Leveraging Board Games in the L2 Classroom

Speaker: Dr. Sebastien Dubreil (CMU Department of Modern Languages)

The use of games in educational settings is not new and a significant body of research now exists on L2 learning through gameplay in a variety of genres. Indeed, games have been lauded for being contextualized, goal-oriented, motivating, and eliciting language use (see Reinhardt, 2019). Anchored in the context of a multi-level French course entitled “culture of games and gaming culture” the trajectory of this presentation will follow how games can be envisioned as cultural objects and a window into French culture before envisioning the learning potential of gameplay. Finally, we will examine what it means to use game design as a way to structure and support L2 learning. Marrying the frameworks of game design (e.g., Schell, 2019), transformational game design (Culyba, 2018), and L2 pedagogy (notably the multiliteracies framework – New London Group, 1996 – and its emphasis on meaning design), we used design thinking as a broad encompassing, iterative problem-solving process that can readily apply to language learning. More importantly, we will discuss how we can leverage this type of language learning environment predicated on design thinking and maker culture as a model of social pedagogy.