Foreign Language learning through Online Gaming

Previously I posted about using games in the classroom to foster learning. The "escape the room" game" I chose was definitely more of a casual game, where I sort of just made up some rules to promote vocabulary reinforcement. I have found a great website that is specifically for language learning other than just for reinforcing vocab. Digital Dialects is a website dedicated to serious foreign language games. The home page gives you the option to choose a language (they have 70!) Being a Spanish teacher, that was obviously my choice. Once you pick your language, the site brings you to a page where you can chose basic/introductory vocabulary, but there are also tabs at the top that lets you work with more grammar-oriented topics. There is a section on games, verbs, spelling, and even advanced vocabulary. Lets say I chose "greetings" under the "games" section. It gives you a list of about 20 words that are commonly used, as well as their English translation. There is also a button to click on to listen to the pronunciation of the word. Underneath the list, there are two game options that are audio or text only. It's basically a matching game, but definitely good for vocabulary reinforcement. What I really like is the verb conjugation part. They give you four different subject pronouns (you, I, he, we, etc.) and a verb that is conjugated. The object is to match the conjugated verb to the right subject pronoun, and it tells you if you're right or wrong.

I've played a number of these games under the Spanish language section, and I would definitely use it in the classroom, especially for verb conjugations. There are also a number of learning objectives I could come up with in any of the games: Students will be able to tell time in Spanish; SWBAT talk about foods in Spanish, etc. I think the primary use for me would be more vocabulary reinforcement. Assessing these games are not as easy, however. Lets say I'm learning about months of the year. If I choose the wrong one, the game will take me back to the list of months to show me what the correct answer is, then takes you back to the game to re-do it until you've completed all 12 months. I suppose this would be more of a self-assessment for the students, so they know what words they have to study harder, or maybe I could give them a mini-quiz on the vocabulary they have reinforced through these games.

With the availability of technology in schools now, I feel it is important to keep up with these trends. Luckily there are so many options we can find to use technology and games in the classroom to promote authentic learning, while keeping students engaged and having fun.