Expedition Serious Games:

Language Lab 2.0

JustinM.Thibedeau

MichiganStateUniversity
MI831TheoriesofGamesandInteractionforDesign

ExpeditionSeriousGames:LanguageLab2.02

Problem:ForeignLanguageInstruction
Youarenevertoooldtolearnanewlanguage.Whileitistruethatinfantsareableto
absorbandcategorizephonemesbetterthanadults,theyalsospendwelloverayearwith
nothingbutinput.Whentoddlersdospeak,itiscertainlynotthebeginningoftheirlanguage
acquisition.Highschoolstudentsinaforeignlanguageclass,ontheotherhand,wouldneverbe
givensuchaluxury.Thereisoftenanexpectationtospeakfromdayone.Selfconsciousness
andthepressuretobecorrectinordertoearngoodgradescrippletheprogressofmany
students.Evenworseisthatsimilartotheproblemsfacedinmatheducation,languagesare
oftentaughtasasubjectratherthanasatoolwithwhichtoexperiencetheworld.
Perhapsitwillnotcomeasmuchofasurprisethenthatanationalsurveyfoundthat
from1997through2008,93percentofhighschoolsintheU.S.offeredforeignlanguages,yet
lessthan1percentofAmericanadultstodayareproficientinaforeignlanguagethatthey
studiedinaU.S.classroom(Friedman,2015).Thinkofthetaxpayerdollarsandeffortfrom
teachersandstudentsthatwentintothoseclasses,onlytohaveitevaporatewithoutatrace.
Thislossshouldnotbetakenlightly.Researchhasshownthatspeakingaforeignlanguage
correlateswithhigheracademicperformanceacrossallsubjectsandevenkeepsthebrain
activeinwaysthatdelaytheonsetofdementiabyoverfouryears(Swain,2014).Intermsof
individualhireabilityandeconomiccompetitivenessintheglobalmarket,33%ofUSmidto
largesizecompanieshaveinternationaloperationsthatservemultilingualclientele,yet14%
reportedalossofbusinessopportunitiesduetoalackofforeignlanguageskills(Rivers,2015).
Whilesupportforlanguagelearningmustgrowatthepolicylevel,languageeducationmustalso
improve.
ThreehypothesesfromthelinguistStephenKrashensSecondLanguageAcquisition
Theoryareusefulinconsideringchangestoforeignlanguageeducation.Firstisthedistinction
betweenacquisitionandlearning.Acquisitionistheproductofasubconsciousprocessresulting
frommeaningfulinteractioninthetargetlanguage(Krashen,2009,p.10).Learning,bycontrast,
istheproductofformalinstructionanditcomprisesaconsciousknowledge,forexample
knowinggrammarrules(Krashen,2009,p.10). Toddlerswiththeirspongelikebrainsmay
acquirelanguagerapidly,buttheycanhardlystudyit.Highschoolstudentsandadultsare
actuallyluckybecausetheycanutilizebothofthesemethodstodevelopcompetenceina
foreignlanguage.Whiledirectinstructioncanbevaluableforaconsciousknowledgeofphonics
rulesorgrammar,unfortunatelywithoutopportunitiesformeaningfulinteractionstudentswill
onlyknowaboutthelanguageandnothowtouseit.Theproblemthenlieslessinthestudent

ExpeditionSeriousGames:LanguageLab2.03

andmoreintheinstruction.However, facedwithaclassofthirtystudents,diverseintheir
interestsandlanguageabilities,itisdifficultforanyteachertocreateendlessopportunitiesfor
thekindofmeaningfulinteractionnecessaryforacquisition.
BuildinguponthenecessaryelementsforacquisitionisKrashensinputhypothesis,

whichstatesthatforlearnerstoacquirelanguagewithinmeaningfulinteraction,theymustbe
exposedtocomprehensibleinput.Ifastudentscurrentcompetencelevelequalsi,thenheor

sherequiresinputati+1.Thiswouldbethetargetlanguagethatthelearnerwouldnotbeable
toproduce,butcanstillunderstand(Krashen,2009,p.21).Mostclassroomsettings,nomatter
howwellorganized,failthisrequirementstraightawayasthereisoftenastructureoftheday,
whichforsomestudentswillbetooeasyandotherstooadvanced.Withregardstothelatter,
theaffectivefilterhypothesisdiscussesthevariablesofmotivation,selfconfidenceandanxiety
inlanguageacquisition.Classroomculturecanaffectallthreeofthesevariables,butanxiety,
particularlyoverspeaking,canbethedeadliest.Whenanxietyishigh,theaffectivefilteris
raised,andeveniftheyunderstandthemessage,theinputwillnotreachthepartofthebrain
responsibleforlanguageacquisition(Krashen,2009,p.31).Intheeyesofallbutperhapsthe
mostextrovertedofstudents,alargeclassroomfullofonespeersisfarfromanidealsettingfor
speakingaforeignlanguageforthefirsttime.Inordertokeepaffectivefiltersdown,theelement
ofpublicspeakingintheclassroommustbeeliminated.

