Interviewed Spaceteam ESL players said they spoke more English during play, and one said he stopped attending to his nervousness; the authors suggest motivation may explain a non-significant fluency trend¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q1
Currency · newest study 2016 · checked against its sources 2026-11-02 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q1 i? In interviews, one participant said he spoke more English in a 15-minute game session than in a three-hour class, and another said that while playing he did not pay attention to his nervousness in English; the authors suggest, without testing it, that motivation from game play may explain the treatment group's slight, non-significant pre- to post-test gain. → Grimshaw 2016

Evidence¶

Grimshaw 2016¶

Grimshaw, J., Cardoso, W., & Waddington, D. (2016). Can a ‘shouting’ digital game help learners develop oral fluency in a second language?. In S. Papadima-Sophocleous, L. Bradley & S. Thouësny (Eds), CALL communities and culture – short papers from EUROCALL 2016 (pp. 172-177). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2016.eurocall2016.557

q1 · i? · causal · r1

Interview comments from participants in a small study of Spaceteam ESL as a classroom warm-up, whose treatment and control groups did not differ significantly in fluency. One student said he produced "more English in more small time" during a 15-minute gaming session than in a three-hour class; another said that while playing he "didn’t pay attention about [his] nervosity in English", which he said let him focus on speaking. These are what two participants said, not measured changes in anxiety or motivation; the authors offer increased motivation as a possible explanation for the treatment group's slight, non-significant improvement.

"Interviews with participants revealed that the treatment group’s improvement may be due to an increased motivation that results from game play, as observed in the literature ( Wang, Khoo, Liu, & Divaharan, 200 8)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Academic Anxiety — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Fluency showed a trend toward significance for the treatment group between pre- and post-tests (p=.055), suggesting digital game pressure may push learners to speak faster — related
• Playing Spaceteam ESL as a warm-up produced no significant difference in fluency improvement between treatment and control groups over time — related
• EFL students report that games reduce speaking stress and improve speaking skills — related
• Videogame play in class fostered peer competition, peer support, and student attention and immersion — related
• AI reduces foreign language anxiety and strengthens self-efficacy and self-confidence, supporting the Affective Foundation Pathway — related