Gee Reading

If video games were destined to teach anything, I believe teaching foreign languages would be it. Traditional classroom settings have failed throughout history to consistently produce successful foreign language learners. Natural acquisition settings, in which people are exposed to language in context, and have ample opportunity to practice new linguistic forms is the ideal language learning environment. However, the latter choice, relocating to an area in which the target language is widely spoken, is impractical to most people. Video games offer an alternative to actually being in a foreign country: the possibility of recreating a context rich environment in which language learning can take place.

My proposal for language teaching video game would be designed as a first-person adventure game, relying heavily on voice recognition activity with motion sensor control pads. In Return of the Karate Masters the emphasis is on game play. It was designed not to feel like a typical language learning class. While not purporting to replace a language curriculum, this game could be used as a classroom supplement, or simply as another vehicle for teaching language. The game itself would be successful in teaching language if the player could “lose themselves” in an engaging world with a compelling narrative. That is, by emphasizing the story, the player would be motivated enough to put in the endless hours of practice necessary to hone language skills, and win the game.

Gee develops a strong argument as to why good video games have great potential to teach. Pertinent to our discussion here is how he argues how video games are ideal for learning environments that are characterized by situated cognition and active learning. Gee writes, “…video games are particularly good places where people can learn to situated meanings through embodied experiences in a complex semiotic domain and meditate on the process” (p. 26). Contrast this context rich learning afforded by video games with the dexcontextualized pedagogy in traditional language learning environments. Here students are merely taught to memorize lists of words, and exposed to grammar in a vacuum devoid of meaning. This can be traced to what Gee describes as the content view of learning, in which students are expected to recall facts. However, language does not exist in a vacuum. On the contrary, it relies heavily on the semiotic domains in which it is used. If one believes that language is best learned by doing, by meaningful active practice, then it naturally follows that video games is an ideal medium to teach language.

Video games are context rich environments that present language in its living form. Contrast this with countless language textbooks that present its material in decontextualized forms, and encourage the mastery of those forms through rote memorization. Today’s video game consoles offer ultra realistic graphics and dialogue. Interaction with the game itself is moving beyond the standard keyboard and control pad. Notice the technological motion sensor technology present in Nintendo’s forthcoming console, Wii. In the near future, voice recognition technology adds yet another dimension of interactivity that would ideally suit language instruction video games.

Besides providing a virtual world in which situated cognition can take place, video games as a medium have other properties that would benefit language learning. First off, video games are very interactive. In a language learning video game in particular, players can interact with video games in a controlled environment that offers non-judgmental feedback. Hence failure in language learning video game is certainly less embarrassing than making linguistic gaffes in front of real people. Also, players can progress at a rate of his choice.

In addition, video games can be concocted to maximize constructivist-learning principles within its design. Players must go through an iterative process of practice and reformulation of strategies in any good video game. Failure can be programmed within a game to occur quite frequently so that a player must constantly reformulate hypotheses. In addition, good video games present a level of challenge that is not way beyond ability: good games are never so difficult that they discourage a player from even attempting to play. As a result, video games naturally motivate: notice the countless hours players spend in order to defeat a challenge.

In a language learning video game, the growth of the individual identity into a community of practice as Henning (2003)describes, “a central idea of the situated learning perspective,” takes quite literal form (p. 145). The main character in Return of The Karate Masters will undergo a process of identity change, just as the person playing the game, in learning a new language. Gee observes, “Learners participate in an extended engagement (lots of effort and practice) as extensions of their real-world identities in relation to a virtual identity to which they feel some commitment and a virtual world they find compelling” (p. 67). Enormous effort went into the character design of the Return of The Karate Masters so that players would feel a connection to them, so that they would be willing to put in countless hours of linguistic practice, and not notice it. I believe that this would be the key to success to the game.

Go book

I picked up a cool Go book over the weekend, Go! More Than a Game! by Peter Shotwell.

Some interesting quotes from the book:

"...the Civic minded Confucians, c. 500 B.C. - 200 A.D., complained that while Go looked like it might be something worthwhile to teach their children, it was really a seductive and immoral waste of time, where youngsters only learned how to gamble, play nasty Taoist tricks, and forget their parents."

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Japan:

In Japan, beginning anywhere from 500 to 700 A.D. the game as considered more of a mental martial art and it vame to be enjoyed by men, women, monks, samurai, and warlords. By about 1600 A.D., it was considered so important by the Tokugawa shoguns that they began sponsoring a professional class of players...Four the next two hundred fifty years, this honored elite was paid to do nothing but study and improve the game."

Sound familiar? It's interesting to see how intense the reaction has been to this game throughout the course of history!

