Online Role Play Games and Second Language Learning

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are role-playing games that, through the Internet, can integrate thousands of players interacting at the same time in at least one virtual world. This way, these games can provide, besides fun, a greater familiarity with the second language and opportunity to improve linguistic proficiency in a real context. Hence, what is proposed in this study is extended knowledge about the learning of a second language mediated by MMORPGs. Based on a scientific study, we seek to answer the following research questions: (a) what distinguishes the learning profile of gamers and non-gamers; (b) can MMORPGs, through a hybrid and systematic approach, assist the development of second language proficiency, and (c) what do think-aloud protocols show about the learning mediated by the MMORPG Allods Online.

Autorentext
Janaina Weissheimer holds a doctorate degree in English. She is a professor at the Foreign Languages Department at a public university in Natal Brazil.Wilka Soares holds a masters degree in Language Studies and is an assistant professor at a private university in Natal Brazil.