Digital games have a mainstream, global force. Applied linguists and world language educators have noted that learners must use the target language and social interaction to play games, thereby making them a rich context for language and culture learning.
Despite the interest in using games in the classroom and their widespread availability, harnessing the benefits of games to enhance language learning has yet to be fully explored.
In response, the Center for Education Resources in Culture, Language, and Literacy (CERCLL) launched Games2Teach: Developing Digital Game-Mediated Foreign Language Literacies. Now a joint project between CERCLL and the Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS), Games2Teach offers world language educators resources and classroom activities so that they can design, implement, and assess digital game-mediated learning activities in their classrooms.
By 2018, Games2Teach will publish:
- Reviews of popular digital games in consideration of their suitability for language teaching and learning
- Classroom activities to accompany widely available digital games in a variety of languages
- White papers and academic working papers on issues related to digital game-mediated language teaching and learning
- A professional development manual for world language teachers and education professionals on evaluating, designing, and implementing game-enhanced language learning activities
- Summer workshops on digital game-mediated language pedagogy
Games2Teach is co-directed by Dr. Julie Sykes from CASLS and Dr. Jonathon Reinhardt from CERCLL. CERCLL is coordinating a partner project called Games For Literacies.
Games2Teach is funded by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI, under grant #P229A140004 and #P229A14001. Contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education nor imply endorsement by the federal government.
