Computer Simulations for (Im)politeness Instruction: Avatar versus Interface Feedback

Abstract

L2 pragmatics researchers have expressed increasing interest in the use of computer games to allow learners to practice language in virtual contexts that simulate real-world use (Holden & Sykes, 2011, 2013; Sykes, 2009, 2013; Taguchi et al., 2017; Tang & Taguchi, 2021). It is anticipated that by interacting with a variety of avatars across different settings, games will afford learners opportunities to practice adapting their language use to different social variables and that learners will be able to carry this practice over to real-world contexts (Holden & Sykes, 2013; Sykes & Reinhardt, 2013). The current study contributes to this line of research by examining the effectiveness of pragmatic feedback presented from an in-game avatar against feedback presented as part of the simulation’ s interface. While feedback is considered a central component of computer game design, previous game-based studies on pragmatics instruction have not attempted to isolate the effects of feedback on the learning of pragmatics. The study finds that feedback presented from characters in the simulation led to greater use of the target semantic formula from the simulation than feedback presented as part of the interface. Participant evaluations of pre- and posttest performance further revealed that while the avatar feedback group primarily described differences between their pre- and posttest responses in terms of (im)politeness, participants in the interface and comparison groups reported that their responses were largely the same.