Using games in classroom reading

The title page of "Games in the classroom"

In Slideshare, there are a lot of interesting slides related to video games in education. You can just type in the key words like “video games” and a bunch of PowerPoint materials will pop up. “Games in the classroom” is one of the examples.

In this PPT, the author, Dubbels demonstrates how video games can be used in the classroom to create literacy learning opportunities for students. From the subtitle, I think it is about a study on using video games to teach reading for 6th, 8th, and 12th graders. Because this is just a PPT, Dubbels just put very brief information and sketchy description of his study. Later, I figured out that this research is like a qualitative study. He worked with five students while using video games in teaching reading. There is no further information about the participants and the game(s) he used.

According to the slides, plot diagram and expository text embedded in video games are useful in teaching reading. Though Dubbels does not use the word “narrative,” I believe plot diagram refers to the feature of narrative in video games. Actually, narrative is an issue that many computer games theorists have approached from different perspectives (Carr, 2006). In discussing narrative in games, Carr (2006) takes the computer RPG Baldur’s Gate as an example, saying “in Baldur’s Gate, storytelling is part of the game, but the game is not limited to a narrative” (p. 31). Narrative in gaming is not a new topic but its potential in teaching reading still needs more empirical studies to test. By contrast, expository text in gaming is not often mentioned by researchers. But, as Dubbels observes, games have many expository elements. For instance, I think many instructions in gaming can be used as expository reading materials. In this study, the students are involved in story retelling and journal writing to reflect their literacy experience in gaming.

In the slides, Dubbels also briefly reflects the gap between adolescents’ school reading and out-of-school reading, digital divide, literacy engagement, agency, and multiple literaices. All the information is valuable for those who are interested in enhancing literacy through gaming. Nevertheless, because it is a PPT not a research article, there is no research result, analysis and further discussion.

Of the very limited literature on gaming and language learning, especially empirical studies, there is a lack of exploration on reading and writing. If this study by Dubbels has turned to be a research paper, it would be very informational for our further research. Dubbels does not mention the study was on L1 or L2 reading. I assume it was used for native English speakers in reading. However, the implications will still be insightful for L2 reading research if there is a complete research article. Hopefully, I will find Dubbels’ article if he has made one research article based on the data reflected in the slides.

Reference
Carr, D. (2006). Games and narrative. In D. Carr, D. Buckingham, A. Burn & G. Schott (Eds.), Computer games: Text, narrative and play. Malden, MA: Polity Press.