Kneoh, J. W. T. & Miura, S. (2021) Teaching students English idioms through a memory game - Ludic Language Pedagogy

Metadata

Authors: Jocelyn Kneoh Wan Ting, Saki Miura
Reviewed by: Paul Horness, Casey Nedry.
Volume and page numbers: 3 (p. 37 – 47)
Date of publication: 2021/04/20
Keywords: English idioms, Flashcard game, Free online game, Pair work, Teacher guide, University students, Worksheet
Cite: Kneoh, J. W. T. & Miura, S. (2021). Teaching students English idioms through a memory game. Ludic Language Pedagogy, 3, p.37-47. https://doi.org/10.55853/llp_v3Pg3

Background: We didn’t know the common English idioms used by native speakers. We thought that other university students would not know them either. We hoped to learn these kinds of idioms from the teachers in university.
Aim: We want university students to learn common English idioms. Learning English idioms would help non-native speakers speak in more native ways. Through playing games, students are able to learn and apply the importance of idioms and the common idioms that are usually used by native speakers.
Methods: We created an online match memory game and a worksheet. After that, we found some playtesters to play the game and asked them to do the worksheet we made.
Results: Students thought that this interesting game can help them to learn idioms more easily and faster. Moreover, doing the worksheet we made can also help them remember idioms easily. From the worksheet, they used the idioms regardless of the length of the idioms to build sentences. We found which idioms from the 11 idioms we provided are easily used by them.
Conclusion: We found that the method of learning English idioms through the match memory game and related materials is suitable for university students in Japan who are advanced English learners.