Crystallize: An Immersive, Collaborative Game for Second Language Learning

Learning a second language is challenging. Becoming fluent requires learning contextual information about how language should be used as well as word meanings and grammar. The majority of existing language learning applications provide only thin context around content. In this paper, we present Crystallize, a collaborative 3D game that provides rich context along with scaffolded learning and engaging gameplay mechanics. Players collaborate through joint tasks, or quests. We present a user study with 42 participants that examined the impact of low and high levels of task interdependence on language learning experience and outcomes. We found that requiring players to help each other led to improved collaborative partner interactions, learning outcomes, and gameplay. A detailed analysis of the chat-logs further revealed that changes in task interdependence affected learning behaviors.