Bridging the Wall: The Effect of Transmural Digital Game-Based Learning on Turkish EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate
Öz
Extramural digital gameplay is now a routine part of exposure to English, yet it typically remains sealed off from the classroom. This study tests a transmural design in which out-of-school play of a commercial off-the-shelf narrative game (Firewatch) is deliberately bridged with in-class discussion conducted predominantly in the first language, and asks whether that bridge raises learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in English. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used; in the quantitative phase a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test control group design was applied with 41 B1–B2 preparatory-class students (18 experimental, 23 control) at a state university. Over eight weeks the experimental group played the game outside class and analysed it in classroom discussion conducted predominantly in the first language under an explicit translanguaging policy, while the control group completed time-matched communicative tasks. The experimental group’s total WTC rose from 53.73 to 63.86 (t(17) = 4.82, p < .001, d = 1.14), whereas the control group did not change significantly (p = .134). The advantage survived baseline adjustment (ANCOVA F(1, 38) = 16.61, p < .001, ηp² = .304) and was strongest in extramural WTC (ηp² = .322). The intramural benefit was moderated by initial WTC, concentrating among the most reticent learners (r = −.75). Qualitative findings identified permission to use the first language as the mechanism that made participation possible, while showing that this permission was necessary but not sufficient.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Kaynakça
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Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
İkinci Bir Dil Olarak İngilizce, Dil Edinimi, Dil Çalışmaları (Diğer)
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yayımlanma Tarihi
20 Eylül 2026
Gönderilme Tarihi
29 Temmuz 2026
Kabul Tarihi
20 Ağustos 2026
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2026 Cilt: 12 Sayı: 1