Game Play and Social Meaning: A New Way to Study Language

Diving into a video game where your choices reveal hidden social meanings. Scientists found a fresh approach to studying these meanings by swapping out classic scales with strategic gameplay. They designed a textual role-playing game using the Ren'Py engine, enhancing the old "matched-guise technique" (MGT). In the game, players make strategic decisions instead of filling out response scales. This hands-on method is more interactive and shows that traditional methods might overlook key social aspects of language. Researchers tested both the game and the classic scale method using the same language materials and found that the game offers deeper insights. A game-based approach can better examine the social, political, and economic impacts on language users, such as understanding linguistic discrimination.