{"title":"Using Assassin's Creed: Odyssey to teach Olympia as part of the Classical Civilisation A Level","authors":"Vlada Oulitskaia","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000400","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000400","url":null,"abstract":"This study looks at the effective use of <jats:italic>Assassin's Creed: Odyssey</jats:italic> to teach Greek Religion at A Level. A focus of this study is to identify good teaching practice in using this tool to improve source recall as well as pupils’ ability to use these sources to support evaluation. A recent blog post on <jats:italic>Quinquennium</jats:italic> highlighted the potential for this game to be used as a teaching tool (Hinde, 2019), while its educational potential has also been promoted by the developers releasing a <jats:italic>Discovery Tour</jats:italic> version as a ‘game mode for educational purposes’ which acts as a ‘living museum’ (Ubisoft, 2021). While the development of educational tools for this franchise is fairly recent, the use of video games in education is established, with games like <jats:italic>Oregon Trail</jats:italic> being used as early as the 1980s (Buday <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic>., 2012, 259). Moreover, the fundamental ideas behind the use of video games, such as the player engaging in some form of virtual dialogue with the creator, is one which can be traced back to Vygotsky's ideas of learning as a socio-cultural phenomenon (1978). For example, by reacting to stimuli in the game, the player is engaging in a dialogue with the historian or game developer who created the initial stimulus, after which the game responds in turn, thereby engaging with the player's actions. Furthermore, the idea of reward or punishment for certain actions within an educational game is also drawing on behaviourist theories of education, whereby a pupil is conditioned <jats:italic>via</jats:italic> in-game tokens for recall of knowledge. Indeed, this is one of the ways in which game developers encourage game addiction (Vu, 2017, 1).","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140839638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Telling Phaedrus' fables to children. A cruel language? A linguistic analysis in Italian books","authors":"Alberto Regagliolo","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000291","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000291","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Teaching classical culture to children can be done through literature and Phaedrus' fables. There are several books on the market that can be used to introduce Phaedrus' fables to children. However, in order to be suitable, the books should follow some requirements of appropriateness related to the use of the language and the values to be shared, among others. In this study, through the analysis of 12 Italian books on Phaedrus' fables for children, it will be analysed how the death of an animal is described through the use of verbs and structures. The research aims at making observations on how some books for children represent cruelty and the adoption of certain linguistic structures. The analysis shows, in the first place, that the authors never eliminate the death/killing of the animal; secondly, the verbs and expressions used are varied but, in most cases, cruel, and direct without making the death softer.</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140298884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Vocabulary acquisition in the language classroom: what it is, how it works, which strategies and approaches are suitable for Latin instruction","authors":"María Luisa Aguilar García","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000059","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper aims to guide the training of all Latin instructors and learners who want to optimise the process of acquiring the language by applying the results of research carried out in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), specifically here those related to the acquisition of vocabulary. Consequently, some theoretical considerations on the psycholinguistic operations that govern vocabulary learning are first offered, in order to build a better understanding of language acquisition and to make instructors and learners more knowledgeable about the vocabulary learning process, from the noticing of an unknown word and its integration into the subject's competence to the expansion and development of knowledge about the acquired words. The theoretical aspects of vocabulary learning will be illustrated at all times with practical examples taken from methods and books for learning Latin, as well as, in the fourth section, with a wide catalogue of practical advice – <span>must-do</span> items for the class – that can be easily implemented by Latin instructors.</p>","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140035087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Spelling Problem","authors":"Anthony F. Bainbridge","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000072","url":null,"abstract":"It is generally accepted by scholars that the songs of Homer were first written in ~ 700 BCE; the text seems to spring fully formed into a still illiterate world, demonstrating in a sophisticated vocabulary the first example of the use of a new alphabet. The language used is a never-spoken construct; its construction represents the first use of an alphabet enabling words to be written. This paper aims to open a discussion on the means by which spelling emerged, either democratically or as the work of one man.","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140019056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cambridge Latin Course: Book II (UK Fifth Edition) Cambridge School Classics Project, Pp. viii + 254, colour ills, colour maps. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023. Paper, £19.95. ISBN: 978-1-00-916268-5.","authors":"Chloë Barnett","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000084","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140089764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gaming the Past Using Video Games to Teach Secondary History (J.) McCall, Pp. 210, ills, Routledge, 2022. Paper, £29.59, ISBN: 978-1032223483","authors":"Timothy Adelani","doi":"10.1017/s2058631024000035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s2058631024000035","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140088204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"I think learning ancient Greek via video game is…’: An online survey to understand perceptions of Digital Game-Based Learning for ancient Greek","authors":"Irene Di Gioia","doi":"10.1017/s205863102400014x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s205863102400014x","url":null,"abstract":"Playing is connected at a deep level to how we learn, participate in and create culture, as it is dynamic, complex and even unpredictable just as learning is (Reinhardt, 2019). Even Plato in his <jats:italic>Theaetetus</jats:italic> recognises the importance of such a component in experiencing culture and knowledge. Could playing (or gaming) therefore be a useful didactical approach in promoting the study of ancient Greek around the world? From 10th May 2023 at 1 pm. until 1st June 2023 at 1 pm., an internet survey was conducted online by the researcher Irene Di Gioia through the use of Google Forms questionnaires. This questionnaire was distributed via different social networks and communication tools. The survey aimed to understand if people around the world are interested in the idea of learning ancient Greek via a video game and if so, which video gaming activities learners prefer. The goal of the survey was therefore to understand if a ludic pedagogical approach using Digital Game-Based Learning could theoretically represent an interest experience for learners or potential learners, and furthermore to investigate their feelings, prejudices, and motivations regarding the study of ancient Greek. From the analysed data the researcher will therefore develop a video game to teach ancient Greek language and culture, which comprises the focus of her ongoing PhD dissertation at Georg-August University of Göttingen (Germany) and Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna (Italy).","PeriodicalId":53809,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Classics Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140020159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}