Can I Say Something? The Effects of Digital Game Play on Willingness to Communicate

Autor/inn/en	Reinders, Hayo; Wattana, Sorada
Titel	Can I Say Something? The Effects of Digital Game Play on Willingness to Communicate
Quelle	In: Language Learning & Technology, 18 (2014) 2, S.101-123 (23 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1094-3501
Schlagwörter	Interpersonal Communication; Readiness; English (Second Language); Computer Games; Role Playing; Cooperation; Questionnaires; Communicative Competence (Languages); Self Esteem; Anxiety; Pretests Posttests; Attitude Change; Teaching Methods; Foreign Countries; Computer Assisted Instruction; Second Language Instruction; Statistical Analysis; Undergraduate Students; Thailand + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Interpersonale Kommunikation; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Computer game; Computerspiel; Computerspiele; Rollenspiel; Co-operation; Kooperation; Fragebogen; Communicative competence; Languages; Kommunikative Kompetenz; Sprache; Self-esteem; Selbstaufmerksamkeit; Angst; Attitudinal change; Einstellungsänderung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Ausland; Computer based training; Computerunterstützter Unterricht; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Statistische Analyse
Abstract	This paper reports on a study into the effects of digital game play on learners' Willingness to Communicate (WTC), or individuals' "readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons, using a L2" (MacIntyre, Dörnyei, Clément, & Noels, 1998, p. 547). Thirty Thai learners of English as a foreign language enrolled in a University language course completed six 90-minute lessons playing Ragnarok Online, a popular online role-playing game. The game had been installed on a private server and was thus only available to participants in the study. We modified the game to include special instructions, or quests (missions that players are assigned to accomplish in order to get items and progress throughout the game), designed to encourage collaboration and communication. To gauge participants' WTC, a series of questionnaires was designed, adapted from MacIntyre et al's (2001) WTC scale and previous studies on language and communication anxiety (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986; McCroskey & Richmond, 1982) and perceived competence (Compton, 2004; MacIntyre & Charos, 1996). These asked respondents about their (own perceptions of their) willingness to use English, as well as their confidence, anxiety, and perceived communicative competence in communicating in English. The questionnaires were administered at the start of the course, and again after six gaming sessions. Results on the first set of questionnaires showed that students had low confidence, high anxiety, low perceived competence, and low WTC. The second set of results showed a marked and significant improvement, with participants feeling more confident, less anxious, more competent, and more willing to communicate. We argue that the careful construction of tasks that draw on the affordances of games can have a positive effect on the language learning process. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center. 1859 East-West Road #106, Honolulu, HI 96822. Tel: 808-956-9424; Fax: 808-956-5983; e-mail: llt@hawaii.edu; Web site: http://llt.msu.edu
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10