Learning by Gaming: Extramural English Gaming Effect on Indonesian Senior High Students' Pragmatic Competence

Authors

  • Muh Ilham Dirwan Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Airlangga
  • Ni Wayan Sartini Professor at Universitas Airlangga https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0189-6681
  • Muhammad Zulfadhli Statistics, Faculty of Sains and Data Analytics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18326/jopr.v7i1.1-20

Keywords:

Extramural English, Gaming, Pragmatic Competence

Abstract

Several studies have found that learning English outside of school through Extramural English (EE) activities such as online gaming can enhance students' English language ability. However, not many information exists on whether this so-called extramural English gaming activity has implications on students' pragmatic competence. To answer that, this study aims to explore the effect of extramural gaming activity toward students’ pragmatic competence. The research was done by employing a task called the Multiple-Choice Discourse Completion Task (MCDCT) on 60 second-grade students interested in extramural gaming activity (male = 26, female = 34) in Luwuk, Indonesia. Students were divided into two groups, 30 gamer students and 30 non-gamer students. The students were instructed to answer several real-world communicative situations given in the MCDCT task. The data analyzed using statistical descriptive methods. The results of the study revealed that students who frequently played online games (M=3.523) were slightly better at doing the MCDCT than non-gamer students (M=3.220). Thus, it concluded that extramural gaming activity positively affected students' pragmatic competence.

Author Biography

Ni Wayan Sartini, Professor at Universitas Airlangga

Professor in Ethnolinguistics at Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humainities, Universitas Airlangga

References

Balogh, A., & Veszelszki, Á. (2020). Politeness and insult in computer games from a pragmatic point of view. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Communicatio, 7(1), 68-91. https://doi.org/10.2478/auscom-2020-0006

Borchmann, S. (2024). Headlines as illocutionary subacts: The genre-specificity of headlines. Journal of Pragmatics, 220, 73-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2023.12.007

Calvo-Ferrer, J. R., & Belda-Medina, J. (2021). The effect of multiplayer video games on incidental and intentional L2 vocabulary learning: The case of Among Us. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 5(12), 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/mti5120080

Carsten, R. (2005). Testing ESL Pragmatics: Development and validation of a web-based assessment battery. Berlin: Peter Lang.

Casañ-Pitarch, R. (2017). Gamifying content and language integrated learning with serious video-games. Journal of Language and Education, 3(3), 107-114. https://doi.org/10.17323/2411-7390-2017-3-3-107-114

Chen, H. J. H., & Hsu, H. L. (2020). The impact of a serious game on vocabulary and content learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 33(7), 811–832. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2019.1593197

Chen, Y. S. (2016). The effect of learner–learner interactions on a multiple-choice discourse completion task. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 9, 55-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2016.02.001

Chotipaktanasook, N., & Reinders, H. (2018). A massively multiplayer online role-playing game and its effects on interaction in the second language: Play, interact, and learn. In Handbook of research on integrating technology into contemporary language learning and teaching (pp. 367-389). IGI Global.

Cobb, T. & Horst, M. (2011) Does Word Coach coach words? CALICO Journal, 28(3), 639–661. https://doi.org/10.11139/cj.28.3.639-661

Gee, J. P. (2007) What Video Games have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy (Rev. edition). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hudson, T., Brown, J. D., & Detmer, E. (1995). Developing Prototypic Measures of Cross-Cultural Pragmatics. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press

Ishihara, N., & Cohen, A. D. (2022). Teaching and Learning Pragmatics: Where language and culture meet (2nd ed., p.2.). NewYork: Routledge.

Jabbari, N., & Eslami, Z. R. (2019). Second language learning in the context of massively multiplayer online games: A scoping review. ReCALL, 31(1), 92-113.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344018000058

Kao, C. H. (2020). The effect of a digital game-based learning task on the acquisition of the English Article System. System, 95, 102373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102373

Kemp, Simon (2022). Digital 2022: Global Overview Report. Data Reports. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-global-overview-report

Leech, G. N. (2016). Principles of Pragmatics. New York: Routledge

Liu, J. D. (2007). Developing a pragmatics test for Chinese EFL learners. Language Testing, 24(3), 391-415. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532207077206

MacIntyre, P. D., & Charos, C. (1996). Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of language and social psychology, 15(1), 3-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X960151001

Maksum, S. K. D. M. (2024). The Assertive Illocutionary Act of Khatib'Islam Preacher’in Friday Sermons in Baiturohim Mosque of Surakarta. Journal of Pragmatics Research, 6(2), 206-226. https://doi.org/10.18326/jopr.v6i2.206-226

Mao, T., & He, S. (2021). An integrated approach to pragmatic competence: Its framework and properties. Sage Open, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211011472.

