Using Interactive Fiction for Digital Game-based Language Learning

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Interactive Fiction

scholarly journals Affect and willingness to communicate in digital game-based learning

ReCALL ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayo Reinders ◽  
Sorada Wattana
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Barriers To Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching

AbstractThe possible benefits of digital games for language learning and teaching have received increasing interest in recent years. Games are said, amongst others, to be motivating, to lower affective barriers in learning, and to encourage foreign or second language (L2) interaction. But how do learners actually experience the use of games? What impact does gameplay have on students’ perceptions of themselves as learners, and how does this affect their learning practice? These questions are important as they are likely to influence the success of digital game-based language learning, and as a result the way teachers might integrate games into the curriculum. In this study we investigated the experiences of five students who had participated in a fifteen-week game-based learning program at a university in Thailand. We conducted six interviews with each of them (for a total of 30 interviews) to identify what impact gameplay had in particular on their willingness to communicate in English (MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément & Noels, 1998). The results showed that gameplay had a number of benefits for the participants in this study, in particular in terms of lowering their affective barriers to learning and increasing their willingness to communicate. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of further research and classroom practice.

scholarly journals Gaming enhances learning-induced plastic changes in the brain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Junttila ◽  
Anna-Riikka Smolander ◽  
Reima Karhila ◽  
Anastasia Giannakopoulou ◽  
Maria Uther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Game Based Learning ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Plastic Changes ◽  
Game Condition ◽  
The Brain

Learning is increasingly assisted by technology. Digital games may be useful for learning, especially in children. However, more research is needed to understand the factors that induce gaming benefits to cognition. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of digital game-based learning approach in children by comparing the learning of foreign speech sounds and words in a digital game or a non-game digital application with equal amount of exposure and practice. To evaluate gaming-induced plastic changes in the brain function, we used the mismatch negativity (MMN) brain response that reflects the activation of long-term memory representations for speech sounds and words. We recorded auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) from 37 school-aged Finnish-speaking children before and after playing the “Say it again, kid!” (SIAK) language-learning game where they explored game boards, produced English words aloud, and got stars as feedback from an automatic speech recognizer to proceed in the game. The learning of foreign speech sounds and words was compared in two conditions embedded in the game: a game condition and a non-game condition with the same speech production task but lacking visual game elements and feedback. The MMN amplitude increased between the pre-measurement and the post-measurement for the word trained with the game but not for the word trained with the non-game condition, suggesting that the gaming intervention enhanced learning more than the non-game intervention. The results indicate that digital game-based learning can be beneficial for children’s language learning and that gaming elements per se, not just practise time, support learning.

scholarly journals Professionalization tools: impact of the game-based website ‘Check your Smile’ on specialized terminology acquisition

2021 ◽  
pp. 302-306
Author(s):  
Nadia Yassine-Diab ◽  
Laura M. Hartwell ◽  
Sébastien Dejean
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Multiple Variables ◽  
Collaborative Platform ◽  
Current Area

Computer assisted vocabulary learning, i.e. specialized terminology acquisition, is a major tool to learning Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) necessary to students’ professionalization. One current area of research is digital game-based language learning because of its motivating qualities. This paper discusses electronics students’ acquisition of specific vocabulary as related to the free game-based collaborative platform Check Your Smile (CYS), which is entirely devoted to learning LSP terminology. CYS aggregates various types of games that automatically generate individualized game plays, drawing upon a collaboratively constructed multilingual dictionary. The study focuses on multiple variables including attending a selective engineering course taught in English and the language used to teach the mandatory electronics class. Empirical data shows that students having used CYS tend to obtain better vocabulary test scores than students who did not.

scholarly journals Why Digital Games Can Be Advantageous in Vocabulary Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Amin Rasti-Behbahani
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Why Questions

Vocabulary learning is an integral part of language learning; however, it is difficult. Although there are many techniques proposed for vocabulary learning and teaching, researchers still strive to find effective methods. Recently, digital games have shown potentials in enhancing vocabulary acquisition. A majority of studies in digital game-based vocabulary learning (DGBVL) literature investigate the effectiveness of DGBVL tasks. In other words, there are enough answers to what questions in DGBVL literature whereas why questions are rarely answered. Finding such answers help us learn more about the structure of the DGBVL tasks and their effects on vocabulary learning. Hence, to achieve this aim, the available literature on digital games and vocabulary learning were systematically reviewed from 1996 to 2020. The results revealed seven themes such as motivation, authenticity, repetition, instantiation, dual encoding, interactivity, and feedback. Based on the available literature, these themes are factors, in digital games, that can contribute to enhancing vocabulary acquisition.

scholarly journals Developing English language learners’ oral production with a digital game-based mobile application

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0232671
Author(s):  
Zehua Wang ◽  
Feifei Han
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
English Language ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Digital Game ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Mean

This study examined the effect of using a digital game-based language learning mobile application “Liulishuo” (speaking English fluently) to develop complexity, accuracy, and fluency of English monologic oral production among 30 English language learners in China. Monologic oral production was measured using the same narrative picture description task in pre- and post-tests. The learners followed the “Imitation of English Monologues” game 30 minutes each time, twice a week, for 20 weeks. The oral production was measured using six indices: the mean words per T-unit and lexical density (i.e., complexity), the mean repairs and errors per 100 words (i.e., accuracy), speech rate and the mean length of pauses (i.e., fluency). The paired sample t-tests showed that the participants produced more complex monologic speech, had significantly fewer errors, and increased speech rate, but the mean repairs and mean length of pauses remained unchanged. The unchanged repairs and pauses could be possibly due to the non-proceduralized linguistic knowledge in oral production, which may require a more extended period of treatment. Our study showed positive effects of using a digital game-based language learning mobile application on the improvement of complexity, accuracy, and fluency of English language learners in China’ monologic oral production with varying effects.

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