GREAT POWER

in small games?

Benefits and challenges of using educational mini-games

for language practice

Frederik CORNILLIE Dag van Engels & Duits, KU Leuven Kulak, 13-03-2013

http://mcdn2.angrybirdsnest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Angry-Birds-Seasons-Easter-Sneak-Peak-4.jpg

So, you want to build a game called

Angry Verbs

no ready-to-use games (see handout for references)

no magic recipes

but

principled design tandem learning

http://andthejoyofdiscovery.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/learning-warning.jpg

1. introduction to LL mini-games

2. features and typology

3. some theory 4. some user research

MINI-GAMES FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING

A hands-on introduction …

preparation (1’) read guiding questions (handout)

pair work (5’)

play game twice & focus on questions a) and b)

group discussion (4’)

explain game to other pair (without showing game!) & find out differences

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/26/robot_hand_bekey_9.jpg

60 Second Word Challenge

Frog Verbs

Verb Mayhem

Article Wolf

MindSnacks ‘Swell’

Memrise (CUP Upper Intermediate English)

And a couple more for the road

My Word Coach

English Eruption

Canonball Express

Post Office

Wordia.com racing game

Hangman

FEATURES AND TYPOLOGY

Let’s break these games down …

language aims content / syllabus

context

(spaced) repetition

linguistic support & feedback

pace positive feedback & rewarding

fantasy

non-linguistic goals creative feedback story

instructional feature 1

instructional feature n

game feature 1

game feature n

game 1

game n

what features do we need ?

mini-games situated avatar-based immersive games

com

mer

cial

off-

the-

shel

f gam

es

educ

atio

nal

gam

es

MINI-GAMES IN THEORY

Wait a minute –

are we back to

drill

Makes sense !

We lack time in class, and

students aren’t knowing grammar anymore.

http://www.robertlanzabiocentrism.com/images/an-amazing-summer-with-b-f-fred-skinner.jpg

@skrashen

The only thing needed for successful second language acquisition – not learning – is comprehensible input.

Stephen Krashen, Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition (1982)

Comprehensible input alone is insufficient, incidental focus on grammar is necessary

to avoid stabilization and promote native-like ability.

Michael Long, Problems in SLA (2007)

Guys, seriously. Explicit instruction leads development,

interaction with the environment catalyzes it.

Lev Vygotsky, The Collected Works of L. S. Vygotsky (1987)

Transfer from the classroom to the ‘real’ world is aided by similar task conditions

as well as by abstract knowledge

http://cherrybombx.deviantart.com/art/View-from-a-Classroom-Window-31153710

The evidence is IN:

drills are OUT

Wong, W., & VanPatten, B. (2003). The Evidence is IN: Drills are OUT. Foreign Language Annals, 36(3), 403–423.

http://barrynabdahl.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/drill-kill.jpg

Hold on.

Are all drills alike ?

mechanical drills

meaningful drills

communicative drills

mechanical drills

meaningful drills

communicative drills

I dig, I dug, I have dug

I stig, I …

mechanical drills

meaningful drills

communicative drills

I dig, I dug, I have dug

I stig, I …

Yesterday, my dog … up a bunch of bones.

mechanical drills

meaningful drills

communicative drills

I dig, I dug, I have dug

I stig, I …

Yesterday, my dog … up a bunch of bones.

Tell me what your dog found in the garden yesterday, and use

the verb ‘to dig’.

…

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mechanical drills

meaningful drills

communicative drills

we need to focus on these

Meaningful mini-games may, with sufficient practice, help learners to develop knowledge that supports their performance (accuracy, and possibly fluency)

on authentic language tasks.

Frederik Cornillie & Piet Desmet, ‘Mini-games for language learning’. In: Routledge Handbook of Language Learning and Technology (forthcoming)

y = xn

DeKeyser, R. M. (1997). Beyond Explicit Rule Learning: Automatizing Second Language Morphosyntax. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19(2), 195–221.

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How to make

grammar

fun

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mezpfuhxW61qjnb7n.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/superdewa/4221714932/

From the participant’s perspective, the central task in a game is not to learn language […]

it is to play […] to play by the rules, and to play well.

A good rule of thumb for determining the degree to which a CALL activity is a game, then,

is the degree to which students want to play it

for the pleasure it brings

rather than for some external reason.

Phil Hubbard, Evaluating computer games for language learning. Simulation & Gaming (1991)

And now for some

motivational psychology

gamification http://buzzpromote.net/images/BuzzPromote_Bee.png

Sebastian Deterding (2011) Meaningful Play. Getting >>Gamification<< right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZGCPap7GkY

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/058/8/4/thats_how_a_professor_plays_angry_birds_by_abcdefghijef-d4r7x4u.jpg

Jane McGonigal (2010) Gaming can make a better world http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html

© Phil Toledano

competence

autonomy relatedness

immersion

[ designing educational games ]

It’s not about hiding instruction

but about giving it a tangible purpose.

MINI-GAMES IN PRACTICE

Games Online for Basic Language learning

EU Lifelong Learning Programme, 2012-2014

http://www.gobl-project.eu

• lit review • tech review • user

research

needs analysis

• materials • technology

dev cycle 1

• materials • technology

dev cycle 2

2012 2013 2014

iterate – iterate – iterate !

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lie detector

fingerprint kit

parrot http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Sherlock_titlecard.jpg

next steps 1. evaluate prototypes 2. integrate in authentic texts 3. do effectiveness research

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Thank You !

@fcornillie

http://www.kuleuven-kulak.be/~u0037921/

frederik.cornillie@kuleuven-kulak.be

fonts used: Feast of Flesh, Forte, GeosansLight, PeaxWebdesignarrow, Vulgar Display Of Power

Y please do interact !

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