All of the ELLE games described below are connected to a user-friendly website and database. The website is designed for instructors to design custom practice modules for students—providing the instructor with the ability to create games that practice anything from a specific chapter’s vocabulary to common travel phrases, to frequently confused words, and beyond. Modules and terms (including images and audio in the target language) are stored in the database and pulled into individual games when players select that module. Students create an account with a randomized username (conforming to FERPA policies), and each game uploads data from each play session to the server. This allows instructors and students alike to see their performance, time played, and frequently missed terms, helping to inform lesson plans and study habits alike. It also allows for researchers (with IRB approval) to access this data and gain key insights about the process of second language acquisition with videogames.
AnimELLE Crossing (computer game)
AnimELLE Crossing tutorial.
Like the famous Nintendo game to which its name alludes, AnimELLE crossing allows players to explore a friendly cartoon world and complete tasks for other villagers (non-playable characters) in four different landscapes: forest, village, desert, and beach. The game keeps a running score and allows players to cash in their points for different avatars, outfits, accessories, and home improvements. Each task within the village (mini-game) pulls terms from the shared term database, providing a word bank as well as a variety of ways for learners to be exposed to new vocabulary. Some games are typical matching or multiple-choice, but options include a scavenger hunt on the beach, and a spelling game with a wise-cracking elk!
VirtuELLE Mentor Card Game (computer game)
VirtuELLE Mentor Card Game.
The VirtuELLE Mentor Card Game asks players to match terms, phrases, or short sentences in a variety of format combinations, including L2 text, L2 audio, English text, and image. Players earn credits for correct matches and for correct matches made in a row (called “streaks”); they can cash in their credits for different backgrounds and card colors. This game has been played in three different sections of Co-PI Sousa’s courses (Elementary and Intermediate Portuguese) and in six sections in Co-PI Vitanova’s linguistics course to help students learn the International Phonetic Alphabet. The mentoring avatar (robot in top left of image) has just been added and allows for greater insights to player perceptions and attitudes. Students select the mentor avatar of their choice from a selection of eight, and the instructor can set the mentor to pop up after a specific number of incorrect questions, correct questions, or just a certain amount of time. The mentor can be easily programmed to ask students to agree or disagree with statements on a Likert scale, type in a text box how confident they feel about their progress, or even ask more complicated questions about vocabulary or syntax, like “Type a sentence that includes the term ‘ontem;’” or “Translate the following sentence to English.” These responses, though not automatically scored by the game, are stored in the database, and accessible by instructors and researchers.
hELLE’s Kitchen (VR game)
hELLE’s Kitchen VR Game.
hELLE’s Kitchen is a game that emphasizes practicing vocabulary in categories. Players enter the virtual kitchen and are given a “recipe” to follow. Some are actual recipes, asking for ingredients for various dishes like spaghetti, while others are simply related vocabulary terms, such as “school supplies” or even “golf.” Players move around the kitchen to locate “ingredients” on the shelves and in the refrigerator, placing each item in a large pot on the stove. If a player attempts to add an incorrect ingredient to the pot, it will bounce out, and the player will hear a thumping noise to emphasize that the selection was wrong. Once all correct ingredients are added to the pot, the final “dish” will appear in the player’s virtual hands, and they “serve” it to the head chefs at the kitchen window.
Spin ‘N’ SpELLE (VR game)
Spin ‘N’ SpELLE VR Game.
Spin ‘N’ SpELLE allows players to practice spelling and using accent marks in a whimsical virtual children’s room. Players hold magic wands in both hands to allow for accessibility as well as both left- and right-handed players. The wands allow players to easily summon, rotate, and place blocks on a shelf beside an image of the term they need to spell. Accent marks are added to the blocks using animal-themed stickers. Correctly, completely spelled words and the shelves on which they sit all disappear in a puff of magic, purple smoke. Players can select to play “endlessly” and images to be spelled will continue to appear until they quit the game, or they can play “quiz mode” that only asks for each term in the module to be spelled once.
Highrise hELLEp (VR game)
Highrise hELLEp VR Game.
Highrise hELLEp is another VR game that focuses on categories. Terms can be labeled in the database as a certain part of speech or certain category. These categories then appear on an electric traffic information sign beside a burning building. Random terms from the module are displayed on balconies, and the player needs to point the water hose at the terms that match the category, extinguishing those flames. If the term does not match the category, the fire will not be put out by the water. Additionally, if a module does not have labeled terms in the database, the game will automatically shift to term-translation matching, and players will need to extinguish the fire on the balcony of a term matching the English text displayed on the traffic sign.
