The Role of Video Games in Learning English

Abstract

The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of video games as medium to be applied in a technique of learning English in Indonesia. Playing games has a vital role as a means of enhancing learners' reading, writing, listening, and speaking capabilities. In addition, video games offer unique opportunities for learners to master English grammar and expand their vocabularies. Furthermore, playing video games has a pivotal role in motivating EFL learners to communicate using EFL through their challenges, active player interaction, audio and visual elements, as well as contexts. The qualitative descriptive analysis was employed to explore the roles of video games as an EFL acquisition technique through the distribution of a Google Form questionnaire containing 39 questions, to which 57 respondents gave their opinions. Through the analysis, the researcher was able to confirm the validity of the aforementioned roles; the average values of the responses indicated that, in overall, the respondents were either in agreement or strong agreement with the provided statements. However, the results of the questionnaire were only able to illuminate the roles of video games as a medium to be applied in technique of learning English specifically in Indonesia. Thus, the researcher suggests that there is an opportunity to utilize the presented data to support future studies of larger scopes.