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Kluge, Jacob, and Jonas Bjärnmark. "Digital Games and Language Learning." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen (LUT), 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-31841.
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With this survey paper we have contrasted and summarized research on digital games and language learning in order to investigate whether digital games can be used to instil communicative competence in students. In addition, we have examined what kinds of considerations that need to be made by teachers when applying digital games in educational settings. In order to acquire an indication of whether games were being used as a language-learning tool in schools today, we conducted a small pilot study in the region of Skåne. In this pilot study, we asked 10 language teachers whether they had ever used videogames in their language teaching. The pilot study suggested that digital games were not being used as a teaching aid. However, the research examined in this survey paper suggests that videogames can be used to instil dimensions of communicative competence. Research also suggested that digital games only inherently supported one or two dimensions of communicative competence. With regard to this, we argued that all four dimensions of communicative competence can be supported through the use of different pedagogical strategies in combination with other approaches. Furthermore, research suggested that there are necessary precautions for teachers to consider before implementing digital games in teaching (e.g. having sufficient knowledge of the games to be used in order to be able to scaffold them according to students’ needs). Since the research explored in this paper suggest that videogames can be used to instil communicative competence in students, we argued that digital games might be an overlooked asset in language learning.
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Khatibi, Miandouab Ece, and Eva Cowie. "Language learning through interactive games." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen (LUT), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-29804.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate language learning through the use of interactive games. A research synthesis was considered to be the most effective method as it was our intention to explore the research available on language learning and gaming. Although various studies have investigated the employment of interactive games in language learning, this field of research is still in its infancy. We juxtaposed neural correlates of language learning with that of interactive gaming and the findings indicated that there are both similarities and differences in the brain structures activated by gaming and those that are activated by language learning. Furthermore, we set out to investigate the employment of interactive games in the language classroom. Our findings indicated that interactive games are highly underused tools in language learning. In addition, we were able to identify techniques which could be used to employ interactive games in language learning. The technological advancement in our society which has shown to have a great impact on the youth of today has given rise to an increasing need for incorporating technology such as interactive games in education and for this reason it is necessary for teachers to receive education in implementing interactive games in the language classroom.
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Gulcehre, Caglar. "Two Approaches For Collective Learning With Language Games." Master's thesis, METU, 2011. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613109/index.pdf.
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Recent studies in cognitive science indicate that language has an important social function. The structure and knowledge of language emerges from the processes of human communication together with the domain-general cognitive processes. Each individual of a community interacts socially with a limited number of peers. Nevertheless societies are characterized by their stunning global regularities. By dealing with the language as a complex adaptive system, we are able to analyze how languages change and evolve over time. Multi-agent computational simulations assist scientists from different disciplines to build several language emergence scenarios. In this thesis several simulations are implemented and tested in order to categorize examples in a test data set efficiently and accurately by using a population of agents interacting by playing categorization games inspired by L. Steels'<br>s naming game. The emergence of categories throughout interactions between a population of agents in the categorization games are analyzed. The test results of categorization games as a model combination algorithm with various machine learning algorithms on different data sets have shown that categorization games can have a comparable performance with fast convergence.
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Xu, Yushi Ph D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Language technologies in speech-enabled second language learning games : from reading to dialogue." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75652.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2012.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-244).<br>Second language learning has become an important societal need over the past decades. Given that the number of language teachers is far below demand, computer-aided language learning software is becoming a promising supplement to traditional classroom learning, as well as potentially enabling new opportunities for self-learning. The use of speech technologies is especially attractive to offer students unlimited chances for speaking exercises. To create helpful and intelligent speaking exercises on a computer, it is necessary for the computer to not only recognize the acoustics, but also to understand the meaning and give appropriate responses. Nevertheless, most existing speech-enabled language learning software focuses only on speech recognition and pronunciation training. Very few have emphasized exercising the student's composition and comprehension abilities and adopting language technologies to enable free-form conversation emulating a real human tutor. This thesis investigates the critical functionalities of a computer-aided language learning system, and presents a generic framework as well as various language- and domain-independent modules to enable building complex speech-based language learning systems. Four games have been designed and implemented using the framework and the modules to demonstrate their usability and flexibility, where dynamic content creation, automatic assessment, and automatic assistance are emphasized. The four games, reading, translation, question-answering and dialogue, offer different activities with gradually increasing difficulty, and involve a wide range of language processing techniques, such as language understanding, language generation, question generation, context resolution, dialogue management and user simulation. User studies with real subjects show that the systems were well received and judged to be helpful.<br>by Yushi Xu.<br>Ph.D.
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Tirén, Stina. "Digital Games in English Language Learning : A Mixed Method Study of Teachers' and Students' Attitudes to Digital Games and Its Effects in English Language Learning." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Avdelningen för humaniora, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-36072.
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The possible benefits of digital games for English language learning and teaching have received increasing attention in recent years as more research shows that digital games can affect students’ learning and motivation within formal education. A great deal of the integration of digital games in school contexts depends on the attitude of teachers and students. The aim of this study is to investigate upper-secondary teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward digital games in the English language classroom in a Swedish context. Additionally, this study will also examine teachers’ and students’ views regarding the effects of using digital games for learning English. This is a mixed-method study, where semi-structured interviews and online surveys were conducted by participants from Uppsala, Gävleborg and Dalarna. 106 students and 11 teachers responded to the online survey, and 3 teachers participated in the semi-structured interview. The results found in this study confirm the findings from the majority of previous studies. Teachers and students are generally positive toward digital games in English language learning, and they see potential effects of using games in class. However, teachers find it difficult to implement digital games due to different obstacles, such as preparation time, lack of knowledge, and finding quality games.
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Karlsson, Tobias. "MOTIVATION AND LANGUAGE LEARNING IN ENTERTAINMENT GAMES : The Impact of Instructions." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för kommunikation och information, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-8251.
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This article strives to investigate the importance of instructions when using an entertainment game for language learning, and evaluate how instructions affect learning outcome and motivation. To narrow down the case study only one game and language was chosen, namely the popular entertainment game ‘Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time’ (Sanzaru Games, 2013) in Dutch. Eighteen test subjects were split into three groups, one group got no prior instructions to playing, one got basic instructions and the last got thorough instructions. They then played part of the game to afterwards answer questions regarding motivation and take a language test containing words and phrases from the game. The study showed a significant increase in language learning correlated to the increase of instructions, meanwhile also presenting a significant result indicating that instructions might have a positive effect on motivation when using ‘Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time’ to teach language.
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Schueller, William. "Active control of complexity growth in Language Games." Thesis, Bordeaux, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018BORD0382/document.
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Nous apprenons très jeunes une quantité de règles nous permettant d'interagir avec d'autres personnes: des conventions sociales. Elles diffèrent des autres types d'apprentissage dans le sens où les premières personnes à les avoir utilisées n'ont fait qu'un choix arbitraire parmi plusieurs alternatives possibles: le côté de la route où conduire, la forme d'une prise électrique, ou inventer de nouveaux mots. À cause de celà, lorsqu'une nouvelle convention se crée au sein d'une population d'individus interagissant entre eux, de nombreuses alternatives peuvent apparaître et conduire à une situation complexe où plusieurs conventions équivalentes coexistent en compétition. Il peut devenir difficile de les retenir toutes, comment faisons-nous pour trouver un accord efficacement ? Nous exerçons communément un contrôle actif sur nos situations d'apprentissage, en par exemple sélectionnant des activités qui ne soient ni trop simples ni trop complexes. Il a été montré que ce type de comportement, dans des cas comme l'apprentissage sensori-moteur, aide à apprendre mieux, plus vite, et avec moins d'exemples. Est-ce que de tels mécanismes pourraient aussi influencer la négociation de conventions sociales? Le lexique est un exemple particulier de convention sociale: quels mots associer avec tel objet ou tel sens? Une classe de modèles computationels, les Language Games, montrent qu'il est possible pour une population d'individus de construire un langage commun via une série d'interactions par paires. En particulier, le modèle appelé Naming Game met l'accent sur la formation du lexique reliant mots et sens, et montre une typique explosion de la complexité avant de commencer à écarter les conventions synonymes ou homonymes et arriver à un consensus. Dans cette thèse, nous introduisons l'idée de l'apprentissage actif et du contrôle actif de la croissance de la complexité dans le Naming Game, sous la forme d'une politique de choix du sujet de conversation, applicable à chaque interaction. Différentes stratégies sont introduites, et ont des impacts différents sur à la fois le temps nécessaire pour converger vers un consensus et la quantité de mémoire nécessaire à chaque individu. Premièrement, nous limitons artificiellement la mémoire des agents pour éviter l'explosion de complexité locale. Quelques stratégies sont présentées, certaines ayant des propriétés similaires au cas standard en termes de temps de convergence. Dans un deuxième temps, nous formalisons ce que les agents doivent optimiser, en se basant sur une représentation de l'état moyen de la population. Deux stratégies inspirées de cette notion permettent de limiter les besoins en mémoire sans avoir à contraindre le système, et en prime permettent de converger plus rapidement. Nous montrons ensuite que la dynamique obtenue est proche d'un comportement théorique optimal, exprimé comme une borne inférieure au temps de convergence. Finalement, nous avons mis en place une expérience utilisateur en ligne sous forme de jeu pour collecter des données sur le comportement d'utilisateurs réels placés dans le cadre du modèle. Les résultats suggèrent qu'ils ont effectivement une politique active de choix de sujet de conversation, en comparaison avec un choix aléatoire.Les contributions de ce travail de thèse incluent aussi une classification des modèles de Naming Games existants, et un cadriciel open-source pour les simuler<br>Social conventions are learned mostly at a young age, but are quite different from other domains, like for example sensorimotor skills. The first people to define conventions just picked an arbitrary alternative between several options: a side of the road to drive on, the design of an electric plug, or inventing a new word. Because of this, while setting a new convention in a population of interacting individuals, many competing options can arise, and lead to a situation of growing complexity if many parallel inventions happen. How do we deal with this issue?Humans often exhert an active control on their learning situation, by for example selecting activities that are neither too complex nor too simple. This behavior, in cases like sensorimotor learning, has been shown to help learn faster, better, and with fewer examples. Could such mechanisms also have an impact on the negotiation of social conventions ? A particular example of social convention is the lexicon: which words we associated with given meanings. Computational models of language emergence, called the Language Games, showed that it is possible for a population of agents to build a common language through only pairwise interactions. In particular, the Naming Game model focuses on the formation of the lexicon mapping words and meanings, and shows a typical burst of complexity before starting to discard options and find a final consensus. In this thesis, we introduce the idea of active learning and active control of complexity growth in the Naming Game, in the form of a topic choice policy: agents can choose the meaning they want to talk about in each interaction. Several strategies were introduced, and have a different impact on both the time needed to converge to a consensus and the amount of memory needed by individual agents. Firstly, we artificially constrain the memory of agents to avoid the local complexity burst. A few strategies are presented, some of which can have similar convergence speed as in the standard case. Secondly, we formalize what agents need to optimize, based on a representation of the average state of the population. A couple of strategies inspired by this notion help keep the memory usage low without having constraints, but also result in a faster convergence process. We then show that the obtained dynamics are close to an optimal behavior, expressed analytically as a lower bound to convergence time. Eventually, we designed an online user experiment to collect data on how humans would behave in the same model, which shows that they do have an active topic choice policy, and do not choose randomly. Contributions from this thesis also include a classification of the existing Naming Game models and an open-source framework to simulate them
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Johansson, Joakim. "Acquiring low-frequency English vocabulary by contextual guessing amongst Swedish learners of English playing The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-89390.
