USING VIDEO GAMES AS AN
ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE
ENHANCEMENT TOOL
Research Conducted by:
Adrian Ver A. Hepolio
BSE-3A
INTRODUCTION
The Video Gaming scene in the Philippines became somewhat a cultural phenomenon for
most of the youth as to where some turn to them to acquire knowledge that was not learned in the
four sides of the classroom. There are lots of Genres of Video Games which people can immerse
themselves, from the classic RPGs (Role-Playing Game), Fighting Games such as the Street
Fighter franchise or Tekken, Competitive MOBAs (Massive Online Battle Arena), and Video
Games even tapped into the world of Storytelling in the form of Visual Novels where the player
controls a protagonist and chooses decisions that would shape the entire story of the game.
Video games shaped most of the youth in the Philippines even way back in the early 90's up to
now, however, as popular culture dictates, the Filipino youth has associated Video Games in just
one Genre that took the youth's interest and started to focus on just the mainstream games where
language acquisition deteriorated for it doesn't let the player to at least enhance their vocabularies
but instead just make them addicted to win and claim bragging rights. the Game Genre being
specified is the MOBA. Such MOBA games like DotA (Defense Of The Ancients) and LOL
(League of Legends) made the youth much more aggressive and less interested to learn other
things as they are being addicted to the genre's gameplay mechanics, although MOBAs have
technical and critical thinking involved in order to win or support the player's team mates, it
lacks a feature where the players' language acquisition would just be stuck at that game.
RPGs are games where the players take a role, journey through vast lands and explore in-game
lore where the players that truly immerse themselves in the game spend lot of time. Since the
gaming industry today realize that the trending genre of video games lately are “Open-World”
and “FPS (First-Person Shooting/Shooter)” games, some game developers are investing their
money on creating games incorporating the said genre.
The Philippines in particular, amasses an audience of gamers that like various genres, however,
the majority either plays MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) or
MOBAs which doesn’t normally focus on the language acquisition of their players. According to
Finnish Satu Eskelinen’s 2012 Thesis on “Applying Video Games in Language Learning and
Teaching”; “Games mainly using English is but a very popular medium that provides an
engaging opportunity for informal language learning outside formal education.
It is not
uncommon to hear from English teachers in Finland that their pupils, even at the age of 8 or 9
when they begin to study English at school, may know words they have not heard before”.
REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES
Video games as tools for foreign language learning and teaching
In a 2014 bachelor’s thesis of Ari-Pekka Väisänen entitled “Video games in language learning:
The way to the next level of language competence?”, that Video games can come as tools for
foreign language learning and teaching as he explains that; video games are such a large
phenomenon and a common hobby among many, the potential and possible benefits for language
learning and teaching should be assessed. In fact, recent years have seen a growing interest in
video games as tools for teaching and learning in general. This can mean both using games as
they are as a part of teaching and making use of different ideas related to game development in
teaching.
An excellent review of research, ideas and studies on the subject by Mitchell and Savill-Smith
(2004) goes through various topics, including the possible benefits of video games and their
existing uses in teaching. Some of the benefits they mention are the motivating nature of games
and the fact that they can reduce the load on the human instructor. As for existing uses of games
in teaching, they mention simulation games used for enhancing children’s spatial abilities and
administration skills for businessmen and strategy games for geography teaching (Mitchell and
Savill-Smith 2004).
Making hobbies viable language learning tools would be a great help in the concept of lifelong
learning, as hobbies take place mostly outside the school. Through hobbies, learning can
continue even after a person’s school education has ended. Hobbies are also good for implicit
learning due to the fact that they are most often taken part in for reasons other than learning.
Nevertheless, hobbies which provide significant language input can also benefit language
learning while mainly providing entertainment and a sense of accomplishment. This can be seen
in a study by Sundqvist (2009) as she found that Swedish ninth graders with more contact with
English outside of school scored better in oral proficiency and vocabulary than those with less
contact with English. It is therefore clear that exposure to a language outside of school definitely
helps in language learning.
Reinders (2012) argues that research into game-based language learning and teaching is still in
its infancy. As such, straightforward information on the benefits of video games as language
learning and teaching tools is not readily available. Still, some pioneers in the field, like Gee
(2003, 2007) argue that video games operate with good principles of learning and that they have
potential as language learning tools. According to Gee (2007), good games get people to learn
and to enjoy learning. In the context of games, learning the mechanics of the game is vital for the
player so that he or she can finish the game successfully. Games that do not require learning and
