Acquisition

Collaborative Game-play as a Site for Participation and Situated Learning of a Second Language

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

This paper addresses additional language learning as rooted in participation in the social activity of collaborative game-play. Building on a social-interactional view of learning, it analyses some of the detailed practices through which players attend to a video game as the material and semiotic structure that shapes play and creates affordances for additional language learning. We describe how players engage with the language resources offered by the game, drawing on the vocabulary, constructions, prosodic features and utterances modelled on game dialogue, in building their own actions during collaborative play. With these resources, the players display their ongoing engagement with the game as well as their competences in recognising, reproducing and creatively reshaping the available linguistic resources in their own activities.

The impact of video games on training surgeons in the 21st century

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

Background: Video games have become extensively integrated into popular culture. Anecdotal observations of young surgeons suggest that video game play contributes to performance excellence in laparoscopic surgery. Training benefits for surgeons who play video games should be quantifiable. Hypothesis: There is a potential link between video game play and laparoscopic surgical skill and suturing. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of the performance of surgical residents and attending physicians participating in the Rosser Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills and Suturing Program (Top Gun). Three different video game exercises were performed, and surveys were completed to assess past experience with video games and current level of play, and each subject's level of surgical training, number of laparoscopic cases performed, and number of years in medical practice. Setting: Academic medical center and surgical training program. Participants: Thirty-three residents and attending physicians participating in Top Gun from May 10 to August 24, 2002. Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measures were compared between participants' laparoscopic skills and suturing capability, video game scores, and video game experience. Results: Past video game play in excess of 3 h/wk correlated with 37% fewer errors (P < .02) and 27% faster completion (P < .03). Overall Top Gun score (time and errors) was 33% better (P < .005) for video game players and 42% better (P <. 0 1) if they played more than 3 h/wk. Current video game players made 32% fewer errors (P = .04), performed 24% faster (P < .04), and scored 26% better overall (time and errors) (P < .005) than their non-playing colleagues. When comparing demonstrated video gaming skills, those in the top tertile made 47% fewer errors, performed 39% faster, and scored 41% better (P < .001 for all) on the overall Top Gun score. Regression analysis also indicated that video game skill and past video game experience are significant predictors of demonstrated laparoscopic skills. Conclusions: Video game skill correlates with laparoscopic surgical skills. Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery. Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons.

Computer Game Playing in Adolescence - Prevalence and Demographic Indicators

New entry in Digiplay games research bibliography:

Computer game playing is a popular activity among adolescents yet there have been no systematic studies in the U.K. on its prevalence and its demographics. A questionnaire study was undertaken with 387 adolescents (12-16 years of age) to establish the time spent playing computer games, who they first started playing with, the reasons why they first started and why they play now and negative consequences of play. Results revealed that for many adolescents, home computer game playing can take up considerable time with 7% of the sample playing for at least 30 hours a week. Although there were no differences between males and females in who played computer games, it was established that males were found to play significantly more regularly than females.

Are you getting cited?

New references on the Digiplay games research bibliography usually get over 30 reads on their first day. Is your work getting that amount of attention?

Registered users can add their own publications to the Digiplay games research bibliography. Just add your info to this form.

You can link to the online version of your work or, if you own the copyright, even add the full text of your article for Digiplay readers to view.

User login

Follow Digiplay



Follow on Twitter
Join us on Facebook