Milleni-ELLE (VR game)
Milleni-ELLE airport tutorial scene.
Milleni-ELLE is a Spanish language game emphasizing context and immersion. The player arrives in an airport (tutorial scene) where they learn the basic mechanics of the game and board a virtual bus. The bus will take them to a house to pack for their next trip or to the grocery store to practice food-based vocabulary.
Tech Fee Grant, University of Central Florida. Learn the Humanities with VR. 10/2020-09/2021. $6,458.75.
Quality Enhancement Grant, University of Central Florida. ELLE the EndLess LEarner: A Second Language Acquisition Videogame. PI: E. Johnson. 07/2018-07/2020. $3,500.
ELLE the EndLess LEarner a suite of language learning games for Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), mobile, and PC created in collaboration with faculty and staff members from the Office of Instructional Resources, the Center for Humanities and Digital Research, and Modern Languages, Games and Interactive Media, as well as groups of Computer Science students. Designed with the dual purpose of education and research, each game is linked to a database that stores terms and definitions and allows the player to select the level of difficulty and terms, ideal for a midterm review as well as an isolated research study. See what’s been happening lately and download games at endlesslearner.com!
We were awarded internal Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) funding to add a professionalization pack to the game—Portuguese language students researched job interview questions common to Brazil and Portugal that were then incorporated into the database. Players can then choose to add this group of questions to their game, augmenting language learning with important professionalization skill practice.
This endless-runner-style language learning game sprung up from a Games Research Group meeting where we watched a demo of the endless-runner in Unreal. After our research team received the honor of first runner-up for an internal grant (but no funding), we pitched the idea to a Computer Science Capstone course and got a top-notch group of students to make it a reality.
iLRN 2021 Johnson, E.K. (2021). ELLE-ments of Learning: A Framework for Analyzing Multimodal Technical Communication Strategies in an Educational VR Game. Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) Conference. June 5, 2021.
HCII 2019 Johnson, E.K., Merritt, D., and Giroux, A. (2019). Learning Portuguese in VR with ELLE. Human-Computer Interaction International Conference. July 29-31, 2019. Orlando, Florida.
iGBL 2019 Johnson, E.K. and Giroux, A.L. (2019). Effective ELLE-ments: Learner Preferences in Learning Game Features And Mechanics. Irish Conference on Game-Based Learning. June 26-28, 2019. Cork City, Ireland.
Otronicon 2019 Johnson, E., Giroux, A.L., Merritt, D., Vitanova, G., and Sousa, S. (2018). ELLE the EndLess LEarner: Language Learning Videogame. (O)rlando Elec(tron)ic (I)nteractive Entertainment (Con)vention. January 18-19, 2019. Orlando Science Center, Orlando, Florida. [ELLE 2.0 VR]
iLRN 2018 Johnson, E., Giroux, A. L., and Merritt, D. (2018). ELLE the EndLess LEarner: A Second Language Acquisition Virtual Reality Game. Demonstration. Proceedings from Immersive Learning Research Network Conference, Missoula, Montana, June 24-29, 2018. Graz University of Technology (Austria). [ELLE 1.0 VR]
DH 2017 Merritt, D. F., Johnson, E. K., Giroux, A. L. (2017). ELLE the EndLess LEarner: Exploring Second Language Acquisition Through an Endless Runner-style Video Game. Paper presented by A. Giroux at Digital Humanities 2017 in Montreal, Canada, August 9, 2017. [ELLE 1.0 VR & PC]
HASTAC Giroux, A.L., Johnson, E.K., Merritt, D., Vitanova, G., Sousa, S. ELLE, The EndLess LEarner Videogame: An interdisciplinary digital humanities collaboration. Presented by all authors at Humanities Arts Science Technology Alliance Consortium (HASTAC), Orlando, Florida, November 2-4, 2017. [ELLE 1.0 VR & PC]
Anemogiannis, G., Butt, E., Chauhan, T., & Chipman, M. ELLE, The EndLess LEarner Videogame: Language Acquisition Through Interactive Technology. Demonstration at Humanities Arts Science Technology Alliance Consortium (HASTAC), Orlando, Florida, November 2-4, 2017. [ELLE 1.0 VR & PC]
College of Engineering and Computer Science Fall 2017 Senior Design Showcase Anemogiannis, G., Butt, E., Chauhan, T., & Chipman, M. ELLE (EndLess LEarner): Learn a Second Language with Virtual Reality Video Game. Presented at UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science Fall 2017 Senior Design Showcase November 30, 2017. *Awarded Best Computer Science Project [ELLE 1.0 VR & PC]
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