SESSION 1C

Gus Wong, Monash College
Challenging Games that Challenge Your Learners

Abstract
Do you play games like Backs to the Board and Charade in your ELICOS classes? What other games do you bring into the classroom in hope to make learning more fun, and help learners better achieve their learning outcomes? Do you play these games the way you have been shown? Can you modify them to stretch your learners' learning and make these games your own? Would it be possible to adapt a fun game you have seen on TV for instance for the purpose of English language learning? In this workshop, participants will partake in a number of English language learning games, and make these games more challenging by applying through group discussion relevant adult learning theories that include Knowles, Holton, and Swanson's (2014) WPW Model, Kolb, Boyatzis, and Mainemellis's (1999) Experiential Learning Theory and and Vygotsky's (1978) Theory of Zone of Proximal Development.

By the end of this session, you will bring with you a few new games, ways to adapt games for use in English language classrooms, and strategies for making any game in your repertoire more challenging! In this session, the impact of these gaming strategies for ELICOS learning and teaching will also be discussed.

Bio
In the past decade, Gus has held positions as ELICOS Curriculum Coordinator and Lecturer in academic areas that include Teaching Theories and Practices, Linguistics, Multimodal Literacies and Social Justice. As a young academic, Gus specialises in online/blended delivery, adult learning theories that focus on curriculum alignment, and gaming strategies in learning and teaching. Having received education and taught in Asia, Europe and Australia, Gus possesses a deep understanding of the unique challenges that international students face and how they learn.