A TEFL teacher’s Wiki about e-gaming

A snapshot of Kyle Mawer’s Wiki space

Kyle Mawer is a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teacher with ten years of teaching experience in Spain. Based on his own teaching experience and personal interest in e-games, he created this Wiki space for those who are also interested in language acquisition through gaming.

There is a lot of useful information, especially a PowerPoint about e-games and language learning. Basically, it provides an overview of what e-games are and how e-games can be used to serve the purpose of language learning. Engagement is the No.1 reason listed there. Mawer briefly introduces console games, online games, and video games which covers some simple online games and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). It contains many snapshots of various games, which can help English language learners (ELLs) with some specific language skills, including spelling, vocabulary, grammar, listening, reading, speaking, and writing. I’d like to explore the online games he introduces later.

The teacher's role: A technological nanny or a facilitator?
It is impressive that Mawer says if there is no clear language aim for students in a computer room, the teacher’s role is like “a technological nanny”, who even needs to discipline the class. The good news is that he found that computer games can really engage his students in an English language learning process. Obviously, Mawer enjoyed being a facilitator to assist his students generate some real language learning.

Games, virtual worlds, simulations, and role-player activities
If you take a look at the PowerPoint, you may notice that Second Life is included as an example of e-games. Is it true? Based on my limited knowledge in this field, I find the definition of games (I mean e-games here not non-e-games) is very broad. People may use games to mean simulations or virtual worlds as well. It seems the lines there are really blur.

Games or virtual worlds?
Second Life is a virtual world NOT a game. Indeed, I took Second Life as a game before and I wanted to choose Teen Second Life for another course’s project about games. Dr. Ferdig told me that Second Life should not be categorized as a game. My shallow understanding of the game was something related to 3-D animations. Also, I must have read some materials in which Second Life is also viewed as a game. I did not realize that the essence of the e-game environment is “goal-directed, rule-governed” and contain “elements of competition” (Dipietro, Ferdig, Boyer, & Black, 2007, p.229).

Games, simulations, or role-play activities?
In most research, simulation and gaming are alternative terms. Garicia-Carbonell et all (2001) points out that explicit “reference system” is a characteristic of simulation or game when compared to role-play activities. Unlike Garcia-Carbonell et all (2001), Kovalik & Kovalik (2002) refer to Crookall and Oxford’s definition of role-play (1990), stating that role-play is included in the simulations used in their classrooms. Dipietro et al.(2007) distinguish games and simulations, stating that simulations are “reality-based” while games are in “a non-realistic/fantasy environment” (p. 229).

Using e-games as a novel approach to language acquisition is an exciting research field. This Wiki is one of the very few resources dedicated to this topic. We should use it as a platform to exchange ideas and share knowledge with others who have the common interests.

References

Crookall, D., & Oxford, R. (1990). Linking language learning and simulation games. In D. Crookall & R. L. Oxford (Eds.), Simulation, gaming, and language learning (pp. 3-25). NewYork: Newbury House.

Dipietro, M., Ferdig, R. E., Boyer, J., & Black, E. W. (2007). Towards a framework for understanding electronic educational gaming. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 16(3), 225-248.

Garcia-Carbonell, A., Rising, B., Montero, B., & Watts, F. (2001). Simulation/Gaming and the Acquisition of Communicative Competence in another Language. Simulation & Games, 32(4), 481-491.

Kovalik, D. L., & Kovalik, L. M. (2002). Language learning simulations: A Piagetian perspective. Simulation & Games, 33(3), 345-352.