Abstract:

Wordle has been popular all over the world; it's easy to play, it’s quite engaging, doesn't take too much time (you can only play one game per day) and it's free (at least as of this writing). If you have difficulty figuring out today's word, you can put it down and return to it later. The premise is simple: Guess a 5-letter word within 6 tries. The software gives you hints about how close you are.

What about English learners? Is it beneficial for them? At 3 Japanese universities, ranging from low to high level universities, students of low to intermediate level English were taught how to play. Bilingual instructions were given.

There are several benefits to playing Wordle. There are over 12,000 five-letter words in the English language. Even native speakers aren’t likely to know all of them. Students will be exposed to many unfamiliar words. No definitions are given, but anyone can look them up if desired. It will be some time before all the words are used up. Therefore, students will be able to enjoy playing Wordle for a long time.

Language learners don’t always have the opportunity to use all the vocabulary which they learn. Playing Wordle helps remind them of words they’ve learned.

Playing Wordle helps with spelling because words must be spelled correctly. Unrecognized words are rejected (the letters 'vibrate' side-to-side). Japanese students tend to sound out & spell words according to katakana (one of the Japanese syllabaries) sounds, so a word such as 'smile' is sometimes spelled 'sumairu' (su-ス ma-マ i-イ ru-ル)

A questionnaire was given to all the students to determine the usefulness of Wordle. They like playing and find it useful. Some feel that they will continue on their own. This is important because students need to use various products in class, but they don’t like them enough to use them on their own. Indications that students really like it can be seen in the classroom: When the teacher walks into the room, students can be seen working on today's Wordle. At times, the only time students voluntarily have books open is to copy homework!

This presentation will show the uses of Wordle in the language class, how to get the most out of it as well as potential issues with it.

Keywords:

Online games, language learning, engaging, vocabulary.