Open Up

Conversations on Open Education for Language Learning

  • Home
  • About
  • Archive
  • COERLL website
    • About COERLL
    • COERLL Projects
    • COERLL Publications
    • COERLL Materials
    • COERLL Events
    • OER
      • OER Glossary
      • OER Intitiaves
      • COERLL OER Wiki
  • Donate to COERLL
  • Submissions
  • Contact Us

Using Game-Based Learning to Teach Cultural Content

March 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

Photo credit: Pixabay user TheAndrasBarta under a Pixabay license

Editor’s note: This post was first published in InterCom, a free, customized weekly newsletter, offered by the Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS). Thank you, CASLS, for giving us permission to re-publish!

In the earliest years of my career, I was often admonished to teach less culture, because “it’s not a history class!” Instinctively, I felt that cultural information was an excellent vehicle for teaching language in a solid, useful context. More recently, I have become interested in the application of game theory to language learning. I was especially interested in virtual reality platforms because of their potential for more authentic cultural experiences, but the available media were too cumbersome for the secondary classroom.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to attend the Games2Teach Collaboratory sponsored by the Center for Applied Second Language Studies and the Center for Open Educational Resources & Language Learning. When the presenters introduced escape room scenarios, cryptography, and puzzle building as teaching mechanisms, it was like the light went on. Within the workshop, another teacher and I began to develop a rough prototype for an escape room game. I used that framework to develop a game based on the witch trials of Zugarramurdi. This first one was extremely time consuming to develop, as I was still learning to build the codes and puzzles.

However, that first game was a tremendous success. My students loved it. I also invited several colleagues to play. I had them play in teams of four; both the students and the adults were completely engaged, and they retained the material well. The theory behind game-based learning, as presented in the workshop, suggests that when students manipulate the codes and puzzles to acquire the target information, the deductive reasoning (and even intuitive leaps to answers) required of them in the process significantly boosts retention by making the material more tangible and more valuable to the student.

I have since built a more challenging escape room scenario based on the relocation of Franco’s tomb and the associated political upheaval. The process of building the codes and puzzles was much quicker this time, because I had a better understanding of the mechanisms. The greatest challenge is choosing which pieces of information to target and build puzzles around; students need to manipulate codes, clues, and puzzles that will lead them to those specific constructs.

Application of game theory to the traditional classroom requires a fairly radical revision of how we address the material. The game drives students to collaborative and inquiry-based learning; it also encourages critical thinking, persistence, and some very real-world problem-solving skills. The feedback has been incredibly enthusiastic, and I will continue to build and incorporate these activities.

  • Read Shannon Hill’s classroom activity “Escape Room Games in the AP Spanish Classroom” on the CASLS InterCom website, in which students develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, communicate with their teammates in Spanish, and acquire and retain information related to the Basque witch trials of the 17th Century

Shannon L. Hill, M.A., is a teacher of high school Spanish, including AP Spanish Language and Culture, at The John Cooper School in The Woodlands, TX. Her career spans 28 years of teaching experience at both the high school and college levels.

Filed Under: Spanish, Technology-based language learning Tagged With: AP, Franco, Games2Teach, Spanish, Zugarramurdi

Find
Posts

Search by keywords

Popular categories

  • Badges
  • COERLL updates
  • Critical language study
  • Finding OER
  • Hybrid learning
  • Instructional Materials
  • Language Skills
  • Methods/Open educational practices (OEP)
  • MOOCs
  • OER initiatives
  • OER Research
  • Open education philosophy
  • Publishing OER
  • Remixing OER
  • Spanish
  • Teacher Development
  • Technology-based language learning
  • Uncategorized

Popular posts

  • 10 French Resources for Students Anywhere
  • BOLDD: At the Speed of Language
  • Re-Mixxer: Using French and German OER in The Mixxer
  • "We're Committed to Openness in Content Creation"
  • Activities for remote language teaching

Follow this
Blog

RSS Blog Feed
COERLL Facebook
COERLL Twitter

Subscribe2


 

Events

Upcoming COERLL events

    Join a Community of Open Language Educators!

    • Language OER Network
    • Heritage Spanish Community
    • Deutsch im Blick Facebook
    • Brazilpod Facebook

    Guest blog entries

    Submit a Topic

    Awarded Top 100 Language Learning Blog

    Awarded Top 100 Language Learning Blog

    Creative Commons License · COERLL · University of Texas at Austin

    We use cookies and external scripts to enhance your experience. By using this site you are accepting the use of such cookies.

    Privacy settings

    General cookie information

    This site uses cookies – small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping carts, and provide anonymized tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the About Cookies website which offers guidance for all modern browsers.

    Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit.

    Read the entire privacy policy.

    NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.

    Google Analytics cookies

    We use cookies to analyze our website traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from use of their services. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser. They make it possible for us to store your navigation habits, recognize your browser when you visit. It is possible to prevent cookies from being used in your browser by turning the feature off, but in order to make your experience better, your browser must be set to accept cookies.

    Powered by Cookie Information