Play is a popular student engagement strategy, and traditional games boost world language learning via an authentic cultural experience.
I’m always gratified by just how much interactive and culturally relevant activities change the dynamic in my world language classes, and in my experience nothing beats traditional games from the target culture.
I teach Tagalog, one of the major languages of the Philippines, and over and over again I’ve seen how playing street games, in particular, can prompt authentic communicative tasks that are great for assessment and student practice—and hold students’ attention because they’re so engaging.
