To what degree does digital game based learning affect the language acquisition of young EFL learners?

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KULTUR–SPRÅK– MEDIER

Självständigt arbete i Engelska och lärande

15 högskolepoäng, grundnivå

To what degree does digital game based learning affect

the language acquisition of young EFL learners?

Hur kan lärande som baseras på digitala spel påverka elevers förmåga att

lära sig språk inom engelskämnet?

Irma Mehmedovic

Izabella Karlsson

Grundlärarexamen med inriktning mot arbete i årskurs 4-6, 240 högskolepoäng Självständigt arbete 15 Högskolepoäng

Examinator:Damon Tutunjian

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Abstract

In the current study, we synthesize recent research on digital game-based learning and its potential effect on the speaking and interaction skills of young learners of English as a second language. Various relevant studies enlisting different methodologies are reviewed to

determine how digital games affect speaking and interaction skills and the role of motivation in the process. A common conclusion from the reviewed results is that digital games motivate learners to develop their speaking and interaction skills. In addition, the studies reveal that learners who play digital games tend to have a higher level of proficiency.

Key words: Digital game-based learning, speaking and interaction skills, young efl

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1. Introduction

Digital games are becoming a more prominent part of our society. Amongst the population there is one age group where the interest for digital games is particularly high. This would be youngsters from ages 10-18 (SCB, 2015). This is an aspect of interest since this essay focuses on young learners, and the authors of this essay are aspiring teachers. There is some concern about whether kids are spending too much time playing video games and discussions tend to get heated when this issue is debated. This does raise the question if there is something to gain from video games apart from entertainment.

The authors of this research synthesis have both been taking part in both internships and jobs taking place at schools. While doing this, both parties have observed that young learners who play games tend to have an advantage when learning English as a second language. When it comes to vocal communication, e.g. speaking and interaction skills, these learners excel in comparison to their peers who do not take part in digital games. However, these young learners usually find writing to be the harder part of language learning. Another thing that has been observed is that the usage of extramural activities, particularly in the gaming sense, is highly limited in the classrooms of today. Digital games, which will be defined later on in this essay, are generally not considered to be a proper way of learning language.

In order to delve into this properly, one has to review the research that has been done as well as relevant theories and approaches that are available already. Two approaches that have been of great use would be Second Language Acquisition (SLA) along with Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), concepts that has been brought to light by Krashen (SLA) and Nunan (CLT) (Kraschen, 1985; Nunan, 1991). The first approach (SLA) discusses the idea that when the learners have to learn something, they need to get a chance to expose the target language in various ways. Learning a language could not only work by listening to it. The other approach (CLT) focuses on the interaction between individuals where

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authentic interaction is the main focus. Both of these theories will be explained in further detail and reviewed in the theoretical background.

It is stated in the syllabus for English that various media where using clearly spoken English should be used in the classroom (Skolverket, 2011). Digital games could provide this for the pupils, as well as motivation for learning. As well as this, the pupils should be able to get to use the knowledge and interests they have themselves outside of school, which is another way to potentially bring in games into the classroom. (Skolverket, 2011)

In the general opening to the policy for the Swedish primary school system, there is a statement regarding the mission of the Swedish school. A part of this mission is to aid pupils in their use of digital technology. Teachers are to provide the pupils with tools to understand the various ways technology affects the individual and society, as well as provide the pupils with opportunities to use digital technology. All in all, teachers are supposed to aid the pupils with their progression regarding their digital competence, a goal that could be achieved by using different forms of digital media such as digital games for instance (Skolverket, 2011). Computer assisted language learning (CALL) is a concept that address the need for scaffolding in the classroom for the pupils who might need it, along with the entire class (Son, 2014).

In this research synthesis there will be some key terms that are going to be used frequently throughout the text. One of these terms would be digital games. When these phrases are used, they refer to the phenomena that are also known as “video games” or “computer games”. Another key phrase that is going to be used is speaking and interaction skills. This phrase is referring to the ability to speak. EFL learners is another key term that should be defined. This abbreviation regards English as a Foreign Language. Hence this phrase refers to young learners with English as a foreign language as opposed to English as a native language, or as a foreign language.

