Language Games
Les Sims 2
conference powerpoint slides
This was a fairly long presentation in French and English for curious language teachers/learners or anybody interested in sharing new ideas in teaching/learning. In this atelier, people were given a demonstration of new practises available to teachers/learners of French including simulation games like sims 2 in French classes, French wikis, French tubing, etc. My sharing new ideas of learning and teaching is based on the development and practise of current classes at SUNY POTSDAM, NY, USA with Deux Mondes as a main grammatical reference. (see powerpoint slides below). I gave it first in Vegas and tweaked it for San Francisco (language teachers were there)
You need to have just some very basic knowledge about technology and languages, the Internet, games, wikis, tubing, etc. I compare traditional vs. more cutting-edge approaches to teaching, traditional with a textbook, revolutionary without it and hybrid, simulation gaming integrated with it (my deal! 
) I have been attending many CIT conference on instruction technology, focusing on French and technology in the United States using Deux Mondes as my grammar reference and integrating it with Sims 2 framework. I am hoping to see an ancillary integrated with it or any other traditional grammar in the near future. This is a practise focus power point and it would help if I could talk you through maybe if you are interested to meet one day!
students in action at SUNY Potsdam, see Deux Mondes?! (we will be back to that chapter)
(an essential concept: story, play, socializing vs. grammar/vocabulary and cartoonish figures)
Sims 2 is a LIFE SIMULATION game. Just like in the textbook where students deal with strange cartoonish creatures (supposedly French or French speaking) we can do better. We can have students create their cartoon and develop an EMOTIONAL bond with them. In the mean time, we review adjectives that descrive physical attributes, personality, clothing, Avoir, Etre, etc etc. Because we can import more authentic "virtual object" we can have a more authentic cultural set of cultural props (realia) and characters.
Students in 101 answered the ad on your DM textbook activity by having their sims actually ANSWER it. The ad itself was the model for a character creation in a 101 section. They were very excited to see which sim character would answer their ad and which student or group of students the character belonged to. This unified my sections and kept the classes interesting. (Second step, building a house and placing the character inside.)
This is Ravi's example in German. I met him at a conference a few years ago. I followed in his steps and decided to teach vocabulary that way on the French side. It was more fun and rewarding. I decided to look at the game from a linguist perspective. How can we teach vocabulary better how can we rethink Deux mondes blue and white pages (i think I have an answer for the cartoons no?) How do we get to LIVE MATERIALS?
Sims online could be an answer. Exchanging characters with students in a French-speaking country would be great. Life and Live!
I have presented on "domestic creativity" for a long time now! Students still enjoy making a house for their sim character
placing the character inside and helping them make the right decisions in their life whatever their fears and desires are
whatever their life aspirations are. In Deux Mondes like in any other textbook emphasis is placed on the domestic the family the social
then love etc. The same as the virtual life of those characters. Except they are LIVE! not cartoonish masquerades..So, they draw a floor plan, in French of course, while describing what the house will look like using the vocabulary of Deux Mondes. Then they get to create the house in 3d, place the character in, buy furniture (just like DM), place it where it belongs (great review of prepositions) etc etc.
Let's compare ch.10 les voyages with DM and Sims 2 Bon voyages.
Students sent me a post card of their sims' trips telling me what they did. They could also send me one telling me what they will do.
great sure perfect but how do you assess students' projects? (I hear it all the time!!)
Language Games
Les Sims 2
Mixed Lan/genes
Hybrid Courses
A blending of face to face and online teaching and learning delivery.
You will find Ravi's website extremely useful. Visit it often! Click here: Lan/gaming
Here for example on the sims Game students will write a dialogue in the target language between the alien baby and the father. What could they be saying? We see what the baby is thinking..
When students make a sim movie, they can record their own voices and become actors, superstars ;) Of course they have to write the script in the target language.
so writing, speaking, listening to each other, reading each other's scripts, we have the 4 skills+ creativity, time management, leadership, etc.
