Cybertext redux: Using interactive fiction to teach German vocabulary, reading and culture

Abstract

Included within a second language acquisition program, digital games possibly can increase knowledge retention and transfer rates. This mixed-methods study uses a computer- based interactive fiction (IF) game to teach German vocabulary, reading, and culture to university students. The results indicate that contextualized, immersive role-play may have assisted in second language learning, but students were apprehensive given the departure from traditional drill- and grammar-based instruction.