According to both the Swedish syllabus as well as the current leading school of thought in educational practices, the pupils’ experiences from their lives are to be considered as valuable resources in the classrooms today (Skolverket, 2011; Gibbons, 2014). Teachers are supposed to take their pupils interests and backgrounds into consideration when planning activities to

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do, communicating with the pupils and also when the teacher is providing the pupils with scaffolding (Gibbons, 2014). The Swedish board of education has demands regarding core content that should be brought up, as well as demands on digital competence. Digital games have the potential to aid the teacher and the pupils to reach these demands. The teacher gets to include issues and phenomena that the pupils already are familiar with and the pupils could become motivated to learn more. Once again CALL could be enlisted in aiding the teacher further with this task. CALL promotes using digital tools in the classroom as various forms of scaffolding for the class and CALL is heavily centred on using materials made for the pupils with their own needs and interests in mind (Son, 2014).

In order to find a conclusion in this matter of whether digital games could be helpful or a mere hindrance in learning a language, there needs to be a review of the research that has been conducted on this issue. This synthesis aims to look into current research and reach a conclusion on whether digital games are helpful or not when one is learning a language.

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2. Purpose

2.1 Statement of purpose

The purpose of this research synthesis is to examine the ways digital games could be used as a tool for young learners to learn a language and acquire all the necessary aspects of the language in question. The targeted group for this is pupils with English as a foreign language. In order for a conclusion to be drawn in this matter, there is going to be an analysis and comparison done by the findings present in relevant research. The hypothesis guiding this essay is that digital games have a positive effect on developing the speaking and interaction skills.

2.2 Research question

Our research question is as follows: To what degree does digital game-based learning affect the language acquisition of EFL learnersoutside the classroom?

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3. Theoretical background

In the literature review, the key terms, relevant theories and important concepts will be defined and discussed in order to create a better understanding throughout the text to make it more comprehensive. Since this essay aims to investigate the effect of digital games has on speaking and interaction skills among young learners, it is vital to understand what these concepts are. Along with this, three theories have been selected due to their relevance with the subject and purpose of this essay.

3.1 Online Digital games and English

What are digital games? More specifically, what is meant by the term digital games when it is used in this essay? One could continue by stating that digital games should be defined as follows “games played on computers as well as games played on game platforms are played by choice and at the individual’s own initiative” (Sylven and Sundquist, 2012,).

Moving on to a brief explanation of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) (Zheng, Bischoff, Gilliland, 2015). A MMORPG is a game where there are a massive number of players playing the same game at the same time online, and that the game itself is concerning a role-playing aspect. One example of a MMORPG would be the game called World of Warcraft, where the player creates a fantasy character and gets various assignments to complete. This is all taking place in a fictive online world where everyone else who is playing the game at the same time is also running around to do these quests. Thousands of players could be playing at the same time.

The reason that this game is brought up, is due to the presence of the English language. All of the interface present in the game is in English, the dialogue provided in the game among the characters is all in English, and the players communicate in English as well. This is presumably due to the fact that World of Warcraft is an international hit, meaning that there are players all over the world playing this game. In order for everyone to be able to part-take in this, English is used to prevent any language barriers. There are many other games where communication in English is taking place as well. English ends up being the lingua franca, which in this case is when people with different native languages needs to communicate and English is the one language they have in common (McKay, 2018).

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3.2 EFL

EFL is the abbreviation for English as a Foreign Language, which is the concept of learning English as a foreign language rather than be a native speaker or have English as a second Language. The difference between English as a foreign language and English as a second language is often the subject of discussion since they seem to be rather similar. Essentially ESL is used in countries where the native language is English such as The United Kingdom, and the citizens who do not have English as their native language get to learn English. English as a foreign language on the other is used in countries where English is not the native language, such as Sweden for instance (Wright, 2010).