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Video and computer game users are frequently stated as possessing a higher proficiency in English. In this study, 3 Swedish upper secondary school students from different programs played The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, a lovecraftian murder mystery game. The aim was to examine the possible effects on their English vocabulary acquisition through their ability of assuming words' meaning from the context presented by the game. The words used in the study were low-frequency words which were gathered from the game and then cross-referenced with the Corpus of Contemporary American English(COCA). The 80 least frequent words were selected. Participants were tasked with translating, explaining or using the words in sentences after completing a game chapter. The study found that the game had in general had a positive effect on the participants’ vocabulary store. However, the test scores varied greatly between participants; 1 participant acquired 1 word while another participant acquired 18. This, combined with the small sample size, meant it was difficult to say definitively how effective the game had been at expanding the participants' vocabulary store.
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Greiner, Marion Ulrike. "The Effective Use of Games in the German as a Foreign Language (GFL) Classroom." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1276106126.
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Laveborn, Joel. "Video Game Vocabulary : The effect of video games on Swedish learners‟ word comprehension." Thesis, Karlstad University, Karlstad University, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-5487.
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<p>Video games are very popular among children in the Western world. This study was done in order to investigate if video games had an effect on 49 Swedish students‟ comprehension of English words (grades 7-8). The investigation was based on questionnaire and word test data. The questionnaire aimed to measure with which frequency students were playing video games, and the word test aimed to measure their word comprehension in general. In addition, data from the word test were used to investigate how students explained the words. Depending on their explanations, students were categorized as either using a “video game approach” or a “dictionary approach” in their explanations.</p><p>The results showed a gender difference, both with regard to the frequency of playing and what types of games that were played. Playing video games seemed to increase the students‟ comprehension of English words, though there was no clear connection between the frequency with which students were playing video games and the choice of a dictionary or video game approach as an explanation.</p>
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Fox, Michael Jacob. "Distributed learning in large populations." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/44783.
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Distributed learning is the iterative process of decision-making in the presence of other decision-makers. In recent years, researchers across fields as disparate as engineering, biology, and economics have identified mathematically congruous problem formulations at the intersection of their disciplines. In particular, stochastic processes, game theory, and control theory have been brought to bare on certain very basic and universal questions. What sort of environments are conducive to distributed learning? Are there any generic algorithms offering non-trivial performance guarantees for a large class of models?
The first half of this thesis makes contributions to two particular problems in distributed learning, self-assembly and language. Self-assembly refers to the emergence of high-level structures via the aggregate behavior of simpler building blocks. A number of algorithms have been suggested that are capable of generic self-assembly of graphs. That is, given a description of the objective they produce a policy with a corresponding performance guarantee. These guarantees have been in the form of deterministic convergence results. We introduce the notion of stochastic stability to the self-assembly problem. The stochastically stable states are the configurations the system spends almost all of its time in as a noise parameter is taken to zero. We show that in this framework simple procedures exist that are capable of self-assembly of any tree under stringent locality constraints. Our procedure gives an asymptotically maximum yield of target assemblies while obeying communication and reversibility constraints. We also present a slightly more sophisticated algorithm that guarantees maximum yields for any problem size. The latter algorithm utilizes a somewhat more presumptive notion of agents' internal states. While it is unknown whether an algorithm providing maximum yields subject to our constraints can depend only on the more parsimonious form of internal state, we are able to show that such an algorithm would not be able to possess a unique completing rule--- a useful feature for analysis.
We then turn our attention to the problem of distributed learning of communication protocols, or, language. Recent results for signaling game models establish the non-negligible possibility of convergence, under distributed learning, to states of unbounded efficiency loss. We provide a tight lower bound on efficiency and discuss its implications. Moreover, motivated by the empirical phenomenon of linguistic drift, we study the signaling game under stochastic evolutionary dynamics. We again make use of stochastic stability analysis and show that the long-run distribution of states has support limited to the efficient communication systems. We find that this behavior is insensitive to the particular choice of evolutionary dynamic, a fact that is intuitively captured by the game's potential function corresponding to average fitness. Consequently, the model supports conclusions similar to those found in the literature on language competition. That is, we expect monomorphic language states to eventually predominate. Homophily has been identified as a feature that potentially stabilizes diverse linguistic communities. We find that incorporating homophily in our stochastic model gives mixed results. While the monomorphic prediction holds in the small noise limit, diversity can persist at higher noise levels or as a metastable phenomenon.
The contributions of the second half of this thesis relate to more basic issues in distributed learning. In particular, we provide new results on the problem of distributed convergence to Nash equilibrium in finite games. A recently proposed class of games known as stable games have the attractive property of admitting global convergence to equilibria under many learning dynamics. We show that stable games can be formulated as passive input-output systems. This observation enables us to identify passivity of a learning dynamic as a sufficient condition for global convergence in stable games. Notably, dynamics satisfying our condition need not exhibit positive correlation between the payoffs and their directions of motion. We show that our condition is satisfied by the dynamics known to exhibit global convergence in stable games. We give a decision-theoretic interpretation for passive learning dynamics that mirrors the interpretation of stable games as strategic environments exhibiting self-defeating externalities. Moreover, we exploit the flexibility of the passivity condition to study the impact of applying various forecasting heuristics to the payoffs used in the learning process. Finally, we show how passivity can be used to identify strategic tendencies of the players that allow for convergence in the presence of information lags of arbitrary duration in some games.
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Vidlund, Anna. "English in video and online computer games : Potential enhancement of players’ vocabulary." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-28402.
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The aim of this essay is to distinguish whether the activity of playing video and online computer games as a leisure activity could be considered to be a learning situation. With the focus on vocabulary, this study investigates the possibility that gamers could improve their language proficiency while playing video and online computer games. The methodology is based on qualitative observations (Patel & Davidson 2011) and on interviews with seven players of five different games. The observations mainly considered the vocabulary used in the games and how the players used the English language while playing. The interviews are constructed with the methodology mentioned by Kylén (2004). The interview questions aimed to answer if the players had been noticing an improvement of their vocabulary. The data are mainly acquired from the observations and interviews. The background sections build on studies relating to computer-based language learning and on the previous research on ELF, primarily from Barbara Seidlhofer (2011). Even though the data acquired from the observations and interviews are limited, it is apparent that video and online computer games have a noticeable impact on language development, regarding vocabulary. The main conclusion of this study is that the games do not influence the players’ language proficiency as considerably as the engaging in the functions in conjunction with the games.
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Blackwell, Deborah. "Effects of Problem-based Learning on a Fifth Grade Language Arts Classroom." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2013. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc271781/.
