Do you think languages can be learnt through playing video games? Can foreign language learning and entertainment be effectively combined? What does the word gamification have to do with modern foreign language pedagogy?
Specialists in language pedagogy have recently directed their attention to the use of digital tools and game-based solutions in designing foreign language classes. Despite some initial skepticism towards the effectiveness of digital games in language learning, latest research in applied linguistics (a branch of science that studies how people learn languages) points to the massive benefits of games in learning a new language. Also, playing conventional video games (e.g., World of Warcraft) for pure entertainment has been shown to produce learning benefits, such as picking up new words or developing communicative skills. What’s more, those benefits can be explained by the major theories in linguistics and cognitive sciences! Thus, language learning through gaming have become a hot topic in modern language pedagogy and research.
In this class, we will consider if and how digital tools, including video games and educational apps, can make language learning more motivating and meaningful. We will discuss why the use of educational video games and gamification (understood as implementing the features of games into lessons) in a foreign language classroom may lead to substantial learning gains.
Dr Małgorzata Foryś-Nogala
Dr Małgorzata Foryś-Nogala is an assistant professor at the Institute of Psychology, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw. She obtained her PhD from the Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw. In her research, she focuses on the psycholinguistic aspects of language learning as well as educational psychology. She has participated in many research projects on learning a foreign language and coauthored several papers published in prestigious linguistic journals. She is also a linguist and a qualified English teacher with years of experience teaching English in various educational contexts.