therefore are too easy do not hold the player’s interest for long. Therefore it could be argued that
good, commercially successful video games employ good principles of teaching. Some further
clues into the possible benefits of video games themselves as tools for language learning
specifically can be found in a study by Uuskoski (2011); Finnish high school students who spent
more hours per week playing video games had on average higher English grades than those who
spent less time playing video games.
Computer-assisted language learning (CALL)
Satu Eskelinen’s Thesis for the University of Jyväskylä, Department of Languages entitled
“Applying Video Games in Language Learning and Teaching; The learner perspective: a case
study”, the researcher explained the definition of CALL as being "any process in which a learner
uses a computer and, as a result, improves his or her language". This means using programs and
applications for language learning, which often have been fill-in-the-gap or multiple choice
exercices due to their applicability on computers. However, the definition of CALL includes all
kinds of software such as dictionaries, chat clients and also computer games. As CALL is still a
relatively young field of research, originating from the 1950-60's and behaviourist and
constructivist learning models (Beatty 2003: 16-36) and driven by rapid technological
innovations (Beatty 2003: 11), many areas are yet to be researched.
Whereas CALL research has long been directly compared with classroom teaching as a separate
method, CALL now complements traditional teaching as computers have become a firm part of
schools (Beatty 2003: 13-15). There have been attempts to include computer-based writing and
speaking activities in additional to traditional, easily realizable reading and listening exercises,
but different speech synthesis, voice recognition and artificial intelligence technologies have not
yet provided sufficient results (Beatty 2003: 12).
Games in learning curricular content
Additionally, Eskelinen explained that Non-educational games are not directed at learning a
certain skill, so their content is often very interdisciplinary. However, as using games in school
teaching is experimented, the content has to be directly related to the curriculum and the games
chosen accordingly, rather than choosing a good game in itself and learning whatever it has to
offer. In a survey sent to Finnish comprehensive school teachers (Klemetti, Taimisto and
Karppinen 2009: 100-101), mathematics was the top subject for the use of games (31%),
followed by Finnish (27%), natural sciences (20%), and on the fourth place were foreign
languages (19%). Surprisingly, despite the role of English in Finland especially in video games,
they are not used much in foreign language teaching. Even first and foreign language teaching
together do not surpass maths and natural sciences together. However, in a study (Wastiau,
Kearney, and Van den Berghe 2009: 40-42) of 8 European countries (Finland not included), the
use of games in teaching was most common in first and foreign language teaching with a portion
of 25%. After languages, games were used often in geography, maths and history lessons, then
followed by science and business studies. The role of games in first language teaching might be
more prominent in primary school than later on because of the availability of games that enhance
literacy skills, but these studies did not compare the use of games between first and foreign
languages.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This study seeks to identify as to how video games can become an alternative learning
tool. Specifically, it aimed to answer the following questions:
1. How does playing Video Games affect a person’s language acquisition and enhance their
vocabulary?
a. How does video games help improve linguistic skills and cognitive development?
b. Can video games help students provide in-context learning?
c. English Learning Games Make Studying Fun and Alleviate Stress?
2. What are the benefits of playing video games?
FINDINGS
In an online article that was posted on August 9, 2016, by the website englishclass101.com
entitled “3 Reasons Why Playing Games Helps You Learn English Faster”, they have conducted
a study on what are some benefits on playing video games and how can it improve a person’s
Language/Linguistic skills, some of their findings answered the questions:
1.How does playing Video Games affect a person’s language acquisition and enhance their
vocabulary?
a. Video Games Help Improve Linguistic Skills and Cognitive Development

Combined with a solid foundation in vocabulary and grammar, video games help
students improve reading, comprehension, and even speaking skills.
b. Learning Games/Video Games Provide In-Context Learning

Students naturally learn faster and comprehend more when they are forced to use
the information often and in real-world situations, even the fake ones created by
English learning games and video games.
c. English Learning Games Make Studying Fun and Alleviate Stress

Students often develop a great deal of Stress and anxiety due to Homework,
quizzes, and tests

Video Games alleviate stress, increase social engagement, and even help students
have fun while learning English or any new language.
2. What are the benefits of playing video games?

According to The Washington post, Video Games and learning games show
health benefits such as:
i. Help Reduce or Alleviate Symptoms of Depression
ii. Help Reduce or Alleviate Symptoms of Insomnia
iii. Help Alleviate Transitory Stress Symptoms
In addition to that, they also included that Scientists have also discovered that not only can you
learn English or any new language faster from playing video games; they can also provide a wide
range of potential health benefits as well.