{"id":47840,"date":"2019-05-08T12:56:50","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T19:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=47840"},"modified":"2019-05-08T12:56:50","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T19:56:50","slug":"can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nOnline gaming has become a concern for some parents in the past few years and there are worries children might become addicted, with negative effects on their socialisation. This has led some parents to think of creative ways to reduce gaming,\u00a0including<\/a>\u00a0rationing the time children spend online.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to remember though, that not all the research into children playing video games paints a bleak picture. In fact, there is a growing body of research that suggests such worries might be\u00a0unfounded<\/a>and that gaming could be an incredibly useful\u00a0educational tool<\/a>\u00a0which might actually make children\u00a0more sociable<\/a>, not less.<\/p>\n

In the same way that many schools use other forms of technology to get students more excited about learning \u2013 such as\u00a0interactive whiteboards<\/a>and\u00a0tablets<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 both of which seem popular with students, video games might also offer similar benefits.<\/p>\n

How gaming could help<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Language learning in particular seems a perfect place to try \u201cgamified\u201d classes. Some schools are already using\u00a0Minecraft in French classes<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the idea is that students work together to build a \u201clearning zone\u201d in the Minecraft space \u2013 finding new words to help them along the way.<\/p>\n

Indeed,\u00a0James Paul Gee<\/a>, a leading researcher in the area of video games as language learning tools, suggests that role-playing games such as\u00a0The Elder Scrolls<\/a>\u00a0series or\u00a0World of Warcraft<\/a>, offer an ideal learning space for what he calls \u201cat-risk\u201d learners. In theory, there is just enough challenge, just enough support, just enough room for players to be themselves and, possibly most important, students have just enough \u201cownership\u201d of the learning process.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt-risk\u201d language learners, by Gee\u2019s definition, could be anyone. They may be learners with special educational needs, but equally they may also simply be learners who feel more vulnerable in a language classroom. Learning a language, after all, is a huge departure from some students\u2019 comfort zones. Students, for example, can get nervous and inhibited in a classroom. Language learning researchers describe this as an \u201caffective filter<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a fear of making a mistake and losing face literally affects how far a student joins in the class.
\n

\"\"

Gaming can take you out of yourself and lets you enter new worlds. Shutterstock<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

My research specifically looks at language learning \u2013 a subject area that, certainly\u00a0in the UK<\/a>, appears to be one that students seem to endure\u00a0rather than necessarily enjoy<\/a>. It builds on the ideas of\u00a0Philip Hubbard<\/a>, a leading researcher in the field of using technology to enhance language learning. He has previously suggested that while technology in classrooms is seen as useful there is no strategy for using it \u2013 and this is where my research comes in. What I\u2019m aiming to do is find that strategy and try to answer the following questions: how video games might help, why some students might prefer playing a video game to being in class and what areas of language learning a teacher could improve with this technology.<\/p>\n

The power of gaming<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Video games, especially massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMOs) such as World of Warcraft,\u00a0Final Fantasy XIV<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Runescape<\/a>tend to cut through all the reasons for someone to be self-conscious. Players have to communicate\u00a0in real-time<\/a>, with no opportunity to agonise over what to say, or how to speak perfectly.<\/p>\n

This real-time aspect of MMOs may sound terrifying for someone learning a language. But actually, a highly useful gamification study by\u00a0Ian Glover<\/a>, a lecturer in technology-enhanced learning at Sheffield Hallam University, found that learners in general have a high level of extrinsic motivation when they game. In other words, students really want to chase levelling up, bonuses and rewards, which they define as excelling within a gaming space.<\/p>\n

As a result, they may force themselves to become better at communicating so they can level up quicker \u2013 and this drive might go deeper still. Gamers are often encouraged to repeat levels several times, so that they can perform better.<\/p>\n

Building connections<\/strong><\/h4>\n

This is what the prominent motivation researcher,\u00a0Zoltan D\u00f6rnyei<\/a>, describes as \u201cdirected motivational currents\u201d. The concept implies that motivation, for some students, may be driven entirely by their personal view of what success entails.<\/p>\n

This is important because if the commonly held theory that many students learn languages to \u201ctick a box\u201d needed for graduation is correct, then they may only be motivated to study just enough to pass. On the other hand, if success in the language classroom is aligned with success in a gaming space, then harnessing this drive may be a powerful way to foster continued interest in language learning and developing language skills.<\/p>\n

Video games may also have the potential to help learners develop more complex social skills. This view is inspired by the Russian philosopher\u00a0Mikhail Bakhtin<\/a>, who believed that truly meaningful communication came from negotiating cultural differences and finding solutions.<\/p>\n

This happens a lot in a video game, as players try to find their roles, but more significant is what the negotiations seem to lead to:\u00a0relatedness<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 finding shared meaning and a sense of belonging. A\u00a0study conducted in Japan<\/a>\u00a0found that players seemed to play MMOs mainly for the purpose of forming social connections.<\/p>\n

So will schools of the future all be learning languages through gaming? This remains to be seen, but given that the evidence suggests gaming can encourage social skills and teamwork \u2013 as well as incredible scope to share ideas and build knowledge \u2013 there may be a good argument for ditching the textbooks and logging into another world for a while.<\/p>\n

Author Bio: <\/strong>Christopher Timothy McGuirk is a Lecturer in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) at the University of Central Lancashire<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Online gaming has become a concern for some parents in the past few years and there are worries children might become addicted, with negative effects on their socialisation. This has led some parents to think of creative ways to reduce gaming,\u00a0including\u00a0rationing the time children spend online. It\u2019s important to remember though, that not all the […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":47841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[9585],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-47840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-gaming"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan you learn a language playing video games? What the research says - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Online gaming has become a concern for some parents in the past few years and there are worries children might become addicted, with negative effects on their socialisation. This has led some parents to think of creative ways to reduce gaming,\u00a0including\u00a0rationing the time children spend online. It\u2019s important to remember though, that not all the […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-08T19:56:50+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/childgaming.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"454\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-08T19:56:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":955,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/childgaming.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"gaming\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/\",\"name\":\"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/childgaming.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-08T19:56:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/childgaming.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/childgaming.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":454},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"Online gaming has become a concern for some parents in the past few years and there are worries children might become addicted, with negative effects on their socialisation. This has led some parents to think of creative ways to reduce gaming,\u00a0including\u00a0rationing the time children spend online. It\u2019s important to remember though, that not all the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2019-05-08T19:56:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":454,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/childgaming.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says","datePublished":"2019-05-08T19:56:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/"},"wordCount":955,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/childgaming.jpg","keywords":["gaming"],"articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/","name":"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/childgaming.jpg","datePublished":"2019-05-08T19:56:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/childgaming.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/childgaming.jpg","width":680,"height":454},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/can-you-learn-a-language-playing-video-games-what-the-research-says\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can you learn a language playing video games? What the research says"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47840"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=47840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}