| Adventure | The Forgotten World | English | Listening Reading | 3640 (M2002/F1638; 12-15) | Mixed-Method: Experimental
Intervention: Once a week for 40 - 45 minutes for 2 semesters | Pre-test Post-tests (the IPT 2004 Reading Test; the MAC II Listening Test) Post-game questionnaire Teachers’ observations | (+) Lower-level English proficiency students had more gains in listening through gaming than students with traditional instructions (mean gain 9.03 points compared to 5.47 points) and reading (8.5 points compared to 5.7 points). (−) No significant statistical differences in listening comprehension gains between the treatment group (mean gain = 5.97) and the control group (mean gain = 4.80) as well as in reading (7.92 compared to 6.85). | Green et al. (2011) |
| Food Force | Japanese | Vocabulary | 20 (M9/F11; 20.7; intermediate non-gamers) | Mixed-Method
Intervention: Five 50-minute sessions | Pre-test Immediate post-test Delayed post-test Affect survey (α = 0.89 for Study 1, α = 0.86 for Study 2) | (+) Participants learned more vocabulary words through gaming (Study 1: 22.44 ± 5.70; Study 2: 25.73 ± 13.4) than through traditional instructions (Study 2: 15.82 ± 4.83); there was no loss in vocabulary after five weeks as well as better retention of vocabulary through gaming (Study 1: 22.33 ± 6.08; Study 2: 26.55 ± 13.45) compared to traditional instructions (Study 2: 12.82 ± 5.08). No gender effect was found in a game pre-, post-, and delayed vocabulary tests results (−) Difficult game language; female participants enjoyed gaming less than male. | Hitosugi et al. (2014) | |
| Ausflug Nach Munchen | German | Vocabulary | 15 (16+) | Mixed-Method: Experimental
Intervention: N/A | Homework exercises Essay Self-report (Liker scale) Post-test Debriefing interview | (+) Participants in a game-based instruction group outperformed participants in a reading-based instruction group in vocabulary retention and usage of topic-specific vocabulary in the assessment essay; gaming group exerted more mental effort and reported lower levels of difficulty with the assessments. (−) Scaffolding support required; participants from a text-based group expressed higher level of satisfaction and confidence with the instructions than participants from a gaming group | Neville et al. (2009) | |
| MMORPG | Nori School | English | Listening Reading Writing Speaking | 220 (11-13) | Qualitative: Quasi-experimental
Intervention: 40-minute sessions twice a week for two months | Pre-test (a = 0.85) Post-test Motivation test (a = 0.89) Self-directed learning skill test (a = 0.93) Computer use ability test (a = 0.87) Game skill test (a = 0.90) Survey | (+) Treatment group outperformed the control group in the listening post-test (20.09 ± 5.27 and 17.71 ± 6.44, respectively), reading (7.06 ± 2.83 and 6.00 ± 3.20), writing (8.02 ± 2.62 compared to 6.82 ± 3.12). (−) No statistically significant difference between experimental and control groups in speaking (12.36 ± 3.37 compared to 11.61 ± 3.38). | Suh et al. (2010) |