Slides from a paper presentation at the ECAWA State Conference 2011 at Canning College, Bentley, Western Australia. This paper is co-authored with Lindy Norris and a similar version was previously presented at the AFMLTA 2011 National Conference in Darwin, Nothern Territory.

1. Figuring
Out Fun
Exploring teacher and learner perceptions of
‘fun’ in languages learning with ICTs
Lindy Norris ECAWA State Conference 2011
Penelope Coutas Canning College, Bentley
School of Education
Murdoch University

2. “
One theme emerging is the idea of fun. The students talk
about it, the teachers talk about it, and the literature... doesn’t
talk about it (much).
(Coutas, 2009)

3. Game Theory

4. “
Fun is all about our brains feeling good - the release of
endorphins into our system. The various cocktails of
chemicals released in different ways are basically all the
same ... Basically, our brains are on drugs pretty much all the
time.
(Koster, 2005, p. 40)

5. “
One of the subtlest releases of chemicals is at
that moment of triumph when we learn
something or master a task. This almost always
causes us to break into a smile. After all, it is
important to the survival of the species that we
learn - therefore our bodies reward us for it with
moments of pleasure ... learning is the drug.
”
(Koster, 2005, p. 40)

6. Fun is just another word for learning
(Koster, 2005, p. 46) ,

7. “
...the human brain is mostly a voracious
consumer of patterns, a soft pudgy gray
Pac-Man of concepts.
”
(Koster, 2005, p. 14)

9. “
...we have tried to leverage the motivational value of
games, offering children a safe and meaningful space
for play while at the same time supporting autonomy,
agency, collaboration, a sense of purpose and
consequentiality, and even academic learning.
(Barab, 2005, p. 104)

11. Teachers today need almost to be conceived of as the
game designers with our students as the gamers.

12. Play-based
Literacy Learning

14. SLA Theory
Not this kind of theory...

15. “
Play is also intelligent ... Play is an
exuberance of the mind...
”
(Cook, 1997, p. 227)

16. 3 ways in which language play as fun may
impact on SLA:
(Broner and Tarone, 2001)

17. 3 ways in which language play as fun may
impact on SLA:
1 The emotional excitement that comes with language play may
simply make the L2 discourse more noticeable and thus more
(Broner and Tarone, 2001)

18. 3 ways in which language play as fun may
impact on SLA:
1 The emotional excitement that comes with language play may
simply make the L2 discourse more noticeable and thus more
2 Semantic language play may help in the mastery of more than
one discourse.
(Broner and Tarone, 2001)

19. 3 ways in which language play as fun may
impact on SLA:
1 The emotional excitement that comes with language play may
simply make the L2 discourse more noticeable and thus more
2 Semantic language play may help in the mastery of more than
one discourse.
3 Ludic language play may impact on interlanguage development.
(Broner and Tarone, 2001)

20. 10 Commandments for
motivating language learners
I. Set a personal example with your own behaviour.
II. Create a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere in the
classroom.
III. Present the tasks properly.
IV. Develop a good relationship with the learners.
V. Increase the learnersʼ linguistic self-confidence.
VI. Make the language classes interesting.
VII. Promote learner autonomy.
VIII. Personalize the learning process.
IX. Increase the learnersʼ goal-orientedness.
X. Familiarize learners with the target language
culture.
(Dornyei & Csizer, 1998, p. 215)

21. Control Theory

22. 5 basic needs:
“1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Survive and reproduce
Belong and love
Gain power
Be free
Have fun
”
(Glasser, 1986)

23. “
The need to have some fun and freedom
are (according to Glasser, 1991) basic
human needs. This is an interesting and
important understanding because if teachers
ignore this fundamental aspect of ‘social
belonging’ children will easily find their
own versions of fun!
”
(Rogers, 1997, p. 36)

24. So where does this literature review bring us?

25. The link between fun and learning is evident in the
different discourses that have been examined.
(Koster; Barab; Cook; Broner and Tarone; Glasser)

26. The emotional dimension of fun is also very
evident, and there is significant personal
investment associated with something being fun.
(Lazzaro; Makin; Pomerantz & Bell)

27. Agency and control are important for a person
who is having fun.

28. Playing with patterns is fun.
(Koster; Cook; Makin; Broner & Tarone)

29. In the literature, fun is not easy. Fun is
challenging. In fact there is significant emphasis
on hard fun but this does not diminish ‘the smile’.
(Lazzaro; Papert)

30. Teachersʼ Voices

31. Anything associated with a computer is fun.

32. “
See, these days when the kids have a little time and we say, “Well all right,
if you’ve finished what you’re doing you’ve got 10 minutes of free time” and
”
they get on to all the games that they play. It frightens me, actually.

33. “
See, these days when the kids have a little time and we say, “Well all right,
if you’ve finished what you’re doing you’ve got 10 minutes of free time” and
”
they get on to all the games that they play. It frightens me, actually.
“
...it’s a bit of fun, um, and they pick up stuff because they enjoy the
”
computer? Rather than doing lots of worksheets...

34. “
See, these days when the kids have a little time and we say, “Well all right,
if you’ve finished what you’re doing you’ve got 10 minutes of free time” and
”
they get on to all the games that they play. It frightens me, actually.
“
...it’s a bit of fun, um, and they pick up stuff because they enjoy the
”
computer? Rather than doing lots of worksheets...
“
I had a year nine class, it was mostly boys in there, there were 25 kids and I
had just four girls and the rest, all of them were boys. And I just couldn’t get
them engaged with the books. So that year I thought maybe I’d get out of
this, and I actually went, and I said, “We’ll book all your lessons on the
computer” and that’s what I did.

