Editorial
The activity comes from a long forgotten book.
Alibi Relived
Nuria Smyth, Switzerland
Nuria is from Ireland and has been teaching English in the Jura canton in Switzerland for 4 years. She is currently working at the Ecole de commerce in Delémont. She also teaches English to primary school teachers who will teach English to their own students in the future.
Email: nuriasmyth@hotmail.com
Menu
Setting the scene
Language support
Preparation and rules
Playing the game
Tips
End
Framed
The last word
Reference
First, write some keywords on the board: Innocent, guilty, to be accused of a crime, a lawyer
Next, set the scene: tell the students your car was stolen yesterday evening between 7pm and 9 pm (for example).
Then choose 2 students and tell the class that they (the 2 students) are accused of this crime.
Now choose 2 other students and tell them that they are very experienced and clever lawyers and that you want to employ them to prove that the other 2 are guilty.
If you feel the students need some language reinforcement, before you explain the game, you could write these sentences on the board and elicit what question was asked beforehand:
I went to the cinema yesterday evening. - What did you do yesterday evening? / Where did you go yesterday evening?
It was sunny - What was the weather like? / Was it warm? Was it cold?
I was wearing jeans and a grey top - What were you wearing?
Now give the 2 accused 10 minutes to think of their alibi. They should go to a part of the classroom away from the lawyers so the lawyers can't hear their story before the game.
If there are 8-12 students for example in the class, then you can run 2 or 3 games at the same time. The accused in pairs can work at the top of the classroom and the lawyers can work as a group to brainstorm possible questions at the back of the room.
The teacher should move between the pairs and the lawyers to give them a little help to make the game more interesting.
The lawyers can prepare some standard questions like Where were you last night? / What was the weather like? / What were you wearing? etc but tell them the majority of their questions will depend on the story they hear, so will have to be improvised.
You can give them examples of some tricky questions such as, "Oh you went to the cinema... so was the person who was selling the tickets a man or a woman ?" And young or old?!" Or "Oh so you watched a DVD at Lisa's house yesterday... What colour is her sofa?!"
The only rule the lawyers must respect is that they can only ask the accused questions within the time frame given at the beginning of the game.
The lawyers may lie and say things like, "Brian told us that you went to Starbucks, not Cafe Aroma - is this true? " to see if the 2nd accused sticks to the original story or if this type of statement unsettles them!
If you help the lawyers, then it's only fair that you help the accused a little too. Warn them that the lawyers will try to catch them out by asking them questions about details that they think the accused have forgotten to discuss between them. Give them examples.
The only rule the accused need to keep in mind is that they must have done something together. They cannot come up with 2 separate stories.
So after approx. 10 minutes one of the accused from each pair should go outside the classroom. The lawyers (individually or also in pairs, depends on numbers) should now sit opposite accused number 1 and ask them their questions. 10 minutes is usually plenty of time as the students outside may start to get bored.
You should go between the groups and listen to the questions and answers (so you can give feedback after re incorrect English but also to help the lawyers ask a nasty question!) Encourage the lawyers to play their role as realistically as possible, so they should say things like Good afternoon.. please sit down... etc in a serious voice!
When the lawyers have finished questioning Accused Number 1, the accused should go to the opposite end of the classroom. Then call in Accused Number 2. The lawyers must ask the same questions but not necessarily in the same order! Make sure there is no communication between the accused as the 2nd one enters!!
If there are 2 lawyers per group, make sure that they take turns in asking the questions.
Sometimes it's helpful if the stronger students are the lawyers as they really lead the game.
Insist that the accused answer with full sentences.
Also, make sure that wherever Accused Number 1 is standing (after being questioned) he or she cannot mime or mouth answers to Accused Number 2!
It's better if Accused Number 1 cannot hear Accused Number 2's answers.
When the lawyers have finished asking their questions the 2nd time round, call Accused Number 1 over. The lawyers must now deliver the verdict - are the accused innocent or guilty ? More often than not, they are guilty - so the lawyers need to explain why e.g. "You said that..... but your partner told us that.... " etc Sometimes the accused may try to justify the differences in their answers - Encourage all speaking!
As a sideline, I would like to tell you about one of the (several) times I played Alibi.
There were 2 lawyers and 3 accused in one group. The 3 accused decided on their alibi. The game started. Accused Number 1 answered all the questions well. In the meantime Accused Number 2 & 3 were sitting outside the classroom. Unknown to anyone, they made up a new alibi between them. So then Accused Number 2 came in and answered all the questions according to the new alibi. Accused Number 3 came in after and did the same. So in the end Accused Number 1 had been successfully framed and was consequently declared guilty by the lawyers while the other 2 were declared innocent!!
Finally, I hope that you enjoy this game as much as I do :) It has never failed to make everyone participate, have an active role in class and to speak.
I often hear the students still talking about the game as they are walking out of the classroom. It's excellent for practising and/or revising question words, the past simple and the past continuous.
I am afraid I cannot remember the name of the book in which I found this wonderful activity. However, I am sure I found the book in the University of Limerick library when I studied there.
The Methodology and Language for Secondary Teachers course can be viewed here
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