Learning language through online games: From theory to practice

Studies on games and language learning
Online games have been so popular with a wide age range from children to middle-age adults. Recent studies have even explored the role of online games in English language learning. Liberman (2006), for example, gives a thorough review of the literature regarding learning through playing computer games. The author categorizes the literature from nine perspectives: motivation to learn, perception and coordination, thinking and problem solving, knowledge, skills and behaviours, self-regulation and therapy, self-concepts, social relationships, and attitudes and values. Under each category, he gives a detailed review of relevant studies and articles.

A closer look at online games reveals that online games have a significant influence on players’ thinking and problem-solving abilities. Prensky (Liberman, 2006, p.384) suggests that ‘games with puzzles and complex questions may improve player’s ability to think logically and tactically. Simulation games can enhance scientific thinking,…and adventure games may increase…skills in observation, analysis of systems, and coaching of others’. Studies also found the effects of games on self-directed learning. Players pay attention, monitor and evaluate their own actions. Besides, games also have the backwash of self-monitoring, pattern recognizing, and so on.

An experience with a virtual community
As relatively new areas of research, online games for language learning purposes have a promising future in the TESL profession. One example is my experience with the online virtual society Second Life that has broadened my exposure to authentic English language when I visited the Texas A&M University (Aggieland). This is a virtual campus (Landmark: ‘Texas A&M University Second Life, 12th Man (157, 227, 26)’) built up by a group of faculty members, which functions a welcome venue for perspective students and their parents. Aggieland is actually a real place on the A&M University campus, serving with the same purpose. So, netizens can have a special experience with the university by visiting its virtual Aggieland.

My visit to Aggieland on Second Life was informative and exciting, as I talked through the Public Voice function with someone called Jim on the venue. He is one of the founders of this virtual campus, which took his team several months’ leisure time to have built up the basic facilities. Jim was friendly and kind to greet me and introduced an interesting thing on the far corner of the campus, the pyramid of Bloom’s taxonomy! Flying after Jim, I was lead to the model block pile that has three colourful dimensions of learning, teaching and assessing. While listening to Jim’s introduction, I moved my avatar around to have a clear view of the model.

I had a clear view of how knowledge and cognitive progress accumulate in our mind. Jim told me that knowledge could be divided into four levels: factual, conceptual, procedural and meta-cognitive. The cognitive progress is composed with six stages of remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating. Then, Jim moved to the knowledge dimension of the pyramid, and explained that remembering a fact was exemplified with listing primary and secondary colours, and as the tiers go higher, evaluating a fact could be interpreted as checking the consistency of sources, so on. Jim further recounted that they usually used this model to elicit discussion among advanced learners, who would reflect upon their own learning experience and identify at which stages of the model they are. ‘Most importantly’, Jim said, ‘the students may want to analyze why their knowledge or cognitive process stays at that level; and how, if possible, can they upgrade their knowledge to a higher level.’

Jim has given me a lively tutorial of learning methodology in English, and has introduced several resources of Bloom’s taxonomy available online. For example, two resources at the Wikipedia websites are for further reading.
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom's_Taxonomy.

Briefly, learning language could be contextualised in, say, a task on the online games that require effective communication between the players. Language teachers could also play a role in such virtual communities to put themselves in a less dominant position that they used to be in a classroom. The students could thus enjoy more autonomy in the task. But the point is that the tasks assigned to the students should be closely related to language learning and practicing. Otherwise, games could easily be a distraction from the learning purposes.


Reference
Lieberman, D. (2006) What can we learn from playing interactive games? In Vorderer & Bryant(eds.) Playing video games: Motives, responses and consequences. p.379-397. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,Inc.,Publishers.