educational and entertaining, ensuring that students stay engaged and motivated throughout their learning journey. This digital resource is ideal for students seeking to practise English outside the classroom and teachers looking for dynamic teaching aids.
One of the most popular games on the platform is Fast English – a simple game for learning basic English vocabulary. The students listen to the words and click on the matching images. The game gets faster as they progress and if they do not click quickly enough, the game will end. The teacher can choose which vocabulary to practise by clicking on a set in the content screen. There are about 30 sets of content that cover most of the basic vocabulary items. The teacher can choose to review a set of content by clicking on the ‘review’ option. This screen displays the images and text while playing the audio. At the end of the game, there is also a high scores screen which shows the best players for each set of content according to the period in which the game was completed. This game can be set as a homework task for students.
Other interactive games (alongside with their instructions) available on www.gamestolearnenglish.com/ are: Monster Vocab (Listen and click on the correct images), Body Parts (Click on the images to see the body parts), Jobs Game (Guess the job and practice job language), Food Game (Listen and click on the correct food images), Clothes (Read the sentences and move the clothes), Vocab Game (Reveal the images and click on the words), Numbers (Listen to the numbers and move the monster), Anagrams (Move the letters to make the vocabulary items), Word Search (Find the words to match the images), Spelling Bee (Look at the image and then spell the word), Reveal (Guess the word or phrase as the image is revealed), Vocab Describer (Read the description and click on the matching image), Hang Man (Guess letters to spell out a hidden word), Hot Seat (Describe vocabulary items in English), Concentration (Find the matching pairs of images and words), Weather (Listen and move the weather images to the countries). If we use an Interactive whiteboard in class, we can download content specifically made for IWBs (the content is made with PixiJS). Two examples of English vocabulary games for IWB are Desert Drag and Faceoff. The content is generally based on games that are quite effective also with a normal whiteboard or chalkboard. Another example would be the game of Typhoon that students can also play with a chalk board. In this game, there is a grid of about 25 squares, and the students in two teams take turns choosing a square. Each square has a point value and that number of points is added to their team’s score then, the team with the most points at the end wins. This game always works well and engages the students effectively. However, it works much better and more smoothly in the IWB format as the setup is instantaneous and the scores are added to each team automatically. Moreover, the appearance makes it more interesting for the students.
Older games from this site are available to download without an internet connection. We can put them on our students’ computers in the classroom. A disadvantage of these games would be the fact that they are more than 10 years old now and may look very dated. The files are in .rar format, so we have to install WinRAR to extract them.
LearnEnglish Kids is a platform provided by the British Council. This is the place where students and teachers can find some of the most popular interactive games developed by Cambridge English Online: Animal band quiz, Clean and Green, Job mixer, Secret coder, Teddy Dresser, Wordshake, Actions 1-3, Ancient Egypt, Animal body. The website provides a wide variety of topics for the vocabulary games: Birds, Bugs and insects, Chores, Circus jobs, Classroom actions, Daily routines, Dinosaurs Drinks, Emotions and feelings, Environment, Everyday objects, Flags, Food, Furniture Health and Illness, Holiday activities, Money, Money in the UK, Musical instruments, Mythical creatures, Olympics and Paralympics, Pets, Pirates, Places in nature, Places in town, Plants, Reptiles and amphibians, School subjects, School things, Shapes, Sports, Technology, Wild animals;
English Club.com is an educational website for learners and English. Since 1997, this digital resource has provided free access to thousands of online crossword puzzles, matching pairs, jumbled words, hangman games and many more. All these games are mobile-friendly, but students can also play them on their tablets or laptops.
The spelling games (Jobs, Animals, Clothes, Countries, Sports, Buildings, Musical instruments) help students improve their spelling of tricky words through fun challenges. The learners will also build their word power and learn to use new words in context (All games have answers available). Matching games (Matching Opposites Games, Matching Synonyms Games, Matching Pairs Games) are an excellent and fun way to practise vocabulary and other skills. In each game, students have to find a matching pair. Other popular games are: Mystery Games and Hangman. These games are arranged from easy (Elementary) to difficult (Advanced). The more stars a game has, the more difficult it is. These games are also good for two players. Students take turns playing, and the winner is the one who finds the most pairs.
Although game-based learning can be time consuming for teachers and may not appeal to all students in the EFL classroom, it remains a teaching method that enhances learning by building students’ confidence and memory. Moreover, it enables teachers to create a positive and dynamic learning environment where everybody is a winner.
Sitography
www.gamestolearnenglish.com/
learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/fun-games/games
www.englishclub.com/esl-games/
youtube.com/watch?v=bZvLjAacVJg