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Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games as Digital Game-Based English Learning Platforms: A Study of the Effects of Digital Game Play on ESL Students’ English Use
PROCEEDINGS

, , Michigan State University, United States

E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education, in Montréal, Quebec, Canada ISBN 978-1-880094-98-3 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), San Diego, CA

Abstract

This study investigates the use of a popular massive multi-player role-playing game (MMORPG), Everquest 2, as an alternative pedagogical tool to support college-age English as a second language (ESL) learners’ communicative use of the target language. Casual or non-gamer participants were purposefully sampled. The working hypothesis is that MMORPGs could serve as a context for social interactions in order to aid the development of communicative competence (Canale and Swain, 1990). .Data was collected from semi-structured interviews and through game play observations in Germany, Taiwan, and the U.S; analysis of qualitative data focused on how player-generated perceptions and game play actions align with Yee’s (2006) motivation components and Ryan and Deci’s (2000) theoretical assumptions of self-determination theory (SDT). The result from preliminary qualitative data analysis revealed the importance of communication during game play. The findings should assist in designing a curriculum-based gaming module, and have implications for digital game-based learning (DGBL) research.

Citation

Wu, M.L. & Richards, K. (2012). Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games as Digital Game-Based English Learning Platforms: A Study of the Effects of Digital Game Play on ESL Students’ English Use. In T. Bastiaens & G. Marks (Eds.), Proceedings of E-Learn 2012--World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 1 (pp. 1370-1373). Montréal, Quebec, Canada: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 28, 2024 from .

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