MMORPGs and Language Learning

MMORPGs or Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games are a genre of electronic video games that allows you to control an avatar in a persistent world where other players from around the world can also play. This means that the actions that you take can (to an extent) have an effect on the playing experience of others and the interactions that occur within that setting need not be planned or arranged: the setting provides context for the interactions, the tools to carry out these interactions and also specific goals and events of different degrees of importance to serve both as topics and as elements that players share in common.

As you can see one of the key features of MMORPGs is that they provide an immersive environment. This type of environment can be conductive to learning a foreign language, with characteristics similar to the ones seen in other immersive language learning programs. We are not the first ones to suggest that, not by a long shot: the Rapid Tactical Language Training System, funded by the DARPA, utilizes several of the characteristics of this genre of video games to successfully teach their students.

Research

On a recent article for THE Journal Mr. John K. Waters talked about different efforts to offer ESL (English as a Second Language) learning through modern MMORPGs. Nowadays a number of universities (as well as some select English courses Melbourne area) have professors conducting research on the benefits of these kind of initiatives. Since some of the most successful MMORPGs (World of Warcraft being the single most successful one to this day) already have English as their default languages, there has been an increasing amount of research on how to adapt this programs for English language teaching in Asian countries.

The Asian Situation

There are, however several difficulties. Most Asian parents (Chinese in particular) consider video games a waste of time and a very important detriment to the well being of their children and children in general (a stark contrast with the attitude on some English courses Sydney area where video games are already being introduced as teaching aids.) Learning English speaking and writing skills, however, is regarded as something to be praised and desired for all children. Efforts are being constantly made to integrate this new possible teaching technology. On the one hand the possibility of using video games for teaching purposes could very well reduce the amount of negative prejudice they are being treated with. On the other, this taboo and prohibition on video games make them that much appealing for young kinds, who could very well come in throngs to a learning experience of this type instead of being indifferent.