Abstract
There is a good body of literature about digital-game-based language learning (DGBL), but research has mainly focused on students as game players rather than as future educators. This paper reports on a research conducted among 154 teacher candidates at a higher-education institution in Spain regarding the adoption of digital games in education. It analyzes the participants’ knowledge of and attitudes toward digital games in foreign language learning. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a pre/post-test, digital game presentations, and student blog posts. The research comprised five stages associated with critical thinking skills (definition, selection, demonstration, discussion, and reflection), including a game learning module. In the first two stages, preservice teachers completed the module activities and selected different games aimed at teaching English to children in preschool and elementary education. In the last two, they illustrated, discussed, and evaluated the digital games in class following a rubric and reflected on their perception in blog posts. In this four-week research based on a mixed method and convenience sampling, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a pre- and post-test survey about student perceptions toward the use of video game in the classroom, class discussion, and blog posts. Statistical data analysis unveiled gender-based differences related to gameplay frequency and genre preferences. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used as a nonparametric statistical hypothesis test to compare the two sets of scores resulting from the same participants, and it showed a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) after the treatment in two of the five dimensions in the survey about teacher candidates’ attitudes toward game usage in education, namely, usefulness (U) and preference for video games (PVG). Research findings revealed preservice teachers’ positive attitudes but lack of practical knowledge about the use of digital games in foreign-language learning.
Highlights
The use of digital games in language learning has been the object of study in several publications over the last two decades [1–5]
The two research questions were as follows: (1) What knowledge do teacher candidates have about game-based language learning? (2) What are their perceptions toward game usage after selecting, illustrating and discussing different games in the classroom? In this study all forms of digital games were considered without distinguishing between serious or educational games, commercial off-the-shelf games (COTs), web-based games, and game-based apps
The teacher candidates had to develop two digital projects aimed at teaching English: the first was related with game-based language learning (4 weeks), while the second was associated with the integration of augmented reality (AR) in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom
Summary
The use of digital games in language learning has been the object of study in several publications over the last two decades [1–5]. Few articles examined the knowledge and attitudes of preservice teachers toward the integration of digital games in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom [17–19]. This is vital, as these students and prospective teachers will soon take a leading role in language instruction in 21st century education. Studies on DGBL have multiplied in recent years, as evidenced by the appearance of new specialized journals In these publications, several scholars evaluated the effectiveness of using such games in foreign-language education, in relation to vocabulary development [3,35]. There is ample evidence that digital games can be effectively used to reinforce certain cognitive skills such as problem solving, risk taking, and reasoning [43,44]
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