Educational video games

I do believe video games have unique properties that can be incredibly educational. I believe they have value, and aren't just an extension of "case based" instructional methods. As an individual interested in second language acquistion, I can envision how a video game environment would be ideal for language practice, in a context rich, meaningful environment. We have the technology and know how to create these games now, but hardly and of these "educational games" could stand alone as good games by themselves.
So what's to be done? Well from the academia side, I see the need to view and treat video games as an authetic text, just like literary works, music, and cinema. We need to treat video gaming as a legitmate arena worthy of research, inquiry, and criticsm. Research must be done both to provide the quantiative and qualitative evidence of the positive effects of educational video games, and also to investigate principled and effective ways of using video games as a pedagogical tool.
From the game designer side, I believe the focus should be on creating good games first. We want people by their own volition to play these games because they are strong games that happen to be educational. It is imperative that educational game designers make it fun. Otherwise, I think we'll be wasting our time.
Schoolwise, I don't support a video-game based education replacing traditional schooling. However, I do believe it deserves shelf space up there with pictures, books, movies. Video games are rich in educational opportunities and wothy of study, discussion, and debate. Let us regard them as legitimate texts, not high tech toys.

Grow - a chat session

I'm telling you - this game is like a good drug! Here is a chat session that I had with my friend last week. I got him to play the game, and I think I hooked him. Basically this is what transpires during the chat: I tell my friend about the game, he figures out how to play it in about 5 minutes, we discuss strategies, and at the end of it, he even tells another friend about the game. It was fun playing along with him - as I'm sure you'll see if you read below. Warning! Please skip this chat session if you are offended by curses and references to controlled substances.


Saturday, March 25, 2006 11:00PM
yodjcast: check out this game http://www.eyezmaze.com/grow/RPG/index.html

princemenon: ive gotta install some shit

yodjcast: do it.  its fun

princemenon: ok
i dont get do i need volume cause ive got no speakers

yodjcast: no, you don't need sound.
it has some good sound effects though
I prefer listening to The Streets though

princemenon: theyre not letting me click on my last thing
now they did. now what
ok i get i now sort of

yodjcast:
just add each element, you'll see.  i got pretty far this time.  i maxed out in like 4 levels

princemenon:i lost im not sure why
im trying again

yodjcast: it depends on what you choose
its fun trying different strategies

princemenon: yeah im getting it now

yodjcast: see how far you can get

princemenon: i was fucking shit up the n got killed, theres not enough control, im gonna smoke a bowl and try again

yodjcast: nice dude.  maybe that will help you think of creative strategies
i maxed out in four again, but one of my buildings sank in the ocean.

yodjcast: got 65
i mean 5.

princemenon: yeah mine just got sunk i guess the main strategy is trial and error

yodjcast: i wonder what the right pattern is, and if it will work every time

princemenon: im thinking its a specific pattern that wins

yodjcast: i got this super big blue tree to grow.  it was phat.

princemenon: but actually i doubt it , the further you get the more your options are i got a blue tree once
what do you start off with?

yodjcast:either housing or some element
starting off with trees

princemenon: what do the levels mean some say 2 or 3 or max does that make a difference?

yodjcast: yeah, the more maxes you get, the better the hero fares in his quest

princemenon: dont star off with trees or water
cause then you wont get the blue tree

yodjcast: im doing well with tress so far, im about to get the blue tree, yo!

princemenon: ive got a mointain going up to a treause chest

yodjcast: so do i, plus the blue tree

princemenon: but theres a boulder blocking

yodjcast: i gotta log mill going on

princemenon: ive got all sorts of fucked up shit going on

yodjcast: i bet you do.

princemenon: yet i lost i cant get past level 3

yodjcast: i always end up using the stairs last
dude ive gotta get far this time

princemenon: that was the best my world ended up looking

yodjcast: damn.  i only got 4 this time
you probably gotta get shit that reacts with each other really well

princemenon: as soon as you throw water down that devil stops jumping right?

yodjcast: i guess so

princemenon: yeah i just tested it

yodjcast: im gonna try some unorthodox shit on him
start with loot first

princemenon:
im coming up with new strategies myself

yodjcast: damn.  i almost got a 5 story pagoda
man i sucked in that round

princemenon: i cant get past level 3

yodjcast: cmon man!

princemenon: send danny the link danos4200

yodjcast: you send it

princemenon: ok

Thursday, March 30, 2006
12:05
princemenon went idle
12:05
princemenon became active
12:06

princemenon: what does the blue tree do?
danny wants to know

princemenon disconnected
12:15

Grow Part 1

I am addicted to the Grow games, particularly the Grow RPG. I really like the cartoon graphics and animation and I am excited about the possiblities for flash based games. I think what is appealing about the game is its simpicity - yet there clearly is a strategy to win the game by defeating the dragon which hovers above this planet. What hooked me in was the interplay between the each elements - what you pick and when determines what 'grows' in the game, and hence, how far the hero advances in the quest. I have not beat it yet, but I assume that there is one set sequence that will win the game. I found myself constantly revising my strategies as to what would be the most appropriate element to drop into the world at a paricular time. I was slightly tempted to look up a 'cheat' for the game - which sequence would win - but I know that this would just take all the satisfaction out of actually beating it myself.

