David Neville, assistant professor of German and director of language learning technologies, published the article "Structuring Narrative in 3D Digital Game-Based Learning Environments to Support Second Language Acquisition” in the most recent issue of the Foreign Language Annals (Volume 43, Issue 3).
The flagship journal of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), the Foreign Language Annals is dedicated to the advancement of language teaching and learning, and seeks to serve the professional interests of classroom instructors, researchers, and administrators concerned with the learning and teaching of languages at all levels of instruction.
In his article, Neville examines the shared characteristics of narrative within theories of situated cognition, sociocultural approaches to second language acquisition, and video game studies as a means of developing meaningful, engaging, and instructional gameplay in 3D digital game-based learning (3D-DGBL) environments. He asserts that carefully-designed 3D-DGBL environments have a place in the second language classroom because they are able to simulate real-world sociocultural spaces, allow playful and non-threatening interaction with these spaces, and permit player/learners to experiment with questions of personal identity within a framework of shifting subjectivities. Neville concludes that, on account of these instructional affordances, 3D-DGBL is a promising and engaging learning platform that allows students to develop sophisticated mental schemata for handling context-specific challenges requiring them to apply knowledge of a second language and culture toward the solution of specific real-world problems.