Gaming
Ask yourself and rate your own class games and activities!
What (lan)games have you played in your classes and what was the response?
television inspired games?
classic games like scrabble?
student-created games?
your own games?
role-playing (communication games)?
action games?
mixed games?
treasure hunts, mysteries, etc,.
oh and oui video games?
Sims 2/language simmersion
Sims 2 is a life-simulation game. You need software, can buy it at Amazon used. You need a decent computer or a library. You need to enjoy creating stories and characters. Since you can set the language to French, Spanish or whatever, students can be immersed in a foreign language while playing the game of life, hence "simmersion."
Unguided, students may not benefit fully from the new foreign language vocabulary they will encounter in the game. My experience is this game will work best with 103-200 level students of a foreign language at the university level and any level below that, provided they are supervised by a professor who is very familiar with the game and has some sort of activity guide in mind. There are so many things one can do with this relatiovely new teaching/learning software and so many directions one can take with it! students will complain that it can become easily overwhelming. First, most students have to master the new technologies, and secondly they are very used to more traditional approaches to teaching/learning. Some students do not like playing and learning with games at the college level. Some love it!
http://www.sims.fr/pages.view_frontpage.asp
http://thesims2.ea.com/
For an example in college see French composition 315.
Sims 2 Activity Guide
I would recommend a hybrid course called "French media" to introduce the Sims 2 at the college level. I suspect working with the Sims 2 at the high school level is doable but I don't know. Why such a hybrid course?
Students need to have an interest in computers and games, the Internet, software, programs, etc. If a student does not know how to use his/her computer pretty well, this student will need to learn very quickly to keep up with the rest of the class. In brief, one needs to be fairly evolved technologically to play with Sims 2. Later in the Semester students are asked to make a movie of their characters, which is not much but enough to throw a more traditional student off.
Students need to have an interest in film making then as well as creative writing. It is not easy to be either! Students can learn how to use their camera on the game and write better using the writing tools their professor empower them with during the semester. See the hybrid course www.mylenejcatel.com and game based 103 class at www.profcatel.com.
In a conversation class, sims 2 can be used to role-play. This is something we are used to doing as teachers. There are many characters that are on the game which can serve us. There also are set characters we can use: shrink/psychologist, the bunny, Death, etc. Because sims do not speak any language but "simlich" it is up to us to interprete the icons they form in their heads and have in their dreams. Students can write a script and act it out together. In my composition class, I asked them to write about a sims' dream interpreting the icons. Also, in that same class, I asked them to write a sim monologue.
Sims interact with other people, themselves, animals, and objects. http://www.aroundthesims.com/objects/toys_04.html
They act, they form thoughts about them. The mirror is a good way to start. A mirror can be used to change a sim's appearance, to dress up or change clothes, to train oneself at speaking, or seducing...If I am a teacher, I will look for that assignment, write a sim monologue where your sim trains himself/herself at speaking/seducing. Find the right style/tone..
In sims 2 everyday life, there are simllions of opportunities to find assignments for our students whether they like them or not! After all, we all are sims..Look below I can give you more examples of activities...
PS: In any other regular class, the game sims 2 can be integrated and used as a complement but cannot be used as a main source of teaching/learning with or without the help or the professor.
Application 103-200+ level
Traditional
Repetition
Memorization
Questions
Written application
Fill in the blanks quiz
MCQ with sim pics
Creative
Audio-Visualization
Give instructions for students to execute on the game live. Sim reads, eats cereals, plays with cat and showers…
Using scenarios/film methodology.
Role-playing
Voc in context
Creative writing/group project/assignment
Invent new object---see sarah’s paper
Write associations for the object
Implies good dictionary usage
Translation techniques
see Mackenzie's efforts (translating Sims 2 seasons into French)
Technical
Modding the sims
http://www.modthesims2.com/
usefool stuff
www.langwidge.com
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/
www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/
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