35. Fun as revision and consolidation.

36. “
”
...it’s a bit of revision, it’s a bit of fun.

37. “
”
...it’s a bit of revision, it’s a bit of fun.
“
It’s not me, but for the kids I think I really enjoy it when they are
revising and they’ve got like a quiz ... And they come back and
”
say, “Miss, I’ve actually learned a word today.”

38. Fun equals ‘little activities’ or stand-alone activities.

39. “
... there’s all different activities. Some are games, some are
songs, um, some are little activities ... So it gives them a chance
”
to have a bit of fun with the language.

40. “
... there’s all different activities. Some are games, some are
songs, um, some are little activities ... So it gives them a chance
”
to have a bit of fun with the language.
“ ”
And so it just makes the repetition a bit more fun.

41. If it’s easy, it’s fun.

42. “
If they go to something that’s too difficulty they
can go, “Nup, don’t like it, too hard” and go on
to the next thing. Which means they don’t sit
there, sort of looking at the screen or out the
window because they’ve got something they
can do. And they actually have fun trying to find
”
something that’s OK.

43. Studentsʼ Voices

44. Not everything associated with a computer or
technology is fun.

45. “
”
No, not really. It was basic technology.

46. “
”
No, not really. It was basic technology.
“
Now, all of the stuff we’ve got at school they can do at
home, and better, or so they tell us. “Oh, this
”
computer’s crap.”

47. Fun supports the learning process.

48. “
...he’d [the teacher] write it down and he’d just go off the top
of the list or whatever? We were just. Yeh. Where when
”
we’re doing it with a bit of fun it kind of helps.

49. “
...he’d [the teacher] write it down and he’d just go off the top
of the list or whatever. We were just. Yeh. Where when
”
we’re doing it with a bit of fun it kind of helps.
“
...and that’s pretty fun because it’s like, like cool, and it’s not
like writing down and stuff. It’s using our own mind on the
”
computer and translating stuff.

50. Actual learning is fun.

51. “
...we’re cutting them out and doing all the little kid stuff. ... it’s
”
not that much fun.

52. “
Interviewer:
That [videoconferencing in the target language]
would be fun though.
Brooke:
Yeh it would be.
Interviewer:
Why do you think video conferencing would be fun?
Ella:
It’d be challenging to talk to them in Italian all the
time.

53. “
Some lessons we have all Italian, we just have to figure it
”
out... It’s fun. Challenging.

54. “
Some lessons we have all Italian, we just have to figure it
”
out... It’s fun. Challenging.

55. “
Some lessons we have all Italian, we just have to figure it
”
out... It’s fun. Challenging.
“Like you get to play and you’re like, Aha!
”

56. “
Some lessons we have all Italian, we just have to figure it
”
out... It’s fun. Challenging.
“Like you get to play and you’re like, Aha!
“ ”
And you’d be able to like verse other people with games and
things like in Indonesian and things? And in Indonesia and
places like that. So, um, you still have fun playing the games
but you’d also be versing someone else of that language?

57. We see students conceptualising their
language learning as fun, and we see an
emotional investment in the exercise. What is
significant, however, is that much of what they
say here is not reflective of the here and now,
or of their own experiences with their additional
language. They are ‘figuring out’ what they
think will be ‘fun.’

58. Figuring Out Fun

59. “
Boredom is the brain casting about for new
information... It is the feeling you get when
there are no new patterns to absorb.
(Koster, 2005, p. 41)

60. “
One wonders, then, why learning is so
damn boring to so many people. It’s
almost certainly because the method of
transmission is wrong.
”
(Koster, 2005, p. 46)

61. flatline [ˈflætˌlaɪn]
vb (intr) Informal
1. (Medicine) to die or be so near death
that the display of one's vital signs on
medical monitoring equipment shows a
flat line rather than peaks and troughs
2. to remain at a continuous low level

62. C
Perhaps we do better with ʻCʼ words - learning
that is creative, often collaborative, that
involves curiosity, consequentiality and
control and supports our students’ brains as
consumers of patterns (Koster. 2005, p.14).

63. C
All of this involves emotional investment and,
of course, challenge. Collectively the
combination equals fun and supports language
learning that is not a flatline experience but one
that is mindful, and meaningful.

64. Figuring
Out Fun
Penelope Coutas
Lindy Norris
?
ECAWA State Conference 2011
Canning College, Bentley
School of Education
Murdoch University

65. Image Credits
Slide 2: http://www.exploringthehyper.net
Slide 3: http://www.angrybirds.com
Slide 4: Penelope Coutas
Slide 5: Screenshot by Penelope Coutas from Angry Birds HD Free for iPad.
Slide 7: Nicole Lazaroo. http://www.fastcompany.com/article/nicole-lazzaro-xeodesign
Slide 10: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/asset/page/normal/4529.html
Slide 11: http://attawards.msu.edu/winners/2008/ ; http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/
Slide 13: Stock clip art.
Slide 14: Google Books.
Slide 15: Chesi. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pimkie_fotos/3439170184/
Slide 16: http://www8.open.ac.uk/platform/your-subject/languages
Slide 21: http://www.learnerautonomy.org/Zoltan_revised.jpg
Slide 24: http://gabayatkalinga.blogspot.com/2011/02/summary-of-reality-therapy.html
Slide 26: RLHyde http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4692258762_5e011036c5_b_d.jpg
Slide 32: http://www.brentwood.k12.mo.us/esl/images/talking.gif
Slide 62: shareski. http://www.flickr.com/photos/shareski/5521489602
Slide 63: http://www.metaversejournal.com/2009/01/25/interview-raph-koster-co-
founder-and-president-metaplace/
Slide 64: http://skincare-makeup.com/tuzmig/Angry-Birds

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