English Language teaching and learning

Abstract

Nowadays, people from various spheres of society, from different social and economic levels and age groups have changed the way they have fun and learn. This phenomenon occurs due to video games consumption and production and, in particular, to interactive technologies which surround our daily lives. Similarly, video games have demonstrated an increasingly capacity not only to entertain, but also to contribute in a playful and engaging way for the knowledge construction and acquisition. On the whole, many popular products developed by the game industry do not provide material for the educational field. On the other hand, those that prioritize teaching, more specifically the teaching of modern foreign languages, refer to a less attractive format and emphasize what is reproduced in traditional education for English as a foreign language teaching and learning. The Idiomas Sem Fronteiras Program, developed by the Education Ministry (MEC) aims to encourage foreign language learning, as well as to provide opportunities for Brazilian students to access universities abroad. To meet this demand, the program offers the application of proficiency tests to measure the ability of foreigners in the English Language at academic level. The main objective of this present work is to present the prototype of a digital game with an educational purpose regarding English Language teaching and learning.