Abstract:

With technological advancements, digital game-mediated teaching is becoming popular in the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). This presentation reports on a collaborative project between The University of Edinburgh and Nosebleed Interactive Ltd. The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is funded by Innovate UK for the development of a novel web based entertainment platform for teaching English to Chinese children. We begin with an overview of the partnership before moving onto the innovative nature of the product design. Research expertise in the fields of TESOL, online language learning, English Medium Instruction (EMI) (Galloway et al, 2017), learner attitudes (Galloway, 2013, 2017a) and the pedagogical implications of the globalization of English (Galloway and Rose, 2015; Galloway, 2017a, 2017b) have informed the product design. The global spread of English has seen an increase in importance placed, not only on English language education throughout the world, but also on education through English. As such, the products have been designed around content-based topics. They are also innovative with their recognition of the need for materials that do not focus solely on the ‘native’ English speaker model, but recognize the use of English as a global lingua franca. We outline the multilingual focus of the products designed to introduce students to the linguistic and cultural diversity of English. We also provide an overview research conducted by MSc TESOL students at The University of Edinburgh showcasing how we have embedded the project into our curriculum and facilitated links with industry. This presentation will be of interest to those interested in the field of digital game-mediated learning, TESOL curriculum innovation, and university/industry collaboration. We also examine various contextual constraints to curriculum innovation in the Chinese context, offering insights for those developing materials for use in countries across the globe.

Keywords:

Game-based learning, TESOL, multilingualism, industry, digital learning, curriculum innovation.