Affordances for In-Game Interaction and Language Learning Through Children's Collaborative Play in Minecraft

Introduction

Playing video games is a big part of the lives of children and youth in Finland (Kinnunen et al., 2022; 2024), as it is elsewhere. Playing can offer social interaction despite physical distance and function as both a relaxing and mentally stimulating activity (Barr & Copeland-Stewart, 2022). The educational potential of video games gained academic traction in the early 2000s, for example, with Gee (2007), who positioned the player as more than a consumer; the player is an active problem solver and co-creator of the game narrative. In a Finnish context, employing video games for educational purposes corresponds with the National Core Curriculum and the emphasis on utilising “the possibilities offered by games and gameful learning” (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2016, Chapter 4.3).

This paper is part of a research project exploring the potential for reciprocal language learning through in-game interactions. It explores the situated conditions and affordances for facilitating language learning through in-game interaction and discusses the educational implications of these conditions. The study is guided by three research questions.

• 1.

  What do students’ out-of-school gaming practices, particularly in terms of interaction, look like, and how might these practices impact the potential for reciprocal language learning? (RQ1)

• 2.

  What themes can be identified in the young players’ discussions during the playtesting sessions? (RQ2)

• 3.

  How does the in-game context and/or the chosen task affect the interaction between the players? (RQ3)

The analysis builds on a two-step research design, where the pre-study consists of a survey (both close-ended and open-ended questions) among students (9−14 years old) in four schools collaborating with the project group. Both steps of the study follow the ethical principles of research with human participants in human sciences as stipulated by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK (in Finnish, Tutkimuseettinen neuvottelukunta) guidelines (2019); see more detailed information in the separate sections below. Based on survey responses (N = 65), the project group designed playtest conditions to explore how three dyads of 8−12-year-old participants interacted when co-playing Minecraft (Mojang, 2009). We employ an extended view of playtests beyond testing a game for a smoother user experience; playtests in this case refers to the intended audience collaboratively testing particular game scenarios. Further, with affordance, we are here referring to certain game characteristics that can facilitate interaction and, thereby, language learning. Both datasets were analysed to discuss the affordances and conditions of in-game interaction and the potential for situated and reciprocal language learning in games.