Interaction games to boost students’ engagement in foreign language virtual exchanges: the case of virtual worlds and video-communication

Abstract

Game-based learning is gaining popularity in language education. For the present study, three games were developed with a central focus on intercultural interaction to be played internationally in dyads or small groups using Video-Communication (VC) tools or a Virtual World (VW). The interactions were carried out in Spanish as a Lingua Franca (LF) between 32 university students over a period of three weeks. Different sources of data were gathered in order to study how games, played in an intercultural setting in VWs and VC, influence or not key affective variables in language learning. Initial results of the final questionnaires show that the interaction games did boost students’ engagement in virtual exchanges, but results were more promising for the VC than the VW condition.