Video Game–Based Instruction for Vocabulary Acquisition With English Language Learners: A Meta-Analysis

• In Event: 35.074 - Digital Literacies and Technology

Abstract

This meta-analysis reviewed the literature on efficacy of game-based learning in English as a second/foreign language vocabulary acquisition. After conducting a systematic search of the research literature, 20 studies met inclusion criteria and used a standardized mean difference effect-size metric. Overall results included a mean effect size 𝑑=0.70 (𝑆𝐸=0.11), 𝑝<.001 and a significant amount of between-study variability. Of the seven moderators assessed, study sample gender (male only, female only, mixed, or unspecified) and game type (commercial off-the-shelf, serious, unspecified) showed significant explanatory power of effect-size variability. We found that game-based learning can make a difference for promoting students’ English vocabulary acquisition and that integrating entertainment video games specifically into educational contexts can result in substantial student learning.

Authors

• Christopher Glen Thompson, Texas A&M University - College Station

• Sam Von Gillern, Texas A&M University - College Station