In short
- A vocabulary game earns its time when every pupil has to retrieve a word met in reading, not just see it again.
- Recognition games, such as matching pairs and definition bingo, suit the first days after reading; recall games, such as back to the board, suit later meetings.
- Each game practises a different part of knowing a word, so check whether it works on form, meaning or use before you choose it.
- Studies of retrieval back the principle, but none of these classroom games has been tested head to head, so treat the catalogue as practice.
Most teachers already have a few vocabulary games they trust: a bingo, a pairs game, a round of back to the board before the bell. This article puts ten of them in one table, with the set-up, the level each suits, and what it practises. You also see whether pupils only recognise the word or must recall it. None needs more than cards, a board and a timer. A short section on the evidence explains which games to keep.
Which memory games help students learn vocabulary?
The games that help most make every pupil bring a word back from memory: say it, write it, explain it or use it. They work best on words the class has already met in a text. Games that only show a word again, or ask pupils to spot it, are useful in the first days after reading. They should not be the only practice a word gets.
Two distinctions help you sort any game. Nation (2013) divides knowing a word into form, meaning and use. Form is how the word sounds and how it is spelt. Meaning links that form to an idea. Use covers the word's grammar and the words it usually goes with. Each of the three has a receptive side and a productive side.
In a game, the receptive side looks like recognition. The word is in front of the pupil, who has to match it, find it or pick it. The productive side looks like recall. The word is hidden, and the pupil has to produce it from a picture, a definition or a gap in a sentence. Recall asks more of a pupil, and most teachers see pupils recognise a word long before they can produce it.
Why games that make pupils retrieve words work
Bringing a word back from memory strengthens it more than seeing it again. Karpicke and Roediger (2008) taught university students foreign-language words in pairs. Once a pair had been recalled, studying it again did nothing for recall a week later. Being tested on it again had a large effect.
Barcroft (2007) found a similar pattern with English speakers learning Spanish words from pictures. For half the words, a six-second pause gave learners time to try to recall each word before it appeared. Those words scored higher on tests given immediately, two days later and a week later.
Hulstijn and Laufer (2001) add a second point. Adult EFL learners in two countries met the same ten words through reading, reading plus a gap-fill, or writing a composition. Retention was highest after the composition and lowest after reading alone. Laufer and Hulstijn (2001) call this involvement. A task can create a need for the word, a search for its form or meaning, and an evaluation of whether it fits.
One claim often made for games is that changing the format matters more than repeating it. We found no study that shows this. The retrieval studies point to repeated retrieval of the same word. Vary your games to keep interest and to reach form, meaning and use, not because variety on its own is proven.
None of these studies tested a classroom game. They support the principle, not any one format. Our article on whether word games improve vocabulary retention sets out what the game studies themselves found, and how thin that evidence is.
Ten memory games at a glance
The table sorts ten games by what they make pupils do. The level is the lowest at which the game usually runs smoothly; most work higher up with harder words. Recognition games come first, recall games after them.
| Game | How it runs | Level | What it practises | Recognition or recall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matching pairs | Word cards and picture or definition cards lie face down. Pupils turn two over and keep a pair that matches. | A1 to B1 | Meaning: linking form to meaning | Recognition |
| Definition bingo | Pupils copy six story words into a grid. You read definitions or gapped sentences, and they cross off the word. | A2 to B2 | Meaning: from definition to word | Recognition |
| Odd one out | Groups see four words, decide which does not belong and explain why. | A2 to C1 | Meaning: how words relate | Recognition, with a reason |
| Collocation dominoes | Each domino holds the end of one phrase and the start of the next: make / a decision, heavy / rain. | A2 to B2 | Use: words that go together | Recognition |
| Kim's game | Show eight pictures or word cards for 40 seconds, cover them and take one away. Pupils name what is missing. | A1 to A2 | Form: saying or spelling the word | Recall |
| Mime or draw | A pupil mimes or draws a story word, and their team names it within a minute. | A1 to B1 | Meaning to form | Recall |
| Word chains | Each word must start with the last letter of the one before, using only words from the story. | A2 to B1 | Form: spelling | Recall |
| Disappearing sentence | A sentence from the story goes on the board. Rub out one word at a time while the class reads it aloud. | A1 to B1 | Form and use, inside a sentence | Recall |
| Back to the board | One pupil sits with their back to the board. Teammates explain the word written behind them until they say it. | A2 to C1 | Meaning: explaining and naming | Recall |
| Don't say it | A pupil explains a word without two banned words on the card, such as storm without rain or wind. | B1 to C1 | Meaning and use, by paraphrase | Recall |
The catalogue leaves out letter and grid games, which have articles of their own:
- Word-guessing games: finding a hidden word from letter feedback.
- Word-building games: making words from a set of letters.
- Word-path puzzles: tracing related words through a grid.
- Word searches: spotting listed words, and how to make them worth the time.
How to run the recognition games
Recognition games suit the first lesson or two after reading, when the words are fresh but fragile. Keep them short: eight to twelve words and about ten minutes.
Matching pairs
Make one card with the word and one with a picture, a definition or the story sentence with a gap. Groups of three or four play with twelve pairs. A pupil keeps a pair only if they can say the word aloud and say where it came in the story. That rule adds a moment of recall to a recognition game.
Definition bingo
Write twelve story words on the board, and each pupil copies six into a grid. Read clues in random order, mixing definitions with gapped sentences from the story. When someone calls bingo, they read back each word with its clue.