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The main purpose of this qualitative research was to discover the effects of problem-based learning on a fifth grade language arts classroom. The secondary purpose was to examine how receptive fifth grade students were to a new way of learning. In this descriptive study, a group of nine students created an alternate reality game as part of a problem-based learning module. The instructional design of the study included three weeks for students to design and construct their games and one week to play, receive feedback and revise based on feedback. Through reflective blogs, semi-structured interviews, video recordings, and observations, data was collected to analyze. Over a period of five months, the data was coded and arranged into categories. The categories merged into themes. The results and findings revealed the impact collaborative groups have on design and enjoyment. Self-regulation skills were found to be lacking in most of the students, intrinsic motivation increased for some students while others developed positive outcomes beyond the scope of this study.
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Müller, Claudia [Verfasser]. "Serious Games for Global Education : Digital Game-Based Learning in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Classroom / Claudia Müller." Frankfurt a.M. : Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2017. http://d-nb.info/1148910794/34.
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Kosunen, Kristoffer. "Adult Language Learning : Using Minigames to teach Vocabulary in the ESL Classroom." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för informationsteknologi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-13103.
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Research within the field of serious games shows that games and simulations can supplement traditional learning methods in a positive way. Modern technology allows for simulations of real situations thus allowing for improved vocabulary training. This paper focusses on ESL (English as a second language training) for adult learners and looks at how a prototype set of minigames could be used to enhance learning outcomes in a specific set of vocabulary. The paper looks at a case study carried out by the researcher in Plymouth in the UK at an ESL training centre. Results from this sample showed that this method of using games is viable, however not that much of an improvement on traditional methods.
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Ambjörnsson, Anna. "Samtal i Sweet City : Två andraspråkselevers interaktion i samband med tv-spelsspelande i svenskundervisningen." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för svenska språket (SV), 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-60714.
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The aim of the present study is to examine two pupils’ interaction when playing the language learning game Sweet City together on tablet. The game is used for teaching Swedish as a second language and it is designed as an adventure game. Special interest is focused on how the pupils use the opportunities for translating labels into other languages, a function built into the game. Translanguaging, that is, how the pupils’ assembled linguistic resources benefit them in the game, is another focus of the study. The method used was observation, with filming of the pupils´ playing. The material was then analysed with the aid of the Exchange Structure Model. The result showed that playing video games leads to a context-linked conversation with many short exchanges. The pupils are engaged in the game and the cooperation that is required to make progress in it. The pupils take advantage of the potential to translate the game dialogue, but the concrete consequences of that are not clearly detectable.
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Winther, Kristian. "Implementing Game Mechanics for Crowdsourced Language Learning." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for datateknikk og informasjonsvitenskap, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-26750.
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Mobile phones and other digital devices has become a big part of our everydaylives. We have stepped into a digital age where the amount of informationcontributed by us to the Internet has exploded. We are using applicationsand online services for purposes such as personal entertainment and personaleducation. More and more services and sites bases itself on the contributionsof its users, and without these contributions, the system will stagnateand falter. We share and learn from each other in the form of text and media.This thesis takes a closer look on how the use of game attributes can beused to make contributions to the crowdsourced language learning applicationLingobee self-driven and more fun. These attributes are introduced inan attempt to harness some of their motivational properties to further engagethe users.The technological delivery presented with this thesis is a prototype with implementedgame mechanics and connection to Lingobees repository. Thegame mechanics that are implemented focuses on creating an implicit competitionamongst the users of Lingobee. The application was tested andevaluated by eight testers with different backgrounds and knowledge aboutgamification during a period of three weeks.The research achievement was evaluating the results from the user evaluation,and the testers perception of the applications usefulness and usability.It was discovered that the chosen game mechanics implemented was consideredto promote both motivation and engagement amongst testers, and theresults can be used in the further development of the application Lingobee.
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Käll, Tom. "Datorspel - skolans framtid? : Datorspels potential för måluppfyllelse i grundskolans engelskundervisning." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-53623.
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This study aims to examine the potential of some popular computer games for second language improvement and curriculum goal achievement in grades 4-6, more specifically language development in terms of listening, writing, hearing and speaking. The study also focuses on children's own thoughts and awareness of computer games and language improvement. The study combines three different methods, firstly I have conducted a survey in two middle school classes and secondly, I interviewed four middle school children.Thirdly, I played the games myself in order to analyze the language learning potential of the games. The results showed that each game has some potential and can offer some positive results for second language learning. However, none of the games showed potential in all four language development categories. The study also showed that the children are aware of their language use when they play games.
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Larsson, Jenny. "Learning vocabulary in English as a foreign language through the computer game Rebuild 2 : An experiment with adult learners at a university in Sweden." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-95622.
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Playing computer games in English affects one’s vocabulary size, and thus this project’s aim was to examine how the strategy and turn-based computer game Rebuild 2 can affect adult learners’ vocabulary acquisition according to their perceptions. This project also examined what effects note-taking has on vocabulary learning while playing the game. Two studies were conducted with university students with B1 to C2 level of English where one group took notes and the other group did not. The participants did a vocabulary test of 20 words from the game before playing and after playing the game. Then a retention-test was done one week later. They were tasked to explain and to use the words in sentences. The results indicated that the game helped the participants learn new words. On the other hand, it also caused confusion and words that were once explained correctly were incorrectly explained. Moreover, this project showed that there is a difference in vocabulary acquisition between taking notes and taking no notes. However, the questionnaires revealed that the difference is caused by how the participants perceive the game. Namely that the participants with a positive view on the game learnt more words than the participants with a negative view on the game.
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Campbell, Summer L. "An evaluation of an automated, interactive learning method for a database query language." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2018. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6383.
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Effective learning models adopt a highly structured approach for introductory topics, then provide students more freedom as topics increase in depth and complexity. The structure guides beginning students with rapid, appropriate feedback and provides a framework that can be expanded later with extra flexibility that encourages students to flesh out the basic framework with trial and error. This trial and error phase would also be more effective with informative feedback but providing copious feedback on open-ended problems is only feasible with a small student-to-teacher ratio or with the help of e-learning. Training engineers involves introducing many complex topics and the educational costs are high, making the use of e-learning an important training opportunity.
This project introduced a novel e-learning system to engineering students in an introductory course. An experiment compared a highly structured electronic game with a more traditional, flipped classroom teaching approach. The novel learning method is intended to engage students with a consistent cognitive load as they progress through increasingly difficult learning experiences within the MySQL database querying language. Performance was measured with a post-task exercise. Task load was measured using an unweighted NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). The two cohorts experienced both learning methods in two training sessions in opposite order.
In the first session, participants in the current learning method group outperformed the participants in the game group (a score of 95.78 versus 93.94), but the second session was a reverse of these results (92.79 and 95.76). The task load indices also follow this pattern, with participants in the current group recording a lower task load than the game group in session one and a higher load in session two. However, as the training progressed in each session the task load increased less for the game group than for the current group, indicating that the game group experienced a more consistent task load, as expected. The game tended to extend the time that students stayed at a comfortable but challenging cognitive load, while the students in current training group experienced more periods of very low or very high cognitive load. This consistent task load may be responsible for the game producing better results on the more difficult content of the second week. We expect that as the game techniques improve, this will lead to more consistently efficient learning acquisition. We expect that the general technique may be adapted to other training areas, yielding broader educational efficiency.
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Svensson, Maria. "Extramural Gaming and English Language Proficiency : The potential benefits of extramural gaming as a tool for learning English." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Engelska, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-27450.
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Today the majority of children and teenagers in many countries spend a great deal of time doing extramural English activities, where playing games is included. It is therefore important to study how extramural English activities affect students’ proficiency. This thesis aims to investigate how games as an extramural activity, and extramural English activities in general could benefit upper secondary EFL and ESL students’ English language proficiency. The method used was that of a systematic literature review where six studies from varying places and with participants of varying ages and levels of education were analyzed and compared. The results show that five of the articles found a positive correlation between time spent on extramural English activities and English grades and/or vocabulary, while on study showed that there was no correlation between time spent on extramural English activities and development of academic vocabulary in students who had already reached a high level of proficiency. More research is needed in the field, particularly studies establishing causation rather than just correlation, longitudinal studies, as well as studies investigating whether gender is an important factor affecting the potential benefits of extramural English activities.
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Wiese, Harald. "Language competition: An economic theory of language learning and production." De Gruyter, 2015. https://ul.qucosa.de/id/qucosa%3A21367.
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This article employs game theory to contribute to sociolinguistics (or the economics of language). From both the synchronic and the diachronic perspective, we are interested in the conditions (of language learning and literary production) that make some languages dominate others. Two results are particularly noteworthy: (i) Translations have an ambiguous effect on domination. (ii) We offer three different explanations of how a past language like Latin or Sanskrit can develop into a standard for literary production.
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Chung, Jung-Eun. "The Development of Two Units for Basic Training and Resources for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages: "Using Songs to Increase Participation, Recall, and Enjoyment" and "Using Games for English Language Teaching"." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2011. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2678.
