Game-Based Learning: A Practical Case with the Video Game Beholder in the B2.1 Russian Language Classroom
Angela Espinosa Ruiz
University of WarsawAbstract
This paper examines a didactic intervention addressing deficiencies in the traditional methodology used for teaching Russian as a second language at the Spanish Official School of Languages (Escuela Oficial de Idiomas). The intervention aimed to enhance student motivation by incorporating game-based learning, specifically using the video game Beholder (2016) to improve oral and written communication skills. The intervention targeted the B2.1 Russian language study group, focusing on natural (native) bureaucratic texts. Activities and tasks, including a final practical exercise, were designed to improve situational linguistic-communicative functions. The results showed increased motivation, confidence, and practical skills, verified through initial and final vocabulary tests, a self-evaluation rubric, and final student interviews. The paper also suggests improvements for future applications of game-based learning.Keywords:
Russian as a foreign language, game-based learning, communicative method, class intervention, adult learnersReferences
Balyhina T.M., Ûrkov E.E., El′nikova S.I., Lazareva O.A., Rossiĭskaâ gosudarstvennaâ sistema testirovaniâ po russkomu âzyku kak inostrannomu (TRKI/TORFL), Sankt-Peterburg 2011.
Council of Europe, Marco común europeo de referencia para las lengua, Consejo de Europa, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte/Instituto Cervantes, Strasbourg 2002.
Dewaele J.M., Petrides K.V., Furnham A., Effects of Trait Emotional Intelligence and Sociobiographical Variables on Communicative Anxiety and Foreign Language Anxiety Among Adult Multilinguals: A Review and Empirical Investigation, “Language learning” 2008, 58 (4), pp. 911–960.
Djalmatova Z.D., Specificity of Learning Russian as a Foreign Language, “Aktual′noe v filologii” 2021, 3 (3), pp. 359–364.
Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Málaga, Proyecto Educativo, Junta de Andalucía, Málaga 2020.
Johnson L., Becker S., Estrada V., Freeman A., NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Higher Education Edition. Austin: The New Media Consortium, Austin 2014, [online], http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2014-nmc-horizon-report-he-EN-SC.pdf [accessed: 30.06.2024].
Junta de Andalucía, Decreto 239/2007, de 4 de septiembre, por el que se establece la ordenación y currículo de las enseñanzas de idiomas de régimen especial en Andalucía. Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía, Sevilla 2007 [online], https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/boja/2007/182/4 [accessed: 30.06.2024].
Ministerstvo Inostrannyh Del Rossiĭskoĭ Federacii, 2001, [online], https://www.mid.ru/ru/home [accessed: 30.06.2024].
Trybus J., Game-Based Learning: What it Is, Why it Works, and Where it’s Going, Miami 2018, [online], https://writix.co.uk/blog/game-based-learning [accessed: 30.06.2024].
Warm Lamp Games, Beholder: Every Choice Has a Consequence, 2016, [online], https://behold er-game.com [accessed: 30.06.2024].
Warm Lamp Games, Beholder (Android version) [video game], Barnaul 2016.
Warm Lamp Games, Beholder (computer version) [video game], Barnaul 2020.