Abstract

Video games are notorious for their nefarious effects on teenagers since they were first introduced in society. Nevertheless, more and more attention is paid to their positive usage in many fields, including foreign language learning and other faculties of learning. Specifically to learn about the positive effect of video games on players’ English learning, the author had an interview with some foreign friends in Portugal which claims that video games used to help them a lot with their English learning. On account of the data from the interview and the findings of relevant studies, this paper is to illustrate the genres of video games and analyze their effects in the perspective of English learning. At last, based on Chinese conditions it presents some possible obstacles and feasible suggestions for the purpose of exploring the use of video games in language learning.

Key words: video games; foreign language learning; English learning; EFL

摘要

电子游戏自产生以来便因其对青少年的不良影响而饱受诟病，然而其对包括外语习得及其他学习领域的积极作用被给予越来越多的关注。为了更好得认识电子游戏对玩家英语学习的积极作用，本文作者就这一主题采访了在葡萄牙的来自不同国家的国际友人玩家。结果表明，电子游戏曾大大帮助他们学习英语。本文根据采访数据，结合相关的研究成果，基于外语习得层面对电子游戏进行了分类，并分析了他们对英语学习的作用。最后鉴于国内现状，对利用电子游戏进行英语学习可能遇到的阻碍进行预想并提出可行方案。

关键词：电子游戏；外语学习；英语学习；英语作为外语