Games in Language Learning:
MMORPGs and English Language
Learners’ Perceived Identity
Saeideh Hosseini &
Begum Sacak
INTRODUCTION
What are MMORPGs?
• interactive games
• online virtually constructed fantasy worlds
The significance of MMORPGs in SLL
• interaction opportunities
• a safe environment
• a sense of community
Interaction in MMORPGs
MMORPGs as effective platforms for community of practice (Wu et al., 2014)
Interaction between players through forming community of practice (Zhao and
Lai, 2005)
•
Completing quests
•
Working towards a common goal
•
Socialization
•
Interacting with people & negotiation of meanings
Community of Practice, Learning & Identity
Wenger (1998)
• Learning = Identity
• Learning is a process of becoming
• Learning is a social act
Lave and Wenger (1991)
• Identities are products of people’s participations and memberships in the
communities.
Identity in Role Playing Games
Real World Identity
The real world identity is defined as the real
identity of the player in the real world, which is a
non-virtual person playing a computer game.
Projective Identity/Imagined Identity
• Projective identity has a root in the person’s real identity.
• The projection of values and desires onto the virtual characters
(Gee,2003).
• The projection of values also leads to an ownership of the identities.
• Imagined identity (Norton, 1995; Norton and Toohey, 2011).
Virtual Identity (Character)
Virtual identity stands for the identity which is created for
the game play. Within the limitations of a particular
game design, a player can attribute the desired
characteristics and appearance for the character they
are playing with.
Identity in Role Playing Games
Real World
Identity
Projective
identity
Virtual
Identity
Identity & MMORPGs
• Deep learning requires an extended commitment and such
a commitment is powerfully recruited when people take on
a new identity they value and in which they become heavily
invested – whether this be a child “being a scientist doing
science” in a classroom or an adult taking on a new role at
work (Gee, 2004).
• Investment in new identities = investment in language
learning (Norton, 1995)
Previous Research on MMORPGs in
Language Learning
• Collaboration among players
Guilds: “collaborative relationships developed by gameplay and alliance to take
high-level learning tasks (Pasfield-Neofitou, 2014, p. 272; Rankin et al., 2008 ).”
Learners’ desire to be a part of the role playing games
• Motivation
People from different backgrounds
Existence of a non-threatening environment (Zhao and Lai, 2005)
MMORPGs lower the risk of failure as learners do not experience real world
consequences.
OUR FUTURE RESEARCH
• The connection between identity and language learning in online
games
• A Synthesis of the theoretical frameworks (Gee, 2004; Wenger, 1998;
Norton, 1995)