Author Description

As noted by researchers (Squire, 2006; Williams, 2003), many youths have been spending more time playing in digital worlds than reading, or watching TV or films. Though many people, parents and teachers alike, still take video games as mere entertainment, “gaming culture” (Sanford & Madill, 2007) and “game literacy” (Gee, 2007) have been proposed to view gaming as a positive and potential tool in literacy development. Most of the studies, however, are conducted with native English speakers and deal with the features in games that could facilitate learning. What remains to be explored is what adolescent English language learners’ (ELLs’) online gaming experience is like. To fill this gap, this book presents a “rich, ‘thick’ description” (Merriam, 1998, p. 29) of how adolescent ELLs are engaged in second language (L2) literacy practices through a popular massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), World of Warcraft (WoW). In order to better “reach them [students] to teach them” (Tomlinson & Doubet, 2005), this book urges educators and parents to expand their knowledge about adolescent ELLs' gaming world and channel their interest of gaming into academic learning.