Flavoring the English Class: Promoting English through Chess

In Stephen Krashen’s influential theory stated by Crandall, “a second language is most successfully acquired when the conditions are similar to those present in first language acquisition: that is, when the focus of instruction is on meaning rather than on form; when the language input is at or just above the proficiency of the learner; and when there is sufficient opportunity to engage in meaningful use of that language in a relatively anxiety-free environment”. This suggests that L2 classroom practices should be based on meaningful situations and authentic materials that meet learners' real world needs. Such meaningfulness can be abundantly offered by content.

Rational

The Content Based Instruction (CBI) approach prepares learners to acquire a language within a context of a particular academic subject as a vehicle for second or foreign language teaching and learning. It is an optimal approach that helps learners "develop two types of language proficiency: basic interpersonal language skills and cognitive academic language proficiency." (Cummins, 1981) We can take advantage of CBI principles and make the learning context more real and more engaging while we address learners' real interests because learning a language becomes more automatic when learners make greater connections with the language and what they already know and love. In this respect, the content is more interesting to learners when it deals with what they fancy doing in their free time like taking part in a game. Teachers need to investigate into their learners’ leisure activities in order to use the appropriate recreation as content for further students’ engagement as well as for promoting English learning. For me, chess seems to be an ideal content to develop students’ proficiency level in English and develop their social skills as well.

How Is Chess Optimal?

Chess lends itself to being rich in content for English learning. It can be effectively exploited to promote language learning through content. It meets the three types of relationships between language teaching and content teaching outlined by Bernard Mohan (1986). They are as follows:

1. Language teaching by content teaching, in which the focus is on content, and the language competencies develop almost incidentally. The intention is that the student will learn the second language by participating in the content instruction. The belief is that students will learn language through exposure to modified content alone.

2. Language teaching with content teaching, where the focus is on teaching both language and content. In such an approach the language and content objectives are in close alignment.

Language learning in the language classroom can further the goals of content teaching by giving learners help with the processes of content learning.

3. Language teaching for content teaching, in which students learn the specific language needed

           Chess content fills the need for "comprehensible input" as described by Stephen Krashen. It is an optimal vehicle for learners to learn the target language naturally. It helps them not only infer lexical items and grasp grammar inductively but also promote their confidence to use the target language effectively through different methods, techniques and strategies such as cooperative learning, task-based or experiential learning, whole language strategies, graphic organizers, and Total Physical Response. Such variety of strategies enable chess to provide rich learning opportunities for different students with different abilities and different learning styles to acquire content and to process, construct, and make sense of information. Moreover, chess provides content that is consistent with integrated language and content instruction as both emphasize meaningful engagement and authentic language use, and both link oral and written language development (Blanton, 1992).

            Promoting the learning of English through chess is so motivating and engaging for both learners who are proficient in the game and those who have just started. As the game's ultimate objective is to bring the opponent's king into checkmate, players develop strategies of high order thinking level to use tactics and elaborate a mental plan to conduct series of combinations according to their anticipations. The desire of winning and the love for learning something new that can be used beyond the classroom may boost learners' intrinsic motivation to advance in the game through the English language as well as to develop English language skills through content and by doing.

How Can Teachers Use Chess as Content in Class?

I first implemented the idea in a chess club with twelve-year-old chess players whose L1 is Arabic and who are proficient enough in English to take lessons in English. I encountered no problem delivering these lessons in English as the game lent itself to helping learners construct meaning. Learners' prior knowledge of chess pieces and chess tactics enabled them to infer new vocabulary, use their inductive reasoning to grasp new grammar points and recycle already learnt items. Their ability to describe and analyze a completed game in their mother tongue helped them a lot to express themselves in English. They also demonstrated proficiency in reading notations and writing short reports about games they had played.

The idea was not successful only for the young club members but also for my students in the classroom. I found the idea more effective when I taught them how to play chess using their L1. Once learners gained a considerable mastery of the game, we started exploiting the content in English.

Learning both how to play the game and the target language at the same time may be too challenging. Any difficulty may shake learners' motivation. The purpose is not to learn chess through English; it is to learn English through chess. In order to take advantage of chess as content, teachers need to teach students the rules and some basic strategies of the game in their native language. Once the game is understood, learners are ready to receive instruction in English and in English only.