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As English continues to become the universal language in commercial, educational and social settings worldwide, there is an increasing demand for English language teachers (ELT). While many teachers are native English speakers, many of them lack formal training in pedagogy and content knowledge. One challenge of novice teachers is how to create a learning experience that is both engaging and enjoyable for English language learners. Basic Training and Resources for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (BTRTESOL) created by Dr. Lynn Henrichsen, is a basic but comprehensive program to provide skills and resources to teachers with limited formal training, time and financial resources. Two of the units of the BTRTESOL program focus on creating positive learning environments through the use of songs and games, thus improving motivation, participation and learning among English language learners. This project details the development of two BTRTESOL units titled "Using Songs to Increase Participation, Recall and Enjoyment" and "Using Games and Other Fun Yet Effective Activities for English Language Teaching." It also explains the rationale for using songs and games to enhance the curricula and provides practical examples for producing enjoyable and effective activities.
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Fekete, Lorand. "Guidelines for creating tablet based learning games of compound kanji for non native learners." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för teknik och samhälle (TS), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-20929.
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This thesis describes the process of identifying design and imple- mentation guidelines for tablet based learning games focusing on the Japanese writing system which consists of multiple complex logo- graphic characters called kanji. The kanji system covers over 2000 different characters where each character has multiple readings. The characters can also be joined to form new words these are called kanji compounds. Through an iterative process of prototype design and creation, we developed and evaluated three game concepts and a dig- ital game artifact for tablet computers. The results of this research presents five design and implementation guidelines for tablet based learning games focusing on compound kanji which were identified through the results from three evaluations which were performed to- gether with participants that had a background in both interaction design and Japanese.
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Bado, Niamboue. "Video Games and English as a Foreign Language Education in Burkina Faso." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1395498334.
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Peterson, Jeff Lynn. "Incidental Learning of Japanese through Reading Online, in Print, and in Digital Games." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2016. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5799.
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An increasing amount of attention has been brought to language learning through digital games. Incidental learning through different media types such as in print and online have also seen an increased amount of research done in recent years. This study examines the amount of incidental learning that occurs across three media types (in print, online, and in a digital simulation game) as well as participants' perceptions of how enjoyable and helpful these media types are. Results suggest that of the three media types, incidental learning occurred most through the online reading. Furthermore, although not statistically significant, participants in the present study found the reading in print to be most enjoyable and helpful.
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Tebeweka, Stella Nanfuka. "The Impact of Digital Games on English Vocabulary Learning in Middle School in Sweden (ages 9-12)." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Institutionen för kultur, språk och medier (KSM), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-45740.
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In recent years, the age of additional language learning has been lowered in school education. What separates current students from the previous generation, however, is the fact that they use modern technology, such as digital games, and this can be used as a teaching strategy. Several studies show that modern technology can benefit students in their language learning, especially when it comes to vocabulary whose acquisition helps students to develop and master the four language basic skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing). The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the literature concerning the use of digital games and their characteristics in middle school in Sweden(ages 9-12), looking at the positive and negative effects game-use has on English vocabulary learning. Results from different studies indicate that the advantages of using digital games with the aim of vocabulary acquisition outweigh the disadvantages that this computer technology can cause. Using digital games together with pedagogical materials can, for example, reduce speaking stress, increase students’ interest, motivate them to language learning, and develop language learning strategies. It is nonetheless important to take the risks of modern technology into consideration, such as behaviour change or addiction, especially with young users. Overall, integrating entertainment games into educational contexts can result in effective student learning gains.
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Aldabbus, Shaban. "An investigation into the impact of language games on classroom interaction and pupil learning in Libyan EFL primary classrooms." Thesis, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10443/1031.
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The present investigation is guided by the assumption that using a language games-based approach is likely to provide more learning opportunities for pupils through creating an enjoyable learning environment which will enhance pupil-pupil and teacher-pupil interaction. This study involves the use of language games in teaching English to young Libyan learners in two state schools in Libya's capital, Tripoli. One hundred 11 year old pupils and two teachers took part in this study. Pupils were divided into four classes, two traditional classes and two language games classes. Activities based on language games replaced some activities presently in the course book. The main purpose of the study is to explore the nature of classroom interaction in Libyan EFL primary classrooms and how this is affected by the use of language games. The study also aims to discover the teachers' perceptions concerning the use of language games and their impact on pupil learning in action. The study employed a multi-method research design based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Data was gathered by means of live classroom observation using computerised observation software as well as videorecording, stimulated recall and semi-structured interviews with teachers, and the analysis of pupil-pupil talk during a spot-the differences game. The coding scheme used as a general framework in this study was adapted from the work of Sinclair and Coulthard (1975). Transcripts of the observations were coded and analysed at the level of acts. The nature of classroom interaction in the traditional classes and language games-based classes was compared. The overall findings revealed that, although teachers still dominated the talk and controlled classroom discourse, some significant differences were found in the nature of classroom interaction between traditional and language gamesbased classes. It also emerged that pupils who used language games were more successful than their counterparts in traditional classes in producing more and longer utterances containing English. It was also found that the teachers participating in this study developed positive perceptions concerning the use of language games.
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Fotouhi-Ghazvini, Faranak. "Mobile Learning using Mixed Reality Games and a Conversational, Instructional and Motivational Paradigm. Design and implementation of technical language learning mobile games for the developing world with special attention to mixed reality games for the realization of a conversational, instructional and motivational paradigm." Thesis, University of Bradford, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5400.
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Mobile learning has significant potential to be very influential in further and higher education. In this research a new definition for Mobile Educational Mixed Reality Games (MEMRG) is proposed based on a mobile learning environment. A questionnaire and a quantifying scale are utilised to assist the game developers in designing a MEMRG. A 'Conversational Framework' is proposed as an appropriate psycho-pedagogical approach to teaching and learning for MEMRG. This methodology is based on the theme of a 'conversation' between different actors of the learning community with the objective of building the architectural framework for MEMRG. Various elements responsible for instructing and motivating learners in educational games are utilised in an instructional-motivational model. User interface design for the games incorporates an efficient navigation system that uses contextual information, and allows the players to move seamlessly between real and virtual worlds. The implementation of MEMRG using the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) platform iii is presented. The hardware and software specification for the MEMRG implementation and deployment are also discussed. MEMRG has produced improvements in the different cognitive processes of the learner, and also produced a deeper level of learning through enculturation, externalising ideas, and socialising. Learners' enjoyment, involvement, motivation, autonomy and metacognition skills have improved. This research will assist developers and teachers to gain an insight into learning paradigms which utilise mobile game environments that are formed by mixing real and virtual spaces, and provide them with a vision for effectively incorporating these games into formal and informal classroom sessions.
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Al-Amide, Mustafa. "Digital Games and the Development of Communicative Competence." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-30840.
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The purpose of this paper was to review research within the field of digital games and language learning to explore whether gaming can facilitate communicative competence and foster motivation for language learning. To answer my questions I conducted a research synthesis, compiling a variety of research over the last decade to answer my questions as effectively as possible. Results showed that digital games do in fact facilitate language development and induce motivation. Research also showed that different games provide different opportunities and activities, resulting in some games fostering language competence more than others. For instance, World of Warcraft provided social situations where conversations were erratic, spontaneous, contextual and driven by small events in the game, while The Sims focused more on strategic and creative activities. Additionally, research suggested that digital games motivated learners to develop their L2 language in hope of achieving more goals together within a variety games and game types.
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Cheng, Lap C. L. "Secondary students' incidental English language learning through a computer game." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.685433.
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Learning English is not easy and it may be very frustrating to many second language learners. The dissertation investigates incidental English language learning among Hong Kong senior secondary ESL students while playing a commercial-off-the-shelve (COTS) English simulation computer game, namely, Football Manager 2013 (FM 2013). The subjects in this study were forty students studying at a secondary school. Students were examined on what and how new knowledge of English such as vocabulary, phrases and expressions, and technical terms they could gain while playing Football Manager 2013. Four research questions were addressed. A multi-method approach was adopted to collect extensive data. A pre-game test, a post-game test and a questionnaire survey were used as the main methods for quantitative data collection. Observation during the gaming sessions by the researcher and a focus group interview were adopted to collect qualitative data. Drawing upon the research, the important findings were threefold. Firstly, the students generally show a promising attitude towards learning English through the use of Football Manager 2013, either in their daily lives or in English lessons. Secondly, it demonstrates that the students increase their English items by 27.2% as a result of gameplay interaction with Football Manager 2013. Thirdly, the students employ a wide range of English learning strategies to discover and retain the meaning of new English items in the multimodal environment of Football Manager 2013. Simultaneously, the researcher posits that commercial-off-the-shelve English simulation computer games are important media today that might be able to provide context-rich, cognitively engaging virtual environments for incidental English language learning.
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Zhao, Jinjing. "An Ecological Analysis of Digital Game-Mediated Second Language Learning." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/596138.
