„weil es halt schwieriger ist zu reden als es einfach selber zu machen“ – Lernenden-Engagement und Escape Games im Spanischunterricht

Educational Escape Games (EEG) are learning scenarios in which participants must solve a series of puzzles with a clear educational purpose in order to escape from a (fictional) locked room under time pressure. This paper examines two EEGs designed by teacher education students and play-tested with two Spanish classes (10th and 13th grade). The study focuses on the construct of learner engagement from the perspective of conversation analysis and investigates the extent to which learners engage cognitively, affectively, and socially. The results demonstrate that the participants jointly accomplished the task of solving the puzzles as a shared activity, underscoring the high potential of EEGs in promoting engagement with the target language. However, the interaction in the target language still presents a significant challenge.