Solution:LanguageLab2.0
Asisobviousfromabove,itisdifficultforastandardclassroomenvironmenttofulfillthe
needsofeveryindividualtothenecessaryextentforoptimallanguageacquisition.Ahighschool
classroomwiththirtystudentsmaybeappropriatefordirectinstructionlanguagelearning,but
thelackofsituationalcontextandinherentvariationsinskilllevelmakeitunsuitablefor
individuallytailoredmeaningfulinteraction.Adigitalgamecouldbetheperfecttooltodeliver
thismissingelementneededforlanguageacquisition.Theobjectivesfortheproposedgame,
titledLanguageLab2.0,aretoorchestratesituationsformeaningfulinteraction,adjustthe
individuallevelforcomprehensibleinput,andincreasemotivationwithinalowanxiety
environment.Asplayersaredifferentlyexperienced,theadaptivityandadaptabilityofgamesis
crucialtoenabletheflowstateinwhichtheplayerallocatesallherorhiscognitiveresourcesto
thegame(BreuerandBente,2010,p.12).Justasclassesusedtovisitlanguagelabsfor
individuallisteningpractice,thisgamecouldserveasanexcellentaidtohighschool,university,
oradultforeignlanguageclassrooms.

ExpeditionSeriousGames:LanguageLab2.04

LanguageLab2.0wouldbeginbydrawingouttheplayersmotivation.Thiswouldneed
tobedoneinthestudentsfirstlanguage(L1).Evenadirectquestionlike,So,whydoyouwant
tolearnTagalog?wouldforcetheplayertoreflectontherealWhyofhisorherchoice.Ifthe
studentistakingaforeignlanguagesimplytofulfillarequirement,somehighschoolandmaybe
universitystudentsmaynothavethoughtcarefullyaboutthefullpotentialoftheirchoice.The
gamesfirstjobwouldbetodisplaytheopportunitiesandbenefitsthatproficiencyinthetarget
languagewouldgrant.Additionalreferences(inL1)throughoutthegamefortangentiallearning
aboutthecultureandcustomsofthelanguagewouldalsoencouragetheplayertofindmore
topicsofinterestrelatedtothetargetlanguage.
Whileplayerswouldselecttheirmainlevels,forexampleBreakthrough(Beginner)or
Waystage(Elementary),priortoeachplayingsession,theywouldcompleteashort
multiplechoicequiztoadjustforcomprehensibleinputwithinamainlevel.Keepingtheinputat

i+1iscrucialasthebestinstructionhoversattheboundaryofastudent'scompetence( Gee,
2003).Oncethelevelshadbeenset,theplayerwouldpassthroughsituationalroleplaying
experiencessetinthecountry(ies)wherethelanguageisspoken.Playerswouldbegivensmall
assignments,forexample,BuyabookfromLivrariaLello.SetinPorto,Portugal,theplayer
wouldneedtomusterenoughPortuguesetoaskdirectionstothefamouslandmark,speakto
clerksinordertonavigatetheenormousbookstore,andcompletethetransactiontobuyabook
overthecounter.
Ratherthantheplayerwonderingaboutasalonetourist,heorshewouldhavealocal
friendatalltimes.Thiscompanionwouldbefluentinthetargetlanguageandwouldgive
positivefeedbacktotheplayer.Theplayerwouldhavetheoptionsof1)watchingandlistening
asthecompanionfulfilledthetaskusingthesamesimplelanguagebutatnativespeed,2)
allowingthecompaniontoonlychimeintodeliverjustintimeteaching,providingtheexact
inputrequiredattherightmomentincasetheplayerneededhelp,or3)fulfillingthetask
independentlywiththecompaniononlychattingtotheplayeraboutissuesunrelatedtothetask,
forexampletokilltimewhilewalkingtothebookstore.Playerscoulduseanyofthesesettings
andrepeatasmanytimesastheywished,buteachattemptwouldbemodifiedslightly.For
example,onemayencounterdifferentpeoplefromwhomtogetdirectionsandthereforereceive
differentvariationsontheroutetothedestination.Playerswouldnotadvanceuntiltheyhad
accomplishedthetaskindependently.Thistrialanderrorprocessiscrucialaslearnersneed
ampleopportunitiestoapplytheirpreviousexperiencestonewsimilarsituations,sotheycan
debugandimprovetheirinterpretationsoftheseexperiences,graduallygeneralizingthem

