Video games can do a lot of things to different people. Most of the time, they're played for enjoyment; others play them as a career. But have you ever imagined gaming being used to teach kids how to read?
That was the premise of a recent study conducted by a team from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, writes Neuroscience.
According to the researchers, they found out that gaming can develop specific skills related to reading that people don't really think about, like moving their eyes down a page or using their memory to connect words and make a cohesive sentence.
Action-oriented games proved to be quite effective in training these skills, which include vision, working memory, attention, and cognitive flexibility.
The researchers used a game designed in a different way than normal to come up with their conclusion. It combines action with specific mini games that are intended to train the aforementioned skills, which all play a big part when reading.
150 schoolchildren from Italy aged 8 to 12 participated in the study. In the game, they played a character that is tasked with accomplishing missions to save planets. To do so, they had to perform specific tasks within a time limit, like remembering specific symbols or responding to a specific sound cue from a character.
The better the child performs at these tasks, the harder they become.
After the study, it was revealed that the kids who played the game exhibited a "seven-fold" improvement in their attention control. There was also a "clear enhancement" in the kids' reading capabilities, not just in reading speed but also in overall accuracy.
As per the researchers' conclusions, these improvements are long-term.
Looking Ahead
Since the study's results are considered outstanding, the researchers are looking forward to bringing them to more children. As per ScienceDaily, the game will be adapted to English, French, and German to do so.
Each specific language will present a different learning challenge, which is why the researchers are collaborating with the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) and Irene Altarelli, a researcher at the University of Paris' LaPsyDE (Laboratory of Psychology and Educational Development for The Child) research institute.
Video Games And Literacy: A Long-Existing Connection
This isn't actually the first time that scientists discovered a link between gaming and improving a child's reading skills. In a survey reported on by the BBC from 2020, it was revealed that children who play games say gaming makes them "better readers."
Furthermore, it's not just reading that's being affected. Writing is another skill that the survey participants say is being improved by their gaming hobby. Around 3 in 5 youths mentioned they write something about games at least once a month, with many of them maintaining blogs and writing fan-fiction stories.
It looks like that age-old stereotype of "games make kids violent" is now long gone.
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Written by RJ Pierce
