You know the feeling. You’ve just wrapped up a fast-paced, high-energy class. Students were laughing, moving around, working in teams. Maybe they were playing a game, doing a relay, or solving a challenge. You felt the energy. You saw the excitement.
But then you pause and wonder: Did they actually communicate in the target language? Were they practicing meaningful communication in Spanish, French, or any other language or just doing whatever it took to win the game?
If you’ve ever asked yourself that, you’re asking the right question. Because yes… fun matters. Joy matters. Engagement matters. But in the world language classroom, communication is the ultimate goal.
Participation Isn’t Always Communication
Just because students are participating doesn’t mean they’re communicating. But, with just a few tweaks, your favorite activities can become truly communicative and drive proficiency growth. You don’t need to ditch your go-to games. You don’t need to make everything serious or formal. But you do need to ask: Does this activity give students a reason to use the language with purpose? It’s not just about keeping students busy and on task, but guiding them to use the language meaningfully.
How do we do this?
Add Purpose and Personalization
Let’s take a classic: Find Someone Who. Traditionally, students walk around asking questions like:
- ¿Tienes una mascota? (Do you have a pet?)
- Aimes-tu le chocolat? (Do you like chocolate?)
It’s interactive and it’s fun, but without a follow-up, it can slide into box-checking.
Here’s the tweak:
- During: Students still ask and record answers.
- After: Students choose two classmates and create a short written or spoken summary:
- Aprendí que Mateo tiene dos perros y los pasea todas las mañanas. Ana no tiene mascota pero quiere un gato.
- J’ai appris que Camille adore le théâtre et qu’elle y va tous les mois. Lucas n’y va jamais, mais il regarde beaucoup de films.
- After: Comparisons
- Mateo and I both have pets, but Ana doesn’t.
- Camille et moi aimons le théâtre, mais Lucas préfère le cinéma.
Now you’ve got interpersonal communication (asking, answering) feeding into presentational communication (summarizing, comparing) and the game has a clear linguistic goal.
Use the “Does It Build Proficiency?” Checklist
Before launching any activity, ask yourself these 4 questions:
- Are students using the target language to express meaning?
- Is there a real-world connection or purpose?
- Are students interpreting, negotiating, or producing language?
- Will this support what they’ll do on an upcoming assessment?
If you answer “yes” to three or four you’re in great shape. If not, there’s and easy fix.
Small tweaks that help:
- Add a real-world hook (“Find someone who celebrates a holiday in March—then compare it to your own.”)
- Provide scaffolded sentence frames.
- Include a reflection piece at the end.
Your Turn
This week, take one activity you alike and fo through the checklist above. Is you answer no to any of the questions:
- Add a purpose.
- Add a personal connection.
- Create space for negotiation of meaning..
Go Further
If you want a clear framework for making any activity communicative, my Ready for Tomorrow Quick Win PD course: Design Activities That Are Fun and Communicative will walk you through it.
In just 30 minutes (and only $10), you’ll learn how to:
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Identify the characteristics of communicative tasks.
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Distinguish between engaging vs. truly communicative.
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Evaluate and adapt existing activities.
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Design activities with meaningful language use at the center.
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Create tasks that promote interpretation, interaction, and expression.
What your $10 gets you:
- An audio walkthrough—listen anywhere
- A note sheet to guide your thinking
- Examples for novice, intermediate, and advanced classes
- A reusable planning template
- A PD certificate to document your hours
You can get the individual course or the Quick Win PD Growing Bundle, which gives you all 10 current courses plus all future ones.