Negotiation and Videogames: The sequencing of learning and evaluation

The educational videogame Spell Block Academy requires players to spell words correctly by rolling letter blocks into holes on a gameboard. Extensive research has been conducted into the benefits and implications of using videogames to support learning and literacy in educational contexts. Videogames support literacy learning through player and game system interactions, which provide players with feedback that supports their learning. This chapter uses a novel approach that draws on emerging functional grammar (formally referred to as systemic functional semiotic (SFS)) understandings of videogames to investigate how the game Spell Block Academy scaffolds learning through negotiated gameplay. A text analysis methodology referred to as multimodal critical discourse analysis informed by SFS theoretical tools was used for the investigation. Results from the analysis are presented. Results from the research have theoretical and pedagogical implications. First, theoretical understandings of how videogames scaffold literacy learning through interactive gameplay negotiation are discussed. Second, pedagogical implications for developing a critical appreciation of videogames are conveyed.