Home ›› 05 Jan 2022 ›› Nation
Scrabble, a word game for learning the English language, has become popular in the schools of the northern districts of the country, especially in Rangpur.
The game is a very effective and interesting learning tool that teaches young learners to expand their English vocabulary and helps to improve word-derivation skills. In this word game, two to four players score points by placing tiles with letters corresponding to each other onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares.
The tiles must form words that fit in a crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns, and the words must be included in a standard dictionary or lexicon.
The board game is popular worldwide as it is an excellent tool for building vocabulary and language learning. One can find this useful for learning –exploring new words and settling disputes with the opponents.
The first-ever “International Scrabble Championship” for schoolchildren was held at the Kaliganj Karim Uddin Public School under Lalmonirhat district in 2019. Of the participants, ten students were from nine schools in Nepal, while 66 students were from 32 schools in Bangladesh.
Now, the schools of Rangpur have included the game in their extra-curricular activities and competition-based board games; they are getting a good output with the implementation, the school authorities said.
An English teacher, Ranjina Khatun, at Robertsongonj High School and College, Rangpur, said, “We are regularly organising competitions locally to encourage the young learners. We aim to prepare a team from Rangpur to participate in the International Scrabble Competition, which is scheduled to be held in Nepal in 2022.”
She also said the board game got popular in many of the schools of the northern districts. It is very effective for developing English vocabulary among young people that helps them have a good command of the language.
Moreover, the game plays a vital role in personal and interpersonal development, Ranjina told The Business Post.
Jubayer Ahamed Prottoy, a student of Police Lines School and College, Rangpur said, he has been playing Scrabble since 2017, and his English vocabulary has improved a lot through the game.
Khurshiduzzaman Ahmed, the head teacher of the Kaliganj Karim Uddin Public School (KUP) and also the president of the Bangladesh Scrabble Association (BSA), said, “We had been organizing national scrabble championship for the last five years in the Rangpur division.
“However, after the first installation of the ‘International Scrabble Championship’ in 2019, the national level arrangements got halted for the last two years as the Covid-19 pandemic situation worsened around the globe.”
In January 2020, the national scrabble championship was held at TN School & College, Patgram, under Lalmonirhat district. A total of 128 students of 39 schools from eight districts of the Rangpur division took part in the tournament. Of the participants, the top ten from six division schools have been selected to join an “International Scrabble Championships” event scheduled to be held in Kathmandu, Nepal, on February 5 to 6, 2022, organised by the South Asian Scrabble Association.
Students from South Asian countries – India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, will join the Competition. The event was halted last year due to the surge of Covid-19 across the globe.
Ahanaf Masfiq, a student of KUP School and a participant from Bangladesh, said he is very excited to be selected for the International Scrabble Championship. He has been playing the game for the last two years. “I will continue to play the game as it really helps to learn the English language.”
An observer of the National and International Scrabble Championships, Zakir Hossain, also Principal of Robertsongonj High School and College, Rangpur said, Scrabble is an exciting game that helps the students to learn English and develop their vocabulary.
“So, growing interest among the students for the game is significant as we lack skills in the international language,” he added.