Odd one out and collocation dominoes
Odd one out works best when more than one answer can be defended. In harbour, lantern, wave and ladder, a pupil might cut ladder because it is not at sea. Another might cut lantern because it gives light. The reason is the language practice.
Collocation dominoes take a few minutes to make. Copy eight phrases from the chapter, cut each into two halves and write them onto dominoes. It is the most direct practice of use in the table, so it is worth the effort from A2 upwards.
How to run the recall games
Recall games suit later meetings, a week or more after the reading, when pupils have to dig for the word. Each one needs a rule that makes every pupil retrieve, not only the fastest. Back to the board shows the pattern.
- Split the class into two teams. One pupil from each team sits facing their team, back to the board.
- Write a story word on the board behind them.
- Teammates explain it in English without saying, spelling or translating the word.
- The first seated pupil to say the word wins a point. Rotate the chair after every word.
- Finish by asking a pupil from the other team to use the word in a new sentence.
Kim's game is a good recall game for beginners. With A1 pupils, use pictures and ask for the spoken word. With A2 pupils, ask them to write it, which adds spelling. The disappearing sentence does something the others do not. Pupils recall the word inside its sentence, so they also practise its grammar and its neighbours.
Word chains practise spelling but not meaning, so ask each pupil what their word means before the chain moves on. Don't say it is the hardest game here and the richest. A pupil must know a word well enough to explain it in two ways.
A fortnight of memory games around one story
Classroom example
An A2 class reads a chapter about a lighthouse keeper. The teacher picks ten words: storm, harbour, lantern, wave, rescue, rope, shore, shout, brave and climb. On Monday, groups play matching pairs with word and picture cards. On Wednesday, the class plays definition bingo with gapped sentences from the chapter. The following Monday, two teams play back to the board with the same ten words. Nobody can explain rope or shore, so those two words go into Thursday's disappearing sentence.
Notice the order. Recognition comes first, while the words are new. Recall comes a week later, when pupils have to work to bring the words back. The game that shows which words have slipped decides what comes next. Our guide to spaced repetition shows how to plan those gaps.
Common mistakes with vocabulary games
- New words. A game is a poor way to meet a word for the first time. Introduce it in a text and use games for the later meetings.
- One pupil does the work. In team games, the fastest pupil retrieves and the rest watch. Rotate roles, or have everyone write an answer before anyone speaks.
- Recognition only. A week of matching and bingo leaves pupils able to spot words they still cannot say. Move to recall games as the words settle.
- Too many words. Keep the set to eight to twelve words, so that each one comes up more than once.
- No sentence at the end. Most of these games practise form and meaning. Finish with one sentence per pupil so that the word is also used.
How iRead handles this
iRead has four word games: Think Word, Bee Genius, Intellect Link and Word Explorer. They are regenerated every 24 hours from the vocabulary of the story the class is reading, with no teacher setup. Every game clear and quiz answer feeds one progress record per word, and a word cleared on two different days is marked Mastered. Teachers see retention per word, per game and per class, which shows the words that need another meeting in class.
The core principle: Use recognition games while words are new and recall games once they have had time to fade. In both, every pupil should have to bring the word back, not watch someone else do it.
See it in iRead: Four word games are regenerated every 24 hours from the story your class is reading, with no teacher setup. Every clear feeds a progress record for each word.
See the vocabulary gamesKey takeaway
Pick a game by what it makes pupils do with a word. Start with recognition while the words are new, move to recall a week later, and finish with a sentence.
Frequently asked questions
What are good vocabulary games for ESL students?
Games that make pupils retrieve words they have already met. Back to the board, Kim's game and a disappearing sentence all ask pupils to produce a word without seeing it. Matching pairs and definition bingo are easier and suit the first days after reading. All of them need only cards, a board and a timer.
What is the difference between recognition and recall games?
In a recognition game the word is in front of the pupil, who matches it, finds it or picks it. In a recall game the word is hidden, and the pupil produces it from a picture, a definition or a gap. Recall is harder, and it is what pupils need when they speak and write.
Which memory games suit beginners?
At A1, use games with pictures and spoken answers: Kim's game, matching pairs with picture cards, and mime or draw. Keep the set to about eight words and play in small groups, so everyone gets a turn. Save games that need explanations, such as back to the board, for A2 and above.
How often should we play vocabulary memory games?
We suggest ten minutes, two or three times a week, rather than one long session. Bring the same words back across several lessons, so that each word is retrieved more than once. Keep new words for reading, and use the games for the meetings that follow.
Can memory games introduce new vocabulary?
Not well. A game gives little information about what a new word means, so pupils end up guessing. Let pupils meet the word first in a story or text where its meaning is clear. Then use games for the second, third and later meetings, when pupils have something to retrieve.
Sources
- Nation, I. S. P. (2013). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139858656
- Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865), 966-968. doi.org/10.1126/science.1152408
- Barcroft, J. (2007). Effects of opportunities for word retrieval during second language vocabulary learning. Language Learning, 57(1), 35-56. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2007.00398.x
- Hulstijn, J. H., & Laufer, B. (2001). Some empirical evidence for the involvement load hypothesis in vocabulary acquisition. Language Learning, 51(3), 539-558. doi.org/10.1111/0023-8333.00164
- Laufer, B., & Hulstijn, J. (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 1-26. doi.org/10.1093/applin/22.1.1