3.3 CLT

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is a theory and approach which stresses the communicative aspect of teaching. This theory is considered relevant since a great deal of the principles included in this theory are applicable to the teaching profession. This theory deals with how learners learn a language, the various roles of teachers, and learners in the classroom as well the kinds of classroom activities that best promotes learning (Richards, 2006). Nunan (1991) presents the basic CLT approach. One essential part of this theory regards interaction between individuals, more specifically authentic interaction. Authentic interaction is defined as the kind of interaction where the purpose of the interaction and the target for the material used is not based in language learning but rather based on real interactions. This means that rather than focus on the grammar aspects of language learning, communication is key.

According to Nunan (1991), the teacher should consider involving authentic interactions in classrooms and choose to not focus on the correct formula. Savignon (1997) states that the most important aspect for the teacher to keep in mind whenever the teacher decides to use CLT approach in the classroom, is to keep learners active and have various teaching processes going on. Some of the tasks should be more focused on making the students interact with each other as well as making sure that the learners know what is going on.The pupils could talk about what kind of experience they have from each subject, what they did during the weekend, or other topics that they get to choose for themselves. It is also important

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that the kind of communication taking place is based on the learners’ own experiences rather than material that the teacher has prepared. This is essential since this provides the learners with an authentic learning environment where learners get to take part in authentic interaction. This in turn provides the learners with the right tools and strategies to be able to deal with and use the language in contexts outside of school. In addition, the learners become more confident and motivated when they are able to use their own experience since they know what they are talking about. As Nunan (1991) observes, these changes arise from learners making use of real-life situations and engaging in real-life interaction.

These principles are widely accepted within the teaching community; however, while this is all simple enough, there are various ways to interpret and use this theory. Researchers Burns and Richards (2012) state that in order for the communication used to be profitable when it comes to language learning, there are some characteristics of communication on its own that one have to consider and implement. The communication taking place has to be relevant for the learners, meaningful and also engaging. What this means is that the communication has to make sense to the learners, and also delve into matters that the learners find interesting and can relate to. Their own experiences have to be involved and taken into consideration when one is formatting the teaching process in order for the learning process taking place to be meaningful. This is highly important since this motivates the learners, and it will likely have more positive outcomes on the learning process taking place in the classroom (Burns and Richards, 2012).

3.4 SLA

CLT has helped shape other theories as well, including Krashen’s (1985) Theory of Second Language Acquisition. Krashen presents the idea that in order for the learner to learn a language, they need to be exposed to the target language in more ways than one, i.e., language cannot be fully learned by just having listened to the language.

Essentially in order to help learners develop their language skills and make sure that they will be able to acquire a second language, the educator needs to make sure that the learning environment is challenging enough. Krashen’s theory consists of five

hypotheses: the acquisition-learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis, the input hypothesis and the affective filter hypothesis. The only hypothesis

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that is to be discussed in this essay is the input hypothesis. This hypothesis aims to explain how a second language is acquired, which is why it has been chosen to be included.

Krashen claims that in order for the learner to be able to acquire the target language, the learner needs input that is one level higher than their own current linguistic competence. According to Keating (2015) if the learner is exposed to this kind of input, their learning process will continue in a natural order and provide the learner with more competence. The role of the teacher in this is to provide such input, and this input could take many forms. It could be the material used in the classroom, such as a bit more complicated books or exercises that challenge the learners (Keating, 2015). This theory is highly relevant, and is generally accepted with its implications; however, it is not sufficient on its own to explain every single layer that there is to language learning. This is why one should consider both SLA theory and CLT theory when one is regarding this matter (Krashen, 1985; Keating, 2015).

