Abstract:
The research looks at how the children describe their gaming experiences; and how they perceive the related benefits.
The researchers distributed a survey questionnaire to approximately 600 children in four countries and conducted a series of inclusive, participatory interviews with carefully selected case study children, who identified as avid gamers and volunteered to share their experiences with us. The aim was to position the children as experts in these interviews so that we could listen to their voices by giving them an active role in the data collection process.
The case study data from four country contexts (Chile, China, Hungary and India) reflects an enormous variety of games, ways in which children play and the benefits – both linguistic and others – that they derive from the process.
Children across the world voiced similar benefits such as how social skills, teamwork, problem-solving and creativity are fostered by the demands of gaming. They identified similar strategies needed to play successfully and often played similar games. They communicated similar concerns such as the addictive nature of gaming. Indeed, most children seemed more aware than their parents or teachers about their gaming worlds: what they do; how they play and what they learn.
The implications of this study suggest that teachers should inform themselves of their learners’ L2-related gaming practices as these experiences could usefully feed into classroom pedagogy. The report includes a list of sample activities to illustrate how teachers can adapt their regular classroom activities to bring learners’ gaming ‘in the wild’, into the ELT classroom. Teachers might also be interested in seeking professional development in the area of gamification to update their practice.
Future research could further target the complexities of children’s online gaming experiences and address both the benefits of and barriers to gaming.
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Citation: Pinter, A., Butler, Y. G., Sherwin, H., Tabali, P., Mathew, R., & Peng, X. (2024). Language learning ‘in the wild’: Children playing online games in English. British Council. https://doi.org/10.57884/MVA5-R844