In recent years, a sharp increase in the number of academic studies around the use of video games and new media for educational purposes has greatly expanded our understanding of their potential for enhancing learning. At the same time, the field of foreign language pedagogy has been racing to keep pace with the numerous opportunities afforded by the internet and interactive media forms. Surprisingly, however, there has been little cross-over between the two bodies of academic literature. This site seeks to present many of the latest theories in game studies and new media literacies alongside theories of language learning. Numerous examples are presented of how video games and web applications such as The Sims 2, Grim Fandango, Google Earth, Social Networking, DVD functionality and others could shift the way we approach language learning. Read more...

Last year, Americans bought over 215 million computer and video games. That's more than two games per household. The video game industry made almost as much money from gross domestic income as Hollywood. So are video games a massive drain on our income, time and energy? A new form of "cultural pollution," as one U.S. senator described them? The "nightmare before Christmas," in the words of another? Are games teaching our children to kill, as countless op-ed pieces have warned? No. Computer games are art-a popular art, an emerging art, a largely unrecognized art, but art nevertheless. Read more...