InnoConf17

Description

ImparApp: Learning Italian with MIT's TaleBlazer. Recent developments in ubiquitous and mobile technologies have increased the ways in which we can learn languages, with language learning increasingly taking place beyond the classroom. Whereas the use of mobile technologies seems to challenge traditional knowledge and skills, research shows that foreign language study can be enriched through easy access to resources selected to suit individual interests or need (Kukulska-Hulme, 2013). This paper reports on an Italian Language Learning game, (ImparApp), developed with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) TaleBlazer authoring tool. By situating games in the real world, mixed-reality and location-based games aim to engage learners in an array of experiences that combine real landscapes and other aspects of the physical environment with contextualised digital information supplied to them via mobile devices. Players interact with virtual characters, objects, and data as they move around their real physical location whilst attempting to solve a time-travel mystery. The game is divided into four parts, each of which must be completed before players “level up”. Each part contains a number of challenges relating to Italian language and culture and successful completion of the whole game maps across to approximately half of CEFR level A1. The pilot project aims to explore the potential of a pervasive and game-based approach to teaching and learning a foreign language. The results of some initial playtesting, and the lessons we learnt from the inception to the completion of the project will also be presented.

Period	16 Jun 2017
Event type	Conference
Location	Milton Keynes, United KingdomShow on map