Teach English in Dongchang Zhen - Chengdu Shi

When I was younger, my best friend and I used to do scavenger hunts all the time. Her mother would create and hide the clues for us to find and have a prize waiting for us at the end of it all. Not only was this activity really fun, but it also had us thinking throughout it’s duration. We would do these scavenger hunts rain or shine, sometimes inside, but mostly outside in the backyard. This activity could be successfully adapted to teach English outside of the classroom by taking place in the schoolyard, the library, a park, virtually anywhere. Why play I-Spy when you could spend the lesson solving riddles, answering question and working together to get that goody bag at the end of class?! Using scavenger hunts to teach English outside of the classroom would be successful because it is a fun activity, allows for group work and various roles for the teacher, is able to include all language skills and can target virtually any topic to be covered in a lesson with only a few minor drawbacks. This activity would work effectively because it is engaging and fun; between deciphering various clues, figuring out the location of the next clue and claiming a well deserved prize, scavenger hunts are extremely engaging and immersive games, especially when there is some kind of prize to look forward to at the end of the hunt! This activity can potentially fall under the task based learning method, in that “[…] the focus is more on a task than the language”1 based on the fact students will be trying to solve their clues however they can manage. In a game of ESL scavenger hunts, students could be paired into groups or pairs, and therefore have to communicate with each other in order to figure out the clues they come across. This is beneficial in two ways; first it helps to establish and strengthen student relationships with one another, hopefully making them feel more comfortable with each other and thus improving the overall classroom relationships and secondly, teacher talk time will be reduced while student talk time is increased as the students must work together to decipher the clues.2 This type of activity also allows the teacher to act in several different roles as covered in unit 1 of this course; monitor, organizer, prompter, participant and resource.3 As the activity progresses the teacher can monitor the students as they work to complete the hunt, the activity in and of itself requires thorough organization, provides the opportunity to act as both a prompter and resource to help the students if they are stuck on a clue and even allows the teacher to participate to a certain extent (if clues are handed out by the teacher upon solving a riddle). Creating a scavenger hunt for the students to complete is also beneficial in that the scavenger hunt can be designed to incorporate all four language skills, as Unit 11 recommends.4 The clues themselves specifically target the receptive skill of reading, in that most scavenger hunt clues are written and require the hunter to decipher them so they may move on to find the next clue. The clues may also be created as audio clips, for example, a clue leads to a tape recorder instructing the students to play the tape, so they must now use the receptive listening skill in order to figure out where their next clue is. A scavenger hunt also encompasses the productive skill speaking, as mentioned previously the scavenger hunt will require the students to communicate with each other. But the clues can also be specifically designed to further require the use of speaking, for example a question can appear on the clue card with the requirement of telling the teacher the correct answer and once they have done this they will be provided with the next clue. Lastly, scavenger hunts can be designed to include the other productive skill, writing, in a similar manner as the example previously mentioned, only they must write the answer on the board. As the clues can be designed to incorporate the four language skills, they can also be designed to target different topics and themes that are to be covered in the course. For example, clues can be designed to have vocabulary answers on virtually any topic (animals, furniture, etc.), answers regarding grammar (like full/complete sentences), or any other topic to be covered in the syllabus for a class. The clues can also be designed to act as a review for the class, covering topics already taught to help the students by reminding them of what has already been learned and further test that knowledge. This is especially helpful as review is recommended as often as every week to help the student in their English learning.5 Realistically, this activity will have some foreseeable issues regarding organization and communication primarily. This activity requires the teacher to plan very detailed clues, hide them and be able to help the students as they try to progress through the hunt. The students may also get paired or grouped with students they are not comfortable working with, but this can be resolved if the students are allowed to pick their partners/groups.6 There is also the issue of communication, in that the students may struggle to solve the scavenger hunt if it is too difficult or they may attempt to communicate and solve the clues using their first language.7 If the latter occurs, it would not be extremely detrimental to the activity because the clues themselves (and any answers required to solve them) still must be done using English. In summary, an outdoor scavenger hunt is perfectly suited to teach English outside the classroom. It is an easily adaptable game in regards to topics and skills and is an engaging and fun activity all who participate in can enjoy! (Foot/Endnotes) 1 International TEFL and TESOL Training, ITTT 003 Unit 3 Theories, methods and techniques. (ITTT, 2011), https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer pg. 3 2 International TEFL and TESOL Training, ITTT 005 Unit 5 Managing classes. ( ITTT, 2011), https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer pgs.4-5 3 International TEFL and TESOL Training, ITTT 001 Unit 1 Teachers and Learners. (ITTT, 2011), https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer pgs.2-3 4 International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT 011 Unit 11 Teaching receptive skills. (ITTT, 2011), https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer pg 1. 5 International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT 015 Unit 15 Evaluation and testing, (ITTT, 2011), https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer pg. 1. 6 International TEFL and TESOL Training, ITTT 005 Unit 5 Managing classes, (ITTT, 2011), pgs.4-5. 7 International TEFL and TESOL Training, ITTT 005 Unit 5 Managing classes, (ITTT, 2011), pgs.4-5 & International TEFL and TESOL Training, ITTT 020 Unit 20 Troubleshooting, (ITTT, 2011), https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer Pgs.3-4. PLEASE NOTE: This was originally typed in Microsoft word so footnotes made in that document may/may not have properly pasted over, if a word document is needed I will happily send one. Bibliography International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT 001 Unit 1 Teachers and Learners. ITTT, 2011. https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT 003 Unit 3 Theories, methods and techniques. ITTT, 2011. https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT 005 Unit 5 Managing classes. ITTT, 2011. https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT 011 Unit 11 Teaching receptive skills. ITTT, 2011. https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT 015 Unit 15 Evaluation and testing. ITTT, 2011. https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer International TEFL and TESOL Training. ITTT 020 Troubleshooting. ITTT, 2011. https://db.teflserver.com/eeap/index.php/units/#pdfviewer