Topic Applying video games in language learning to students

The 21st century is the age of science and technology. Currently, the Internet has covered the globe, enabling young people to have a chance to access the Internet. The more developed technology, the more video games are becoming more and more popular, diverse in genres for all ages. Video games are also a matter of great interest for everyone today especially the students Video games are highly entertaining, so they have attracted many young people especially the students. There is no denying the positive side of video games has helped students not only reduce stress after school but also how they apply video games in learning English language so that they can understand it. On the other hand, players of any age can find themselves suitable for different difficulty levels. Moreover, video games also require us to use our minds flexibly. If you know how to play properly, video games will be a useful tool to help us relieve stress and depression.

Ho Chi Minh City – 2019 …………………………………… GRADUATION THESIS Major English Language Topic Applying video games in language learning to students Instructor Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, MA Student Le Hong Huong ID: 97011501044 i DECLARATION I am LE HONG HUONG hereby declare that the work presented in this Graduation Thesis is uniquely prepared by me I also confirm that, the thesis paper is only prepared for my university requirements not for any other purpose It might not be used with the interest of the opposite party of the corporation _ LE HONG HUONG ID: 97011501044 Course: Class: 15DTA Major in English Language The Saigon International University Date submitted: ………………………………………… Signed : ………………………………………… ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I want to thank Ms Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, with all her patient, also making sure to everything and understand whatever I have asked Secondly, I would like to thank The Saigon International University for giving me this opportunity to my Graduation Thesis During four years, the university had given me a professional learning environment and facilities, as well as all teachers in the English Language for giving enthusiasm and sympathies to lift me to be the better one as I am today And last but not least, my heartfelt thanks go to Mrs Nguyen Thi Kim Chung, she helped my class so much, she gives us a form to a research She also gives us the ways to write the graduation thesis properly Because of my limited knowledge, shortage of resources and grammar mistakes cannot be avoided so I expected to receive helpful advices from teachers to make the paper more perfect In short, I really thank to all people helping me to finish this graduating paper iii INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS iv MARK: …………………………… SIGNED: ………………………………… v CONTENT DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS iii CONTENT v LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Scope and limitation of the study 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Participants 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Design of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of key terms 2.2 Video games and literature review 2.3 Video games and creativity CHAPTER 10 METHODOLOGY 10 3.1 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and recent study 11 3.2 Research questions 11 3.1 Subject of the study 12 3.3 Data Analysis 12 3.3.1 The data collection instruments 12 3.3.2 Procedures and methods of analysis 12 3.3.3 Questionnaire 13 3.4 Methods of analysis 13 vi 3.5 Presentation and analysis of data 14 3.5.1 Pre-task questionnaire 14 3.5.2 Post-task questionnaire 18 CHAPTER 23 FINDINGS AND RESULTS 23 4.1 Positive factors 23 4.2 Challenges 24 4.2.1 Survey 24 4.2.2 Discussion 25 CHAPTER 27 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 27 5.1 Summary 27 5.2 Suggestion 27 5.3 Limitation of the study 27 5.4 Conclusion 28 REFERENCES 29 APPENDICES 31 APPENDIX A 31 APPENDIX B 31 vii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: Data collected from pre-task survey questionnaire 16 Figure 1: Perspective of language skills 17 Figure 2: Most common devices students use to learn English via video game 19 Figure 3: The suitable of students play video games in learning English 20 Figure 4: Most common language skills the students got via video games 21 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language NPC: Non-Playable Character The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: TES N: Number ix ABSTRACT The 21st century is the age of science and technology Currently, the Internet has covered the globe, enabling young people to have a chance to access the Internet The more developed technology, the more video games are becoming more and more popular, diverse in genres for all ages Video games are also a matter of great interest for everyone today especially the students Video games are highly entertaining, so they have attracted many young people especially the students There is no denying the positive side of video games has helped students not only reduce stress after school but also how they apply video games in learning English language so that they can understand it On the other hand, players of any age can find themselves suitable for different difficulty levels Moreover, video games also require us to use our minds flexibly If you know how to play properly, video games will be a useful tool to help us relieve stress and depression x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Rationale Video games nowadays