Mind You!: a card game design for learning the pragmatics of a second language

<p>Pragmatics is an essential part of communicative competence in a foreign language. However, pragmatics is paid little attention in foreign language classes due to insufficient teacher knowledge and few pedagogical resources that demonstrate authentic use in spoken communication. Furthermore, many commercial off-the-shelf games designed for foreign language learning do not teach the pragmatics of their target languages.</p> <p>My research explores how card games can facilitate the teaching of pragmatics of a foreign language. Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics that explores non-literal meanings of utterances by speakers influenced by contextual components within a conversation between people. Pragmatic markers are short words or phrases uttered by speakers that provide extra contextual clues within conversations. This dissertation outlines the design process and evaluation of Mind You!, an educational card game, that I have designed to assist learners to acquire English as a second language (ESL) in constructing sentences with pragmatic markers in conversations.</p> <p>My game design is based on social constructivism theory; learners formulate their learning by using information presented on the game cards and sharing that learning with other learners. The game features three distinctive card decks: pragmatic marker cards, topic cards and situational cards. Learners play the game to learn more about the usage of pragmatic markers by constructing one sentence with one pragmatic marker about a topic to answer a hypothetical question presented on a situation card which is then shared with other players.</p> <p>Language skills in the use of pragmatics are essential in order to engage with native English speakers. However, educational resources for teaching pragmatics remain minimal. Many of these resources require advanced digital technology, not necessarily accessible to every teacher or school. My design approach emphasises the advantages of non-digital educational games, particularly card games that promote accessibility and reusability, and foster social interaction when learners play face to face with each other.</p> <p>I adopted a research through design methodology to create Mind You! which includes three case studies of existing ESL card games, several brainstorming workshops, design workshops and playtesting that guided the card game’s iterative design. Four design iterations were developed, evaluated and modified through workshops and playtesting sessions with ESL learners at RMIT English Worldwide and teachers at Greenwich College, two Melbourne-based ESL institutes, and game designers from the Exertion Games Lab at RMIT University.</p> <p>My evaluation of Mind You! has generated several key insights that reveal the importance of: a) enabling equal opportunities for speaking practice; b) facilitating social interaction between learners; c) providing players with learner-centric scoring and clear instructions; and d) limiting intervention by teachers. These insights and my methodological approach have resulted in the development of a design framework for game designers that outlines a process for creating educational card games that teach the pragmatics of a foreign language.</p>