Trial lecture
Place: Auditorium 3, Helga Engs hus
Time: 10:00 - 10:45
Title: Teaching Language with Video Games: Implications for Practice and Research
Public Defence
Place: Auditorium 3, Helga Engs hus
Time: 12:00 -
Adjudication committee
- 1st opponent: Professor Jonathon S. Reinhardt, University of Arizona, USA
- 2nd opponent: Senior professor Gudrun Erickson, Gothenburg University, Sweden
- Chair of committee: Professor emeritus Andreas Lund, Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo, Norway
Chair of defence
- Professor emeritus Glenn Ole Hellekjær, Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
- Main supervisor: Professor and Circle U. Chair Lisbeth M. Brevik, Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo
- Co-supervisor: Professor Elisabet Öhrn, Department of Education and Special Education, Gothenburg University
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. Article 1 investigated how a digital commercial game was implemented alongside a printed novel to teach about Native Americans. By integrating qualitative and quantitative analyses of 20 video-recorded English lessons, 32 screen recordings of students’ gameplay, 32 written student texts, and 7 video stimulated recall interviews with students, findings suggested that the combination of gameplay and reading gave students a dual perspective on the topic. The study also found the order of activities to be of great importance in understanding the relevance of gameplay.
Article 2 was a continuation of the first study (Article 1), as it investigated students’ texts (N = 50), which they wrote following the gameplay and the reading. The texts were redesigns of the digital commercial game they had played, and the students were asked to integrate elements from both game and novel. The findings indicated that redesigning the game provided students the opportunity to engage in critical literacy practices, by reading against the game and with the novel. Findings also revealed notable differences in how boys and girls responded to the task in their different perspectives on redesigning the game.
Article 3 investigated how another digital commercial game was implemented in vocational programmes with uneven gender distribution, by qualitatively and quantitatively analysing eight video recorded English lessons (5.5 hours), screen recordings of students’ gameplay (8 hours) and two retrospective teacher interviews. The game was implemented to develop English language skills and teach about anxiety. Findings revealed that in the girlsmainly classes, the game provided students with professional insight concerning anxiety, whereas in the boys-only class, it was used to address personal experiences. These differences suggested certain gender bias in using the game as a resource in vocational English teaching. In sum, the doctoral project illustrated various educational implications of including digital games in formal teaching, by also drawing attention to areas of improvement.