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As digital games have grown into a global cultural force during the last few decades, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) researchers and second and foreign language (L2) educators have begun reconsidering games as potential L2 teaching and learning (L2TL) resources (Reinhardt, in press). One particular game genre, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have gained particular attention among CALL researchers and L2 educators. MMORPGs distinguished themselves from earlier game genres in their ability to allow players to cooperate and compete with each other on a large scale, even around the world. They are perceived to offer the opportunity for a great deal of contextualized interaction in a learner's target language, including interaction with native speakers (Peterson, 2010). Participating in MMORPG playing could promote social-interactional language use (e.g. Peterson, 2012a, 2012b; Rama et al., 2012; Zheng et al. 2012), sometimes even intercultural interactions (e.g. Thorne, 2008), and L2 learner's willingness to communicate (Reinders & Wattana, 2014). In addition to player-to-player communication, the texts embedded in MMORPGs and the texts circulated in the player communities online illustrate multiple genres, complex structures, and features of interactive discourse (Thorne, Fischer & Lu, 2012). MMORPGs seem to present a diverse and linguistically complex environment for L2 learners. However, empirical research on how L2 learners engage with a variety of game discourses in MMORPG playing is still limited. In an attempt to better understand how MMORPG playing can be used to enhance L2TL, this dissertation examines L2 learners' engagement with game discourses within and around a MMORPG. Grounded within an ecological framework of language learning (van Lier, 2004), this dissertation investigates the interaction of game-learner-context through a mixed method approach, including quantitative (e.g. survey) and qualitative (e.g. case study) methods. Through analysis of the languaging patterns of eight ESL learners who played a MMORPG for eight weeks, the study seeks to understand how game mechanics, learner agency, and practices of the player community influence L2 learner-players' engagement with a variety of game discourses. Findings show that these L2 learner-players, with diverse backgrounds in language learning and digital gaming, engaged with a variety of game discourses as they played the MMORPG. Their engagement with game discourses was greatly influenced by the game mechanics and their personal goals in the game. Comparison of the languaging patterns of two learner-players further reveals the individual variations of game-mediated L2 languaging, which can be attributed to learner-player's L2 ability, gaming experience, gaming preference, L2 learner status, and the social norms of the player community. Taken as a whole, the study points to the significance of game-learner-context interplay in shaping game-mediated L2 language learning and use. It has implications for using MMORPGs in L2LT, designing MMORPGs for language learning, and the nascent field of game-mediated L2LT research.
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Kanwal, Jasmeen Kaur. "Word length and the principle of least effort : language as an evolving, efficient code for information transfer." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/33051.
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In 1935 the linguist George Kingsley Zipf made a now classic observation about the relationship between a word's length and its frequency: the more frequent a word is, the shorter it tends to be. He claimed that this 'Law of Abbreviation' is a universal structural property of language. The Law of Abbreviation has since been documented in a wide range of human languages, and extended to animal communication systems and even computer programming languages. Zipf hypothesised that this universal design feature arises as a result of individuals optimising form-meaning mappings under competing pressures to communicate accurately but also efficiently - his famous Principle of Least Effort. In this thesis, I present a novel set of studies which provide direct experimental evidence for this explanatory hypothesis. Using a miniature artificial language learning paradigm, I show in Chapter 2 that language users optimise form-meaning mappings in line with the Law of Abbreviation only when pressures for accuracy and efficiency both operate during a communicative task. These results are robust across different methods of data collection: one version of the experiment was run in the lab, and another was run online, using a novel method I developed which allows participants to partake in dyadic interaction through a web-based interface. In Chapter 3, I address the growing body of work suggesting that a word's predictability in context may be an even stronger determiner of its length than its frequency alone. For instance, Piantadosi et al. (2011) show that shorter words have a lower average surprisal (i.e., tend to appear in more predictive contexts) than longer words, in synchronic corpora across many languages. We hypothesise that the same communicative pressures posited by the Principle of Least Effort, when acting on speakers in situations where context manipulates the information content of words, can give rise to these lexical distributions. Adapting the methodology developed in Chapter 2, I show that participants use shorter words in more predictive contexts only when subject to the competing pressures for accurate and efficient communication. In a second experiment, I show that participants are more likely to use shorter words for meanings with a lower average surprisal. These results suggest that communicative pressures acting on individuals during language use can lead to the re-mapping of a lexicon to align with 'Uniform Information Density', the principle that information content ought to be evenly spread across an utterance, such that shorter linguistic units carry less information than longer ones. Over generations, linguistic behaviour such as that observed in the experiments reported here may bring entire lexicons into alignment with the Law of Abbreviation and Uniform Information Density. For this to happen, a diachronic process which leads to permanent lexical change is necessary. However, crucial evidence for this process - decreasing word length as a result of increasing frequency over time - has never before been systematically documented in natural language. In Chapter 4, I conduct the first large-scale diachronic corpus study investigating the relationship between word length and frequency over time, using the Google Books Ngrams corpus and three different word lists covering both English and French. Focusing on words which have both long and short variants (e.g., info/information), I show that the frequency of a word lemma may influence the rate at which the shorter variant gains in popularity. This suggests that the lexicon as a whole may indeed be gradually evolving towards greater efficiency. Taken together, the behavioural and corpus-based evidence presented in this thesis supports the hypothesis that communicative pressures acting on language-users are at least partially responsible for the frequency-length and surprisal-length relationships found universally across lexicons. More generally, the approach taken in this thesis promotes a view of language as, among other things, an evolving, efficient code for information transfer.
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Maguluri, Naga Sai Nikhil. "Multi-Class Classification of Textual Data: Detection and Mitigation of Cheating in Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1494248022049882.
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Jumisko, V. (Ville). "“Ummm, in my opinion English lessons have usually been pretty boring”:language learning through video games: a qualitative study on the experiences and opinions of two gamers." Bachelor's thesis, University of Oulu, 2019. http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfioulu-201905181855.
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Abstract. The aim of this thesis is to map out the effects video games have had on the English learning of two university students, who identify themselves as gamers. My aim was to identify which mechanics in video games have facilitated their language learning and consider whether these benefits could somehow be implemented into the school environment. First, I will establish a theoretical background that showcases the benefits that videogames can have on learning English as a foreign language from the perspective of sociocultural/ecological theory. In addition, the current thesis will touch upon the development of school teaching of English, and how it should be developed through the new core curriculum into a direction where the student has a more active role. The topic will also be considered from the perspective of classical pedagogical theories, and how the new constructivist approach of the core curriculum could be executed through video game based English teaching.
For my thesis, I interviewed two young adults, who both play video games as a hobby. The goal of these semi-structured qualitative interviews was to highlight their experiences regarding traditional English teaching, learning English through informal contexts as well as their opinions on whether games could be implemented into school teaching.
One of the key findings of this thesis was the general dissatisfaction that the participants had towards traditional school teaching of English. The effect that video games had had on the learning of the participants could most clearly be seen with their confidence as speakers. The results of the study also showed that the gamers felt that video games had helped the development of their proficiency indirectly through multifaceted interaction with the language. The most important aspects that the participants found appealing in games were competitiveness and the feeling of immersion. Games were generally seen as social activities and as a hobby among others. The participants had a positive outlook on gaming and both participants believed, to some extent, that implementing them into the school environment was possible and useful.Tiivistelmä. Kandidaatintutkielman tarkoituksena on kartoittaa, miten videopelit ovat vaikuttaneet kahden videopelejä pelaavan yliopisto-opiskelijan englannin kielen oppimiseen, ja tunnistaa, mitkä mekanismit peleissä ovat edesauttaneet heidän kielitaitonsa kehittymistä. Tutkielmassa pohditaan, voitaisiinko näitä hyötyjä sovittaa jollain tavalla myös koulumaailmaan, mutta myös miten osallistujat mieltävät videopelit kielenopetuksessa. Tutkielmassa luodaan ensin katsaus teoriataustaan, joka tarkastelee videopelien hyötyjä kielen oppimisessa sosiokulttuurillisen/ekologisen perspektiivin valossa. Lisäksi tutkielma sivuaa englannin kouluopetuksen kehitystä ja sitä, miten opetusta tulisi uuden opetussuunnitelman myötä kehittää suuntaan, jossa oppijalla on keskeisempi ja aktiivisempi rooli. Aihetta tarkastellaan myös erilaisten pedagogisten teorioiden kautta pohtimalla, miten konstruktivistinen näkemys voitaisiin tuoda esille videopeleihin pohjautuvassa englannin kielen opetuksessa.
Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin kahta nuorta aikuista, joista molemmat harrastivat videopelien pelaamista vapaa-aikanaan ja kokivat olevansa taitavia englanninkielen puhujia. Puolistrukturoidun kvalitatiivisen haastattelun ajatuksena oli tuoda esille heidän kokemuksiaan perinteiseen kouluopetukseen sekä englannin kielen informaaliin oppimiseen liittyen. Tämän lisäksi tutkielmassa käsitellään myös heidän näkemyksiään siitä, voisiko videopelit tuoda kouluopetukseen ja millä tavalla tämä tulisi toteuttaa.
Tutkimuksen keskeisiä havaintoja ovat ensinnäkin molempien haastateltujen suhteellinen tyytymättömyys perinteiseen kouluopetukseen, jota he ovat omassa opiskelussaan kokeneet. Videopelien vaikutuksen huomasi muun muassa siinä kuinka itsevarmoja haastateltavat olivat kielitaidostaan, mikä voi selittyä sillä, että he ovat monipuolisemmin ja useammin yhteydessä englannin kieleen. Tutkielman tulokset osoittavat, että pelaajat kokivat videopelien auttaneen heidän kielitaitonsa kehittymistä epäsuorasti ja että pelien kautta kieleen ollaan yhteydessä monella tavalla. Joitakin tärkeitä ominaisuuksia, jotka sitovat pelaajia peleihin, ovat muun muassa kilpailullisuus ja immersio. Haastateltavat näkivätkin pelaamisen yleisesti ottaen sosiaalisena aktiviteettina ja harrastuksena muiden joukossa. Haastateltavat suhtautuivat pelaamiseen positiivisesti, ja molemmat uskoivat niiden implementoinnin koulumaailmaan olevan mahdollista, sekä hyödyllistä ainakin jossain määrin.