3.5 Sociocultural learning

The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky was a pioneer of the sociocultural perspective on learning and it was Vygotsky's perception of human development and learning that created this perspective (Vygotsky, 1978). Vygotsky’s perspective could be described as being about the individuals’ development and how it is seen as a result of the individuals social, historical and cultural experience (Gibbons, 2014). Everything that pupils learn, they learn in social context when the language is in focus. Therefore, it becomes the teacher’s responsibility to make sure that the pupils get access to the appropriate knowledge and also the process of this knowledge (Säljö, 2014). If you are looking at the learning from a sociocultural perspective, interaction and dialogue is the center of the learning process. According to Vygotskij (1978), the learning process starts when the pupils is interacting with another pupil. Interaction helps the pupils learn in authentic learning environments and provides the pupils with opportunities to use their own experience. When the interaction has occurred, the information is now on the individual level (Gibbons, 2014).

3.6 Digital games and speaking and the interaction in

the Swedish curriculum

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In the Swedish curriculum, one will find the entire syllabus for English, and the core content that should be included. The syllabus clearly states that one should consider topics that are relevant to the class and include matters that they already know about and have some sort of experience of. This is expressed in several points in the syllabus, both when it comes to communication and producing content (Skolverket, 2011). This does enable the use of digital games when teaching English, since this is something that the pupils know about already and usually find interesting. Along with this, the syllabus also points out that various media using clearly spoken English should be used, which is another way to include digital games and make use of its profitable aspects.

As if this was not enough, Skolverket (2011) also states that by the end of year six pupils should be able to understand the essential parts of spoken content as long as the content is presented in a calm matter. This is all clearly focused on listening skills, so what about speaking skills? By the end of year six, the pupil is also expected to be able to make themselves understood using sentences and phrases vocally while interacting, and be able to comment on and take part in contexts where English is used, and be able to compare and contrast their own experiences to what they are being exposed to.

Both of these points are essential when it comes to being able to understand and make oneself understood in the English language. Both of these are also factors in digital games when it comes to communication, something that is crucial when playing multiplayer games (Skolverket, 2011). Along with this one has to consider how to incorporate digital tools and how to help the pupils learn in the most natural way possible. This is also presented in the curriculum provided by Skolverket, and here is what they are saying about these matters. In the section regarding core values and general aims for the Swedish schools, it is described what pupils should be able to do, and here follows a passage about the importance of including digital tools

Pupils should be able to find their way around and act in a complex reality with a vast information flow, increased digitalisation and a rapid pace of change. It is therefore important to have the ability to study and methods to acquire and use new knowledge. It is also necessary for pupils to develop their ability to critically review information, facts and relationships, and to be aware of the consequences of different alternatives (Skolverket, 2011. p 7).

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All pupils should be given the opportunity to develop their ability to use digital technology. They should also be given the opportunity to develop a critical, responsible attitude towards digital technology, so that they can see opportunities and understand risks, and also be able to evaluate information. The educational programme should thus provide pupils with conditions to develop digital competence and an attitude that promotes entrepreneurship (Skolverket, 2011. p 8).

Regarding the concept of learning in a natural way, the bord of education states that “Teaching should be adapted to each pupil’s circumstances and needs. It should promote the pupils’ further learning and acquisition of knowledge based on pupils’ backgrounds, earlier experience, language and knowledge.” (Skolverket, 2011. p 6) This promotes teaching pupils using their own experience to create an authentic learning environment. Along with this one also has to consider CALL, computer assisted language learning is a concept that is heavily supported in the policy provided by Skolverket. As we previously mentioned teachers are supposed to develop the pupils’ digital competence, something that is essential in preparing the pupils for their future. CALL comes in handy when this is regarded, and it is important that teachers in general know about CALL and how to use it. CALL is generally focused on scaffolding pupils individually by providing them with digital material the pupils can relate to. CALL could be used as a tool for pupils who need additional support, but also as a tool to repeat content or concepts that the class has already worked with (Son, 2014). CALL can be used in many ways, and digital games can be considered one of many tools to implement this way of teaching.

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4. Method

4.1 Search process

To find relevant sources for this research synthesis, we chose to mainly use platforms such as Education Resources Information Clearinghouse (ERIC), Linguistics and Language

Behaviour Abstracts (LLBA) and Libris. This was done to aid in our search for relevant research on our chosen topic. In the beginning we considered using other databases such as google scholar, but we quickly realized that staying with ERIC, LLBA and Libris would help us stay in our lane as well as help us narrow down the massive stream of information that is out there. The key terms as well as the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be presented and discussed in greater detail further down, as well as our inclusion and exclusion criteria.