McCroskey, J. C., Richmond, V. P., Daly, J. A., & Falcione, R. L. (1990). Studies of the relationship between communication apprehension and self-esteem. Human Communication Research, 6(2), 228-236. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1977.tb00525.xax

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.

Nguyen, M. T. T. (2011). Learning to communicate in a globalized world: To what extent do school textbooks facilitate the development of intercultural pragmatic competence? RELC journal, 42(1), 17-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688210390265

Nightingale, R., & Pla, A. (2018). Assessing the impact of extramural media contact on the foreign-language pragmatic competence and awareness of English philology students in Spain. In Learning second language pragmatics beyond traditional contexts. Berlin: Peter Lang.

Nugroho, A., Van, D. T. H., Putra, H. R., & Nanda, G. A. (2022). To What Extent Does Informal Digital Learning of English Contribute to Learners’ Communicative Competence?. Tadris: Jurnal Keguruan dan Ilmu Tarbiyah, 7(2), 409-422. https://doi.org/10.24042/tadris.v7i2.13500

Peterson, M. (2012). Learner interaction in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG): A sociocultural discourse analysis. ReCALL, 24(3), 361-380. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344012000195

Puimège, E., & Peters, E. (2019). Learners’ English vocabulary knowledge prior to formal instruction: The role of learner-related and word-related variables. Language Learning, 69(4), 943–977. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12364

Rama, P. S., Black, R. W., Van Es, E., & Warschauer, M. (2012). Affordances for second language learning in World of Warcraft. ReCALL, 24(3), 322–338. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344012000171

Reinhardt, J. (2018). Gameful second and foreign language teaching and learning: Theory, research, and practice. Springer.

Rezai, A. (2023). Investigating the association of informal digital learning of English with EFL learners’ intercultural competence and willingness to communicate: a SEM study. BMC psychology, 11(1), 314. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01365-2

Rose, H., McKinley, J., & Baffoe-Djan, J. B. (2019). Data collection research methods in applied linguistics. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.

Ryu, D. (2013). Play to learn, learn to play: Language learning through gaming culture. ReCALL, 25(2), 286–301. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0958344013000050

Steinkuehler, C., & Duncan, S. (2008). Scientific habits of mind in virtual worlds. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17, 530-543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-008-9120-8

Sundqvist, P., & Sylvén, L. K. (2016). Extramural English in teaching and learning: From theory and research to practice. Springer.

Sundqvist, P., & Wikström, P. (2015). Out-of-school digital gameplay and in-school L2 English vocabulary outcomes. System, 51, 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2015.04.001

Sykes, J. M., & Reinhardt, J. (2013). Language at play: Digital games in second and foreign language teaching and learning. Pearson Education.

Sylvén, L. K., & Sundqvist, P. (2012). Gaming as extramural English L2 learning and L2 proficiency among young learners. ReCALL, 24(3), 302-321. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095834401200016X

Taguchi, N. (2019). Second language acquisition and pragmatics: An overview. The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and pragmatics. New York: Routledge.

Thorne, S. L. (2008). Transcultural communication in open Internet environments and massively multiplayer online games. Mediating discourse online, 305327. https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.3.17tho

Timpe, V., Wain, J., & Schmidgall, J. (2015). Defining and operationalizing the construct of pragmatic competence: Review and recommendations (ETS Research Report No. RR-15-06). Educational Testing Service.

Vygotsky, L. S., & Cole, M. (1978). Mind in society: Development of higher psychological processes. Harvard university press.

Warnby, M. (2022). Receptive academic vocabulary knowledge and extramural English involvement–is there a correlation? ITL-International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 173(1), 120–152. https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.21021.wa

Winardy, G. C. B., & Septiana, E. (2023). Role, play, and games: Comparison between role-playing games and role-play in education. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 8(1), 100527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100527

Xu, Z., Chen, Z., Eutsler, L., Geng, Z., & Kogut, A. (2020). A scoping review of digital game-based technology on English language learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68, 877–904. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09702-2

Yee, N. (2006). The demographics, motivations, and derived experiences of users of massively multi-user online graphical environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15(3), 309-329. https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.15.3.309

Downloads

Published

2025-01-16

How to Cite

Dirwan, M. I., Surtini, N. W., & Muhammad Zulfadhli. (2025). Learning by Gaming: Extramural English Gaming Effect on Indonesian Senior High Students’ Pragmatic Competence. Journal of Pragmatics Research, 7(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.18326/jopr.v7i1.1-20