Leveling Up Game Characters, Leveling Up Language Skills: Investigating Indonesian Genshin Impact players’ Extramural English

Abstract

Digital games have long been used to promote foreign language learning, including in their extramural contexts. One specific game genre is online role-playing games (RPGs). Motivated by my experience playing Genshin Impact (GI), an online fantasy RPG, this study investigated how five Indonesian university students extramurally learned English through gameplay engagement and what they might have learned. Data were collected from player journals, interviews, and online artifacts, then thematically analyzed. Four types of gaming interactions and several computer-assisted language learning themes emerged, showing that GI might have encouraged extramural English (EE) learning with informal digital affordances. Limitations of the study and future directions of research in EE and informal digital learning of English were further addressed.