If the teacher does not know how to play the game, he or she will find no problem in receiving short-term training. It will be more interesting and motivating for students when teachers and students advance together in the game.

Teachers need to be creative enough to use chess as a medium to cover a great deal of both vocabulary items and grammar points in context and to engage learners in meaningful speaking activities and writing output as well. It’s up to teachers to decide what language to present according to curriculum objectives, and students’ needs and level of proficiency. Chess can be used for enhancement activities and or for introducing new lexical items, expressions, structures and functions and so on. Activities can be carried out in groups, in pairs and or individually through integrated skills. The game lends itself to being suitable for teachers as facilitators and active participants.

Conclusion

The use of chess in an English class supports what we know about how the brain makes connections and how learning takes place. Students are actively engaged in constructing meaning and making sense of the interesting and comprehensible input presented to them through the vehicle of English. Finally, it is worth ending this article with a poem that is a letter to teachers that summarizes the main points in a creative and inspiring way.

Chess As Content

Dear teacher,
Focusing solely on structure and form
Brings no good but a storm
That drowns learners' motivation
Suffocates any source of inspiration
Increases inhibition and frustration
Impedes language learning progress
Causes failure to perform and express
Oneself in target language with success

Dear teacher,
Think of first language acquisition
Its environment and conditions
Create similar situations and context
To enable learners acquire at best
Integrate language and content instruction
Prompt interaction and meaning construction
Develop interpersonal language competency
Along with cognitive academic proficiency

Dear teacher,
Apart from academic subjects as content
Recreation is an area of interest
Among learners' hobbies I made my quest
As leisure activities incite them to do best
Hey! The most optimal I can suggest
Promote target language through chess
As it is fun and free from stress
So rich that vouches for learning progress

Dear teacher,
Chess is an optimal tool
For the effective learning goal
Gives learners mastery and control
To learn the language as a whole
Through integration and experience
Total Physical Response and graphics
Cooperative and task-based learning
A journey from low to high order thinking

Dear teacher,
Nothing to fear, just give it a go
Here are some tips you may follow
Through L1 teach them how
Get your ducks in a row
Then switch to L2 and start the show
Enhance what they already saw
Introduce what they didn't know
And use inference when doing so

Chaouki M’kaddem. http://chaoukieltpoems.blogspot.com/2013/12/promoting-english-through-chess.html

References:

Blanton, L.L. (1992). A holistic approach to college ESL: Integrating language and content.

ELT Journal, 46, 285-293.

Crandall, Joann. “Content-Centered Language Learning.” Retrieved from: http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/cranda01.html

Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. In Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework. Los Angeles: California State University, Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center.

M’kaddem, Chaouki. http://chaoukieltpoems.blogspot.com/2013/12/promoting-english-through-chess.html

Mohan, Bernard A. (1986). “Language and Content.” Addison-Wesley.

Examples of Vocabulary Items and Grammar Points

1. Teacher shows a chess board to students and elicits what they already know about the board and the possible directions in which a chess piece can move.
Possible Vocabulary:
board, square, file, rank, move, diagonal, straight, forward, backward, coordinates (f7, h5, b1)

2. Teacher shows a real chess board with all chess pieces and checks whether students know their names in English. Teacher provides unknown names.

King: n. Abbr. K The principal chess piece, which can move one square in any direction and must be protected against checkmate.

Queen: n. Abbr. Q The most powerful chess piece, able to move in any direction over any number of empty squares in a straight line.

Bishop: n. Abbr. B A usually miter-shaped chess piece that can move diagonally across any number of unoccupied spaces.

Knight: n. Abbr. Kt or N A chess piece, usually in the shape of a horse's head, that can be moved two squares along a rank and one along a file or two squares along a file and one along a rank. The knight is the only piece that can jump other pieces to land on an open square.

Rook: n. Abbr. R A chess piece that may move any number of unoccupied squares in a straight line, horizontally or vertically. Also called castle

Pawn: n. Abbr. P A chess piece of lowest value that may move forward one square at a time or two squares in the first move, capture other pieces only on a one-space diagonal forward move, and be promoted to any piece other than a king upon reaching the eighth rank.

retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/