Developing Pragmatic Competence in Game-Mediated Space: The Case of World of Warcraft

This dissertation consisted of two inter-related studies examining second language (L2) learners’ development of pragmatic competence in game-mediated communication contexts. Research has shown that multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) games such as World of Warcraft (WoW) and Guild Wars 2 afford opportunities for improving L2 learners’ linguistic competence such as vocabulary learning and translanguging practices. However, there is a relative lack of studies focusing on L2 pragmatics and game-mediated communication. Study 1 examined whether L2 learners raised their pragmatic competence through a three-month immersion in WoW whereas study 2 investigated learners’ engagement patterns in gameplay (i.e., whether they focused on gameplay or language learning) and the effects of these patterns on their pragmatic proficiency. Seven learners (4 males, 3 females) with two first language backgrounds (i.e., Chinese and Hindi) and two male native English speaking (NES) players were recruited from a large Midwestern University. Another group of eighteen participants with similar backgrounds served as a control group. The experimental group learners were paired with two NES players and were assigned to form two teams with a combination of novice and expert players. Experimental group participants completed a pre-posttest discourse completion task (DCT) containing tasks eliciting speech act production and played WoW together for three months. Control group participants also completed the pre-posttest DCT for comparison purpose. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore learners’ perception of gameplay and language learning. Pre-posttest comparison revealed the participants in the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group. In addition, analysis of chat transcripts showed participants employed a variety of speech acts such as requests, suggestions, compliments and complaints. Results also showed some players made significant progress in making appropriate communicative activities such as orientation to others’ needs (e.g., appropriate conversational openings and closings) and facilitation of gameplay (e.g., appropriate request strategies) due to affordances for constant communication between other NNES players as well as NES player provided by the WoW game setting. Participants also improved in their oral speech act production as the number of conversational turns and number of words decreased across the three month timespan. Interview results indicated three major themes in facilitating or limiting players’ pragmatic development, including 1. NES players as language guides 2. Game expertise mediates language learning and 3. Motivation and perceived team dynamics mediate language learning. Overall, this study found participants employed different types of speech acts in their in-game communication and some participants showed pragmatic development through opportunities for interaction and collaboration the game design provided