Investigating the effectiveness of a digital game-based task on the acquisition of word knowledge

Abstract

This study investigates the probable effect of a digital game-based vocabulary learning (DGBVL) task on the acquisition of some components of a word knowledge framework. In so doing, 124 Persian speakers (56 males and 68 females) were randomly assigned to either a control or an experimental group. The experimental group participants completed a DGBVL task for acquiring ten low-frequent inanimate object names, or lexical nouns, by playing a commercial adventure game. The control group participants practiced the same words in a fill-in-the-blank vocabulary acquisition exercise. In brief, first, all participants sat for a word-checklist and a proficiency test; next, they completed their tasks, and three weeks later, all participants sat for eight achievement tests. In the achievement test booklet, participants’ knowledge of receptive, productive, recognition, and recall dimensions and scopes of meaning, orthography, and association were evaluated. The results revealed 1) the efficiency of the DGBVL task in enhancing the acquisition of these components, 2) the precedence of productive knowledge acquisition by the experimental group participants, 3) strong associations among the components acquired through DGBVL task assistance, and 4) gains in the components that were not associated with others due to the efficiency of DGBVL.