Mission: Conversational English

My previous post discussed the potentials of using games in the ESL classroom to meet learning objectives; it focused on casual games.  This post is going to discuss the benefits of using serious games, specifically for individual learning outside of the classroom.  The game I chose to use as an example is Mission US; it is a series of interactive games that are based off of various events from United States history.  The game that I have experience playing is Mission 1:  For Crown or Colony?  The premise of this game is a 14 year old boy named Nat Wheeler in 1770 Massachusetts who is forced to go apprentice for a news paper right before the revolutionary war breaks out.  He has various tasks he has to complete through out the game as an apprentice along with making the choice of which side to take during the war.  I would introduce this game to my ESL students as supplemental learning material during a conversational unit. This game incorporates the skills of listening and reading, however I would use it during a conversational unit because the main character (the student) interacts with the surrounding characters through dialogue/conversational format.  The other characters actually respond based on what Nat chooses to say (options appear on the screen).  This type of game is also good for an ESL class because it incorporates American culture into the learning of the language.  My language learning objectives would be:  Students would demonstrate language skills necessary for effective communication:  such as listening comprehension skills and

control of English grammar.  I would encourage my students to play this game in pairs and each practice taking on the roles of the main character and supporting characters and reading the dialogue out loud each turn.  I would assess their ability to communicate effectively in English a couple of ways: First I would ask them to create a role play as an assignment initiating a conversation based on the premise of the game.  Then as an in class assignment I would have them pair up and carry on a conversation taking turns initiating and answering/responding.  This would be a good game to use when first introducing conversational skills in the class, it's a good starting activity to get the students used to the "flow" of English conversations.