1. GAME BASED LEARNING & GAMIFICATION
FOR THE
LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
By Todd Vercoe, M.A.
Presented for the TESL Ontario 2016 Conference
Sheraton Center Toronto
Toronto,Ontario
Presented November 25, 2016

2. Before we start, please write down one thing
you desire to learn about game based
learning and/or gamification.
And one thing you already know

3. What do we mean when we say, “Game?”
The Problem of Language

4. Game is different from Play in English, but
not in several other languages. Be aware.
the German ‘speil’
the Dutch ‘spel’
the French ‘jeu’
the Korean ‘nori’ (놀이)
Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Arabic

5. Ludi Magister

6. Game Based Learning

7. Game Based Learning
Using games to enhance learning outcomes
Using commercial or educator created games
Promotes Critical Thinking & Problem
Solving
Intrinsically and extrinsically motivational

8. Game Based Learning for
Language Classrooms
Accuracy or Fluency
(pick one)

9. Don’t re-invent the wheel
Commercial games available

10. Scrabble
Can be difficult for
students
Modify with rule changes
place students in teams
of 2-3 players
Use letter tiles for other
games

11. UPWORDS
Easier than scrabble
Less rule
modification
better for teaching

12. Body Boggle
Great TPR game for
learning letters and
spelling
Easy to steal idea for
your own classroom
games

13. Apples to
Apples
Good fluency
activity
With the right
group, lots of fun
and laughter

14. Taboo
Fun game for
vocabulary
teaching

15. Syllables
Depends of the
students but can be
a good game
(fair warning,
limited use in class)

16. Word Thief
Less frustrating for
some students than
Scrabble
Game still be a little
difficult for some

17. Pictionary
Difficult cultural
references for
some
Save your
money, just make
your own
blackboard version

18. Sentence
Cube Game
Can be fun for
some students
Game parts are
useful for other
games

19. Word Up
Best all around English
language teaching game out
there
Very much enjoyed by students
Great for multi-level and multi-
aged classrooms
http://www.teflgames.com
(I get no kickbacks ;-)

20. A cultural touch stone…
Please finish this expression for me:
Go to jail, go directly to…

21. Three games from childhood for
every cultural language class
Monopoly(1904/1935) • Cluedo/Clue (1943) • The Game of Life (1860/1960)

22. Three games used with success

23. Designing your own Educational Games
(or why ‘Hangman’ is played wrong.)
Show me an inexperienced or untrained
language teacher
and I will show you someone playing the
game ‘Hangman’ (backwards)

24. The eight elements of successful
game design
Sensation (Game as sense-pleasure)
Fantasy (Games as make-believe)
Narrative (Game as drama)
Challenge (Game as obstacle course)
Fellowship (Game as social framework)
Discovery (Game as uncharted territory)
Expression (Game as self-discovery)
Submission (Game as pastime)
(Hunicke, LeBlanc, Zubek, 2004)

25. Gee & Koster... a conversation
The player must probe the virtual world.
A variable feedback system. The results of the encounter should not be completely predictable Ideally,
greater skill in completing the challenge should lead to better rewards.
Based on reflection while probing and afterward, the player must form a hypothesis about what something
might mean in a usefully situated way.
The Mastery Problem must be dealt with. High-level players can’t get big benefits from easy encounters or
they will bottom-feed. Inexpert players will be unable to get the most out of the game.
The player reprobes the world with that hypothesis in mind, seeing what effect he or she gets.
Failure must have a cost. At the very least there is an opportunity cost, and there may be more. Next time
you attempt the challenge, you are assumed to come into it from scratch – there are no –“do overs.”
The player treats this effect as feedback from the world and accepts or rethinks his or her original
hypothesis.
(Gee, 2003, Koster, 2005, italics and bold, theirs)

26. Don’t forget Gardner

27. Gamification

28. Gamification
Gamification is using game-
like elements to augment a
lesson or class to make
learning more game like
Term first used in 2002
Gamification commonly
employs game design
elements and game
mechanics

29. How do you gamify your class?
Leaderboards
Reward systems
Play like activities
Social activities
Adding fun to the mundane

30. Richard Bartle’s four player Types

31. Gamification difficulties
Poor or inconsistent
Gamification results in
demotivation
Punished by Rewards (Kohn, 1999)
“Purple Leisure” (Stebbins, 1997)
can destroy your gamified
classroom
Preparation time may be
better spent in other areas

32. Thanks for Listening
Todd Vercoe, M.A.
todd@tesolgames.com
@toddvercoe
Questions or Comments?