After we had initiated the search in our selected databases we choose to use the following words for the research in those databases: “speaking skills”, “digital games” “young ESL learners”, “young EFL learners”, “second language”, “Foreign language”, “elementary school” and “primary school”. We ended up deciding to go for the most recent research, since our topic relating to digital games is a relatively new concept. We also decided to make sure that the articles had been peer reviewed to make sure that the articles we got would be valid and reliable. Our initial search consisted of the key words digital games and young learners, which gave us roughly 400 results. This search was done to see if there was any relevant research at all. After perfecting the research question and identifying our previously

mentioned keywords, we ended up with 107 articles. Following this part, we read the abstract of 30 articles to decide if we would be able to use the article for our research synthesis or not. From these 30, we picked out ten articles that seemed relevant and we ignored articles with titles that were obviously irrelevant. We ended up including five studies in this paper since these five articles proved to be most relevant for our cause.

4.2. Inclusion

We choose to use articles that were primarily connected to primary/elementary school where English is taught. This was done because those are the years we are aiming to teach in. We also included articles that discussed or made use of digital games in any sense, since we want to see if there is a link. Another thing that was considered when picking the articles were that we made sure to include studies where the researchers actually did some research. There is

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one exception, and that is the study by Reinders and Benson (2017) where they suggest an agenda and how one should conduct research on the topic. This was included because it deals with what one should consider when working with activities that occur out of school which is something that is relevant to this essay.

4.3 Exclusion

We excluded articles that were older than 10 years since both technology and digital games have developed immensely since then and we wanted to make sure that our synthesis would be as up to date as possible. We started by excluded articles in which the participants were older than the targeted population, but we quickly found that the results presented while doing that were insufficient for this text. Articles that had not been peer-reviewed were also excluded. Initially we also excluded articles that dealt with age groups that were older than our target group of young learners aged 9-12, but this changed along the way. In order for us to find and use relevant research we ended up including the study by Ryu (2013) where the participants were aged 22-37. This was done because everyone taking part had been playing the game in question, Civilization, for at least 6 years. This makes the youngest participant 16 at most when they started playing, which still does count as a young learner.

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5. Results

In this section, the 5 studies found in the databases will be presented. Each study will be reviewed and the methods along with the findings made by the researchers will be explained. The findings will be discussed in greater detail later in the discussion.

Sylvén and Sundqvist (2012) conducted a study where the focus is on the correlation between playing digital games and incidental as well as informal L2 English learning. They conducted a study with the aim to investigate how much time the learners spend on gaming outside the school. In this study the researchers chose to pick participants within the age range 11- 12 years old. These were picked from six classes and four different schools. There were 39 boys and 47 girls taking part in the study. For data-collection, the researchers used questionnaires and diaries where learners could fill in the activities that they participate in and how much time they spent on each extramural English activity. These questionnaires and diaries also aimed to provide Sylvén and Sundqvist with background information on the participants such as their native language and their confidence regarding English. The EE activities listed were reading books, reading newspapers, watching TV, watching films, playing digital games, using the internet and listen to music. The researchers also did a vocabulary test where they divided this text into three parts on different levels.

For the analysis, the authors investigated whether gender affected gaming outside of school. The results showed that the boys in the study preferred playing multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) and that the girls would opt for the traditional single player such as The Sims, which is an offline single and very much a single player game. It was also found that those students who play digital games frequently got higher scores in both reading and comprehension skills on national tests. Sylvén and Sundqvist (2012) argue that this indicates that the phenomena the authors of this essay have seen out in the classrooms today could be true, and that digital games has a positive effect when it comes to reading and comprehending English.