can be more than mindless entertainment and even beyond our mind They can be used to tell meaningful stories and discuss complicated ideals and issues For example, The Walking Dead (Tallerico B., 2016) have been used as a part of ethics and teaching moral This is reflected in the dialogue system between the player and the characters in the game In many cases, the character will remember the player’s choice depends on negative or positive attitude According to Nhan Dan newspapers, the majority of Vietnamese people (68%) from the age of 10-20 years old play video games Most of them are students who are still studying at school or university According to (Karvinen and Mayra 2011: 20), the gap between the old and young generations is larger than the difference between men and women The English language has a special role in Vietnam as a foreign language It is widely used, known and spoken and the students encounter English daily though media, newspaper, books, etc Nowadays, video games as mainly are English language but very popular medium provides an engaging opportunity for informal language learning outside formal education Therefore, language games not only help the students know how to apply it in learning English but also improve their major skills such as Listening and Writing skills 1.2 Scope and limitation of the study These results show that video games as a part in informal learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam For the limitation of the thesis, the study only focuses on secondary school students on the Internet which had gathered them into the control group to the research 1.3 Aims of the study This thesis aims to reach the following three objectives: - To give a complete view of students’ opinions how they use their language from video games in real life - Describe the issue of language games in detail by collecting data and interview - Providing some suggestions for the improvement of learning English by using language games 1.4 Participants The participants in this research study are 100 students at the level of Elementary in Vietnam Most of them are still in the secondary school On the other hands, I picked those students who have got a better mark in English if they play video games regularly However, other students who could not take part in the study at school will be play game at home and answer the survey on the Internet 1.5 Method of the study Qualitative was used in this study This thesis discusses findings from various research studies, in order to explain how video games can contribute to language acquisition by evaluating several video game genres and emphasizing single-player, interactive drama beneficial for language acquisition It also provides various sample activities that can be performed in the English Foreign Language (EFL) classroom using video games in their own right The survey questionnaire including pre-task survey questionnaire and post task survey questionnaire is for 100 students at the level of Elementary in Vietnam 1.6 Design of the study This research consists of five main chapters: Chapter is the introduction In this part, the rational, the scope of the study the aims and the method of the study are presented Chapter is the literature review deals with some of other researchers’ study about how the student use language games in learning purpose Chapter will investigate how the secondary school students apply language games in learning English through the analysis of collected data Chapter deals some findings and results concluded from the data analysis Chapter which includes the summary of the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study References and appendices are presented in the last page of the study 4 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of key terms During the days where the video games were thriving businesses, there were some very obvious patterns to how gaming words appeared Most words would either define a piece of hardware or describe the genre of the game Once gaming branched into the online world, a whole new way of playing video games emerged With this came a new social element to gaming People no longer needed to be in close proximity to each other to play games together and, particularly in cooperative games, there is now a real need to communicate with your fellow gamers: to plan and complete the mission, to warn your players of incoming attacks, and even to let people know you are going to be away from your keyboard for a while so will be unavailable These are specific words and phrases that have spawned from the gaming world RPG Standing for ‘Role Playing Game’, this genre describes one in which the player is immersed in the viewpoint of a character or ‘role’ There is usually an indepth story associated with these games (Source: Oxford Dictionaries) Platform Platform games can come in lots of different forms Some are side-scrolling, in which a character usually travels through the levels from left to right Others are in three-dimensional environments in which there’s a less easily identified route of progression There are a couple of qualities that these games share, in that there are usually a variety of obstacles to overcome, and some kind of vertical movement (Source: Oxford Dictionaries) Shooter Rather tellingly, shooters are games that involve some kind of projectile firing Within this genre is FPS (first person shooter) which is a class of game in which you see the game through your character’s eyes In the earlier days of gaming, these were also called ‘shoot ‘em ups’ (Source: Oxford Dictionaries) FPS Standing for first person shooter