Serious games: effects on linguistic competence from the socio-educational differences of the students

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of a project based on the use of serious games or serious games to improve the linguistic communication skills of socio-educationally disadvantaged students. The objective of this research is to explore the differences in linguistic communication competence based on the socio-educational inequalities of the students, as well as to determine the differential use of the project to improve said competence. The research carried out presents a quasi-experimental design with analysis of intragroup and intergroup measures by means of pretest/posttest. The sample is made up of 153 students between the ages of 8 and 12 (M= 10.3; SD= 1.1), of which 75 are in a situation of socio-educational disadvantage (49%) and 78 in a non-disadvantageous situation (51 %). The evaluation instruments used are the Game Learning Analytics (GLA) of the serious games themselves and the recording of academic qualifications. The results reflect higher scores in the group that is not in a situation of socio-educational disadvantage in all the sub-competences of the linguistic competence evaluated and worked through the programs, which shows a superior linguistic performance in this group, although there is a significant benefit in the disadvantaged group in the key sub-competences for improving academic performance and in those that involve cognitive processes associated with language. It is concluded that a systematic and planned intervention based on serious games aimed at improving linguistic competence allows socio-educationally disadvantaged students to achieve adequate levels in said competence and to equalize with their peers.