Computer Games in Language Instruction A computer game is a formal, rule-based system performed on a computer, with a variable and quantifiable outcome (Tobias, Fletcher, Dai, & Wind, 2011). The computer game engages players by requiring them to influence the outcome using various strategies and to feel the consequences (such as winning the game or certain rewards) (Tobias, et al., 2011). In the classroom, computer games can increase a feeling of involvement and engagement with the game and improve motivation to learn the fundamental material (Tobias, et al., 2011).
The history of computer games as an instructive tool is relatively short. The entry of computer games into learning and instruction began in the 1980s, when the design and construction of the games themselves was a popular way to learn about computers (Games & Squire, 2011). However, it was not until the 1990s that the computer game began to be a common tool for instruction. In the mid-1990s, commercial edutainment games were used commonly, and then they were disappeared in the mid-2000s due to the poor management of the sector’s leaders (Games & Squire, 2011). Nowadays, digital game-based learning, focusing on an emphasis of interaction and learning, is more common than only edutainment games (Games & Squire, 2011). Computer games have been used in language …show more content…
In game discourses, they include the process of language, rules, and strategies which are used while the students are learning and playing the game together with the language and narratives in the games’ stories. In addition, when students play the game, they can also take notes about new, fascinating, and vital things for them. Students might do the task about game discourses created by the teacher which focuses on specific items such as vocabulary, grammar, cultural narrative, or game