Video games´ influence on pupils´ willingness to communicate in English L2 classroom

Abstract

As video games’ popularity rises among young pupils, the question of how one could use them in an educational setting becomes relevant. Most video games played by pupils are in English, as it is the lingua franca around the globe. As teachers should strive to make school relevant for pupils, it is important to research how video games can be used in English language teaching. The focus of this study is to explore how pupils experience the effect of video games on their willingness to communicate in English language teaching. Additionally, the study investigates if pupils’ self-reported willingness results in the production of English language in the classroom. The video games used in this study are the minigames “Patently Stupid” and “Push the Button” from “The Jackbox Party Pack” 5 and 6. The study used classroom intervention with observation followed by semi-structured interviews with pupils from the participating classes. Participants were 8th-grade pupils from two classes at a school in Norway.

The findings suggest that while pupils experience that video games can help motivate them to be somewhat more willing to communicate, they do not significantly help with their willingness to communicate in English. Furthermore, the study indicates that self-reported willingness is in accordance with the use of English language in the classroom. The reasons behind willingness not increasing to a significant degree while using video games are factors such as group dynamics in the context of the classroom, varied confidence increase with the use of video games, and motivation to play, not necessarily resulting in motivation to produce English. The study thus adds further nuance to the discussion of the merits and challenges of using video games in the second language classroom