Week 6: Evaluation of the Adjectival Adventure Game.

1. What does the game attempt to “teach”? Are there different levels of difficulty for different proficiency levels?

-From my observation and experience of playing the game, I believe that the aim is to teach beginner level students of English language on different functions of Adjective. In addition, I noticed that there was a positive transition during the lesson as first, the teacher started the lesson by relating the students with their schemata on nouns, which is very much related to the lesson. In short, the teacher was trying to build the bridge for the students to connect their schemata with the new knowledge so that the students will understand the lesson better, rather than memorizing the grammar rule. Furthermore, as the lesson progress, I also noticed that the teacher kept on giving examples, which were a little bit more complex as the students acquired the mastery of the previous level. In short, I believe that the teacher made use of the Krashen's theory of (i+1).

2. What is the game’s best feature, aspect etc?

- I believe that the game most striking feature is the game's settings which are similar to those typical consoles games such as 'Pokemon', 'Digimon', 'Super Mario' and many more which are very popular among kids and teenagers. Hence, it is more relatable to the students as they get to experience the gaming's experience while learning adjective at the same time. Furthermore, apart from the game setting, the use of different characters and the short dialogues which help to explain the grammar rule in much more relaxed manner and it helps students who have a short attention span, as compared to learning in the conventional classroom.

3. What is the game’s weakest feature or drawbacks?

- I reckon that the game's biggest drawback is that it does not provide a crystal clear direction for the user in accomplishing the task. For an example, I spent more than 10 minutes trying to figure out where to find Mamu's father for the first task, as I had to deliver some pancakes for him. Thus, I have to go and check all the possible routes, building, and even talking to the other characters to find the clue of his whereabouts. Unlike the real game, the game maker ensures that there are clear instruction and direction for the user in accomplishing special quest or specific task and I support this, as getting confused in the game actually ruined my mood to continue playing the game. Besides that, another drawback is the language used in the dialogue. This is because since the game makes use of characters in which their thoughts and communication are presented in the dialogues' form, there are some grammatical errors and the use of slangs which are used in the non-formal setting. Thus, for a new language learner of English, teachers need to make sure that the students are aware of this issue so that they will not use it in their academic writing.

4. Can you pinpoint some theories of language learning and/or teaching underlying the game?

- I believe that the teacher used a combination of different theories. For an example, I noticed that he used Krashen's theory of (i+1) in which he supplied the students with more complex examples than the previous stage. Besides that, the teacher also applied behaviorist theory in which he made sure the students acquire the mastery of a particular stage before proceeding with the next stage. Furthermore, I could see that he also exercised immediate feedback when the students gave their answers, he confirmed their answers and gave them rewards in term of praise. Lastly, I could also see that the teacher used cognitive theory as during his set induction, he asked the meaning and examples of nouns from the students which I believe that he had taught them in the previous lesson and his action was to help the students to make connection of their schemata with the lesson that they were going to learn.

5. An important criterion for evaluating a CALL program, task or an educational game is potential for language learning (i.e. will students learn something?) Does the game fulfill this criterion? If yes, how so? If no, why?

- I believe that the most striking criterion for the evaluation of this program is the 'Authenticity' of it. In addition, authenticity is defined as the degree of correspondence between an L2 learning task and task that learners are most likely to encounter outside of the classroom, and also the extent to which learners' attention is directed toward the meaning of the language.  Furthermore, I could see that from the flow of the game, it helps the students to realize the important functions of using adjectives in our daily lives. Furthermore, since the grammar rule of the adjective is presented in such meaningful way, they students tend to accept the information as they might feel that they can relate to it. Thus, the students can relate the experience that they get from the game with their experience in the world where they might have been using adjectives to describe things before, but they might not aware of it, until they learn about it in a formal setting, or it might also be their first time learning to use adjective to describe things upon completing the game.

6. If you were to suggest that one change be made to the game, what would it be?

- I would like to suggest the game to be changed into an online game where the teaching part can be fully controlled and carried out by AI (Artificial Intelligence), but when it comes to discussion, students can interact with other users around the world, where they help each other for further clarification and understanding, which is also known as Peeragogy.

7. Would you recommend this game to learners and teachers alike?
Yes? Provide reason(s), No? Provide (reason)

- Yes, I would definitely recommend this game both to the teachers and learners as it is very interactive and interesting as I have yet to experience a platform which offers learners with the learning experience through game, and to be honest, I was amazed when I first tried it as it has both the elements of entertainment and also learning point. Furthermore, apart from that, this game also implicitly emphasizes the important functions of the adjective in our daily life as it helps us to describe an object more clearly and specifically.