I
have played the game Phantasy Quest three times to experience the learning process by playing
a game. First of all, it is an easy game to start with. The visual design is
good, without a bunch of items displayed there to annoy you. The instruction is
clear and explicit, with both arrows and dialogue box reminding you. And most
importantly, there is time limit! Personally I hate those games with time
limits, which will make me too nervous to win the game.
When
I was playing the game, I was thinking that if my future students play this
game in my language class, what would my students learn from this game? The most
basic one is the vocabulary, I think. Each time you click on the item, there is
will be a dialogue box telling what it is. You may click on the item several
times to try to find out your target in playing the game. That kind of repetition
can help students remember the vocabulary in the game. In addition, the game is
a kind of exploring game. Students read the instruction and explore all the
scenes in the game. They can learn how to complete the task step by step, which
means they will become patient in language learning. What’s more, even if they
cannot figure out the route to the destination, they can refer to the
walkthrough, where they can know how to successfully win the game, without
feeling frustrated at all. Let’s see how the game is helpful to students intrinsically.
This game includes almost all the elements mentioned by Tom Chatfield in his TED
video 7 Ways Games Reward the Brain. It
has uncertainty because you are stranded on a deserted island. It gives you
immediate feedback and reward once you click on something. You are engaged in
the game because you are always encouraged to find the target and complete the game.
Besides, the clear and interesting instruction really helps when students are
exposed to the game individually.
With
the help of game, the language learning process becomes more interesting. Teacher
acts as an instructor to give students hints if they need, or enhance their learning
after they play the game. Students would explore the game by themselves first,
and then get some feedback or instruction from the teacher. As a future
teacher, I would use walkthrough for the game. But I would only use it when
they are at loss. I will encourage them to explore by themselves first, and
then provide them walkthrough. To assess their learning, I would refer to KyleMawer's task types for assessing content learned in games. I would ask them to
note down their difficulty and success in the game to assess their personal experiences.
I would pay attention to their emotional change toward the game, for example, whether
they are encouraged by the game to learn more, or they are just frustrated. I
can imagine, gamification in language class would be very interesting!
Gamification
is brand new notion for me. To be honest, I am not obsessed with any games at
all. I might apply some simple games to arouse my students’ interest in my
future class, but I have never thought about the systematic use of game in
learning. To combine game and learning is an innovative but risky way, because
games, especially computer games nowadays have so much negative effect on
people. I think it’s time for me to think about it seriously.
To
start with, the concept of gamification. According to the article What is Gamification, Gamification is “the
concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and
motivate people to achieve their goals.” In one word, gamification is to use
game element to motivate people. So, the problem comes, why game has this function,
or why game is attractive? According to Tom Chatfield’ TED video 7 Ways Games Reward the Brain, he says
game is doing both the wanting and liking process. You can satisfy your
ambition and have emotional engagement as well. In game, there is uncertainty,
reasonable probability of success, reward, feedback, engagement and also team collaboration.
How can people resist from the charm of playing games?
So,
can we apply these game elements into learning, especially language learning?Stephan
J. Franciosi uses the Flow Theory to explore the relationship between digital
game based learning (DGBL) and task based language Teaching (TBLT) in his article
A Comparison of Computer Game and Language-LearningTask Design Using Flow Theory. Flow is the “mental state experienced during
challenging activities in a comfortable zone between "anxiety" and
"boredom," where the activity at hand is neither too difficult to be
frustrating, nor too easy to be menial” according to the article. Basically,
DGBL is more concerned with multi-media activities while TBLT is more concerned
with authentic language use for real-life communication. In comparison to TBLT,
DGBL has more concrete and explicit goal, more immediate feedback and better
difficulty balance to adapt to match players’ skill level. These features are
good for learners to facilitate their “intrinsic motivations”. I would use
these features of digital games in my future language class because language learning
is “a process of trial and error, of repetition and practice, and of
incremental progress toward larger goals as a long term” according to 7 Things You Should Know About Games and Learning, that means language learning needs immediate correction,
step-by-step goal and proper setting of difficulty level.
Despite
the downsides mentioned in 7 Things You
Should Know About Gamification, students may feel disappointed or
frustrated if they don’t win as they expect, gamification will be one of my
future teaching plan because it can offer me creative opportunities to keep my
students engaged in and have a positive attitude toward learning.
