37.923, Books: Digital Gaming in the Language Classroom: Wrobetz (2026)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-923. Thu Mar 05 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.923, Books: Digital Gaming in the Language Classroom: Wrobetz (2026)

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Date: 25-Feb-2026
From: Lucy Trotter [lucy.trotter at bloomsbury.com]
Subject: Digital Gaming in the Language Classroom: Wrobetz (2026)


Title: Digital Gaming in the Language Classroom
Subtitle: Designing Effective Curricula
Series Title: Advances in Digital Language Learning and Teaching
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
           http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/
Book URL:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/digital-gaming-in-the-language-classroom-9781350415928/

Author(s): Kevin R. Wrobetz

Hardback, ISBN: 9781350415928, Price: £95.00

Abstract:

This book examines how single-player role-playing digital games can
promote foreign language acquisition and looks at how they can be
integrated into the curricula of foreign language classrooms.
As the commercialization of digital games continues to expand and
accelerate, some research in digital game-based learning has shifted
from creating digital games with pedagogical applications to adopting
commercial off-the-shelf digital games for pedagogical purposes.
Relevant literature has continually identified massively multi-player
online role-playing games (MMORPGs) as a specific genre which may
benefit second language acquisition (SLA), primarily through a
sociocultural perspective whereby language learners interact with
linguistically more capable peers within the context of the game.
However, there is a gap in research regarding whether these benefits
to SLA are limited to social gameplay mechanics.
Wrobetz addresses this gap in research by using the smartphone edition
of the single-player role-playing game (RGP) Life Is Strange in a
mixed-methods study, measuring vocabulary acquisition and long-term
retention from gameplay relative to controls. The author also examines
how the perception of both smartphone gaming as a language-learning
tool and the target language culture shifted throughout the study.
This volume helps guide future research in digital games-based
language learning to broaden the scope of games identified as being
conducive to SLA. It also outlines how to structure formal foreign
language curricula around the use of a single-player RPG to achieve
the most desirable pedagogical outcomes.

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     General Linguistics
                     Language Acquisition




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