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Guedes, Luisa Klug. "o uso de games como input para a aprendizagem de línguas." Universidade Catolica de Pelotas, 2014. http://tede.ucpel.edu.br:8080/jspui/handle/tede/343.
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Previous issue date: 2014-02-14<br>Today people spend several hours in front of a television or a computer, for work or just for entertainment. One of the most popular forms of entertainment is the video game. Game themes are varied and gamers need different abilities to be successful from basic skills to more complex abilities. A considerable part of these games are in English and the players need to be familiar with the vocabulary and the language used in the game to go forward. Apparently, the gamers do not see the language as a barrier that will stop them from playing and many players claim that they have learned the English language with the games they play. However, how did this learning process occur? Are they going to be able to use the language in other contexts? Or will it only be useful to achieve the games objectives? From these questions, this research aims at investigating if a group of people from different ages that claim they learned English playing video games and that have never studied English outside regular school are able to use the language in contexts other than the games. The research will be based on the Connectivist Theory of Learning by Siemens and Downes among other authors. It is a qualitative study, conducted with subjects who agreed to participate voluntarily in an interview in English and in Portuguese. From the data collected, it was possible to identify that the subjects were able to communicate in an extragame context, in variable proficiency levels that can be influenced by the players interest on the language, world of games and the connections that are established and maintained, concerning between the areas involved<br>Atualmente, muitas pessoas passam grande parte de seu tempo em frente à televisão ou ao computador, seja para fins de trabalho ou lazer. Uma das formas de entretenimento mais populares entre pessoas de diversas faixas etárias são os jogos eletrônicos, ou vídeo games. Esses têm temas variados e o jogador precisa de habilidades diferentes para ter sucesso no jogo, desde as mais básicas até as mais complexas. Um número considerável de jogos está em língua inglesa e os jogadores precisam entender o que diz o jogo para seguir em frente. Aparentemente, os jogadores não veem a língua como uma barreira que os impedem de jogar e muitos deles dizem que aprenderam a língua inglesa somente por meio desses jogos. Entretanto, como se deu esta aprendizagem? Estes jogadores poderão usar a língua em contextos diferentes dos jogos? Ou a língua aprendida será útil somente para atingir os objetivos dos jogos? A partir destas perguntas, este trabalho tem o objetivo de investigar se um grupo de pessoas de diferentes idades que diz ter aprendido inglês por meio de jogos eletrônicos e que não tenha estudado a língua em cursos livres, fora da escola regular, é capaz de usar a língua em um contexto diferente dos jogos. Para basear esta pesquisa, os conceitos da Teoria do Conectivismo de Siemens e Downes, entre outros, foram utilizados. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa e para que os objetivos sejam atingidos, foram feitas entrevistas com os sujeitos voluntários em português e inglês. Dos dados coletados, foi possível concluir que os sujeitos foram capazes de se comunicar em contexto extrajogo, em diferentes níveis de proficiência. Esses resultados foram influenciados pelo interesse do jogador na língua, no mundo dos games e pelas conexões que estabelecem e mantém entre as áreas envolvidas
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Fredriksson, Anncharlotte, and Ramirez Vanessa Mårtensson. "Teacher attitudes and practices regarding the use of digital educational games for student motivation in the English language classroom." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-43416.
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The purpose of incorporating digital educational games in educational settings is to engage the students' desire to learn. The aim of the syllabus for upper secondary school, as expressed by Skolverket (2011) is to support the students for lifelong learning and in order to do so, motivation is needed. However, a problematic gap can be found between “games” and “formal education” which are two different concepts which cross paths in this study. One path shows the foundation of the Swedish steering documents, and the other displays the motivational aspects of implementing digital educational games in educational settings. This qualitative research uses questionnaire surveys with structured questions and semi-structured follow-up interviews via email in order to examine to what degree digital educational games can be implemented in the English 6 classroom. It investigates the effectiveness of digital educational games in regard to English teaching and teachers’ attitudes and beliefs. The results display different approaches teachers could take when incorporating digital educational games in their classroom but also show significant factors such as teachers' experiences in the digital classroom. The research concludes that digital educational games can be used to encourage student motivation and in the teaching practices of upper secondary school teachers in Malmö. This is therefore an important area that should be further researched to ensure that teachers receive sufficient guidance and experience for using digital educational games in the English classroom.
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Rauschenberger, Maria. "Early screening of dyslexia using a language-independent content game and machine learning." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/667692.
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Els nens amb dislèxia tenen dificultats per aprendre a llegir i escriure. Sovint se'ls diagnostica després de fallar a l'escola, encara que la dislèxia no estigui relacionada amb la intel·ligència general. En aquesta tesi, presentem un enfocament per a la selecció prèvia de la dislèxia mitjançant un joc independent del llenguatge en combinació amb models d’aprenentatge automàtic formats amb les dades d’interacció. Abans volem dir abans que els nens aprenguin a llegir i escriure.
Per assolir aquest objectiu, vam dissenyar el contingut del joc amb el coneixement de l'anàlisi de paraules d'error de persones amb dislèxia en diferents idiomes i els paràmetres relacionats amb la dislèxia com la percepció auditiva i la percepció visual. Amb els nostres dos jocs dissenyats (MusVis i DGames) vam recollir conjunts de dades (313 i 137 participants) en diferents idiomes (principalment espanyols i alemanys) i els vam avaluar amb classificadors d'aprenentatge automàtic.
Per a MusVis utilitzem principalment contingut que fa referència a un únic indicador acústic o visual, mentre que el contingut de DGames fa referència a diversos indicadors (també contingut genèric).
El nostre mètode proporciona una precisió de 0,74 per a l'alemany i 0,69 per a espanyol i una puntuació de F1 de 0,75 per a alemany i de 0,75 per a espanyol a MusVis quan s'utilitzen arbres extraestats. DGames es va avaluar principalment amb alemany i obté la màxima precisió de 0,67 i la màxima puntuació de F1 de 0,74. Els nostres resultats obren la possibilitat de la dislèxia de detecció precoç a baixos costos ia través del web.<br>Children with dyslexia have difficulties in learning how to read and write. They are often diagnosed after they fail in school, even though dyslexia is not related to general intelligence. In this thesis, we present an approach for earlier screening of dyslexia using a language-independent game in combination with machine learning models trained with the interaction data. By earlier we mean before children learn how to read and write.
To reach this goal, we designed the game content with knowledge of the analysis of word errors from people with dyslexia in different languages and the parameters reported to be related to dyslexia, such as auditory and visual perception. With our two designed games (MusVis and DGames) we collected data sets (313 and 137 participants) in different languages (mainly Spanish and German) and evaluated them with machine learning classifiers. For MusVis we mainly use content that refers to one single acoustic or visual indicator, while DGames content refers to generic content related to various indicators. Our method provides an accuracy of 0.74 for German and 0.69 for Spanish and F1-scores of 0.75 for German and 0.75 for Spanish in MusVis when Random Forest and Extra Trees are used in . DGames was mainly evaluated with German and reached a peak accuracy of 0.67 and a peak F1-score of 0.74. Our results open the possibility of low-cost and early screening of dyslexia through the Web.<br>Los niños con dislexia tienen dificultades para aprender a leer y escribir. A menudo se les diagnostica después de fracasar en la escuela, incluso aunque la dislexia no está relacionada con la inteligencia general. En esta tesis, presentamos un enfoque para la detección temprana de la dislexia utilizando un juego independiente del idioma en combinación con modelos de aprendizaje automático entrenados con los datos de la interacción. Temprana aquí significa antes que los niños aprenden a leer y escribir.
Para alcanzar este objetivo, diseñamos el contenido del juego con el conocimiento del análisis de las palabras de error de las personas con dislexia en diferentes idiomas y los parámetros reportados relacionados con la dislexia, tales como la percepción auditiva y la percepción visual. Con nuestros dos juegos diseñados (MusVis y DGames) recogimos conjuntos de datos (313 y 137 participantes) en diferentes idiomas (principalmente español y alemán) y los evaluamos con clasificadores de aprendizaje automático.
Para MusVis utilizamos principalmente contenido que se refiere a un único indicador acústico o visual, mientras que el contenido de DGames se refiere a varios indicadores (también contenido genérico).
Nuestro método proporciona una exactitud de 0,74 para alemán y 0,69 para español y una puntuación F1 de 0,75 para alemán y 0,75 para español en MusVis cuando se utilizan Random Forest y Extra Trees. DGames fue evaluado principalmente con alemán y obtiene una exactitud de 0,67 y una puntuación F1 de 0,74. Nuestros resultados abren la posibilidad de una detección precoz y de bajo coste de la dislexia a través de la Web
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Hadin, Joacim. "Learning by Gaming : Investigating the Influence of Playing Video Games on Vocabulary Level among Swedish ESL Learners." Thesis, Högskolan i Gävle, Engelska, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-29142.
