Mifsud, Villa, & Camilleri’s article “Attitudes towards the Effects of the Use of Video Games in Classroom Learning with Specific Reference to Literacy Attainment” discusses a quantitative experimental study carried out with the following research aims: to assess the attitudes to using video games in classroom of teachers, students, and parents; to find out the effects of using video games on ESL literacy attainment in students of both sexes, aged from eleven to sixteen, in four schools in Malta. Mifsud, Vella, & Camilleri, a group of researchers from the University of Malta, start off by outlining the role that video games can potentially play in the studying process. Then the researchers review the existing literature on the video games uses in classroom, their role on literacy attainment, and the nature of teacher involvement. They outline the gaps in the current research and reflect on the value of studies given their limitations. The literature review, which has formed the background for constructing the research questions and stating the research aim, leads to the research design section. Two research questions of this study were: What are the teachers, students, and parents’ attitudes towards using video games in ESL classroom? How does the use of video games in ESL classroom affect literacy attainment in students? To answer the research questions, the research team collected data using a survey and using pre- and post-tests to assess the effects of video games use on ESL literacy achievement. Data analysis was done using statistical analyses. As a result, the researchers found out that secondary school students benefited greatly from using video games during the ESL classes as the experimental groups “scored significantly higher on seven assessment tasks out of nine” (Mifsud et al., 2013, p.48). Moreover, the study showed that there is a widespread, unanimous support for using video games in ESL classroom from teachers, parents, and students. The authors urge that “Education policy […] need[s] to consider seriously how technology can be incorporated selectively into educational reform as part of an overall programme for improvement” (Mifsud et al., 2013, p.49). This recommendation is based on the study results which evidenced that “participation in gaming may facilitate aspects of literacy attainment” (Mifsud et al., 2013, p.49).
This paper helps understand how video games can be used as a learning tool in an ESL secondary classroom for different purposes, i.e. to teach different skill . Owing to its representative sample of four schools and both sexes in central Malta as well as a large pool of participants, including not only teachers or students, but also parents, the study has managed to create a non-biased, generalizable piece of evidence. It has created a firm foundation for beginning to use video gaming in ESL attainment of literacy. The article explains how video games can be used in a secondary ESL classroom, which will be of particular importance for my essay. The study was also helpful in that it exposed the barriers to successful use of video games to teach ESL. Namely, lack of teacher preparation has been found an issue worthy of resolving prior to launching large-scale ESL programs that will use video games as an alternative to the traditional ESL instruction. Although the study focused on a sample from Malta, the adequate number of research participants makes it overall representative.
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"Video Games And Education: Article Review".
- Mifsud, Charles, Vella, Rosalind, & Liberator Camilleri. “Attitudes towards the Effects of the Use of Video Games in Classroom Learning with Specific Reference to Literacy Attainment.” Research in Education 90 (2013): 32-52. Print.
