Results and reflections from two semesters
Kristin Lange, Diane Richardson, & Chantelle Warner, University of Arizona
Click the slide above to view the presentation on an external site. To ask the presenters a question about their presentation, please add a comment at the bottom of this page between October 6 and October 10. Presenters will check for and reply to questions at the end of each symposium day.
Please also join these presenters on this page for an online chat discussion on Thursday October 9th at 9am PDT/12pm EDT.
Download transcript of online chat discussion here
Abstract
In previous research, digital gaming has been pursued theoretically and empirically, and it has been argued that it offers several affordances to language learning and teaching and promotes digital literacy. Our poster contributes to this discourse with findings from two research studies in which digital games were integrated into the existing, text-centered curriculum of a fifth semester German language and culture course. Not only do we highlight how games were implemented, but how students reacted to the gaming unit, as well as the resulting changes in the unit’s design.
We conducted a two-week pilot study in Fall 2013. Gaming not only formed the thematic content of this unit, but students also chose games to play individually in class and at home. Data was collected through surveys, gaming diaries, and several other written and oral activities that incorporated reflective elements about gaming and the gaming unit. In addition to engaging with the pedagogical theory around gaming and multiliteracies, this pilot study examined phenomenological/attitudinal aspects of games implementation and discussed some of the challenges as well as some of the benefits of integrating games into language curriculum. Based on these reflections, we made some alterations to the unit for Spring 2014, including the games suggested to the students, the prompt for the gaming diaries, and the final essay at the end of the unit. Data was collected in a similar fashion as previously and was used to evaluate the changes made in the unit. Our poster highlights these changes as well as additional recommendations for the incorporation of gaming units in multiliteracies and text-based foreign language classrooms.
Presenters
Kristin Lange
Ph.D. Student in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching
University of Arizona
klange@email.arizona.edu
Diane Richardson
Ph.D. Candidate in Transcultural German Studies
University of Arizona/Leipzig
dfr1@email.arizona.edu
Dr. Chantelle Warner
Associate Professor of German Studies
University of Arizona
warnerc@email.arizona.edu