Shilan Ahmadian

• Ahmadian, Shilan (2026). Mary and the Trail of Tears: Critical Literacy in English through Students’ Written Redesigns of a Novel and a Game. Acta Didactica Norden (ADNO). Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan; Brevik, Lisbeth M. & Öhrn, Elisabet (2024). Adventures with Anxiety: Gender bias in using a digital game for teaching vocational English. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (JCAL). ISSN 0266-4909. 40(6), p. 2715–2734. doi: 10.1111/jcal.13006. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan & Brevik, Lisbeth M. (2024). This Land Is My Land: Teachers’ Integration of Game and Novel in English Instruction. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (JCAL). ISSN 0266-4909. 40(5), p. 2190–2207. doi: 10.1111/jcal.13012. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background The most recent Norwegian educational reform, in force from 2020, was the first to include games alongside more traditional language learning resources (e.g., novels, films, music) in the English curriculum for secondary school. This educational emphasis on games provided a unique opportunity to examine how games are actually used in secondary English instruction in combination with other resources. Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate how the digital commercial game This Land is My Land was used alongside a printed novel in naturally occurring English instruction in two lower secondary classes during a two-week project labelled ‘The Native American Experience’. Methods Participants involved one teacher, nine student teachers and 52 students (aged 13–14). Using a mixed methods design, we integrated quantitative and qualitative analyses of classroom video recordings (N = 20), screen recordings during gameplay (N = 32), student texts (N = 32) and retrospective student interviews (N = 7). We used the validated Protocol for Language Arts Teaching Observation (PLATO; Grossman, 2015) for analyses of video and screen recordings and reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) of student texts and interviews. Results and Conclusions The combination of digital game and printed novel during English instruction provided a dual perspective on the Native American experience. While the novel provided a window for observing the topic historically, the game provided a playground to experience the topic interactively. Although the combination of game and novel offered students different perspectives on the Native American experience, we identified missed opportunities for those who gamed before reading, whereas students who read before gameplay used their knowledge from the novel when they engaged with the game content. In the broader context of educational technology and language instruction, this study identified how to combine digital and traditional literacies that acknowledge students' prior knowledge with diverse literacies.

• Brevik, Lisbeth M.; Ahmadian, Shilan & Garvoll, Katharina Køber (2020). English use outside of school: Gamers, Surfers and Social Media Users. In Brevik, Lisbeth M. & Rindal, Ulrikke Elisabeth (Ed.), Teaching English in Norwegian classrooms: From research to practice. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 9788215032283. p. 190–216. Full text in Research Archive

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• Ahmadian, Shilan; Aspfors-Sveen, Ingeborg & Næsmo, Camilla Bruu (2021). Fortellinger om flukt. Universitetsforlaget. ISBN 9788215047614. 120 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Brevik, Lisbeth M.; Blikstad-Balas, Marte; Klette, Kirsti; Mathé, Nora Elise Hesby; Selling, Alexander Jonas Viktor & Ahmadian, Shilan [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2024). Skolens tilstand: Hva skjer i norske klasserom? Full text in Research Archive
• Brevik, Lisbeth M. & Ahmadian, Shilan (2024). Conferenec paper: Teachers’ integration of game and novel in English instruction: A video-observation study. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan (2023). Conference paper: Classroom integration of Game-based L2 English learning in Norwegian lower secondary school. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan (2023). Conference paper: Commercial video game as social interaction in L2 English learning in Norwegian secondary school. How boys and girls perceive the combination of gameplay and reading. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan (2023). Conference paper: Game-based L2 English learning in Norwegian secondary school. How students in gender defined classrooms were included in classroom activities through the use of a commercial game. Full text in Research Archive
• Kure, Astrid Elisabeth; Ahmadian, Shilan & Brevik, Lisbeth M. (2022). Panel: Time, narrative and technology in English classrooms in Norway. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this panel, we will present two studies from nine English classrooms in Norway across 8th, 9th and 10th grade, where teenagers are video recorded over time concerning their use of narratives and technology. Gee (2007) states that using technology is valuable for narrative engagement, which in turn leads to learning. The present study argues that engagement in narratives and technology has the potential to develop skills critical for education. Digital technologies are considered a crucial aspect of educational policy around the world (Erstad et al., 2021; Ferrari, 2013; Kaarakainen & Saikkonen, 2021). Information and communication technology can complement, enrich and transform education for the better (UNESCO, 2021). The first study addresses how time matters when teenagers engage in two very different narratives by reading a novel and playing an online game to learn about Native Americans. The study draws on video recordings from 30 English lessons in two lower secondary classrooms in Norway, following 60 students during a two-week gaming-based project in 8th grade. Findings showed that time matter. A notable finding is that the combination of reading fiction and playing a video game matter in terms of student engagement, which aligns with research by the UK's National Literacy Trust (2020). One class read the novel before playing the game, while the other class played the game before reading the novel. The students who read the novel before playing the game were more engaged and learnt more about native Americans compared to the students who played the video game before reading the novel. The second study investigates teenagers' use of English across technologies and time. Adapting a national Framework for Digital Skills into an observation protocol (Norwegian Directorate of Education and Training, 2012), this study analysed video recordings from 60 English lessons in seven lower secondary classrooms in Norway, following 186 students across two school years (9th and 10th grade). The results show that students used digital skills critical for education in half of the video-recorded lessons. The main differences within and across classrooms related to the type of digital skills used in any given lesson, and an increase in the use of digital skills over time. First, students’ used basic rather than advanced digital skills. Second, when using digital skills, the main repertoire involved searching for and processing information online, and using digital technology to produce written texts. Third, we identified that the students’ use of digital skills increased over time. In the panel, we will present illustrative examples of how time matters when students engage with digital skills, narratives and online games in English. Implications for practice and the direction of future research are discussed.