This is a game where your play experience is through the eyes of a main character and the game itself is centered around weaponbased combat TPS Used to describe a game where the camera is located away from the character, & usually shows the main character (Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk) Words and Phrases Noob Chances are, if you’re reading this, and thinking of starting to play games, then you are a noob Derived from ‘newbie’, this word is used to describe people who are inexperienced at gaming in general, or at any specific game (Source: Oxford Dictionaries) Co-op Like the popular worldwide supermarket chain, this is a shortening of the word co-operative; in gaming, it’s when you have to work with other players to achieve a common goal (Source: Oxford Dictionaries) HP Usually meaning one of two things; ‘Health points’ or ‘Heart points’ This is the measure of health that a character has left (Source: Oxford Dictionaries) XP This phrase is short for experience points and usually abbreviated as EXP or XP, are a recurring feature in every genre of games Like in almost all RPGs, characters are further enhanced by gaining Experience Points However, the method of gaining experience points can be various Generally, experience is gained at the end of each successful battle (Source: finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Experience_Points) 2.2 Video games and literature review This part summarized the research studies related to the topic 2.2.1 An Introduction To Game Studies Game And Culture – Frans Mäyrä (2008) This study showed about how we can understand more about the game culture in any platform including personal computer, console, mobile, etc Moreover, this study which is also a new field of studying the game culture all around the world On the other hand, it will give a basic overview of the field and provide us some of important key tools Thus, students will learn to: - Understand and analyze different aspects of phenomena we recognise as 'game' and play' - Identify the key developments in digital game design through discussion of action in games of the 1970s, fiction and adventure in games of the 1980s, threedimensionality in games of the 1990s, and social aspects of gameplay in contemporary online games - Understand games as dynamic systems of meaning-making - Interpret the context of games as 'culture' and subculture - Analyze the relationship between technology and interactivity and between 'game' and 'reality.' - Situate games within the context of digital culture and the information society 2.2.2 Teaching and Researching Computer-Assisted Language Learning – Ken Beatty (2000) Beatty divided the book into three main sections Beginning with the Section which is the main ideas and different meanings of CALL and incorporates clarifications of elaboration on significant related thoughts It likewise endeavors to give a verifiable point of view on the field, including the perception that an excessive amount of time in CALL has been spent rehashing the wheel Section expands on these thoughts and manages CALL's place in instructing and research, demonstrating how the order has been incorporated into the structure of educational programs, materials and evaluation (with specific spotlight on PC testing), while likewise featuring holes in research 8 Section goes further into CALL-related research, inspecting flow patterns by means of a study of 145 articles distributed in the field, and examining a scope of issues recognized as significant by various scientists It likewise features instances of various sorts of CALL explore as far as setting, points, system and assessment The last section called Resources, gives connects, a glossary, and other 'instruments' for becoming familiar with CALL and leading examination 2.3 Video games and creativity Many people nowadays have bad prejudices against young people playing games, especially parents, teachers, et cetera They often think that playing games is only harmful, not giving any useful knowledge or creative skills such as watching TV or reading books However, scientists have recently shown that playing video games can help increase the player's creativity Specifically, in a recent study published in the Journal of Research and Innovation (Creativity Research Journal: 119-131), researchers analyzed 352 participants to compare the results of playing Minecraft with watching TV and reading books to see which methods will help the participants be more creative After 40 minutes of playing games or watching TV, reading, participants will be asked to draw a creature from a world much different from Earth so that scientists can measure the level of creativity More humanoid creatures will score lower while those less like humans will get good grades According to Hogg's research (2006) carried out in some European universities, students' motivation and therefore grades, have soared exponentially as opposed to slump since the implementation of video games in their curricula  ...Ho Chi Minh City – 2019 …………………………………… GRADUATION THESIS Major English Language Topic Applying video games in language learning to students Instructor Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy,... medium provides an engaging opportunity for informal language learning outside formal education Therefore, language games not only help the students know how to apply it in learning English but also... complete view of students? ?? opinions how they use their language from video games in real life - Describe the issue of language games in detail by collecting data and interview - Providing some suggestions