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The video game industry is one of the fastest growing markets in the world today. The fact that playing video games has become such a popular recreational activity among youths and adolescents has created a need for research investigating the effects of video game playing. Because of the role of the English language as a global lingua franca, most video games are released in English. Since most video games are released in English, many believe that the utilization of video games can help learners of English to improve their knowledge of how to utilize the English language. The aim of this study is to investigate whether video game playing does positively influence the English receptive vocabulary level of ESL learners. In addition, the present study also investigated the influence of other factors, such as the utilization of online communication tools, the average time spent playing video games, and the type of video games played, on English receptive vocabulary level. The study was conducted using quantitative research methods. Since the aim of the study was to investigate the relation between two separate aspects, the study had to utilize two separate elicitation methods for the data collection: one questionnaire (that was supposed to determine each informant’s video game habits) and one vocabulary test (that was supposed to get an approximation of each informant’s receptive vocabulary level). When the data had been collected, the tests were corrected, and the participants were categorized according to the previously mentioned variables. The mean scores of the categories were later examined and compared to each other. Differences between groups that were of high importance were further examined, with a t-test, to determine whether the difference was statistically significant or not. The results of the study show that the vocabulary level difference between ESL learners that do play video games and ESL learner that do not play video game is insignificant. The results further show that the utilization of online communication tools while playing video games positively influences vocabulary level, as the mean score difference on the vocabulary test between OCT users and OCT non-users was revealed to be significant by the t-test. The analysed data thus show that the influence of the utilization of online communication tools on English receptive vocabulary level are more significant that the influence of playing video games.
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Johannesson, Emelie. "Video games – A tool for expanding English vocabulary knowledge? : A study of video games potential impact on English vocabulary knowledge in Swedish upper secondary students." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och interkultur (from 2013), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-78802.
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This study researches the possibility of video games being a helpful tool when it comes to English vocabulary knowledge, by comparing the English vocabulary knowledge of those that play video games to those that do not play video games. The study also focuses on comparing the English vocabulary knowledge of those that play video games frequently to those that play video games seldomly and discuss why this might make a difference. 37 students were asked to fill in a questionnaire with questions focusing on if they play video games or not, how often they play and what sort of games they played. The second part of the study was a vocabulary test containing 51 words one might encounter whilst playing video games, in this vocabulary test the students were asked to give an English synonym and a Swedish translation of these words. The results of the study revealed that there were differences between the groups, as those that did play video games scored higher on the vocabulary test compared to those that did not play video games. There was also a difference in terms of performance on the vocabulary test depending on how often the students played video games.<br>Denna studie undersöker videospels möjlighet till att vara ett hjälpmedel när det gäller kunskaper i engelskt ordförråd genom att jämföra ordförrådskunskaperna hos de som spelar videospel med de som inte spelar videospel. Studien fokuserar också på att jämföra de engelska ordförrådskunskaperna hos dem som ofta spelar videospel med de som sällan spelar videospel och diskuterar varför detta kan göra en skillnad. 37 elever ombads att fylla i ett frågeformulär med frågor med fokus på om de spelar videospel eller inte, hur ofta de spelar och vilken typ av spel de spelade. Den andra delen av studien var ett ordförrådstest innehållande 51 ord som kan stötas på i videospel, i detta ordförrådstest ombads eleverna att ge en engelsk synonym och en svensk översättning av dessa ord. Resultaten av studien visade att det fanns skillnader mellan grupperna, eftersom de som spelade videospel fick högre poäng på ordförrådstestet jämfört med de som inte spelade videospel. Det fanns också skillnader prestationsmässigt i ordförrådstestet beroende på hur ofta eleverna spelade videospel.
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Cheng, Chi Lap Lap. "A study of the use of computer games to support teenage students in self-learning of English as a second language in Hong Kong." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2009. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/1091.
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Amarius, Sebastian, and Oliver Fredriksson. "Digital games and collocations : A study of the relationship between L2 learners' gaming habits and knowledge of collocations." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för lärande, humaniora och samhälle, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-44779.
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Digital games are often considered a pastime activity with little to no real or tangible benefits. This, however, is contrary to studies on the usefulness of digital games in second language (L2) learning. There are several aspects of L2 learning that are affected positively by gaming, as well as other extramural English (EE) activities. One of these aspects is vocabulary, which has been proven to be substantially improved by gaming through incidental learning. Collocations are often referred to as word pairs that co-occur more frequently than any other two words. The definition of a collocation is a contested subject, making research and theories around collocations widespread and varied depending on what definition a given author subscribes to. In the present study Howarth’s (1996) definition of collocations has been used. The hard-to-define nature of collocations extends into the act of teaching - collocations are rarely taught because they follow no set rule or pattern. This means that L2 learners must acquire their collocation knowledge incidentally, either in the classroom or through EE activities. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between EE activities, primarily gaming, and the collocation knowledge of 87 Swedish teenagers in upper compulsory school and upper secondary school. This was done through a Productive Collocation Test (PCK) as well as a questionnaire. The results of the study show that students who engage in EE activities are more knowledgeable in terms of collocations than those who do not. Additionally, out of the EE activities included in the questionnaire gaming seems to be the best way to acquire collocation knowledge. The present study concludes that there is a connection between EE activities, especially gaming, and collocation knowledge. Informants that claimed to spend more time per week playing digital games generally scored higher on the collocation test. This was also true for the students who claimed to spend a considerable amount of time on visual media per week. These informants also had knowledge of collocations that very few of the respondents knew, particularly the students who partake in gaming. The findings of the present study suggest that digital games could be used as a tool for teaching collocations. However, more research is required to carry this idea further.
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Dwyer, Edward J. "Reinforcing Learning with the Moon Game." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 1987. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/3361.
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Almehrez, Nagham. "Le rôle du jeu dans l'enseignement du langage à l'école maternelle en Syrie." Thesis, Aix-Marseille, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018AIXM0563.
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Le stade de l’école maternelle se considère comme un environnement fertile pour développer les compétences linguistiques de l’enfant. Il peut être également décrit comme l’âge d’or de la langue dans la vie humaine, où l’acquisition des compétences linguistiques, et les favoriser à cet âge joue un rôle primordial dans la formation de la langue propre de l’enfant dans les étapes suivantes. Par conséquent, l’apprentissage du langage à l’école maternelle doit être une priorité, il est nécessaire de faire attention à la manière de renforcer les compétences linguistiques et de choisir les méthodes efficaces et appropriées à cet âge. Par contre, nombre d'éducateurs ont souligné le lien étroit entre le jeu et l'apprentissage, insistant également sur l’importance du jeu dans la vie de l’enfant. Celui-ci a besoin de jouer : jouer pour grandir, jouer pour communiquer, jouer pour découvrir le monde, jouer pour développer son langage, jouer pour apprendre. Dans cette recherche, nous nous sommes intéressées à la question du rôle du jeu dans l’apprentissage du langage à l’école maternelle.Nous trouvons la méthode expérimentale convenable pour tester l’hypothèse de cette recherche, où l’objectif de notre travail est d’appréhender les effets du jeu sur la promotion des compétences linguistiques chez les enfants. Pour cela, nous avons impliqué un programme de jeux de langue sur un groupe d’enfants, et en comparaison leurs résultats avec les résultats d’autre groupe (témoin), nous avons trouvé les résultats suivants : Le recours aux jeux de langue a une incidence positive sur les résultats des enfants, en plus les enfants des deux sexes ont montré le même degré d’amélioration<br>Preschool age that is considered a rich and abundant environment of important factors for language milestones development at the child, insomuch that we can call that stage the golden phase of language in child's life. While formation and enhancement of the language skills at this stage will play a major role in developing child's language in the later stages.Also, many pedagogists (scholars) and researchers confirm the importance of relationship between child play and learning whereby playing is essential in childhood and its substantial demand, they play for growing, communicating, learning, and developing their lingual abilities too. This study concerns in the issue of the role of playing in the learning language at preschool age – second level – or we can call it «Learning via language games ». We find the experimental method suitable for testing the hypothesis of this research, where the objective of our work is to understand the effects of play on the promotion of language skills in children. For this, we have involved a language games program on a group of children, and in comparison their results with the results of other groups (control), we found the following results: The use of language games has a positive impact on children's outcomes, in addition children of both sexes showed the same degree of improvement
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Ljungberg, Calle. "Would you like to play? : A quantitative study about attitudes towards game-based learning in the Swedish school system." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-75334.
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The aim of this quantitative study is to investigate the relationship between motivation and game-based learning among Swedish students attending junior high school and high school. To investigate this, the motivational theory Self-Determination Theory was used to create a questionnaire containing questions about experiences of games in and out of school. Furthermore, this essay discusses the possibilities of bringing the concept of game-based learning into an educational environment of L2 English learning. In addition, support has been found that strengthens the claim of an existing willingness to include games as part of the education in the Swedish school system.
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Leo, Fia. "The Role of Play : A literature study on playful learning in the early elementary EFL classroom." Thesis, Högskolan Dalarna, Pedagogiskt arbete, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-25098.
