World of Wordcraft: Foreign language grammar and composition taught as a term-long role-playing game

Abstract

This article outlines an innovative approach to the instruction of foreign languages: a term-long role-playing game in the style of tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. Students adopt personas, avatars, or “player characters” and take them through adventures, exploration, puzzles, and fights with monsters, all of which are tied to specific language-acquisition exercises and practice. I detail at length my specific implementation in an advanced undergraduate Latin prose composition course at Wake Forest University and its overall successful results. I also offer advice, cautions, and additional resources for both small-scale and large-scale implementations of the role-playing game pedagogical methodology.