Gaming in Cognitive Acquisition of Second Language

ORCID

Katarina Sergi: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3777-0327

MSU Affiliations

National Strategic Planning & Analysis Research Center

Item Type

Article

Abstract

Games contribute to the human experience (Huizinga, 1949). Commercial digital games, in particular, constitute a favorite leisure activity for young persons and mature adults (Entertainment Software Association - ESA, 2015). In recent years, the educational appeal of serious digital games has been expanded to a variety of cognitive development fields, one of which is language acquisition (Markouzis & Fesakis, 2014). Game-based learning is associated with Piaget's role playing (Piaget, 1951), Vygotsky's social interactions (Vygotsky, 1978), and information processing theories (Halford & Andrews, 2014). But in what ways can gaming contribute to second language learning (L2), and what is the impact of games on children's cognitive processes? These two research questions guided the current literature review in which gaming and L2 learning was the focus. The research query was filtered to account for the spur of web applications and broadband internet boom of the last six years. A combination of scholarly review and empirical articles was produced. The empirical studies were analyzed thematically using NVivo qualitative software. The analysis generated two main themes for gaming: (1) cognitive affordances and (2) social constructivism approaches. Cognitive affordances included (a) games as cognitive tools, (b) linguistic awareness / proficiency, (c) exercise of memory function, and (d) interactive learning. The theme of social constructivism approaches included (a) collaborative construction of knowledge, (b) competitive nature of games, and (c) fun as medium of increased learning. Existing literature suggests that gaming contributes to cognitive acquisition of L2 but scarcity of evidence regarding gaming's long- term impact on young children's language development skills exists (All, Castellar & Van Looy, 2016; Mayer, 2015). This review concludes with best practices that revolve around the context of interventions in formal and informal educational settings, as well as longitudinal effects of gaming for second language learning.

Publication Date

2016

Publication Title

Mid-South Educational Research Association (MSERA) Annual Meeting Proceedings

Publisher

Mid-South Educational Research Association (MSERA)

City

Mobile, AL

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