USING THE WORD ASSOCIATION GAME AS A WARM-UP
ACTIVITY IN ELT
by Jasmina Arsenijevic, MA, English Language teacher at the Faculty of Chemistry in
Belgrade
In this article I describe how the word association game can be used as an effective warm-up
activity in ELT. I begin by pointing out the importance of a good warmer, which strongly
affects the rest of the lesson, and by exploring the qualities of a good warm-up activity. After
that I describe the game of word association, give practical advice on how to use it in ELT
and offer some ideas on how it can be adapted to suit your students and your teaching
objectives. I also mention some possible problems which might arise, suggest how to deal
with them and conclude by pointing out the main advantages of this activity.
The importance of warm-up activities
Every teacher knows how important it is to get the students ready for whatever activities they
are expected to do in the main part of the lesson. The first activity often sets the mood for the
rest of the lesson, and it can either liven up all the following activities, or have the opposite
effect, leave you with students who are not entirely prepared for what you are about to do.
An effective warm-up activity should get your students interested and enthusiastic about the
topic you are about to cover but it should not be time-consuming and take the focus off the
main points of the lesson. Ideally, it will encourage the shy students to participate.
Furthermore, it should open up students’ mind to whatever vocabulary you aim at teaching
them and help you elicit as much as possible. Last but not least, some warm-up activities are
very useful in that they help the teacher elicit vocabulary and get the insight into the students’
knowledge of the vocabulary and the topics which are about to be introduced.
Most course books offer some visual aids which can be used as warmers. They are typically
activities in which students describe pictures, make predictions about them or match them
with the words/phrases given. In some cases, teachers use brainstorming or discussion to
introduce a topic or simply ask the students to try to predict it by focusing on the title.
However effective and useful these activities might be, students get used to all of them after
a while and the warm-up activity gradually loses the element of surprise so it should be
spiced up a bit.
The game of association and its use in ELT
The word association game is very popular so most of your students have probably seen it in
game shows such as Slagalica or Kviskoteka. This game is rather simple and it can be
played in almost all circumstances. You draw a table with five columns and seven rows on
the board, marking the columns A, B, C and D and rows 1, 2, 3, 4 (see the table below). You
then explain that spaces A1, A2, A3 and A4 contain the words/phrases which are associated
with the final answer for column A, words and phrases in spaces B1, B2, B3 and B4 contain
the words/phrases which are associated with the final answer for column B and so on. The
final answers for columns A, B, C and D hide the words/phrases which are associated with
the final answer (which should be the topic or something closely related to the topic of your
lesson).
A B C D
1 CLUE A1 CLUE B1 CLUE C1 CLUE D1
2 CLUE A2 CLUE B2 CLUE C2 CLUE D2
3 CLUE A3 CLUE B3 CLUE C3 CLUE D3
4 CLUE A4 CLUE B4 CLUE C4 CLUE D4
FINAL ANSWER FINAL ANSWER FINAL ANSWER FINAL ANSWER
FOR COLUMN A FOR COLUMN B FOR COLUMN C FOR COLUMN D
FINAL ANSWER
You start the game by asking a group of students to reveal a clue of their choice (e.g. A3)
and try to guess what the final answer for that column is. If they guess the final answer for
that column, they can try to guess the final answer. If they do not succeed, the other group
has a go.
A B C D
1 LEAP A SCULL A DOOR A SHIRT
2 SEASONS BACK A WINDOW A NECK
3 LIGHT FLESH A ROOF WHITE
4 NEW DRY A GARDEN A TIE
A YEAR A BONE A HOUSE A COLLAR
DOG
The sample association table
ESP
This simple game can be easily adapted and be used with different levels and in different
teaching situations. I will start by explaining how I use it with the first-year students at the
Faculty of Chemistry. I hope that the description of this activity will motivate other teachers to
come up with the ideas on how to adapt it to suit the needs of their students.
One of the first lessons of the course aims at teaching students the names of the chemical
elements and their properties. The main challenges I face are mixed-ability classes and
working with large groups. Most of the students are very shy and reluctant to take part in the
lessons, especially in the first few weeks when they still do not know me or their fellow
students. In order to motivate them to participate and to help them relax in the new
environment, I start the lesson by inviting them to take part in the following association game
which leads into some serious vocabulary work.
