The Interplay of Languaging and Gameplay: Player-Game Interactions as Ecologies for Languaging and Situated L2 Development

Abstract

The field of game-mediated L2 learning has grown exponentially, and much has been discovered about the potentials of game-mediated interactions for L2 development, yet the fine-grained dynamics of player-game interactions and how they come to facilitate and afford L2 development are still largely underexplored. To address this gap in the literature the current project presents 2 studies that examined the activities and fine-grained interactional learning dynamics of 7 learners of Arabic as a FL playing the simulation-management video game Baalty. A convenience sample was recruited at the University of Arizona to participate in the project voluntarily due to the scarcity of Egyptian Arabic learners. Qualitative case study design was used to offer a think description of the activities and fine-grained dynamics that comprise player-game interaction (Dörnyei, 2007). Ecological approaches to L2 learning (Van Lier, 2004) were used as a theoretical framework to underline the complex of factors that mediate and/or shape game-mediated L2 use. The study employed a variety of data collection instruments, including thinkaloud protocols, stimulated recall interviews, field observations, questionnaires, walkthroughs, gaming journals, and debriefing interviews, to collect data about participants' gaming activities and game-mediated languaging on cognitive, sociocultural, and virtual dimensions. The underlying reasoning for that approach is that each bit of data presents fragmented information about a specific facet of player-game interaction, and that by examining and organizing these pieces of information player-game interaction can be re-constructed. Data were coded both thematically and categorically according to a custom-made coding scheme. Data were then triangulated and analyzed for patterns and trends. Data analysis and interpretation demonstrated that player-game interaction is a dynamic multi-dimensional activity embedded in the gaming ecology and constituted by the player's participation in iterative levels of mutually constituted activity composed of languaging, play, and narration. The data further revealed that dynamic interaction between languaging and play activities situated in-game discourses in gameplay and offer opportunities for extended languaging and situated L2 development.