Incidental Lexical Learning from Single-player Video Game

Incidental lexical learning from single-player video game

Under the recent pandemic triggered by Covid-19, technology-mediated learning platforms have received increasing attention, and digital video games are one of such prevailing trends. However, most studies in this field have focused on multiplayer online games with particular attention to the interaction between game players. Against this context, this paper reports a case study that explored how single-player video games can affect second language users' incidental lexical learning from playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BOTW). Eight Cantonese undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group and their vocabulary knowledge was assessed using the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) tests. Four students in the experimental group played the game for four hours, while those assigned to the control group only took the VKSs without playing the game. The results indicated that the students showed improvement in their receptive knowledge about the target words, while word frequency and context in the game did not have an impact on incidental lexical learning. The findings are explained with Hulstijn and Laufer's (2001) Involvement Load Hypothesis and Skehan's Trade-off Hypothesis, and pedagogical suggestions are provided in terms of how to utilize games in promoting incidental lexical learning.