Game Genre | Game Title | L2 | L2 Focus | Sample (M/F; Age; L2P & G/N) a | Method | Instruments | Findings | Authors |
MMORPG | Ever Quest II | English | Vocabulary | 4 (16+; beginner, intermediate, advanced; non-gamers) | Qualitative: Case Study
Intervention: 16 hours | Post-game questionnaire Chat messages Game observations Interview Post-vocabulary assessment | (+) Intermediate and advanced ESL students increased their vocabulary by 40% as well as generated six times more chat messages than the high-level beginner and 2.5 times than the intermediate student; all four participants correctly defined 35% of words that were used only once in conversation with non-player characters and 55% of words that were introduced more than five times. (−)High-level beginner and low-intermediate ESL participants experienced cognitive overload. | Rankin et al. (2006) |
Ever Quest II | English | Vocabulary | 24 (16+; advanced) 7 (16+; native speakers) | Mixed Method: Between Subject Experimental/ Content Analysis
Intervention: Four hours | Pre-test Post-test Chat logs | (+) The ANOVA analysis of post-test scores revealed statistically significant difference between groups (p = 0.01): students who played with native speakers performed higher (55.56 ± 5.06) compared to single players (82.22 ± 5.54). (−) Students who had traditional classroom instructions performed significantly (ANOVA, p = 0.02) higher on Vocabulary in Sentence Usage post-test (score 54.78/100) than students (score 16.16) who played game; no statistical difference between groups for Vocabulary in the Context of the Game and Vocabulary outside the Context of the Game. | Rankin et al. (2008) | |
Ever Quest II | English | Vocabulary | 18 (16+; advanced) 8 (16+; native speakers) | Mixed-Method: Experimental/ Content Analysis
Intervention: Four hours | Pre-game vocabulary assessment Post-test assessment Chat messages | (+)The ANOVA analysis of Vocabulary in a Context of a Gameplay post-test scores revealed statistically significant difference between groups (p < 0.05): students who played with native speakers performed better (score 83.33/100) than students who had traditional classroom instructions (60) and students who played the game alone (57). (−) Participants with traditional classroom instructions and participants who played game alone had similar scores in the vocabulary post-test (60 and 57); students with traditional instructions outperformed (score 54.78/100) students who played alone (16.16) and with native speakers (13.10) on Vocabulary outside the Game Context post-test. | Rankin et al. (2009) | |
Simulation | The Sims | English | Vocabulary | 18 (M10/F8; 23; intermediate) | Quantitative: Experimental
Intervention: Four 55 minute sessions | Pre-test Post-test Weekly quizzes Post-project Survey Questionnaires | (+)Students from all groups enhanced vocabulary (7.30 ± 0.73); Students with mandatory supplemental materials performed better (7.88 ± 2.48) than students with optional (6.61 ± 1.62) and no materials (6.89 ± 0.58); 94% of participants reported that supplemental materials were helpful. (−) The Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test revealed statistically significant difference only between students’ scores who had mandatory and optional materials (p = 0.035). | Miller & Hegelheimer (2006) |