Development And Evaluation Of An English Vocabulary Computer Game For Navy Soldiers

The development and popularization of computer games has deeply changedyoung people’s life, and computer games also affect their study (Prensky,2001a). Inrecent years, it becomes an area of theoretical and practical values to transform gamesinto educational tools for language, which could be designed and improved based onlinguistic theories.The study finds that at present, navy soldiers’ English proficiency discords withtheir work needs; navy soldiers’ learning mode discords with the administrationenvironment of the navy; navy soldiers’ status quo of English learning discords withthe development strategy of the army. The characteristics of young soldiers andadvantages of computer games enlighten us that we could try to deal with the discordbetween navy soldiers’ English proficiency and their word needs from the perspectiveof games.The study constructed an English vocabulary learning model based on cognitivelearning theories, game-based learning theories and frequency principle. It developeda compiling tool and compiled categorized and level-based word lists by selectingwords from naval escort English (adapted by the navy). The study developed a gameVoca-Warrior based on self-constructed learning model of English vocabulary game,and then the game is evaluated. The evaluation is conducted from two dimensions,including Voca-Warrior’s effect on navy soldiers’ motivation and attitudes, and itseffect on vocabulary learning in breadth and depth.The study aims at answering the following four research questions:(1) What are the contradictions between navy soldiers’ English proficiency and theneeds of their work and the development of navy? Is it necessary to developvocabulary learning computer games for navy soldiers?(2) If yes, what factors should be considered in developing an English vocabularycomputer game?(3) Does Voca-Warrior bring any change on the motivation and attitude of navy soldiers’ learning? What are the effects of using Voca-Warrior?(4) What are the effects of Voca-Warrior on navy soldiers’ vocabulary learning inbreadth and depth?The tools employed in the study include wordsmith，RANGE，SPSS(16.0), BNC.Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (Paribakht&Wesche, cited in Ma,2001, p.73) is usedand the evaluation is made via questionnaire, interview, observation and experiment.The findings in this research indicate that:(1) Navy soldiers are at a low level of English proficiency, with small vocabulary.They mainly use gestures in foreign affairs. Navy soldiers are weak at oralexpressions, which discords with the needs of their work and navy’s development.Naval soldiers commonly think that vocabulary contributes to their work directly andthey need a flexible learning mode and environment. It is necessary to developvocabulary learning game for navy soldiers.(2) There are four individual factors and three interpersonal factors concerningmotivation to be considered in designing vocabulary games, including challenge，fantasy, curiosity, control, cooperation, competition, recognition.(3) Voca-Warrior has a positive effect on navy soldiers’ attitude and motivation.In practical use, Voca-Warrior also enriches navy soldiers’ cultural activities, whichhas positive effects on administration.(4) Voca-Warrior has positive effects on navy soldiers’ English vocabularylearning in breadth and depth.The study has both theoretical and practical significance including the following:firstly, according to the materials of investigation and naval practical needs, wediscussed the principles and methods for compiling categorized and level-basedEnglish word list, and made a compiling tool for word lists. Secondly, the studyconstructed an English vocabulary learning model. An English vocabulary learninggame Voca-Warrior was designed and developed based on the model, and evaluationwas also made. Lastly, the study discussed computer games’ effect on learningmotivation and vocabulary learning. It analyzed the designing principles andtheoretical background of games for learning, which laid a foundation for the future study.However, the study consumed much labor and it asked for the support of teamwork, thus there are some possible mistakes, which could be turned intoenlightenment for us in the future study: firstly, to further study of the principles andtheories needed to develop computer learning games; secondly, to make the gamesmore fantastic, but also make a balance with the educational purpose, to make it morepractical and suitable; thirdly, to build large navy English corpus for specific purposes,which could support the compiling of more word lists with accurate frequency.