Digitally mediated spaces in Chinese



Academic Resources on Digital Games for Learning Chinese

Resources in this section curated by: Anna Krinitsyna, Cameron Teubner-Keller

Taguchi, N., Li, Q., & Tang, X. (2017). Learning Chinese formulaic expressions in a scenario‐based interactive environment. Foreign Language Annals, 50(4), 641-660. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12292 

This article discusses the use of scenario-based interactive environments for teaching and learning pragmatic skills (formulaic expressions). The platform being studied incorporated numerous gaming elements, including character selection and “quest” selection (choosing what interactions they wanted to participate in). Formulaic expressions acted as linguistic resources that participants needed to complete tasks; therefore, participants would learn formulaic expressions as a result of completing the game.

While they initially had some knowledge of formulaic expressions, learners showed greater knowledge after playing the game. Their sociopragmatic errors decreased the most, showing that learners did indeed recognize the relationships between form and context. Utilizing comprehension and production modalities, along with input cues and contextual representations strengthened this connection for learners. By including game-features (rich context cues, interactions with characters, autonomy in choosing a character and responses, and immediate feedback), learners were motivated to play the game, and in turn, play out the scenarios in which they would use their pragmatic skills later in their use of the language.


Tang, X., & Taguchi, N. (2021). Digital game‐based learning of formulaic expressions in second language Chinese. The Modern Language Journal, 105(3), 740-759. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12725 

Digital games offer a promising platform to engage second language (L2) learners in contextualized language practice, including pragmatics practice. This study investigated the instructional and motivational effects of a digital game on learning Chinese formulaic expressions. Two learning environments were developed: a scenario-based digital game (Questaurant) and an interactive online lesson. Learners of Chinese in two U.S. universities were randomly assigned to the game group or the online lesson group. Both groups equally improved their knowledge of formulaic expressions after the respective learning session. However, the game group showed a significantly higher level of motivation compared to the online lesson group.