A Systematic Review of Video Games for Second Language Acquisition

2022 ◽  
pp. 1345-1371
Author(s):  
Juan Li
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Second Language Education ◽  
Role Playing Games ◽  
Systematic Understanding

This study overviews contemporary studies on the use of video games for second language acquisition within the past ten years spanning the development of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and its connections to SLA, definitions of video games, empirical studies on the facilitative roles played by video games for second language (L2) learning and utilizing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) for language learning. The purpose of this chapter is to help the readers obtain a systematic understanding of the development and application of video games in second language education. Findings of this study suggests that players are able to acquire L2 knowledge while playing video games. It also suggests that future research should focus more on the actual integration of video games into language instruction.

A Systematic Review of Video Games for Second Language Acquisition

2020 ◽  
pp. 472-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Li
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Video Games ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Second Language Education ◽  
Role Playing Games ◽  
Systematic Understanding

This study overviews contemporary studies on the use of video games for second language acquisition within the past ten years spanning the development of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) and its connections to SLA, definitions of video games, empirical studies on the facilitative roles played by video games for second language (L2) learning and utilizing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) for language learning. The purpose of this chapter is to help the readers obtain a systematic understanding of the development and application of video games in second language education. Findings of this study suggests that players are able to acquire L2 knowledge while playing video games. It also suggests that future research should focus more on the actual integration of video games into language instruction.

INTRODUCTION

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-142
Author(s):  
Albert Valdman
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Second Language Learner ◽  
The Impact

In the past century major changes in the study of language learning, and its attendant effects on language instruction, derived from the espousal of behavioral psychology by structural linguistics of the Bloomfieldian persuasion. Did not the founder of this strand of structuralism, who collaborated in the Army language manual for the teaching of Russian under the revealing pseudonym of I. M. Lisnin, declare: “Language learning is overlearning, nothing else is of any use”? Noam Chomsky's (1959) brilliant demonstration of the reductionism of the most extreme form of behaviorism—Skinner's operant conditioning (Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior, Language, 35, 26–58)—triggered the demise of the influence of behavioristic views of language acquisition. This demise was accompanied by that of the structural approach to second language teaching associated with such applied linguists as Robert Lado, although it must be acknowledged that the combination of these two theoretical strands did lead to significant changes in foreign language classrooms—for example, the abandonment of grammar translation and a shift of focus from written texts to speech. However, what applied linguists of that generation failed to do was to observe how actual second language learners in both naturalistic and instructed contexts process and reorganize linguistic input, how they intake it, and how they turn it into output in communicative interactions. It was not until the impact of Chomskian-inspired studies of first language acquisition and Pit Corder's (1967) seminal “The significance of learners' errors” (International Review of Applied Linguistics, 5, 161–170) that the second language learner came into focus and that the field of second language acquisition research began to flourish. In this connection, it is noteworthy that bringing to a wider international audience the proceedings of the Neuchâtel colloquia led by Corder served as a catalyst for the launching of SSLA.

Interaction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Behney ◽  
Susan Gass
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conversational Interaction ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Negotiation For Meaning ◽  
Interactionist Approach

This Element in the Cambridge Elements in Second Language Acquisition series examines the role of interaction in Second Language Acquisition research, with a focus on the cognitive interactionist approach. The Element describes the major branches of the field, considering the importance of conversational interaction in both the cognitive interactionist framework as well as in sociocultural approaches to second language learning. The authors discuss the key concepts of the framework, including input, negotiation for meaning, corrective feedback, and output. The key readings in the field and the emphases of current and future research are explained. Finally, the authors describe the pedagogical implications that the cognitive interactionist approach has had on the teaching of second languages.

Learning Another Language: a True Social Psychological Experiment

1983 ◽  
Vol 2 (2-3-4) ◽  
pp. 219-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.C. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Attitude Change ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ethnolinguistic Vitality ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Individual Difference Variables

In this article I have outlined some reasons why the investigation of second language acquisition is important, and I have presented a socio- educational model that I believe incorporates the major individual difference variables underlying the language learning process. Research relevant to this model is then presented, with particular attention devoted to a direct test of the underlying causal model. Three deductions deriving from the model are then examined. On the basis of the empirical evidence, it seems clear that attitudes and motivation are important because they promote active involvement in the learning process and that they influence active choice behaviour regarding participation in acquisition contexts. There was no evidence for the deduction that differential success in second language acquitision promotes differential attitude change. Four directions for future research are then discussed. These include the suggestion that further attention should be directed toward using causal modelling procedures to enhance our understanding of the processes underlying second language acquisition, and the necessity for developing laboratory investigations to provide further 'causal' tests. A third direction which seems important is to extend the general correlational paradigm to other contexts. It is emphasised, however, that such extensions should use indices with known reliabiilty and validity, and should consider the ethnolinguistic vitality of the region. The fourth direction concerns the role of attitudes and motivation in the loss of second language skills following the termination of instruction. This is a previously unexplored area which could have important implications for language training.