Go and Karate

This semester I've taken a lighter courseload to accommodate a goal of mine that I've been pursuing since I was a 7th grader: a black belt in Oyama Karate. Oyama Karate is a Japanese martial art, which is full contact and combines traditional practice with modern fighting techniques. To those of you who played Street Fighter II, it is very similar to the style of Ken and Ryu - Shotokan Karate.
Now that I'm taking this course, I can help but compare the conversations we've had about gaming and my black belt training experience. In this post, I'd like to compare the game I've been exploring, Go, and Karate fighting.
Although I'm by no means an expert in Go yet, I can help but notice the similarities while engaging an opponent in both Go and Karate. In Go and Oyama Karate, there are very few rules of engagement: you are free to attack your enemy however you please(except with uncivilized weapons such as guns and knives). Thus, there are many strategies one can employ to control the fight/game and defeat your opponent.
While playing against the computer in Go, I felt as if I was fighting against a well disciplined Karate master. If I attacked aggressively, the computer responded to my attacks, and usually neutralized direct moves with bold counter-attacks. If I played conservatively, the computer probed the perimeter of my territory, testing for weak points, and then attacking them accordingly.
Likewise, when I encounter an opponent in the dojo, I usually let my fighting strategy adapt to the particular person I am fighting. If my opponent attacks me aggressively, I know that I can use his overzealousness against him. Usually I'll simply move out of the way and counter attack when my opponent is just about finished with his move.
A more skilled fighter will not charge at you with limbs flying. A fight like this is more of like a chess match, or I suppose a real intense game of Go. In this situation I must feel out my opponent for his/her strengths and weaknesses. Most of the fight consists of simple jabs or kicks, and the best opportunity to attack occurs when opponent makes a mistake.
I was definitely surprised while playing Go, I felt as if I was fighting a skilled black belt in my dojo! I hope that as I become more skilled in Go, I can apply strategies I've learned to a real fight. Believe me, I can use all the help I can get during my black belt test in late April!

Playstation 2 -WOW!

I decided that its about time that I put down these simple low-tech games I've been playing (widget games, go) and see what the big fuss is over the Sony Playstation 2. After Super Nintendo, I abandoned the inner gamer in me and I've been out of practice ever since. Games have advanced so much since that time that its been difficult to jump back in. However two evenings of sampling the PS2 has awakened me from my video game console slumber. I am now convinced that my life would be incomplete without that slim black console next to my TV.

It started off with a first person shooter - Bond. I didn't enjoy it too much at first because I was flummoxed by the vast number of buttons one had to use to be successful. Also serving as target practice for my friends wasn't too much fun either.

The games that really hooked me in were Tony Hawk and SSX snowboard. I think the reason why I liked these two games was that I could pick them up and instantly "do something" in the game without being blown to shreds in a matter of seconds. While the play control was simple, I noticed that there's an increasing level of complexity with all the various moves and combinations one can master. Even though I constantly scored lower than my skilled friend, I still had a lot of fun playing.

The SSX snowboard game sealed the deal for me. The game took my breath away with its graphics and effects. I've never gone snowboarding before, but the game created such a life-like effect that I was completely mesmerized.

I spent the rest of my weekend adjusting my budget for the purchase of the PS2.

Go

I started playing Go this week. I had never played this game before. When I was in Japan I saw old men play it every afternoon in smoky dens-rain or shine. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about this game. I'm the type who usually tosses the manual away and dives straight for the controller. However, before playing Go I read a little about it on wikipedia and familiarized myself with the basic rules of the game. I figured I'd just figure out the angles as I went along.
At first, I randomly placed my black pieces throughout the board. The computer seemed to be doing the same. It wasn't bothering me much, kind of keeping its distance. This went on for a couple of rounds until I tired of this. I wanted some action!
I decied to see what would happen if I came closer to my enemy. My provocation seemed to get its attention, because now his moves were responding locally to my presence. The computer reacted accordingly when I engaged it, and backed off when I chose not to. The board seemed to be growing naturally, as I explored this game.
The pace increased suddenly, as I noticed that the computer was strangling the life out of me. With almost every other move the computer encircled my pieces, and captured much territory from me. At one point the computer seemed to even tire of me, passing its turn on almost ten moves!
Eventually, I had to quit, as most of the board had been siezed by my computer enemy. Despite losing badly, I enjoyed my first round with Go. Now, I am thinking about strategies now for my next turn at Go. We'll see how I fare next time. Perhaps reading a couple of Go proverbs might help me out.

Here is a picture of the board before I quit.