Adam House, the host of TEFLCast, breaks down the fundamentals of online gaming within virtual worlds, and we uncover some striking parallels with the basic tenets of teaching and learning.
Part Three
Through popular online game Destiny, Adam introduces us to his avatar, Housis Maximus. An avatar is a virtual representation of yourself within a virtual world. Avatars give users either a first person view of the game, ‘through your own eyes’, or a third person view where you are the ‘behind you- you’.
The Customisation of Avatars
The fact that Adam uses the same name, and often makes the same customisation choices across all consoles, emphasises how much players identify with their own avatar. Such choices include: gender, skin tone, hair colour and length, eye colour and shape, height, build, clothes and equipment. The more levels you play of a game, the more options open up for players to customise their avatar (to make them bigger, stronger, more attractive etc.). Customisation, then, being tied to deeper questions around identity, becomes a compelling incentive to keep players motivated to continue playing the game (Taylor, 2002).
Adam’s Favourite Game
Adam’s favourite all-time game is called Chrono Trigger by Super Nintendo. It is a Back to the Future-style RPG, where the player jumps back and forth through time, solving problems. The game play itself is easy. But otherwise the story comes with complex plot-twists that require the player to uncover many layers and remember lots of details in order to figure out problems. According to Adam, “The story is so in-depth, it would put Holloywood to shame.“
Writing Journals & Working in Teams – A good basis for Language Learning
As there is a lot to remember, a lot of online games include journals so you can write things down and re-read what you’ve done and note where you are heading. (This is particularly important as these games offer many ‘side-games’, or alternate tasks, which you can complete in order to gain some extra knowledge or equipment to help you complete the overall game. These side-games may take up to 10 hours to complete, so it can be easy to forget your overall aim if you are fully immersed into another task). Thinking about how gaming could be adapted to incorporate language learning then, this online journal lends itself to a writing activity where students are able to reflect on where they’ve been, what they’ve done and perhaps, they could try to predict what will happen next.
Online games such as Destiny often require you to work in teams to solve a problem, and facilitate this by randomly matching you with other players to complete side missions. With the aid of a headset you can discuss strategy with your team mates, deciding how and when to attack. This lends itself to a speaking activity where clear and precise peer-to-peer communication leads to the successful completion of a task.
The Power of Online Games for (Language) Learning
The affordances outlined above align with Rama et al.’s (2012) findings in their study on second language learning in World of Warcraft. Here, it was found that the WoW environment facilitated the creation of safe learning and languaging spaces. This corresponds with the disucussion above that playing through avatars and working with others, seems to reduce inhibition and increase motivation. Indeed, Milton (2013) notes, “Crucial to the success of these activities is the way language use is a requirement of interaction, so if you want to change the clothes on your avatar for example, you have to negotiate with another avatar to do this.” So interaction in the form of using authentic language in meaningful tasks, triggers the negotiation of meaning and modifying output – central tenets of second language acquisition (Long, 1985, 1996).
As well as the emphasis on communicative competence, Rama et al. (2012) also highlight how the WoW environment promotes goal-directed, collaborative action between experts and novices. Of course, peer-to-peer learning and the co-construction of knowledge are terms I regularly adopt and identify with. That said, a setting where the “game space provides multiple contexts in which experts and novices intereact, (which) opens up opportunities for collaboration between less and more experienced gamers and language users” (Rama et al., 2012) obviously appeals to me, and would be something that I’d very much look forward to if it were presented to me as a learner.
Final Thoughts
Engaging, motivational, immersive, with a focus on communicaiton and cooperation to solve problems, as far as I can see, online gaming is not just a tool to be confined to the entertainment industry, nor language classroom, but also something that can have positive raminfications in almost every aspect of our social lives.
References
Long, M.H (1985) Input and Second Language Acquisition Theory. In S. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.), Input and Second Language Acquisition Theory (pp377-93). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Milton. J (2013) Second Language Acquisition via Second Life. In Chapelle C.A. (Ed) The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Rama P., et. al (2012), Affordances for second language learning in World of Warcraft. ReCALL 24, 3 pp 322-338
Taylor, T.L. (2002) Living Digitally: Embodiment in Virtual Worlds. In Schroeder (Ed) The Social Life of Avatars: Presence and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments. London:Springer-Verlag, (chapter 3)