Resources for Games and Pragmatics

Chapter one explains the different types of games that can be used for learning pragmatics in an L2. Static games are games in which players move simultaneously, while dynamic games are games in which players move in sequence. Complete information is where the player knows all decision-relevant details besides other player’s decisions. Perfect Information is where the player knows the actions of other players.

Depending on the game type, players can learn pragmatics in different ways. Making pragmatic choices in an L2 and observing the other characters’ reactions can create a space for pragmatic development, whether the player already knows the pragmatic outcome or is meant to guess an option leading to the best reaction.

This study examines the effects of competitive, cooperative, and collaborative gamification on English reading performance and learning engagement among EFL secondary school students and found that competitive gamification led to more improvement in student reading than cooperative or collaborative did. Cooperative actually resulted in the lowest reading performance. The researches found that some students showed more competitiveness even in cooperative settings, indicating a potential need for a kind of preparation or training in collaboration and cooperation among students before placing them into cooperative or collaborative gamified settings of language learning.

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It is acknowledged by the researchers that this observation could be related to the culture of the students, Chinese L1 speakers, and that others may want to conduct similar studies in cultures that are more inherently collaborative. Despite these potential limitations, we believe this study still provides valuable insight into implementation of gamification practices withing language teaching environments and can provide inspiration and guidance to educators as we seek to employ these practices within our own classrooms.

The authors of this study focused on developing a narrative-based design framework for language learning games. The framework components consisted of three elements: storyline, character, and quest. Based on this framework, the authors created a PlanetAdventure system where 61 college students were a part of their case study to examine the impact of learning English vocabulary. They found that the students' learning achievement was enhanced and that the majority of the students really preferred the game-based learning experience. Additionally, learning was identified to be in three different patterns.

This study explores the way in which online gaming and social platforms can facilitate language learning. The platforms regarding gaming are split up into three categories: social virtualities, massively multiplayer online games, and synthetic immersive environments. 

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Social virtualities are considered virtual spaces modeled after real-life places (like a university, a well-known city, etc.) where one can create an avatar and interact with others. It was found that this type of platform could be used for identity exploration in the classroom, as well as conversational interaction that can be easily used in another language. Massively multiplayer online games are games in which thousands of players each have an avatar they create, compete with one another, and work together in “guilds”. Because these revolve around goal-oriented activities, players are more driven to communicate and often develop deep relationships with other players worldwide. This can be used to facilitate communication in a second language. The last type of game is a synthetic immersive environment. These games are created to educate players in a specific area of study. This type of game has been used to improve students’ metapragmatic skills.

Students learn formulaic expressions in Chinese through an online game created for pragmatic language learning. Students play as a robot delivering orders in a restaurant and participating in quests in China. Through varied contexts, immediate feedback, structured goals, and engaging interactivity, students have an enjoyable game play and learn directly the impact of their decisions.

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Students reported that the context of the game play created an engaging environment that felt more real than learning in a classroom. Along with this, the students noted that the feedback was very helpful in the learning of formulaic expressions. The feedback provided specifically described the errors made and how their answers could be corrected.

This article discusses the importance of incorporating pragmatics in beginning level language learning curriculums–specifically in the foreign language context. The authors mention that pragmatics learning comes with two parts: pragmalinguistic competence which is the knowledge about and performance of the conventions in language use, and sociopragmatic competence which is the knowledge about and performance that is consistent with social norms or specific situation sin a given society (Félix-Brasdefer & Cohen, 2012). Thus, the article focused on those areas plus provided an overview of the concepts of communicative language ability and pragmatic knowledge with the review of pedagogical models used in FL contexts and special attention to Spanish (Félix-Brasdefer & Cohen, 2012). 

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Félix-Brasdefer & Cohen (2012) conclude that their article has shown that pragmatics can be used to teach beginning levels of language learning in the FL classroom. However, they mention that the teacher–whether they are a native speaker or non-native speaker–needs to be familiar with the concepts of pragmatics in order to facilitate it and give instruction on it (Félix-Brasdefer & Cohen, 2012). Additionally, it is mentioned that it’s important for these teachers to know the distinctions between pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic knowledge where there is a wide range of communicative activities for the students (Félix-Brasdefer & Cohen, 2012).

This article begins by acknowledging that previous articles have suggested there are benefits of including metapragmatic instruction in second or foreign language contexts when there is a focus on speech acts as a separate unit; however, Rose (2012) took a slightly different approach. This approach is described as, rather than creating a separate unit to teach pragmatics, Rose (2012) suggests extending and enhancing a grammar lesson to include the use of online resources such as YouTube and Google to provide students with authentic materials in addition to authentic text. The author mentions that this could provide students with opportunities to make cross-cultural comparisons between Spanish speaking countries–as it is the focus of this paper–and the United States (Rose, 2012). Thus, throughout the article, Rose (2012) provides examples of how to extend grammar lessons. 

A fitting example for our project can be seen in the Lesson 2: Using the Conditional to Make Requests and Suggestions (Rose, 2012, pp. 675). This activity utilizes forums where people can create real life requests for help and are tied to interactive activities for students to complete in the lesson plan. Simple exposure to pragmatics may not be enough and is why it can be important to extend curriculums to include pragmatics because it is a connection between grammar and the real world (Rose, 2012).

This resource looks into how online gaming, specifically interaction with characters or other players as a personal avatar, can improve language learning. Because students are completing quests, their language use is needed to achieve their goals in the game. Students are more likely to learn in this way because they are learning and using language with a purpose rather than for a grade.

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Conversing with characters and other players in online gameplay gives students an opportunity for unstructured conversation practice. Along with this, it was found that when learners look back at the chats they have sent, they are likely to see errors and mistakes in their writing that they can correct.