Jensen (2017) conducted research on what activities young Danish learners take part in during their free time, how much time they spend on these activities and if there is a difference in proficiency between those who take part in gaming activities and those who do not. Jensen picked 144 participants who had been learning English for about a year before

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taking part in this research, aged 8-10 years old. Out of these 144, 107 ended up taking part in the study and the results are based on these participants. The participants completed a Peabody picture test (PPVT test), a test created by Dunn & Dunn (2007). In the test the participants hear a word and get to choose one out of four pictures that they think resembles the word they heard. They did this test twice, once before the project started and once after the project, with roughly a year in between these two times. After the first test, the participants were tasked with keeping a diary of the activities they took part in during their free time in which they were exposed to English in any form; this could be written, spoken or both forms with or without Danish as a form of support. The participants got to choose from listening to music, reading books/magazines/webpages, speaking in English, writing, “other,” watching television/YouTube/Internet and gaming. As they also completed the second PPVT, Jensen was able to compare the results from the previous test and determine if there was any correlation between the activities picked and how the participants performed. Jensen identified a clear connection between taking part in gaming activities and developing their vocabulary. Jensen states that this is due to the fact that a gamer is highly motivated to understand new words since this allows the gamer to get further in the game that is played. Another interesting finding is that the participants who took part in gaming the most tended to spend more time each week (645 minutes) on this activity then the ones who took part in Youtube and other web-based services (552 minutes).

Ryu (2013) aimed to find out how non-native English speaking (NNE) game players could develop English through gameplay as well as beyond- game culture. The participants were selected from a web page called Civfanatics.com, a website created by and for the fans of MMOG Civilization. The criteria for being able to take part in this study were that English was not their first language, that one should be interested in language learning, and that one would be available during the study. Initially, Ryu found eleven potential participants, but after closer revision there ended up being six participants. Ryu notes that this sample is small and in no way representative of the entire gaming community in any sense, but that the small sample could provide more in-depth knowledge of their language development. Worth noting is that the sample used in this study were all male, and aged 22-37, and that all participants had been playing Civilization for at least 6 years. All participants were also residents in Europe.

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Ryu (2013) collected data relating to the participants language habits and their participation in English learning. This was done by observing the participants behaviour and

communication taking place in the enlisted online forum, as well as by using interviews with the participants by using email. Ryu chose to this by email due to the geographical

differences found in the sample. He found that the participants either learned English by playing civilization, or that they learned English to improve their gameplay. I an interview with one of the participants, the participant states that English is not their first language, and playing this game in English really has helped their learning process with learning English over the years.

Another thing that is noted is that the participants tended to learn words relating to history and geography, which was not surprising since the game itself is about these two subjects. It was however stated by another participant that those words were repeated throughout the game, which in turn helped the participant to learn the words necessary for winning game. Regarding whether taking part in the forums helped their English development, one participant stated that if one would consider all the 500 posts they had posted, that would add up to hundreds of A4 pages. According to Rue (2013) , this is probably where they have written the most during the years, and that learning English might not have been the prior goal, but that it had been a welcome bonus while being active in the community.

Reinders and Benson (2017) aimed to create a research agenda regarding in what way learners acquire language outside the classroom, more specifically aimed at online media, communication and traveling in some cases. First of all, they stated that there is a lack of research in this area which in turn prompted them to conduct this agenda in the first place, as a suggestion to how one should attempt this kind of research. They divided the agenda into several parts referred to as research tasks. One thing Reinders and Benson promptly pointed out was that the first thing one should do is to document all resources of learning beyond the classroom (LBC) that the group being researched have access to, and use.

Another key element they suggest is to do a critical analysis of the activity taking place in order to be able to use this piece of information later when one is implementing LBC. They also suggest doing a case study, analysing the social patterns taking place in the

communicative aspects of LBC as well as ending the agenda with their key point. This is to conduct a so-called action research project in which one creates a programme or initiative

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where the focus is on LBC and what the learners gather in their learning process as well as how they can use what they learn in their own local environment(Reinders and Benson, 2017). Worth noting is that this study is not of the empirical kind, but ended up being included in this synthesis due to other factors such as relevance to the topic and providing ideas for how to research and investigate this matter further. This will be brought up in the discussion.

