Abstract
The goal of this work was to develop a serious game which would aid in the retention of foreign-language non-contextualized vocabulary items in different age categories. To this end, the loci method was used to enhance visual and spatial memory among the game’s players. The novelty of this proposal lies in the combining of mnemonic strategies with the environment of an exploratory video game. Structurally, this project consists of three main pillars: pedagogical foundations, the development of the serious game, and the evaluation of the game's efficiency through qualitative and quantitative study. The 3D game was developed through the Unity game engine in its version 2020.3. The prototype’s efficiency was assessed quantitatively in an experimental group of 21 participants who were compared with a control group of 27 participants. All the data were displayed in R Studio using the ggplot2 library. The study was complemented with qualitative findings collected through semi-structured interviews with a group of 7 participants. The experimental method proved to be more efficient and more entertaining than the conventional method used in the control group.
Highlights
1.1 BackgroundThe use of educational videogames is constantly expanding, together with the fast development of information technologies
The methodological progress of the last decades has led to the development and adaptation to the demands of the 21st century of technologies such as Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), started by Levy [1], Technology-Enhanced Language Learning (TELL), investigated by Bush and Roberts [2], and the Serious Games Initiative, introduced by Sawyer [3]
While various authors [4], [5], [6], [7] have reported the benefits of videogames in education in general, the didactic core of serious games distinguishes them from commercially distributed products that were initially designed for entertainment only [8]
Summary
1.1 BackgroundThe use of educational videogames is constantly expanding, together with the fast development of information technologies. The Roman Palace prototype presented in this study is an example of a serious game developed to enhance the retention of foreign-language (L2) vocabulary. The main function of the game Roman Palace is to do this by establishing spatial connections between the words on the cards and the objects in the Roman villa (through association, organisation, and the loci method). The players are told to imagine what every new word reminds them of, as well as to remember where in the game it appears (for example, the room or a nearby object). All these elements create extra memory support. From the point of view of psychology, mnemonic techniques use combinations, relations, and associations of ideas while at the same time exploring our capabilities [12]
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