| MUVEs | Tactical Iraqi | Arabic | Vocabulary Listening Speaking | 365 (16+; no L2 proficiency) | Mixed-Method
Intervention: Study 1: 40 hours (twice a week over a period of three months); Study 2: 40 hours (eight hours per day for five days; Study 3: 40 hours (12 hours of classroom instructions and 28 hours one day gaming session) | Study 1: Questionnaire Study 2: Post-project standard oral Proficiency interview Study 3: Final mission rehearsal exercise All studies: Post test Game logs | (+) Statistically significant improvement of vocabulary and Arabic culture as well as listening and speaking (p < 0.01). (−) Decrease of language self-efficacy because the game did not meet participants’ expectations. | Johnson (2010) |
| VirtUAM | OpenSim: The Supermarket Game | German | Vocabulary Listening Writing | 85 (16+; beginner) | Quantitative
Intervention: N/A | Pre-test Post-test Questionnaire | (+) vocabulary enhancement, listening (98% participants passed post-test compared to 37% of the participants who passed the listening pre-test), writing (40% of participants passed the writing post-test compared to 2% who passed the writing pre-test). | Berns et al. (2013) |
| AHSs | SHAIEx | English | Vocabulary | 40 (F; 6-7; no L2 proficiency) | Quantitative: Experimental
Intervention: Three 90 minute sessions per week for 45 days | Post-test | (+) Statistical significant difference (t(38) = 2.10, p = 0.042) between experimental and control groups in the post-test vocabulary scores: 7.8 ± 1.54 compared to 6.6 ± 2.03 respectively. | Aghlara & Tamjid (2011) |
| ARGs | Campus Environment | English | Listening Speaking | 64 (13-14) | Mixed-Method: Quasi-experimental
Intervention: Three game sessions | Pre-test (a = 0.78) Test 1, 2 &3 (a = 0.74, 0.82, 0.84 ) Post-test (a = 0.81) Survey (Likert scale, a = 0.91) Interview | (+) Game-based approach produced better learning outcomes (89.44 ± 7.45) compared to the non- gaming (81.25 ± 9.59) as well as games increased students’ learning motivation (4.15 ± 0.66) more than traditional approach (3.63 ± 0.62). (-) Participants reported that games should be used in combination with traditional teaching instructions. | Liu & Chu (2010) |
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| Manipulation | No Name | English | Vocabulary | 100 (M87/F13; 16+) | Mixed-Method: Quasi-experimental
Intervention: Two 50 minutes lessons a week (six weeks) | Pre-test Post-test Questionnaire Interview | (+) Participants in gaming group outperformed participants from a group with traditional instructions (11.78 ± 2.269 compared to 8.59 ± 2.718); 68% of participants preferred gaming to traditional instructions. (−) Advanced game skills were required; immediate response distracted from learning. | Yip & Kwan (2006) |
| Word War | Chinese | Vocabulary | 13 (16+) | Quantitative: Experimental
Intervention: Three one hour long sessions | Pre-test Immediate quizzes after completion of each mode Post-test Survey (Likert scale) | (+) Vocabulary improvement throughout three modes of learning trough game (flash cards, speaking mode, and listening mode) from week one to week two at 0.344; from week two to week three at 0.702; and from week one to week three at 0.768. | McGraw et al. (2009) | |
| The Writing Pal (W-Pal) | English | Writing | 16 (ESL) + 26 (native speakers) (M18/F24; 16+) | Quantitative: Correlation
Intervention: Eight sessions of 1.5 - 2 hours each | Pre-test Post-test (SAT-style essay: r > 0.60.) Daily surveys (game motivation & attitudes) | (+) English native speakers (ENS) and ESL participants improved their writing performance: ENS scores increased from pre- to post test (2.67 ± 0.53 compared to 3.13 ± 0.48) as well as the ESL (2.97 ± = 0.62 compared to 3.22 ± 0.80). | Allen et al. (2014) |