Computer Games as a Learning Tool ;DGBL

Widespread public interest in computer games as a learning tool is growing. Moreover, a majority of people believe that games can be a useful and effective tool in the EFL/ESL classroom and that they should have a place in the learning process.  However, if we continue to believe that games can have only positive effect on learning, we run the risk of making the impression that all games are suitable for all student and for all learning outcomes, which is not the case. Thus,  while evaluating games, it is essential to ask ourselves several questions:  What is covered in the game?  What does the game get wrong? How this game can help learners to learn English: vocabulary, grammar, skills.  In other words, it is not to privilege one arena over the other but to find the synergy between engagement in DGBL and pedagogy. Moreover,  psychological factors should also be taken into consideration. According to Claire McCarthy, MD Faculty Editor Harvard Health Publishing,

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/protecting-children-dangers-virtual-violence-2016080210036, digital games play a crucial role in the development of attitude, emotion, social behaviour and intellectual functioning of children. In other words, it is about being aware of all the possible nuances and effects that this or that computer game can have on learners and try to choose the one that is appropriate for learners age, needs and level of proficiency.

Thus, taking into consideration that not all games will be equally effective at all levels of learning, the game: ''Fast English'' can be appropriate for beginners.  The game gives the learner the opportunity to choose the content he/she wants to play from more than 500 vocabulary items in total. Furthermore, it gives the teacher the opportunity to choose specialised vocabulary for the lesson from more than 500 vocabulary items. Moreover, the game is a way for the teacher to provide the students with multiple ways of learning content: multiple intelligences; learners listen to the sound (verbal/linguistics) or read the word and then click on the matching pictures (visual).  The challenge of the game is to get an as high score as possible before the game finishes.

Regarding learners assessment, the teacher can assign the learning of new vocabulary as homework (receptive vocabulary), and at classwork asks them to tell a story by using these words and share with the whole class: productive vocabulary. In other words, the learners gain not just knowledge as facts, but knowledge as something they produce and share with the others. Furthermore, very often students do not learn that much from an instructor, but by listening to their friends.