Tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) as a tool for motivating English as a foreign language learners

Abstract

How to successfully motivate students during the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language is a relevant subject since many students find their learning process to be demotivating (BARCELOS, 2006). This is a bibliographical research of three experiments (DA ROCHA, 2019; JOHNSON, 2021; and ARAÚJO, 2022) that used Role Playing Games (RPGs) as a tool for fostering motivation in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language. The theoretical background used in this work is student motivation and collaborative learning studies by Brown (2001), Michelon (2003), Cavenaghi (2009), and Ng and Ng (2015). In addition, conceptions about games as a motivational tool by Flores (2015); Soares (2012); and Júnior (2018) have also been also considered. The experiments have been analyzed in terms of successful strategies using RPGs in order to enhance student motivation. The analysis has revealed that students are more motivated when they choose or create the game setting for the story, as well as the characters they are going to play. Moreover, the game becomes more motivating when there is a gradual increase in narrative freedom and complexity in their choices during gameplay. Finally, a pedagogical model using RPGs has been proposed taking into consideration the observations made about the experiments. This model took Task Based Language Teaching as a methodological procedure based on the theoretical framework proposed by Shehadeh (2005); Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011); and mainly by the framework put forth by Willis (1995).