Learning to play to learn: The emergence of language learning opportunities in expert-mediated, collaborative digital game-based interaction

 This dissertation reports on a digital game-based language learning (DGBLL for short) intervention involving both peer collaboration and expert mediation. Although DGBLL has received increased consideration in recent decades for its potential as a tool for learning, little attention has been paid to the precise manner in which learning opportunities emerge in the course of DGBLL. Drawing on Vygotskian sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986) and the conversation analysis-for-sociocultural theory framework (van Compernolle, 2015), I analyze a DGBLL intervention to understand how learning opportunities emerge through the course of student interaction with a collaborating peer, with an expert mediator, and with the digital game itself. Audio and video recordings were captured of six pairs of second-semester Italian university students playing a narrative-heavy digital adventure game in the presence of an expert mediator while also completing a game-based vocabulary and comprehension worksheet. Conversation analysis of the gameplay sessions reveals that language learning opportunities were mediated by visual semiotics in the game, textual semiotics in the game, the accompanying worksheet, and the expert mediator, all of which acted in unique and dynamic ways with one another. Additionally, post-gaming debriefing questionnaires and interviews were conducted in order to gain insights into students’ perceptions and attitudes towards a DGBLL intervention of this nature. These data reveal generally positive feelings towards peer-collaboration, the expert mediation, and the game itself–both as a source of fun and as a tool for learning