The effect of video games on the mastery of verb tenses in English as a second language (ESL)

Video games are not only a source of entertainment, as they also provide authentic language input for second language learners. Specifically, this study investigates the effect of video games on grammatical mastery of English as a second language (ESL) among a targeted sample of Quebecers. To test the hypothesis that video games impact a higher level of mastery of ESL, an online survey was distributed to 16 volunteer participants who were divided into two specific groups identified as gamers and non-gamers. Participants provided a written text in English of approximately 250 words on any topic which was evaluated for grammar and lexical quality. All participants were UQAC students, and all students were identified as originating from historically high percentage French-speaking environments. Moreover, a small sample of participants was directly observed during the process of gaming to evaluate the specific use and frequency of certain common verb tenses. All submissions were evaluated for the correct use of verb tense and data was gathered based on the number of grammatical and lexical errors. Comparison of these values allows for a qualitative means of analyzing these two groups of participants. In general, it was found that gamers statistically performed better than non-gamers, both grammatically and lexically. They also made fewer mistakes. However, it became apparent during this study that there are additional influences that may contribute to the mastery of ESL. Les jeux vidéo ne sont pas seulement une source de divertissement, étant donné qu`ils constituent aussi un apport linguistique authentique pour les apprenants de langue seconde. Cette étude tente de déterminer l`impact des jeux vidéo sur la maîtrise grammaticale de l`anglais comme langue seconde de manière spécifique, parmi un échantillon ciblé de Québécois. Afin de vérifier l`hypothèse supposant que les jeux vidéo mènent à un niveau supérieur de maitrise de l`anglais comme langue seconde, un sondage a été envoyé à 16 participants volontaires. Ils ont été divisés en deux groupes spécifiques, les joueurs et les non-joueurs. Les participants ont écrit un texte d`environ 250 mots en anglais sur un sujet libre. Chaque texte a été évalué selon la qualité grammaticale et lexicale. Tous les participants étudiaient à l`UQAC et étaient tous originaires de régions très majoritairement francophones d`un point de vue historique. De plus, un petit nombre de participants ont été observés directement alors q