Simulation in second language acquisition: Part 3 (original) (raw)

In this third part of the Symposium on Simulation and Gaming in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) contexts, I have included articles describing the development and incorporation of games for SLA instruction as well as the incorporation of simulations into composition curricula in the United States and in Brazil. Jonnie Hill has been adapting game show formats for English classes for more than a decade. She recently spent more than 3 years in the People's Republic of China, facilitating the use of games with her English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. In her article she describes how she adapted four different quiz show formats from American TV and how her EFL students in China reacted to these games that she introduced into her speaking/listening classes. Curt Reese and Terri Wells describe a game that they created to teach their English as a Second Language (ESL) students conversation skills: THE CONVERSATION GAME. I first learned about this game at a session that Curt Reese presented at the annual TESOL Convention in Tampa, Florida, in 2006. Armed with a stack of yellow, green, and blue cards that said "I couldn't agree with you more," "In my opinion," and "I hate to disagree, but don't you think…", I participated in a conversation game with others who attended this session. It was fun trying to use all of my cards, and I quickly understood how this game could actually help a reticent student to learn to participate more fully in conversations that were taking place in his or her L2. This issue introduces another game, one that the authors created to help international students negotiate the American university system. The game promotes the acquisition of cross-cultural competence by means of game cards known as culture assimilators. Rebecca Damron and I describe the process of creating these game cards for THE UNIVERSITY GAME. We describe the basic structure of a culture assimilator (including the development of critical incidents, potential responses that explain the misunderstanding outlined in the critical incidents, and evaluations of these responses with explanations and culturally appropriate interpretations). In our description of the creation of authentic culture assimilators, we include examples of initial prompts describing the intercultural misunderstandings and the process of