Unit 8: ARGs for Language Learning

After watching the video in our most recent unit, I was intrigued when “Guardians of the Mo’o” was mentioned. Particularly because it was referred to as an Alternate Reality Game (ARG). I wanted to find out more about the project, and given that they referred to groups of target learners, I assumed that a formal paper was done regarding it, and it turns out there was! 

http://hdl.handle.net/10125/67832

From my experience with ARGs, they are a lot like scavenger hunts that have a mix of online and real world components. I participated in an ARG called “Flynn Lives” that promoted the movie “Tron: Legacy” in 2010. It combined playing online games, solving puzzles received through the mail, and even traveling to real world locations. An online community formed that allowed participants to work together to solve all of the overarching puzzles and mysteries. While that ARG had a commercial purpose of building hype for the movie, I think that same sort of creativity could be used to create a valuable learning opportunity for students.

I really enjoyed reading over the paper, as it explored more of gamification and language learning than just the ARG that was created for the study. One interesting anecdote was the use of the video game “World of Warcraft” to experiment with language acquisition. The study mentioned the “urgency” of learning the language given that you need to be able to communicate to succeed and I think that’s a novel approach to teaching language. It’s often suggested that immersion is the best way to learn a language and putting students in a game scenario like this is almost like a simulation of immersion.

The author describes the college students as being excited to try the ARG, and I think it’s easy to understand why. I think almost any student will perk up if asked if they want to play a game. The game they developed had an overarching story that involved a Hawaiian goddess and I think it’s great that they added a cultural element to the story, which works in tandem with the language acquisition elements. The students had to travel to multiple locations, interact with media like videos and text on their mobile device, solve riddles, and talk to “NPCs” (Non-player characters, in this case, faculty members acting as part of the game). The researchers received positive feedback from participants and the ARG was quickly worked into an official course curriculum with some changes to make it fit. 

I think this type of activity is such a perfect way to test, supplement, and encourage language learning. They referred to some of the interactions with the students as being “in the wild” and I think that traces back to the simulated immersion idea that I mentioned. By making it a required part of the game, they encouraged students to use English and talk to community members. They might be hesitant to initiate a conversation outside of class, but incentivizing them in this way gives them valuable practice and can help build their confidence in their speaking ability as well. 

If I were teaching ESL, I would love to incorporate an ARG like this. They mention that the one they created is intended to be supplemental and I think that’s the best way to incorporate an ARG in a classroom. You wouldn’t want to use something like this to formally introduce concepts or vocabulary. But I think it makes a great way to reintroduce or review concepts and provides an opportunity for real-world experiences that are not usually possible in a formal classroom setting. It may be a little more challenging to do this in a high school setting given the limitations in allowing students to travel or roam around the school on their own, but I think there are ways to be creative about this and create a really valuable learning experience. 

Citation:

Holden, D. (2016). PLACE-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING USING MOBILE TECHNOLOGY: AN ANALYSIS OF AN ORIGINAL MALL GAME AND ITS REDESIGN FOR AN ESL COURSE DANIEL HOLDEN. Scholar Space. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10125/67832.