ExpeditionSeriousGames:LanguageLab2.05

beyondspecificcontexts(Gee,2009,p.69).LanguageLab2.0wouldprovideprivate
opportunitiesforlowstakesfailuresthatwouldhopefullykeepstudentsaffectivefiltersdown
whiletheygrewmorecomfortablewiththetargetlanguage.

Theory:ExtrinsicandIntrinsicMotivation
BeyondthethreehypothesesfromStephenKrashensSecondLanguageAcquisition
TheorythatinformedelementsofLanguageLab2.0,bothextrinsicandintrinsicmotivationplay
animportantroleinstudentsprogress.Extrinsicmotivationreferstoactiondonesolelyforthe
sakeofexternalrewardssuchasmoneyorgoodgrades.Fromthefirsttimeplayersloginto
LanguageLab2.0,theyareaskedtoreflectontheirmotivationsforchoosingtheirforeign
language.Thegameprovidespossiblebenefitsofproficiencyinthechosenlanguage,for
examplejobopportunitiesabroadorinterestingculturalfactsandlocationsrelatedtothe
language,inhopesthattheplayerwillidentifywithoneormorebenefitstorecognizeand
accepttheunderlyingvalueofabehavior,inthiscasetheeffortrequiredtobecomecompetent
intheforeignlanguage(DeciandRyan,2000,p.236).Thoughthiswouldstillbeextrinsic
motivationduetoitsinstrumentalnature,thegoalisforthestudenttolookbeyondgradesasa
motivator.
Intrinsicmotivationreferstoactiondoneforthesakeofinherentpersonalenjoymentin
thetask.Withsituationsformeaningfulinteractioncomprisedofcomprehensibleinput(i +1),
studentsinteractingwithLanguageLab2.0wouldbegintoacquireratherthanlearntheirtarget
languagewithintheoptimalbalancebetweenchallengesandskillsthathasbeenidentifiedasa
centralprerequisiteforenjoyment(BreuerandBente,2010,p.12).LanguageLab2.0would
alsoprovideacruciallevelofautonomouslearning,forasDeciandRyanhavefound,
successfulperformanceenhancedintrinsicmotivationandsubjectvitalityonlywhenpeople
experiencedautonomyaswellascompetence(DeciandRyan,2000,p.243).

ExpeditionSeriousGames:LanguageLab2.06

References

BreuerJ.andBenteG.(2010).Whysoserious?Ontherelationofseriousgamesandlearning.Eludamos.Journal
forComputerGameCulture.4(1)p.724.

Deci,E.L.andRyan,R.M.(2000).TheWhatandWhyofGoalPursuits:HumanNeedsandthe
SelfDeterminationofBehavior.PsychologicalInquiry.11(4)p.227268.

Gee,JamesP.(2003).HighScoreEducation[Online].Wired,Vol.11(5).Retrievedfrom:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/view.html?pg=1http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.05/view.html?pg=1

Gee,JamesP.(2009).Deeplearningpropertiesofgooddigitalgames:Howfarcantheygo?.InSeriousGames:
MechanismsandEffects.(pp.6782).RoutledgeTaylor&FrancisGroup.

Friedman,Amelia.(May10,2015).AmericasLackingLanguageSkills.TheAtlantic.Retrievedfrom:
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/05/fillingamericaslanguageeducationpotholes/392876/

Krashen,Stephen.(2009).PrinciplesandPracticeinSecondLanguageAcquisition.Retrievedfrom:
http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/principles_and_practice.pdf

Rivers,WIlliamP.(May21,2015).MakingtheCasefortheLanguageEnterprisein2015:ForgingNewConnections.
JointNationalCommitteeforLanguagesSCOLAUsersMeeting.Retrievedfrom:
http://www.languagepolicy.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/06/RiversSCOLA2015.pdf

Swain,Harriet.(July8,2014).LackofLanguagesStiflesBritsandAmericans.TheGuardian.Retrievedfrom:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jul/08/lackoflanguagesstiflesbritsamericans