Bradford, C.C., Brown, V., El Houari, M., Trakis, J. M., Weber, J. A., & Buendgens-Kosten, J. (2021). English Escape! Using breakout games in the intermediate to advanced EFL classroom - Ludic Language Pedagogy

Bradford, C.C., Brown, V., El Houari, M., Trakis, J. M., Weber, J. A., & Buendgens-Kosten, J. (2021). English Escape! Using breakout games in the intermediate to advanced EFL classroom.

Authors: Coleen Cheryl Bradford, Vanessa Brown, Meriam El Houari, Jason Minh Trakis, Julia Aroha Weber, Jules Buendgens-Kosten
Reviewed by: Marc Jones, Stamatia Savvani, Adam Sheard
Volume and page numbers: 3 (p. 1 – 20)
Date of publication: 2021/02/08
Keywords: Breakout games, game design, secondary school, TEFL.
Cite: Bradford, C.C., Brown, V., El Houari, M., Trakis, J. M., Weber, J. A., & Buendgens-Kosten, J. (2021). English Escape! Using breakout games in the intermediate to advanced EFL classroom. Ludic Language Pedagogy, 3, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.55853/llp_v3Wt1

Background: Breakout games can provide opportunities for co-operation and collaboration in the target language.
Aim: The aim of this paper is to identify factors we need to consider when designing breakout games for the EFL classroom.
Methods: We developed and play tested four EFL breakout games, and reflect on the lessons learned.
Results: Breakout games provide opportunities for cooperation and collaboration. Key challenges in designing breakout games are: balancing difficulty, encouraging target language use, and dealing with attempts at ‘game hacking.’
Conclusion: We make some practical suggestions on how to support cooperation and collaboration, balance game difficulty, encourage target language use, and reduce ‘hacking’ the game.