Gaeilge Gaming: Assessing how games can help children to learn Irish

Abstract

In the 2011 census almost one in three Irish teenagers claimed to be unable to speak Irish Central Statistics Office, Ireland, 2012, despite the language being taught daily in school. The challenges facing the Irish language in schools are complex and multifaceted. The research reported here attempts to address some of these challenges by adopting a novel approach to teaching Irish to primary school children using an online detective game. This paper details how a group of 10 year old children n = 17 report their experience of the game, and how this compares to its proposed affordances for language learning. Overall, the children responded very positively, and identified significant motivational factors associated with the game, such as rewards, positive team interactions, challenge and active learning. Their feedback demonstrates that this use of gaming technology has the potential to support children's language learning through creating a language community where users are motivated to use Irish in a meaningful way.