Urban Explorations for language learning: a gamified approach to teaching Italian in a university...

Urban Explorations for language

learning: a gamified approach to

teaching Italian in a university context

Koula Charitonos

koula.charitonos@coventry.ac.uk

@koula_ch

EUROCALL 2016

24-27 August, Limassol, Cyprus

http://dmll.org.uk/

Lecturers

@Languages

Centre

Team

Tiziana Cervi-WilsonSen. Lecturer in Italian

Billy Brick Languages Centre Manager

Students

@CovUni

Tyrone Bellamy-Wood Games Technology BSc student

Gaetan van LeeuwenCreative Writing BA Student

Researchers

@DMLL

Sylvester Arnab Reader in Games Science

Research Assistants

Luca Morini Koula Charitonos

Motivation

Development

Pilot Study

Reflection

What’s next?

beyond the language classroom…

Source: http://www.coventry.ac.uk/Global/06%20Life%20on%20Campus%20section%20assets/Business%20School/swupl/classroom-286.jpg

Source: Holy Trinity parish church (left) and the tower and spire of St Michael's Cathedral (right) in central Coventry, England by G-Man / CC BY 2.0

cities and built environment provide

opportunities for language learning

situated experiences

observation skills

tailored-content

cultural encounters

interactions

Mobile learning

devices learnerlearning

experience

1. How can a pervasive approach to learning

using a location-based game support Italian

learners?

2. How can the use of a pervasive approach to

learning fit within the context of formal language

teaching and learning?

Research Questions

Arnab, S. et al. (2015). Towards the Blending of Digital and Physical Learning Contexts with a Gamified and

Pervasive Approach. Proceedings of Games and Learning Alliance (GALA) Conference, Rome, October 2015

Holistic and Modular Model

Motivation

Development

Pilot Study

Reflection

What’s next?

location-based game app

Intro to Tale Blazer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGiIlaGWAag

Characters

Location-based

Content

Italian Beginners add+vantage module (Level

A1)

Topics: yourself and others; work and family;

routines, free time, leisure activities; food and

drinks; Italian culture

Aspects of the language-in-focus are

introduced gradually e.g. Part 1 in English,

Part 2 in English with translation in Italian

Motivation

Development

Pilot Study

Reflection

What’s next?

Play-Test session

Participant Observation

Motivation

Development

Pilot Study

Reflection

What’s next?

Opportunities

“really interesting to learn this way rather

than being in classroom”

“I haven’t seen something like this

before, usually is only dictionaries…

This is more interactive instead of

sitting on a desk with a book”[engineering student]

“Interesting for beginners… an icebreaking activity, especially in the beginning of the academic year/studies when you know no one and you don’t talk to anyone in the class for the first 3-4 weeks”

“I didn’t know anything about the

[“Whitefriars Pub] and also the little

alley behind the cathedral”

“I like the history part, I don’t know much about history

of Coventry other than the cathedral being blown up”

P2: Is it just that? Is it just pronunciation of the letters?”

P1: They missed J and K.

P2: Does it exist in Italian? I don’t know. I don’t

remember… (she refers to an example: llunga)

P1: Unless this is the point of the alphabet to tell you that

these are not used!

[observation notes, 2 participants)

Challenges

Challenges

‘heads-down’ (Hsi, 2003)

Hsi, S. (2003) ‘A study of user experiences mediated by nomadic web content in a museum’, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19, 3, 308–319

prior-experiences

assessment

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable to sit an Italian exam just

by doing the app”

Feedback for app development

• Map

• Audio: Listening Italian music

• Video content: “more pics”

• Social aspects: “More opportunities for interactions”

• Content:

• “Instead of food right in the beginning of the

app, better to include some greetings “Hello,

how are you…?”

• Text:

• “Text is in English at all times”; “less reading”

Motivation

Development

Pilot Study

Reflection

What’s next?

Blind-test session

Induction week

e: koula.charitonos@coventry.ac.uk

@koula_ch

Tiziana Cervi-WilsonSen. Lecturer in Italian

Billy Brick Languages Centre Manager

Tyrone Bellamy-Wood Games Technology BSc student

Gaetan van LeeuwenCreative Writing BA Student

Sylvester Arnab Reader in Games Science

Research Assistants

Luca Morini Koula Charitonos

Get in touch with us…

#languagesmatter