Language learning through gaming

From the perspective of second language acquisition, language learning while playing games comes from interaction with native speakers or more fluent peers (Peterson, 2010a, 2010b). Researchers have claimed that the communication environment in massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) could present valuable opportunities for language learning (Thorne, Black & Sykes, 2009). The combination of communication tools provided by MMOGs with the purposeful and highly engaging social interaction provides an optimal environment for language learning (Peterson, 2011; Rankin, Morrison, McNeal, Shute & Gooch, 2009). Language learners have opportunities to develop second or foreign languages in the online contexts and to participate in the valuable language practices through collaborative interaction in a socially appropriate manner (Meskill, Guan & Ryu, 2012).

Nardi, Ly & Harris (2007) investigated learning culture in the MMOG, World of Warcraft. The authors analyzed the way that players learned this complex game through chat conversations with co-players. They concluded that learning from conversation in World of Warcraft was erratic, spontaneous, contextual, and driven by small events in the game. The authors showed possibilities of language learning through gaming although they focused more on the learning itself. Steinkuehler (2007) examined young people’s various participation practices in the context of one popular MMOG, Lineage. Based on the data from online ethnography, the author argued that gaming was a new literacy practice that many adolescents enjoyed out of school. The findings presented the potential of gaming for literacy learning from sociocultural perspectives. Rankin et al. (2009)explored learner interactions among eighteen English language learners and eight native speakers of English in the MMOG, EverQuest. The results showed that learners who played the game with native speakers recorded higher rates of comprehension of vocabulary items, and that communication patterns were characteristic of collaborative social interaction in the context. These studies empirically explored language or literacy learning through playing games, but they overlooked the other aspect of learning after playing games, which is the essential part of gaming culture (Gee, 2007, 2008). The interaction for learning was more active and richer when game play ended and players gathered in the online community.

Some researchers have argued that educational implications did not lie in the game play itself, but in the context and activities related to and extending from the game play (Arnseth, 2006; Squire, 2011). They have examined what game players did after game play from various points of view. Jakobson and Taylor (2003) explored the ways in which social interactions after playing games played an integral role in EverQuest. Based on the analysis of the data collected on the bulletin board and webpage, the authors argued that online social networks formed a powerful component of its game experience. Creating ‘‘Projective Massive’’, Seay, Jerome, Lee, and Kraut (2004) assessed MMOG players’ social experiences inside and outside of games and the impact of these activities on their everyday life. The data were collected from a series of interviews and a survey was completed online. The results illustrated game play patterns, commitment to player organizations, and personality characteristics. However, the quantitative methods employed were often criticized for ignoring the richer meaning contexts of gaming culture.

To explore language learning through gaming from a wider perspective, Thorne, (2008) analyzed in-game and game-related interactions employing two game players – an English native speaker and a speaker of Russian – in World of Warcraft. The findings showed that participants were involved in a range of language learning activities. They formed a supportive relationship in and out of game play, which encouraged a high degree of collaboration for language learning. The author tried to understand language learning through gaming from a comprehensive perspective to include game play and beyond-game activities together. Focusing on the literacy practices in beyond-game culture, Ryu (2011) investigated non-native English speaking game players’ interaction with native or more fluent speakers of English in Civfanatics.com. Drawing on the New London Group’s (1996) multiliteracies, the author analyzed interactions for traditional, multimodal, multilingual, and multicultural literacy practices. The study showed that more active and various literacy practices also took place in the online community after playing games. Given the literature reviewed, less attention has been paid to language learning through gaming culture, and fewer empirical studies have been done on language learning through beyond-game culture.

(Adapted from Ryu, Dongwan. Play to Learn, Learn to

Play: Language Learning through Gaming Culture. In ReCALL / Volume 25 / Issue 02 / May 2013, pp 286 -301)