A Systematic Review of Digital Games in Second Language Learning Studies

Introduction

The allure of digital games and their potential effect on second language (L2) learning has inspired a myriad of L2 studies over the past 30 years. Researchers have argued that digital games provide a multitude of benefits for L2 learners including making the L2 learning process more enjoyable (Ansteeg, 2015; Becker, 2007; Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2001), motivating students to persist in L2 learning (Hays, 2005; Prensky, 2001; Warschauer & Healey, 1998), providing a highly contextualized and interactive environment (Gee, 2003; Morton, Gunson, & Jack, 2012; Presnky, 2001; Sørensen & Meyer, 2007), affording opportunities for collaboration and meaningful interactions (Dalton & Devitt, 2016; Peterson, 2011; Warschauer & Healey, 1998), and allowing for immediate feedback in context (Cornillie, Clarebout, & Desmet, 2012). Furthermore, these benefits have been shown to promote vocabulary learning (e.g. Ansteeg, 2015; Bytheway, 2014; Yudintseva, 2015), a willingness to communicate (e.g. Reinders & Wattana, 2014), writing skills (e.g. Coleman, 2002; Palaiogiannis, 2014; Suh, Kim, & Kim, 2010), among other L2 skills, while also reducing anxiety associated with learning an L2 (e.g. Hwang, Hsu, Lai, & Hsueh, 2017). Given these aspirations for games, this paper systematically reviews and evaluates the current field of research involving empirical studies that investigate the impact of digital games on L2 development.