ERIC Number: EJ1395199
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 35
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0957-1736
EISSN: EISSN-1753-2167
Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency Improvements through Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Case Study
Language Learning Journal, v51 n4 p416-450 2023
Many English as a foreign language (EFL) learners worldwide spend hours playing commercial-off-the-shelf massively multiplayer online games. They engage in a multitude of different interactions with the game environment and possibly with other gamers, using English as the predominant medium of communication. This raises the question of whether playing such games improves these learners'/gamers' speaking performance over time. Drawing on usage-based theories of language learning, this longitudinal mixed-methods case study addressed this question by measuring six EFL gamers' speaking performance in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) over the course of six months, and exploring their perceptions relating to the gaming environment and their language learning. The participants played in two teams: Team 1 with low-intermediate and Team 2 with high-intermediate proficiency. Each team comprised three EFL gamers and a native English speaker. Overall, the results appeared positive for the EFL gamers on both teams but in different ways. Their speaking performance showed improvements in 50% of the CAF indices. These results are discussed in light of the gamers' perceptions about the dynamics of in-game communication, the game's socio-affective environment, and the development of their speaking performance.
Descriptors: Accuracy, Video Games, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Speech Communication, Computer Games, Computer Simulation, Computer Mediated Communication, Native Speakers, Longitudinal Studies, Case Studies, Learning Theories, Language Fluency, Teamwork, Language Proficiency, Foreign Countries, Intercultural Communication, Learning Processes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas; Iran
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A