Browsing by Subject "game-based learning"

This thesis investigated incidental vocabulary learning with the video game Her Story and compared it to intentional learning, which is much more widespread in EFL classrooms. Incidental learning means learning as a by-product of some other activity like watching a film or reading a novel, while intentional learning means deliberately learning, for example by using flashcards. An experimental design and a questionnaire were used for comparing the two learning methods. A convenience sample of 148 Swiss baccalaureate school students from eight classes in their final or penultimate years was recruited via seven teachers. Each class was randomly divided into a treatment and a control group. The treatment group attended a double lesson of EFL taught by their regular teacher in which they played Her Story, while the control group attended a double lesson taught by the author which focused on intentional methods and involved some of the same vocabulary that appears in the game. Both groups completed a pre-test (PT), immediate post-test (IPT), and delayed post-test (DPT), which were then compared. After the lessons, all students also received a questionnaire in which they expressed their opinions about the lessons, resulting in additional quantitative and qualitative data. It was found that both groups had significantly higher scores on the IPT and DPT as compared to the PT, and therefore achieved some learning. However, the IPT and DPT learning gains of the control group were significantly higher than those of the treatment group, which indicates that intentional learning leads to higher test scores than incidental learning with Her Story, given the same amount of time. Findings from the questionnaire include that students felt very positive about the lesson with Her Story, and that they thought they learned a variety of skills, including critical thinking, in addition to vocabulary, while the control group indicated that they mostly only learned vocabulary. After discussing the findings in light of previous research, the thesis offers pedagogical implications and recommends similar games for future projects.