Hannah Southwood
In What is Sociolinguistics?, Gerard Van Herk lists 10 different entities that have the power to affect languages “status and shape” (Van Herk, 2018).
Research about how we learn and speak a language has been hotly debated. Some of these have included: do we refer to language learners as monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual; what terminology should we use to define their first language; should education adopt a plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC) among teachers and students; and how do we deconstruct language? This is only the tip of the iceberg.
However, does any of this matter if we don’t address language learning in distance education and the use of e-tools? The corona virus fallout has exposed flaws in our education systems and continues to cause us to question how we teach and students learn. Around the world schools were forced to shut down and both teachers and students were thrown into new territory: distance learning. Schools and school boards made attempts, at varying degrees of success, making arrangements that would facilitate this new form of learning. With some exceptions, schools have not taught children from kindergarten upwards how to use technology, let alone how to use it for learning. This is critical, not only for general education, but for the preparedness of students globally (PWC, 2018).
What does this mean for language learning, specifically in K-12 Classrooms?
Sébastien Dubreil, a professor in the Department of Modern Language at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, suggests that gaming could be an option. Dubreil and his co-instructor took their French course titled “Gaming culture and culture games” online when they went into lockdown. Dubreil’s class was already studying the use of games as they relate to culture while learning and improving their French. It isn’t such a big leap then that gaming online can accomplish the same objectives, of course with some modifications.
A university elected course is quite different from a curriculum and objectives found in the K-12 classrooms, which is where my main interests lie. A study in 2019 conducted by Entertainment Software Association, found that “70% of families had at least one child who plays video games.” (Entertainment Software Association [ESA], 2019) According to G2 and PC Mag, some of the best and most popular language learning tools in 2020 are: Rosetta Stone, Duolingo, Babbel, and Fluenze. Children and teens are using technology at an increasing frequency. Can we use these tools to meet the needs of language learners and teachers?
What I am interested in finding is whether or not these carefully constructed games could instead be used for language learning. These games also create a community of players (Pollack & Pierre-Louis, 2019) which is an important part of learning. These are topics I will explore in future posts.
Where do you see online learning and e-tools going?
Do you think these would be effective in teaching language?
Buckley, E. & Schuyler, S. (2018). Technology in US schools: Are we preparing our kids for the jobs of tomorrow? PwC. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/about-us/corporate-responsibility/library/preparing-students-for-technology-jobs.html
Dubreil, S. (2020). Using games for language learning in the age of social distancing. Foreign Language Annals, 53(2), 250-259.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/flan.12465
Duffy, J. (2020, Sept 12). The Best Language-Learning Software for 2020. PCMag. https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-language-learning-software
Entertainment Software Association. (2019). Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry. https://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-Essential-Facts-About-the-Computer-and-Video-Game-Industry.pdf
G2. Best Language Learning Software. https://www.g2.com/categories/language-learning
Plass, J. L., Mayer, R. E., & Homer, B. D. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of game-based learning. MIT Press. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=2350985
Pollack, S., & Pierre-Louis, S. (2019, Dec 10). Video games are transforming how we communicate with each other – and they could fix a range of other global issues too. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/12/video-games-culture-impact-on-society/