Language Ideology and Second Language Learning

2008 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 95-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa McGarry
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Ideology ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Explanatory Power

AbstractThe increasing recognition of the concept language ideology and the corresponding increasing use of the term have not yet been matched by applications in the field of second language acquisition. However, applications of the concept in analysis of actual classroom practices have shown it to have considerable explanatory power. Greater consideration of language ideology in SLA is necessary not only to achieve greater understanding of the role of ideology in various areas but also to show connections between these areas that may yield important generalizations and to impel the application of the concept in areas where it has been neglected by highlighting its uneven treatment.

scholarly journals Studying individual differences in the social environment to better understand language learning and processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Lev-Ari
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
The Social

AbstractPeople learn language from their social environment. Therefore, individual differences in the input that their social environment provides could influence their linguistic performance. Nevertheless, investigation of the role of individual differences in input on performance has been mostly restricted to first and second language acquisition. In this paper I argue that individual differences in input can influence linguistic performance even in adult native speakers. Specifically, differences in input can affect performance by influencing people’s knowledgebase, by modulating their processing manner, and by shaping expectations. Therefore, studying the role that individual differences in input play can improve our understanding of how language is learned, processed and represented.

APTITUDE AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 46-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Aptitude Tests ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Learning Success ◽  
And Performance

Recent second language acquisition (SLA) research into the cognitive abilities implicated in implicit, incidental, and explicit learning, and in learning and performance on tasks differing in their information processing demands has prompted new theoretical frameworks for conceptualizing L2 aptitude. This research is reviewed and related to measures of abilities operationalized in existing aptitude tests, as well as to measures of abilities that are the focus of more recent research in cognitive psychology. Finally, prospects for developing aptitude tests to serve the purposes of predicting both early and advanced level language learning success are discussed in the light of the SLA findings and aptitude frameworks reviewed.

(In)Commensurable Discourse: Researchers and Practitioners Bring Pragmatics to Language Learning

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M. Sykes
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Primary Component ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Valuable Role

AbstractThe recent surge in a growing body of empirical research is evidence of a strong theoretical push towards L2 pragmatic acquisition in the field of second language acquisition; yet, the reality is that we see very little evidence of pragmatics instruction in L2 contexts, suggesting a notable disconnect between theory and practice. This viewpoints article explores the valuable role both researchers and practitioners play in bridging the gap between theory and practice with the intention of bringing pragmatics to the forefront of the language classroom. It briefly discusses the importance of including pragmatics as a primary component of second language (L2) learning and then explores various obstacles to pragmatics instruction, paying special attention to the role both researchers and practitioners can play in overcoming them. Examples from current projects related to L2 Spanish pragmatics are presented where relevant.

Japanese Semiaspectual Forms -teshimau and -teoku as Discourse Markers

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Nandang Rachmat ◽  
Hiroko Otsuka
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Rapport Management ◽  
Current Topic ◽  
Difficult Situations ◽  
Core Meaning

This paper discusses the Japanese semi aspectual forms -teshimau and -teoku function as discourse markers which serve as speaker’s intentions of utterances for rapport management. In general, the semantic function of the morphological semi aspectual forms such as -teshimau and -teoku are explained as expressions of feelings of remorse or regret as well as preparatory actions, respectively. Both of them derived from the explanation of “completion” as a core meaning. The meanings mentioned above are also learned in elementary and pre-intermediate levels of Japanese language learning as a second language. However, the results of this research, which derived from analysis using I-JAS corpus dialogue data, indicate that in interpersonal discourse, these aspectual forms are used to show self-deprecating and modest attitudes, sentimental mood, or inevitable and difficult situations. Additionally, as a discourse marker, they are used to express utterance intentions such as showing speaker’s responsible recognition for the situation occurred, respecting the opinion of the interlocutor, and avoiding current topic to be continued. They also function as act of politeness due to the effects of “down graders” and “upgraders” in Spencer-Oatey's theory of rapport management, while in this research indicates that improperly use of -teoku might sound impolite depending on the utterance situations. Furthermore, it was found that they work as discourse markers for rounding up dialogs or shifting topics, and there are differences between -teshimau and -teoku in whether it is the interlocutor’s topic or the speaker’s topic that was being rounded up. For these reasons, second language acquisition requires learning about indicative meanings of these forms that function in the contexts and utterance situations, and the findings of this research will also contribute to the research of Japanese language teaching materials.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document