What I’m about to disclose causes me a bit of embarrassment, maybe without good cause. The last time I played a video game was only this past January when I downloaded and, after 40 or so hours, completed the Android version of the third installment of the Final Fantasy series. The Final Fantasy series, for those of you missing out on one of life’s greatest pleasures, is a fan favorite of Japanese role playing gamers (JRPGs) everywhere. I don’t consider myself a hardcore gamer or even a gamer for that matter. I just love playing the old-school video games that I grew up on in the early 90s. But, I digress. I had never thought of videogames as being educational in any way. My parents, in fact, had me convinced that videogames were a waste of time and money. I bought into this “useless entertainment” idea until my last year of grad school when I first discovered that computer games were being used as tools for language learning, not simple the computer games of my high school's language lab, but actual, full-fledged fun video games.
Research into the use of video/computer games in language learning is at least two decades old. Many of these studies carried out since the 1990s have relied on small participant sample sizes, and so it would be wise for language teachers to approach these results with a cautious eye. That being said, however, based on the preliminary results of these studies, it is clear that the application of videogames as a pedagogical tool in language learning, specifically English language learning, holds great promise.
Research into the use of video/computer games in language learning is at least two decades old. Many of these studies carried out since the 1990s have relied on small participant sample sizes, and so it would be wise for language teachers to approach these results with a cautious eye. That being said, however, based on the preliminary results of these studies, it is clear that the application of videogames as a pedagogical tool in language learning, specifically English language learning, holds great promise.
Studies regarding the individual factors that affect successful language learning have often focused on motivation. The theories of motivation in language learning for the most part indicate that the more motivated a language learner is the more likely it is that language acquisition will occur. That said, the use of video games could be another method to increase the motivation of language learners, English language learners (ELLs) in particular. In fact, the participants in a study investigating the perceived effects of a game-based English course using the massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) Ragnarok on overall language learning experience indicated that they experienced a decrease in affective barriers and an increase in their willingness to communicate in the second language (Reinders and Wattana, 2015). This may in part be due to the fact that players of Ragnarok and other MMORPGs communicate through the use of an online persona or avatar, which adds an aspect of anonymity, reducing the levels of anxiety .
Another area in which ELLs potentially benefit from the use of video games is communicative competence. Communicative competence encompasses grammatical, sociolinguistic, strategic, and discourse knowledge that an individual exhibits when using a language (Canale and Swain,1980; Canale, 1983). In other words, communicative competence focuses on the grammatical accuracy of the speaker’s language use, the appropriate use of the language and communication strategies in a particular situation, and elements of cohesion and coherence at the discourse (conversation) level. In a study investigating the utility of the MMORPG Ever Quest 2 in ESL teaching, Rankin, Gold & Gooch (2006) found that the game’s chat function allowed intermediate and advanced ELLs to engage in conversation practice. The participants showed significant increases in the number of chat messages they produced over the course of the study. This online conversation practice with other online players has the possibility to lead to an increased frequency of interaction with native speakers of English allowing ELLs to improve their communicative competence. The online interactions that occur via games such as Ever Quest 2 may be particularly beneficial for students who are reluctant to engage in face-to-face conversations with native speakers or who are in an environment where interaction with native speakers is not feasible.
Vocabulary acquisition is another area of language learning in which videogames might be used to support traditional pedagogical methods. It is commonly known that a language learner must encounter a new word in context many times in order to learn the word (Nation, 1990). ELLs encounter new lexical items most frequently in their textbooks and perhaps in newspapers or while reading for entertainment. However, these sources are hardly sufficient enough to expose learners to new words in new contexts with enough frequency to acquire new vocabulary. Video games offer additional opportunities for learners to encounter new vocabulary. Rankin, et. al. (2006) also investigated the effect of interaction with non-player characters (NPCs) during gameplay on the vocabulary learning of ELLs. Preliminary results indicated that intermediate and advanced ELLs displayed a greater understanding of new vocabulary that was used with more frequency than new vocabulary that was used only once by NPCs. A more recent case study conducted by Zheng, Bischoff & Gilliland (2015), which in part investigated unique vocabulary learning opportunities in World of Warcraft, showed that the ELL participant experienced instances of novel vocabulary learning while engaged in gameplay interaction with a native speaker of English. The results of these investigations, though preliminary, lend further credence to the use of video games in vocabulary acquisition.
Although video games are still not widely used in language education, with the body of research supporting the use of video games in the language classroom steadily growing, language teachers may need to adjust their perceptions about the use of video games as effective pedagogical tools. However, in order for video games to gain more visibility and traction in the field of language teaching, more research is clearly needed. Given that the positive implications of video gaming in language education have been derived from small-scale studies, longitudinal studies are the apparent next step (Peterson, 2010). As with any novel technology or application of technology, steps toward implementation should be cautious and calculated. Video games, if used in language learning contexts, should be informed by sound theories emerging from the fields of second language acquisition, education, and related areas.
References
Canale, M. (1983). From communicative competence to language pedagogy. In J.
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Canale, M. & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to
second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), pp. 1-47.
Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Boston, Mass.: Heinle &
Heinle Publishers.
Peterson, M. (2010). Massively multiplayer online role-playing games as arenas for
second language learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 23(5), pp.
429-439.
Rankin, Y., Gold, R., & Gooch, B. (2006). 3D role-playing games as language
learning tools. Eurographics, 25(3).
Reinders, H. & Wattana, S. (2015). Affect and willingness to communicate in digital
game-based learning. ReCall, 27(1), pp. 38-57.
Zheng, D., Bischoff, M., & Gilliland, B. (2015). Vocabulary learning in massively
multiplayer online games: Context and action before words. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 63, pp. 771-790.
