title: Language Learning Enhanced by Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) and the Underlying Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms.
abstract: Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) have increased in popularity among children, juveniles, and adults since MMORPGs' appearance in this digital age. MMORPGs can be applied to enhancing language learning, which is drawing researchers' attention from different fields and many studies have validated MMORPGs' positive effect on language learning. However, there are few studies on the underlying behavioral or neural mechanism of such effect. This paper reviews the educational application of the MMORPGs based on relevant macroscopic and microscopic studies, showing that gamers' overall language proficiency or some specific language skills can be enhanced by real-time online interaction with peers and game narratives or instructions embedded in the MMORPGs. Mechanisms underlying the educational assistant role of MMORPGs in second language learning are discussed from both behavioral and neural perspectives. We suggest that attentional bias makes gamers/learners allocate more cognitive resources toward task-related stimuli in a controlled or an automatic way. Moreover, with a moderating role played by activation of reward circuit, playing the MMORPGs may strengthen or increase functional connectivity from seed regions such as left anterior insular/frontal operculum (AI/FO) and visual word form area to other language-related brain areas.
authors.affiliation: School of Foreign Languages, Anhui Jianzhu UniversityHefei, China; Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China.
authors.forename: Yongjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Hongwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: School of Foreign Languages, Anhui Jianzhu UniversityHefei, China; School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Foreign Languages, Anhui Jianzhu University Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Dinghong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: School of Foreign Languages, Anhui Jianzhu UniversityHefei, China; School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China.
authors.forename: Yue-E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China; School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei, China; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; Center of Medical Physics and Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of SciencesHefei, China.
authors.forename: Xiaochu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Massive Multiple Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs); behavioral mechanism; interaction; language learning; neural mechanism; reward