Zheng, Bischoff, Gilliand (2015) used the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft (WOW) as a tool for researching in what way language learners’ appropriate words they come across while taking part in such games. The participants were two people, one native speaker of English who also knew the basics of the game rather well, and another one who was not a native speaker but rather an EFL who had not played WOW prior to this study. The researchers opted for observing a 2-hour long gaming session in which the subject who has not played WOW before end up playing the game. Both of the participants played the game, and they communicated during the gameplay as well. The researchers state that while 2 hours is not enough to generalise and draw conclusions from this in regard to the entire gaming population, but that it is enough to observe and consider what kind of language the players encounter while playing.

Zheng et al. (2015) were able to conduct a thorough analysis of the gathered data from these 2 hours since the player managed to complete 12 quests and 24 communicative projects as well. They concluded that the player who played the game for the first time had picked up many new words along the gameplay with the native speaker. The new words were specific to the game genre, but the researchers note that despite this being the case, one could consider this game experience to be one of many useful contexts for language learning.

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6. Discussion

The purpose of this part of the synthesis is to discuss the findings, to connect them to the theories that were previously presented, to reach a conclusion in the matter, and see if there is a clear answer to the research question. There will also be a discussion regarding what the Swedish board of education says about language learning, digital competence and how it can be connected to the various studies and theories in question.

First of all, Jensen’s (2017), Sundquist and Sylvéns’ (2012), and Ryu’s (2013) research have a clear connection to CLT in the sense that they all deal with authentic interaction. The activities used in these studies are all based on digital games being played in the participants own home with other real players. Ryu’s research is particularly interesting since the researchers observed real communication and interaction between players in their forums, a place which usually is for members only. The learning process of the participants in Ryu’s study is not investigated, but one can assume from the results and the answers provided by the participants that the game has helped improve their English. One participant stated that they had written more in the different boards in the forums over the years than they ever had done in school (Ryu, 2013). This can be attributed to the motivational factor which is described by Bavi as highly essential when one is learning a language (Bavi, 2018). Jensen (2017) as well as Sundqvist and Sylvén (2012) planned their studies so that the activities, such as playing games for instance, took place in the participants’ homes. The data collection was done using tests constructed by the researchers themselves. Sundqvist and Sylvén also used diaries kept by the participants, but one could argue that they are not as authentic as the gameplay the learners took part in since they knew that the diaries were to be read and analysed by the researchers themselves at some point. Both studies made use of games and the authentic communication these games provided for the pupils (Jensen, 2017; Sylvén and Sundqvist, 2012).

The research agenda provided by Reinders and Benson (2017) as well as the study conducted by Zheng et al. (2015) can both be related to SLA theory. This is especially true for the study by Zheng et al. as their participants were of different linguistic backgrounds. The participant who was not a native speaker is the one of interest in this regard. This person was provided with input from both a game with new words, as well as from a native speaker. This helped the participant to learn new words and how to place them in similar contexts since they got

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exposed to a level of English which was higher than their current level of knowledge in the language. If SLA is applied to this, that would mean that this experience will make sure that the participant’s learning process were to develop even after the study was completed (Krashen, 1985). This is due to the fact that the participant had the opportunity to learn new words and place them in certain contexts, which is an ability that the participant probably has made use of in other contexts than this study. One example would be that the participant has an expanded vocabulary after the study, making it easier for this person to communicate with others who also speaks English (Zheng et al., 2015).

The next thing that should be discussed is what part the national curriculum and the teacher has in all this language learning. The syllabus for English clearly states that the pupils should be able to express themselves in various contexts using different linguistic strategies. Additionally, the pupils are to be presented with opportunities to, and learn how to make use of various digital tools. Digital games provide the pupils with the right prerequisites to do this. They are presented with various new contexts to take part in and also new opportunities to express themselves. Their digital competence is developed in the sense that they get to use various forms of technology to take part in digital games (Skolverket, 2011). Using digital games as a tool for learning English in particular is something that one should absolutely consider. Looking at all the research presented in this essay, it is hard to neglect the positive impact digital games seems to have on language learning. Because of this, digital games should not be discarded as a mere form of entertainment but rather be considered as a useful tool for both the teacher and the pupil. It is a challenge to implement digital games in the classroom but if it is done right it could be very helpful, especially for those pupils who struggle with learning.

