Videogames in and beyond the L1 classroom

Videogames in and beyond the L1 classroom

Videogames in and beyond the L1 classroom

By Sandra Schamroth Abrams and ThorkildHanghøj

Abstract

“Five [adolescent] youth hover around the Nintendo Switch to play a game about milking a cow. The smell of Doritos permeates the room...youth are sitting against the backwall, playing on a Switch. Two are playing; five are watching. Another runs over to watch. Approximately eight [additional] youth are watching game play on the large screen...AsI write this, the combination of players and observers shifts; someone stands, someone moves, someone crouches.” (Field notes, youth videogaming in a public library in the northeastern United States)“I think it all just depends on what type of game you play because some games could belike how to survive. You need to collect a certain amount of stuff to be able to do somethings. You have to figure out how much of it you need to be able to build all of these different things. Then some games, you just need to figure out how do I...what’s the secret way...to get through something to do it right and fast...There have been sometimes where I’m in a class, and we’ll be talking about something. I’ll think of a game I’ve played and like, ‘Yeah. This relates. This is similar to this.’ I like World War II games and World War games. Going to history, it [videogaming] helps me realize and know stuff that some other people don’t know” (Interview with Tervain,1 a high school student in the northeastern United States)“When you think of games, you don’t think of Danish [as a subject], you simply don’t” (Interview with Jasal, a secondary student in Denmark).”

Reference

Abrams, S. S., &; Hanghøj, T. (2022). Videogames in and beyond the L1 classroom. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.21248/l1esll.2022.22.2.433 https://l1research.org/article/view/433

Keyword

Videogames, classroom, players, student, youth, gaming, research