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Young students learn through active and playful encounters with their environment. The Curriculum for Compulsory School (Lgr11) states the importance of play in students’ active learning. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the role that has been ascribed to play in research on early English language learning. The main questions address how play can be used to promote language learning in the early primary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom and other methods teachers may use that benefit students’ language development. The method used for this thesis is a systematic literature review with a qualitative approach. Six studies were included in the analysis. The analysis shows that playful methods of teaching can help the teacher to develop students’ English skills. Research has shown that playful encounters during language learning help students feel more motivated and dedicated to learning a foreign language. The results indicate the importance of the teacher having knowledge regarding what is being taught, how it is supposed to be learned, and why it is meaningful for the students in their own personal language development. Based on the thesis results further research is needed to understand the teachers’ methods of teaching English as a Foreign Language in the early primary classroom.<br><p>Engelska</p>
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Doran, Jacob S. "Using Video Game Playing to Increase Student Motivation To Read." Ohio Dominican University Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oduhonors1272911814.
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Pescador, Cristina Maria. "Ações de aprendizagem empregadas pelo nativo digital para interagir em redes hipermidiáticas tendo o inglês como língua franca." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UCS, 2010. https://repositorio.ucs.br/handle/11338/498.
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Esta investigação teve como objetivo principal identificar as ações de aprendizagem utilizadas por jovens nativos digitais em sua interação com redes hipermidiáticas, em especial jogos computacionais disponíveis na Internet, mais conhecidos como games, que têm o inglês como língua de comunicação comum a todos seus usuários, com características próprias do que Crystal (1997) e Graddol (2006) descrevem como uma língua franca. O trabalho se propôs a realizar um estudo exploratório descritivo, com base em pesquisa de natureza qualitativa cujos dados foram obtidos em 03 (três) sessões individuais de observação nãoparticipativa, seguidas de entrevistas semi-estruturadas de autoconfrontação com cada um dos sujeitos. Foram selecionados para a investigação, 03 (três) sujeitos de 21 anos de idade, alunos do 3º semestre de diferentes cursos universitários, cujo nível de proficiência em língua inglesa, à época da coleta, correspondia ao nível intermediário ou B1 do Quadro Comum Europeu de Referência (QCER). As sessões de observação consistiram em sessões individuais de videogravação da interação do sujeito enquanto jogava um game online. Segmentos videogravados dessa sessão foram exibidos aos sujeitos durante a entrevista em que a pesquisadora perguntava a respeito das ações e opções do sujeito durante sua interação com o jogo. A análise do corpus foi feita à luz de um quadro teórico que incluiu conceitos de hipermídia, hipertexto e jogos eletrônicos abordados a partir das idéias de Lévy (2000a, 2000b, 2003 e 2006), Santaella (2004 e 2009) e Johnson (1997, 2005), bem como algumas características do perfil da geração das tecnologias de interação, descritos como nativos digitais por Marc Prensky (2001a, 2001b e 2006). As ações dos sujeitos em sua interação foram analisadas sob o ponto de vista da aprendizagem a partir da teoria Vygotskiana, associando ainda à interpretação os conceitos de língua franca. Os procedimentos de videogravação e autoconfrontação permitiram que a pesquisadora pudesse vislumbrar como esses jovens utilizam ações como cooperação e exploração com o fim de aprender e construir conhecimento. Foi possível, por exemplo, perceber como o nativo digital aprende enquanto explora, ação descrita como learning on the fly ; isto é, eles aprendem enquanto estão usando um recurso digital. Em seus relatos, também foi possível identificar o uso que fazem de recursos como fóruns, listas de discussão, ferramentas de mensagens instantâneas, como meios para interagir de forma colaborativa e cooperativa em busca de soluções para problemas comuns e para aperfeiçoamento de seu desempenho nos games. A análise que se faz, à luz do quadro teórico, é que essas relações que os nativos digitais estabelecem em suas redes sociais podem contribuir para suas formas de aprender. A posição da pesquisadora é que, pais e educadores, precisam começar a enxergar além da tela dos computadores dos nossos jovens e compreender a influência dessa forma de interagir em sua aprendizagem para poder repensar e modificar algumas práticas pedagógicas.<br>Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-30T19:30:43Z
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Dissertacao Cristina Maria Pescador.pdf: 2204255 bytes, checksum: 477d88d7828029b94fd32acfd6479748 (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-30T19:30:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1
Dissertacao Cristina Maria Pescador.pdf: 2204255 bytes, checksum: 477d88d7828029b94fd32acfd6479748 (MD5)<br>The main purpose of this research was to identify learning actions employed by digital native youngsters on their interaction with hypermediatic environments, especially computer games available on the Internet, which have English as the language used for communication amongst all users featuring what Crystal (1997) and Graddol (2006) have described as a lingua franca. The study carried out a qualitative research which was based on data collected during 3 sessions of non-participant observation, followed by semi-structured interviews of self-confrontation. Subjects selected for the research were 3 (three) 21-year-old college students, on the third semester of their major programs, and whose proficiency level in English, at the time, corresponded to the intermediate level or to the B1 descriptor of the Common European Framework of Reference. Observation sessions were individual recorded sessions of the subject´s interaction while playing a game online. Later, segments of that session were shown to each subject during the interview and the researcher would then ask the subject questions about his/her actions and choices during the game. The corpus was analyzed at the light of a theoretical framework that included concepts regarding hypermedia, hypertext and electronic games, based on Lévy (2000a, 2000b, 2003, and 2006), Santaella (2004 and 2009) and Johnson (1997, 2005), as well as some characteristics that describe the profile of the generation of the interaction technologies, the digital natives as Marc Prensky (2001a, 2001b e 2006) calls them. The subjects´ actions and their interactions were analyzed from the Vygotskian point of view, and concepts related to a lingua franca were associated to the interpretation. The procedures adopted video recording and self-confrontation enabled the researcher to catch a glimpse of how these youngsters use actions such as cooperation and exploration with the purpose of learning and building knowledge. It was possible, for instance, to observe how digital natives can learn while they explore, which is described as learning on the fly; i.e. they learn how to use digital resources while using them. In their interviews, it was also possible to identify how they use resources such as forums, discussions lists, instant message tools, as means to interact collaboratively and cooperatively, aiming at solutions for problems they might have in common and at the improvement of their performance in the games. Analyzing that at the light of theory it is thought that the relationships that digitals natives establish in their social networks may contribute towards how they learn. It is the researcher´s opinion that parents and educators need to start looking beyond the computer screen of these kids and understand the influence this way of interacting may have on their learning in order to be able to rethink and modify a few teaching practices.
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Ahmadibasir, Mohammad. "The application of language-game theory to the analysis of science learning: developing an interpretive classroom-level learning framework." Diss., University of Iowa, 2011. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/1195.
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In this study an interpretive learning framework that aims to measure learning on the classroom level is introduced. In order to develop and evaluate the value of the framework, a theoretical/empirical study is designed. The researcher attempted to illustrate how the proposed framework provides insights on the problem of classroom-level learning. The framework is developed by construction of connections between the current literature on science learning and Wittgenstein's language-game theory. In this framework learning is defined as change of classroom language-game or discourse. In the proposed framework, learning is measured by analysis of classroom discourse. The empirical explanation power of the framework is evaluated by applying the framework in the analysis of learning in a fifth-grade science classroom. The researcher attempted to analyze how students' colloquial discourse changed to a discourse that bears more resemblance to science discourse. The results of the empirical part of the investigation are presented in three parts: first, the gap between what students did and what they were supposed to do was reported. The gap showed that students during the classroom inquiry wanted to do simple comparisons by direct observation, while they were supposed to do tool-assisted observation and procedural manipulation for a complete comparison. Second, it was illustrated that the first attempt to connect the colloquial to science discourse was done by what was immediately intelligible for students and then the teacher negotiated with students in order to help them to connect the old to the new language-game more purposefully. The researcher suggested that these two events in the science classroom are critical in discourse change. Third, it was illustrated that through the academic year, the way that students did the act of comparison was improved and by the end of the year more accurate causal inferences were observable in classroom communication. At the end of the study, the researcher illustrates that the application of the proposed framework resulted in an improved version of the framework. The improved version of the proposed framework is more connected to the topic of science learning, and is able to measure the change of discourse in higher resolution.
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Stagevik, Markus, and Cecilia Benson. "The effectiveness of digital online games as an extramural activity for facilitating motivation and vocabulary acquisition in L2 English learning: student and teacher perspectives." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för lärande och samhälle (LS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-30606.
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In Sweden, 50% of all teenagers between the ages 12-18 spend at least three hours a day, spending their time on anything from digital games to YouTube and homework research. Given the popularity of such activities, it is worthwhile investigating to what degree any one of them might be used to help facilitate English second language learning. Research show that digital games use lead to an enhanced vocabulary comprehension, reading comprehension, speaking comprehension, lowered anxiety level and enhanced willingness to communicate for L2 English learners. In the current study we used a qualitative teacher interviews and a quantitative student questionnaires to determine to what extent Swedish elementary school teachers and students in the southern part of Sweden perceive extramural multiplayer online games as being effective for facilitating L2 learning motivation and vocabulary acquisition, as well as their strategies for implementing digital gaming. The major conclusions of this study from both a teacher and student perception is that the motivation is enhanced in students who are frequent gamers, also enhancing their motivation in the classroom to learn English. Additionally, teachers found a wider vocabulary and knowledge of synonyms in students who frequently play games.