Bunker-Room Mnemonics for Second-Language Vocabulary Recall

Bunker-Room Mnemonics for Second-Language Vocabulary Recall

Alexia Larchen Costuchen, Larkin Cunningham, Juan Carlos Tordera Yllescas
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 13
DOI: 10.4018/IJVAR.304899
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Abstract

This paper presents a proposal and an initial prototype for a Serious Game (SG) aimed at helping second-language learners memorize a list of non-linked vocabulary items under a system of visuospatial bootstrapping (Darling et al., 2017). The usefulness of such a tool was suggested by the efficient outcomes of spatial mnemonics in TEFL providing 21st-century teachers, students, and game designers with new possibilities and it represents a new application of CALL. The game design is based on a modified version of Kalmpourtzis’ AMSTP game design model (2019) and it uses aesthetics, mechanics, story, technology, and pedagogy as its basis, adding the sixth element to its core: user expertise. The resulting AMSTP-UE framework allows in-game analysis from the point of view of a teacher, a learner, or a game designer. The game is a first-person walking simulator using the medium of virtual reality (VR) to provide its players with the feeling of presence in a virtual world. The prototype suggests using visuospatial information, deep learning APIs, and in-game data capture.
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1. Introduction

The benefits for educators of technology-related competences have been pointed out by researchers on numerous occasions (Cunningham, 2000; Lam, 2000; Rakes & Casey, 2002; Baumann et al. 2008; Krumsvik, 2008; Comas-Quinn, 2011; Fullan & Langworthy, 2014, and Pettersson & Olofsson, 2019), even taking us back to the origins of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in Second-Language Acquisition (SLA). The OECD 2030 paper defines these competences as key to meeting the challenges of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, harnessing digital tools and artificial intelligence (European Council, 2018; OECD, 2018; Caena & Redecker, 2019). As noted by Chapelle (2003), CALL offers second-language learners the opportunity to receive enhanced input outside the classroom, but Kukulska Hulme (2005) argues that some of the devices available to learners are simply not designed for educational purposes, which makes it difficult for teachers to use them. It is important to mention that computers have changed the role of the teacher (Cunningham, 2000), the source of information now being information technology and the teacher being a facilitator of learning with the latter requiring from teachers not only technology-related literacy such as computer-, information, multimedia-, and computer-mediated communication literacies (Berge, 1995; Warschauer, 2002, 2008;) but also aiming at blending both technology and content components (Mishra and Koehler, 2008; Chen, 2008; Chen, 2020). According to Li (2012) teachers are more likely than game designers to propose educational games that align pedagogical objectives, curriculum standards and students’ needs because building an educational game is, in itself, a pedagogical process. As pointed out by Theodosiou and Karasavvidis (2015), if pedagogical experts want games to be more educational, they should get actively involved in their design themselves. This would, ideally, result in game designers and teachers combining their expertise and turning out games that are both entertaining and educationally efficient at the same time (Marne et al., 2012).

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