Abstract:

Serious games are a new learning medium, and many educators incorporate them in the teaching process in order to achieve the learning objectives set by the curriculum. As the process of serious games’ integration into educational landscape is gathering momentum, the area of teaching and learning foreign languages through serious games seems very promising. This paper is a review of the educational benefits of serious games on foreign language teaching and learning. According to our findings, serious games are very effective in teaching a foreign language. Specifically, through serious games students are motivated, exposed to authentic text, interact, collaborate with others and communicate to solve problems. Moreover, serious games have a positive effect on vocabulary learning and in the acquisition of the communication skills of the target language such as speaking, reading and listening. Despite the positive remarks, there is criticism that serious games cannot help beginners effectively, but only those who already have some prior knowledge of the target language. Finally, research shows that when using a serious game in the teaching process, several characteristics should be taken into consideration such as the motivation it provides to learners, its adaptability and interactivity, as well as it is important to consider the role of the educators.

Keywords:

e-learning, distance learning, serious games, foreign languages, educational benefits, educational technology.