Abstract

This 5-week study investigates the impacts of the Italian version of World of Warcraft (WoW), a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), on second language learners in a private, English-medium university in Turkey. Vocabulary acquisition, communicative competence and self-confidence were the main points of interest in the gameplay experience. Pre- and post-survey, together with a pre- and post-language test and one-to-one semi-structured interviews were the instruments used to collect the data. The results revealed that, even with a small-size sample, certain improvements in learning new vocabulary and self-confidence occurred. Whereas, due to several constraints, enhanced communicative competence was not observed. Future research should take into consideration other variables affecting gameplay and the need of developing supplementary material which could be of significant use in technology-mediated teaching and the learning processes.