Cards are a great addition to any teacher’s toolkit as they offer multiple learning opportunities in English language teaching classrooms. Teachers can use ELT ready-made cards, make their own or adapt existing cards and card games for their classrooms. Education has become incredibly screen centred with the rise of technology. This was increasing prior to the pandemic but accelerated sharply during and after it, and cards are a wonderful antidote to the pervasiveness of screens. I sense students have haptic dissonance – that is, they miss the tactile aspects of life and learning. Cards can remedy this as they are so satisfying to touch, hold, sort, shuffle, deal and organise, in addition to often being incredibly visually appealing. Cards can be used for inspiring and promoting discussion, revising grammar and vocabulary, practising instructions and improving numeracy, amongst other activities.
I’ve always photocopied cards from teacher resource books and laminated them for future use. These card sets are gifts that have kept giving, proving to be invaluable instructional materials. I have cards for gerunds and infinitives, narrative tenses, articles and FCE Use of English exam preparation. If you don’t have access to a resource book, you can easily make your own cards using Microsoft Word.
I usually make four to five sets of each. To use these language-focused cards, I divide students into groups of four to five and give each team a deck. They have twenty to thirty minutes to try and answer the questions. Lower levels will require more time to answer the questions, but another benefit of these cards is that they can generally be used for a variety of levels.
One person on the team makes notes of the answers, and the group rank the questions from easiest to hardest. After, the teams think of a creative team name. I make a table with the team names on the board. Then, we do rounds and teams try to answer the questions. They must listen closely to the other teams as they don’t want to repeat the same wrong answer as another team. Once a sentence is correct, I write the question number next to the team’s name on the board, and that way we can note the score and also keep track of the questions we have completed.
The attention and focus are very strong in this activity, and teams can get quite competitive. However, as it’s team-based, learners feel less pressure, and I continuously emphasise that it is just a game! Learners are so engaged that they forget that they are learning – they are in that magic zone of ‘learning when they’re not looking’. When we’re going over the answers, I stop and concept check for metalanguage, such as grammar points or parts of speech. Getting off the page, out of the book and into cooperative, learner-centred activities increases enjoyment, energy levels and cohesion between learners. This activity is very simple, but it’s been a crowd pleaser for well over a decade!
Making English for academic purposes (EAP) more dynamic is one of my professional goals, and I use laminated sets of targeted Academic Word List (AWL) vocabulary cards to increase engagement. Each card has four words using the AWL vocabulary we have been studying. I make four to six different sets of cards depending on the class size. Prior to starting the activity, I elicit ways a word can be explained to someone. Possible answers include using it in a sentence, giving a definition, giving examples of the word in context, drawing, miming, etc.
Learners can choose to explain the word in any way they like, but must not say it or its related word forms. Then, in groups of four to six, one learner takes a card and explains the first word using their chosen strategies. Their teammates guess, and once the learner has finished, the next person takes a card. The first team to finish all of their cards wins. This activity also serves to reinforce the important notion that we don’t always need our phones in class to check vocabulary; in fact, we can teach each other many things as a community of learners. Another vocabulary-related activity is Pelmanism, or matching, where learners match a word with its definition.
Spiritual cards are one of my passions. I have tarot cards, animal spirit cards, angel cards and other cards with inspirational sayings and beautiful art. I first saw tarot cards in a shop window and was instantly drawn to them. I’ve been doing my tarot reading for several years. It grounds and relaxes me, which is useful for managing teaching stress, and it is also a pleasant distraction before or after a busy day. I’ve told my students about my love of tarot, and this authenticity allows them to see different aspects of me. For religious reasons, tarot cards are not suitable for many students, but I have used animal spirit cards. I allow learners to choose a card that appeals to them, or I deal the cards randomly. They can then mingle and chat while listening to music. The card can be a writing prompt or even used to teach the basics of critical thinking or cognitive skills (remember, understand, analyse, apply, evaluate and create).
I wrote about the opportunities and benefits of using astrology in ELT classrooms several years ago, and I have continued to use these cards since (Hadwin, 2020). In our troubled and often confusing world, they offer a pleasant escape and promote an optimistic mindset. I use two sets of laminated astrological cards in my reading and writing, and listening and speaking classes. Each set has one card for each sign of the zodiac and includes a description of the sign. One set is for lower intermediate and the other for upper intermediate and advanced. For many learners, the ELT classroom is their first introduction to astrology, and they generally find it quite exciting.
To introduce astrology, we talk about whether astrology exists in the learners’ cultures, what divination is, and destiny versus free will. Without exception, everyone has an opinion about this, and it makes for a great mingle task! After, learners are grouped based on their astrological sign, and they design and create a poster for their sign based on the information on the cards. They can also do online research and cite the cards and online sources on their poster to develop paraphrasing and promote academic citation. These cards develop vocabulary and encourage reading in a pleasurable way. A follow-up activity to the astrological sign posters is to display the posters around the room with learners doing a gallery walk. To create a focused reading task, elicit the names of six celebrities that everyone knows. Then, learners tour and try to guess the celebrity’s sign. They must support their hypotheses by referring to information on the poster.
Playing cards are a useful and versatile resource for multiple levels. They are cheap, readily available and many learners are already familiar with them. One activity is to divide learners into groups at the start of the term or project, and each group is responsible for teaching a card game to the others in the class. They can choose a game from one learner’s culture or do online research and search for a new game. Each group member is responsible for teaching small groups of three to six. This activity meets outcomes for giving and following instructions, and it strengthens learners’ listening and speaking skills. Playing cards can also introduce and develop numeracy skills, and there are many conventional card games that develop this. The cards can be used for basic adding and subtracting problems. To develop lateral thinking skills, learners can devise a list of unconventional things that could be done with a deck of playing cards. Learners can be encouraged to start a games club, where they can meet to share and play games. Games provide a diversion from solely focusing on using English, and this can decrease negative affective factors such a shyness because learners are not as focused on communicating in English and avoiding making mistakes.
Like people, cards come in many amazing shapes and sizes. There is no one-size-fits-all-approach with cards in English language learning, and there are undoubtedly many creative classroom applications awaiting exploration. I would love to hear about any exciting and interesting card-based activities other teachers are using in their classes.
Hadwin, L. (2020). ‘Aligning astrology and academic skills: positive signs for our times’ Modern English Teacher 29 3
Laura Hadwin is an English language instructor at Camosun College in Victoria BC, Canada. She is interested in teacher beliefs and identity, materials design, as well as creativity in teaching and learning. She serves as Publications Officer for the IATEWFL LitSIG. She has taught and delivered teacher training in South Korea, Spain, the UK, Turkey, Qatar and Mexico. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, volunteering and exploring our beautiful world! Email: hadwinl@camosun.bc.ca Website: https://auroraenglish.wixsite.com/english