As well as that, this is also very much in accordance with Vygotsky’s beliefs of the socio-cultural classroom which is where the pupils get to use their own experiences and

communication to learn and develop their language skills in this case (Vygotsky, 1978). As a teacher it is not exactly ideal to use the kinds of digital games presented in this essay in the classroom during lessons per say, but that does not mean that the impact these games have should be neglected. Perhaps the teacher could use other digital games to provide motivation for the pupils in which there are opportunities for pupils to learn and communicate. The teacher could also provide the pupils with situations in the classroom where they get to use words they have learned from the games they play. The teacher could also simply make sure

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that the pupils get the opportunity to talk about the games they play with each other in English inside the classroom (Gibbons, 2014).

If one is to regard digital games as a motivational factor and how that impacts pupils' learning process, one should look at the four empirical studies presented in this synthesis. Jensen (2017) as well as Sylvén and Sundqvist (2012) concluded that the participants who played digital games had learned more new words and got better test results than the ones who did not. In some cases, the participants who played games had also spent more time on that activity than the ones who only had listened to music and such. This implies that if pupils are presented with something they enjoy and want to spend time doing, they will learn more from it, which is supported by Dörnyei’s theory on motivation and how important it is for the learning of young learners (Dörnyei, 2010). Zheng et al.’s (2015) as well as Ryu (2013) research can also be connected to the motivational factor in the sense that the games they deal with are fun for the participants. This motivates them to learn from the games they play to advance in the games (Zheng et al., 2015; Ryu, 2013)

To properly consider how all this is relevant to the teaching profession, one has to see the connection between the theories, the studies and the policies provided by the board of education all together. The use of digital media is promoted in the national curriculum, and digital games is one form of media (Skolverket, 2011). The research presented in this essay seems to have a shared conclusion which is that digital games tend to promote language learning due to several factors. As a teacher in Sweden, this means that there is research supporting the choice to incorporate digital games into the lesson plans as well as support for it in the current policies provided by the board of education. The teacher needs to be prepared to do this and have knowledge of how to do this properly and how to scaffold the pupils when this is used in the classroom.

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7. Conclusion

How does digital game-based learning affect the language acquisition of EFL learners outside the classroom? All studies used in this research synthesis do share the consensus that digital games has a positive effect on the learning process of the players. All though, all researchers also agree that there needs to be more research done on this topic in order to get real results that could be used to draw proper conclusions in the matter. The research agenda provided by Reinders and Benson (2017) presents ways to conduct research on the matter and how to properly investigate the connection between language learning and digital games use in the long-term.

If one looks at the theory regarding language learning, both CLT and SLA do support the idea that digital games can be useful. Starting with CLT where the focus lies on communication in authentic contexts, playing a multiplayer game is an authentic context. There are no controlled variables, and the gaming experience mostly takes at home and not in the classroom. This means that the pupil’s own experiences come into play, which also makes the context more authentic. Moving on to SLA, where the focus lies on making sure that the pupil is exposed to the target language (English in this case) in more ways than one. In order for the learner to do this, the level of input needs to be higher than the one that the learner already has acquired (Kraschen 1985). When the pupils play their games, they are being exposed to a higher level of English. Both from the game itself, but also from the other players who have English as their native language.

In conclusion; all theories support the idea that digital-game based learning should have a positive impact on how one learns English, the studies out there dealing with this subject are carefully optimistic about his as well, and the results they got prove this. However, in order to be able to fully answer the question and get a more specific answer regarding the impact on language acquisition of young learners, there needs to be more research conducted. More specifically, research that takes place over longer periods of time than the studies present right now have been conducted. As well as this, there needs to be more research on younger learners playing digital games.

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