Serdar Can Demirci

2297471

Serdar Can Demirci-2297471

1.Introduction

The topic of this paper is about the Effects of Video Game Playing on Language
Acquisition.I chose this topic because,as we all know,video game playing has a crucial part in
today’s children’s and teenagers’ lives as a favorite pastime activity,and therefore effecting
their overall competencies of language acquisition.Previous research has shown that ‘’unlike
uncreational games,serious games do more than entertain the player.’’(Yolanda et
al.2008).Additionally,as Ari Pekkan Vaisenen(2014)stated in his research,different types of
video game players,especially MMO and Role Playing Games(RPG)have generally got better
results than an avarage grade in English levels.I thought that coming a general terms with the
help of the previous studies on this field would be appropriate to have a generalized idea,and
this topic is a worthwhile experience to study on.As language learners,we have to be able to
be aware of potential affinity of video game playing to get enhance over acquisition,and
possible overall proficiency over a language.Therefore,the aim of this study is to realize the
effects of video games on language acquisition.
This study examines the questions below:
-How does video game playing affect one’s Language Acquisition?
-What kind(genre) of games help the most with language acquisition?
-Does the duration of playing(playing hours) provides a varied result on language
acquisition?
-Do the participants think they have really benefited from playing video games in their
Language courses?

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2.Literature Review

Video game playing is one of the main leisure time activities in today’s world.And it is an
undeniable fact that video game playing has countless benefits on a person.However,my main
topic is going to be it’s effects on language acquisition.
There are several studied conducted to understand this correlation between the two.According
to Postic and Rudis(n.d),the Theoritical basis provides ways which prove the effectiveness of
video game playing on language acquisition.As Ari Pekkan Vaisenen (2014) stated,the more
time someone spends with playing video games,the better grades they get.Additionally,as
Turgut&İrgin(n.d)stated,playing online games promotes the language learning and
vocabulary skills of the students.On,the other hand,some researches also found out that video
game playing also has a positive effect on the social life apart from the vocabulary
expansion.As Torma(2013)stated in his research,vocabulary or even language skills are
extended through online communication,which proves the point that online and
communicative games also help the communication via language between the peers to
develop.According to Yudintseva(2015)’’video games create deep understanding of lexicon
by connecting game actions, goals, and images to learner’s personal experience.’’So,we can
understand that the video game playing activity doesn’t just limits itself as an activity.It also
becomes an anquisition tool from a certain point.Turgut&İrgin(2009)have also found three
major meanings in children’s language acquisition through games.These are
awareness,transfer and motivation.They investigated a research on their text guessing and
comprehension,vocabulary,and their overall awareness of the advantages and disadvantages
of playing these were obvious,while the motivation was also imminent.(Turgut&İrgin-
2008)They conducted their research in several different Internet Cafes in Mersin.10 Primary
and Secondary school learners participated to their research.The research was conducted
while the children were playing computer,and the researchers observed them three times
within 2 hours.According to the Turgut&İrgin,the children played Grand Theft Auto Vice
City,Warcraft 3:Reign of Chaos,Kinght Online World version,Fifa 08 and Counter Strike
regarding their preferances.As they gathered the data of the children in the internet
cafes,Turgut&İrgin(2008)stated that ‘’observing internet cafes can be enlightening for the
curriculum using computer technology.’’

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In addition to these findings,Cornillie et al.(2008) have stated that MMORPG(Massively

Multi- Player Role Play Games) comprise a specific variety of commercial off-the-shelf(Van
Eck,2009.) Which met with considerable amounts of interests in Applied Linguistics
Area.According to the Cornillie et al.(2008),the most famous MMORPG(World of
Warcraft)reached 1.2 million subscribers across the world,with servers in Korea,U.S.,Europe
and China.According to Cornillie et al.(2008),various researchers have discussed DGBLL in
terms of genres (e.g. deHaan, 2005; Jordan, 1992; Mawer & Stanley, 2011; Purushotma,
Thorne, & Wheatley, 2009).In their first contribution,Corneille et al.(2008) Emphasize the
importance to consider participants’ perceptionss in game for language purposes,witch
focused language corrective feedback.
Apart from all of these effects,Shaffer et al.(2005) stated that the artificial world in the video
games are powerfull tools as they simulate similar context,helping them to master their own
language using the natural environment of the games.According to Shaffer et al.(2005)The
virtual world improves authentic context with graphicss,pictures and voices.Another result of
the research suggested in their research,(as cited in Turgut&İrgin,2009),natural petetition in
games allows the player to be completely exposed to language,thus improving the rate of
acquisition.Additionally,as Turgut&İrgin stated,winning increases both motivation and
awareness and the average of 81.3% agreement for questions 1, 11, and 22 (which were
designed to elicit ideas about motivation and fun).According to Dehaan(2005),another
advantage of playing video games is the increased activity of interactivity.As
Dehaan(2010)stated,since students like playing video games,language teachers might be
interested in using games in their classrooms,and while the games contain vast amount of
research,teachers should effectivelly entegrate and design the games they want to use in the
classroom and design pedagogical strategies for scaffolding the students’ play and language
learning with mindfully-selected games.
According to Dehaan(2005),Before Gameplay,teacher might ask them to brainstorm the
activity vocabulary in the game (e.g fast food resteurant),since more complete schema can
contribute to lower cognitive load ((Douglas & Hargadon, 2001;Sweller,
1994).Dehaan(2005)states that,at the during Gameplay,a teacher might suggest that pairs of
players and watchers alternate playing and watching to balance gameplay and linguistic
analysis.In After game part,students could write the definitons and original sentences for
unfamiliar words,They could also form tips for other players in order for them to sign up and
analyse the language.

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As we can see,video games has several benefits on a language learner.According to

Cornillie et al.(2012),digital games create opportunities to investigate how language
technology mediates the language learning process in ways which may have not been conceived
of in traditional language learning environments.Thedorsen(2015),With repetitive gaming,the
effects of the games on language acquisition will or should be even greater .However,there are
still abstract or missing points,such as the comparison of effectiveness of video game playing
compared to reading books or watching tv shows.(Thedorsen,2015)Therefore,a larger database
should be applied to measure these inconsistencies.

In this litarature review,i mainly focused on the effects of video games on language
acquisition,but i also,albeit unintentionally,touched upon the general effects of video game
playing on a language learner,supporting them with the previous researches that were conducted
upon this topic.With the information i gathered from these researches,and supporting them with
the data i will gather from the high school and elementary school students about their video game
playing basis,which types of video games they play and did they see any benefits of video game
playing on their overall competency on Language Acquisition.So,by the end of this research,i will
be able to analyze the data i gathered and come to a final verdict on the Effects of Video Game
Playing on Language Acquisition.Thus,i come to the end of my Literature Review.

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