• Kure, Astrid Elisabeth & Ahmadian, Shilan (2022). Digital skills critical for education: Video analysis of students’ use of technology in English secondary classrooms in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Brevik, Lisbeth M. & Ahmadian, Shilan (2022). Gamere gjør det ikke dårligere på skolen. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan & Brevik, Lisbeth M. (2022). Conference paper: Benefits and challenges in operationalizing the PLATO element “Use of Authentic Texts in Instruction” in English lessons covering both printed novels and multimodal games. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan (2021). Conference paper: Gaming-based engagement during English lessons in lower secondary school. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Gee (2007) states that using a video game is valuable for engagement in learning, which in turn leads to learning when you master a domain associated with the video game. The present study argues that engagement in video games has the potential to develop critical literacy in lower secondary students. It presents data from lower secondary school (8th grade), where gaming-based activities were used to create engagement and develop students’ ability to critically evaluate the potential of the game for learning in the English subject. The study draws on multiple data sources collected during a two-week gaming-based project about Native Americans in two English classes. In the observed lessons, one class read a book about Native Americans before playing the game This Land is My Land, whilst the other group played the game before reading the book. Data include (a) classroom videos, (b) students’ screen recordings from playing the game, (c) students’ written reflections after playing the game, (d) teachers’ screen recordings during feedback conversations with the students, and (e) teacher surveys concerning the gaming-based project.Findings indicate that students to a certain extent developed a critical stance to the game. A main finding concern their experiences of being engaged in the game, with differences indicating more engagement among the students who read before playing the game, compared to those who played the game before reading the book. Another main finding concern gender differences, in that several girls expressed concerns about the lack of female characters in the game, while the majority of the boys did not mention the gender of the (male) characters at all and instead expressed their opinions about technical aspects of the game.

• Ahmadian, Shilan; Aspfors-Sveen, Ingeborg; Næsmo, Camilla Bruu & Svarca, Katrina (2021). Forfattertrio: – Noe mer enn en skolebok. [Journal]. Utrop - Norges første flerkulturelle avis. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan; Aspfors-Sveen, Ingeborg & Næsmo, Camilla Bruu (2021). Ungdom som flykter til Norge. [Internet]. Podcast Rekk opp hånda! Episode 166. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan; Flø, Ellen Egeland & Heie, Magnus (2020). Forskerprofilen: Det beste fra to verdener. [Internet]. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan; Brevik, Lisbeth M. & Sundqvist, Pia (2019). Jentene bruker engelsk til å snakke om fag - guttene bruker engelsk til alt mulig. Bedre Skole. ISSN 0802-183X. p. 82–87. Full text in Research Archive
• Ahmadian, Shilan (2025). How Teachers Teach With Digital Games and How Students Use Them as Resources in Everyday English Instruction: Capturing Multiple Voices and Perspectives in Six Secondary Classrooms in Norway. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This doctoral project aimed to examine how teachers teach and students use digital games as resources in naturally occurring English instruction in lower and upper secondary schools in Norway. This area is of particular relevance for three main reasons. First, scholars recommend implementing digital games in formal instruction. Second, digital games are juxtaposed with more traditional resources in the English subject curriculum in Norway (LK20). Third, most research on the use of digital games in classrooms involves researcher interventions, which leaves a research gap concerning how teachers include digital games in their everyday English instruction, in the absence of interventions. The overarching methodological approach was mixed methods research, which integrated qualitative and quantitative information to provide a comprehensive understanding of the research aim. The data comprised, (a) video and audio recorded classroom observations, (b) screen recordings from student computers, (c) written student texts, and (d) student and teacher interviews. Data were collected at both research sites. In lower secondary school, two Year 8 English classes participated, with equal distribution of boys and girls. In upper secondary school, four Year 11 vocational classes participated; three Healthcare, Childhood and Youth development (HCY) classes with mainly girls, and one Technological and Industrial Production (TIP) class with only boys. The project included three thesis articles. In sum, the doctoral project illustrated various educational implications of including digital games in formal teaching, by also drawing attention to areas of improvement.

• Øvereng, Kjersti S; Brevik, Lisbeth M. & Ahmadian, Shilan (2020). MA thesis: The Gender Asymmetry Supported by the Teachers. An observational research of genders in English lessons regarding authentic text discourse in seven lower secondary schools. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive

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