Language, Play, Storytelling: Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Italian L2 Classroom

Abstract

Within the larger context of gamification and game-based learning, in this article I argue that particularly tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), which are centered around storytelling and communication, are effective tools that second and foreign language (L2/FL) instructors can use in their pedagogical planning as both frameworks for thinking about language learning and as practical affordances to leverage in class interaction. I will define what TTRPGs are and how they can be beneficial for language learning; I will discuss ways to implement TTRPGs in our curricula in various forms and degrees, following the gameful framework theorized by Jonathon Reinhardt: finally, I will present a micro tabletop role-playing game that I recently developed with Alessia Caviglia, Planétes, which was designed with gameful affordances for L2/FL learning in mind and is a preliminary exploration of “game-based L2TL.”