A B C D
1 DON’T SHOOT CONDUCTIVITY THE SOLAR GAS
THE…. SYSTEM
2 YAHOO! ORE THE SUN SOLID
3 INSTANT LUSTRE 9 EVAPORATION
4 COURIER MALLEABILITY THE MOON CONDENSATION
A MESSENGER METAL A PLANET LIQUID
MERCURY
As it can be seen from the table, each column provides me with an excellent opportunity to
get the students to talk and add some information. Columns A and C encourage them to
discuss the origin of the name of this and some other elements. Columns B and D initiate a
discussion on the chemical properties of mercury and other elements. This is the field of their
interest, they feel superior because they know more chemistry facts than their teacher and
they stop worrying about grammar and vocabulary.
For me, this is an opportunity to see how much “chemistry” vocabulary my students know,
which is very important at the beginning of a course since it helps me set achievable goals. I
observe how many students whisper “What does ore mean?” I expect most of them to be
familiar with words such as liquid, gas, solid but the number of students uncertain about the
meaning of words such as ore or conductivity can help me get some insight into how
prepared they are for the reading task they are expected to do next. I can also note some
other problems, such as mispronunciation under the influence of Serbian - */cink/, */kalcijum/
or some problems with grammar - *She (Mercury) is the only liquid element *on room
temperature and deal with them in the main part of the lesson.
HOLIDAYS
The association game can be used to introduce a topic such as Halloween, Thanksgiving or
some other holiday that is typical of English speaking countries.
A B C D
1 PIE A BROOMSTICK HAUNT A ~ QUESTION
2 A LANTERN A CAULDRON HOLY HAVE A ~ UP ONE’S
SLEEVE
3 SEEDS -HUNT -WRITER ~ OF THE MIND
4 SOUP A BLACK HAT BUSTERS DECEPTION
A PUMPKIN A WITCH A GHOST A TRICK
HALLOWEEN
Apart from teaching/eliciting some vocabulary which they will need in the main part of the
lesson (trick, pumpkin, lantern, witch...), the teacher can also use this opportunity to teach
the meanings of some idioms (have a trick up one’s sleeve) or some expressions (a trick
question). In my experience, the more memorable the learning situation is, the more new
words they will acquire.
Once the topic has been introduced, the students can describe this holiday using the given
words, read about the holiday from their course books or discuss the differences between the
holidays they have in their country and the English ones.
YOUNG LEARNERS
Naturally, when preparing this activity for young learners, you should avoid introducing too
many new words. In my experience, this is a great warm-up activity for a lesson which builds
on something they have already done. It is wise to use the words which are similar to the
ones in their mother tongue as clue words or simply use pictures if you think that they do not
know the meaning of the clue words.
For example, if your pupils are familiar with the names of rooms in a house and you want to
introduce household vocabulary, you could start by playing this association game.
A B C D
1 A FRIDGE A SOFA SLEEP A BATH
2 A TABLE A TELEVISION PLAY A TOILET
3 MUM A FAMILY A BED WATER
4 FOOD A COFFEE TABLE A DESK SOAP
A KITCHEN A LIVING ROOM A BEDROOM A BATHROOM
A HOUSE
Some potential problems of using the association game as a warm-up activity
In order to make the most of this activity, you should be aware of some potential problems
and be prepared to deal with them.
It is sometimes hard to control the situation since they feel the need to shout out the first
thing that comes to their mind, even though it is not their turn to speak. Try to set the
rules beforehand and keep reminding them to stick to them.
The worst case scenario is that they guess the final answer after you have given them
only two or three clues. The aim of the activity is to get them focused on the words they
will need in the main part of the lesson but once they know the final answer they lose
the interest in the clue words. The best way to deal with this problem is to choose a
couple of students to do the activity before the lesson and thus reduce the risk of a
premature disclosure. The students who have already done the activity can take over
the role of the teacher – they can reveal the clues to their peers.
Conclusion
This fast-moving activity can help you raise your students’ motivation and interest in only a
couple of minutes and encourage them to share what they know and to make guesses. It can
be easily adapted to suit the needs of your students and thus be used to introduce a wide
range of topics and vocabulary. It also helps the teacher get some insight into the students’
previous knowledge of the topic and related vocabulary. Last but not least it provides an
opportunity to broaden their general knowledge (English customs, the origin of names) and
to teach structures (idioms, collocations) which can be made memorable by the context in
which they are introduced.
*****
Jasmina Arsenijevic was born in 1978 in Valjevo. She got a degree in English language
and literature from The Faculty of Philology in Belgrade in 2002. She completed her Master’s
degree in 2009. She works as an English Language teacher at the Faculty of Chemistry,
University of Belgrade. Her interests include ESP and English syntax.