“You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.”
The role of language in gamming
Although considered a highly problematic activity by some, due to its highly addictive nature, gaming isn’t just for entertainment purposes – it can also act as a highly effective language learning tool.Whether you agree that playing video games is time well-spent or not (which we hope you are), gaming makes for an extremely prevalent pastime activity. Global statistics show that there are up to 3.09 billion active gamers worldwide, and that number is only continuing to grow with every passing year.
Gamification
Gamification is a mode of active learning that incorporates game-like elements and mechanics in the classroom, as well as other contexts, for the purpose of reaching specific learning outcomes. This form of learning provides a fun and engaging environment that keeps students stimulated and motivated throughout the learning experience.
Playing games is argued to be a far more effective way to learn compared to standard, passive learning methods (e.g., memorizing rules). That’s because it makes students more likely to participate in lessons and encourages them to use, and ultimately hone, their language, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. More specifically, this hands-on experience can help students with retaining information they encounter during play.
Playing video games as a form of gamification
Using video games for learning a foreign language can prove extremely useful, as shown by many studies in the linguistics field. Most of those studies, however, have examined the potential of video games for learning English specifically, given it’s the language dominating both the offline and online world of gaming.
Improving reading and listening skills through subtitles
Dialogue-heavy games typically offer a subtitling option. And playing video games with subtitles on can be a great helping tool when trying to learn a language.
Attempting to keep up with the subtitles can encourage players to read faster, thus allowing them to pump up their reading skill level. This kind of exposure can even help the learner become more familiar with the language’s sentence structure. Consider the Walking Dead, an extremely popular installation of the Telltale game series, and its German subtitling alternative:
