Enhancing Vocabulary Acquisition with Mnemonics in a Serious Video Game

Ricardo Casañ-Pitarch

doi:10.14198/raei.29925

Authors

Ricardo Casañ-Pitarch Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1689-7954

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/raei.29925

Keywords:

Video games, English as a FL, Technical Vocabulary, Engineering, Mnemonics

Abstract

The manipulation of virtual objects in video games acts as a form of mnemonics, enhancing information retention through visuals, narratives, and actions. This research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the video game The Engineer in helping students in a foreign language classroom acquire new vocabulary. 64 industrial engineering bachelor’s degree students participated in this study, with 38 in the experimental group and 26 in the control group. All students were enrolled in the professional English for industrial engineering (B2) subject, a requirement of their bachelor’s degree program. Both groups received the same content and classroom hours. However, while the control group reinforced learning through paper-based exercises, the experimental group engaged with the video game The Engineer. To assess their performances, students from both groups completed a vocabulary pre-test in the first lesson, followed by two post-tests: one immediately after the lessons and another one two weeks later. The results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in both post-tests. Although scores declined in the second post-test, the experimental group exhibited a less significant drop. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the use of mnemonics in a video game could be effective in assisting students to acquire new vocabulary.

Funding

This work is the result of two finalised projects that we must acknowledge. First, the project funded by the Autonomous Government of the Valencian Community (Spain), Subvencions a grups d’investigació emergent, reference GV/2021/035, which supported the initial development of the video game. Subsequently, this study was further developed within the educational innovation and improvement project A+D 2023 – PIME C (Ref. 1920), “Enseñanza de inglés para el negocio de la ingeniería industrial a través de simulación, juego y gamificación”, funded by the Vice-Rector’s Office for Studies, Quality and Accreditation of the Universitat Politècnica de València through the 2023 Learning + Teaching Call.

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