1. Designing and Using a Scenario-Based Digital Game to Teach Chinese Formulaic Expressions
- Author
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Tang, Xiaofei and Taguchi, Naoko
- Abstract
A well-designed game can offer enormous opportunities for pragmatics learning by providing an immersive environment where learners can practice L2 in a variety of social contexts. To examine the applicability of gaming to L2 pragmatics learning, this study used the platform "Unity" to develop a scenario-based digital game ("Questaurant") to teach Chinese formulaic expressions. In the game, the player took the role of a robot who works in a restaurant in China and runs quests by interacting with built-in characters. The game incorporated four key gaming attributes: "context (representation)", "goals", "feedback", and "interactivity". This paper reports the usability of these gaming attributes based on interview data collected from 12 learners of Chinese who completed the game. Results showed that the combination of "context" and "interactivity" in "Questaurant" delivered an engaging learning experience, while explicit "feedback" directly contributed to learning. Participants raised some concerns regarding the motivational appeal of "goals" and implicit "feedback" in the game. This paper further discusses implications for developing and utilizing digital games for pragmatics learning.
- Published
- 2020