Incidental L2 pragmatics learning through playing a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.
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| Title: | Incidental L2 pragmatics learning through playing a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. |
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| Authors: | Zhang, Ying1 (AUTHOR) ying.z.zhang@utah.edu |
| Source: | Computer Assisted Language Learning. Jun2026, Vol. 39 Issue 4, p1203-1230. 28p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Incidental learning, *Communicative competence, *Second language acquisition, Massively multiplayer online role-playing games, Social constructivism |
| Geographic Terms: | China |
| Abstract: | A limited body of research has investigated the influence of playing vernacular games (commercial games that are not designed for educational purposes), such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), on second/foreign language (L2) pragmatics acquisition. Furthermore, prior studies have revealed mixed findings regarding the utility of incidental L2 pragmatics learning through playing MMORPGs in fostering L2 learners' pragmatic competence. By using a pretest-immediate-posttest-delayed-posttest design and employing the interactionist approach, this study explored the effectiveness of playing an MMORPG (World of Warcraft [WoW]) in developing L2 learners' pragmatic competence in making suggestions and further investigated the affordances (target-language input, other players' feedback, L2 output) of playing WoW for L2 pragmatics learning. Intermediate English learners (N = 169) from a college in China played WoW with American players for four weeks. The results of written discourse completion tasks showed that the L2 learners preferred to adopt direct strategies (e.g. obligation statements like "You should ...") for making suggestions in long-social-distance contexts on the pretest. In contrast, they tended to employ indirect strategies (e.g. modal verbs like "could") for providing suggestions in long-social-distance settings on the immediate posttest and the one-month delayed posttest. These findings suggest the advantages and lasting effectiveness of playing WoW in enhancing English learners' L2 pragmatic competence in making suggestions. Possible reasons, such as suggestion-related input and verbal implicit feedback (clarification requests) provided by the American players during gameplay, might have contributed to these L2 learners' improved suggestion-making performance in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Computer Assisted Language Learning is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 194058667 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Incidental L2 pragmatics learning through playing a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zhang%2C+Ying%22">Zhang, Ying</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> ying.z.zhang@utah.edu</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Computer+Assisted+Language+Learning%22">Computer Assisted Language Learning</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 39 Issue 4, p1203-1230. 28p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Incidental+learning%22">Incidental learning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Communicative+competence%22">Communicative competence</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Second+language+acquisition%22">Second language acquisition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Massively+multiplayer+online+role-playing+games%22">Massively multiplayer online role-playing games</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+constructivism%22">Social constructivism</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22China%22">China</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: A limited body of research has investigated the influence of playing vernacular games (commercial games that are not designed for educational purposes), such as massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), on second/foreign language (L2) pragmatics acquisition. Furthermore, prior studies have revealed mixed findings regarding the utility of incidental L2 pragmatics learning through playing MMORPGs in fostering L2 learners' pragmatic competence. By using a pretest-immediate-posttest-delayed-posttest design and employing the interactionist approach, this study explored the effectiveness of playing an MMORPG (World of Warcraft [WoW]) in developing L2 learners' pragmatic competence in making suggestions and further investigated the affordances (target-language input, other players' feedback, L2 output) of playing WoW for L2 pragmatics learning. Intermediate English learners (N = 169) from a college in China played WoW with American players for four weeks. The results of written discourse completion tasks showed that the L2 learners preferred to adopt direct strategies (e.g. obligation statements like "You should ...") for making suggestions in long-social-distance contexts on the pretest. In contrast, they tended to employ indirect strategies (e.g. modal verbs like "could") for providing suggestions in long-social-distance settings on the immediate posttest and the one-month delayed posttest. These findings suggest the advantages and lasting effectiveness of playing WoW in enhancing English learners' L2 pragmatic competence in making suggestions. Possible reasons, such as suggestion-related input and verbal implicit feedback (clarification requests) provided by the American players during gameplay, might have contributed to these L2 learners' improved suggestion-making performance in English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Computer Assisted Language Learning is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1080/09588221.2025.2465274 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 28 StartPage: 1203 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Incidental learning Type: general – SubjectFull: Communicative competence Type: general – SubjectFull: Second language acquisition Type: general – SubjectFull: Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Type: general – SubjectFull: Social constructivism Type: general – SubjectFull: China Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Incidental L2 pragmatics learning through playing a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Zhang, Ying IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: Jun2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 09588221 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 39 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Computer Assisted Language Learning Type: main |
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