The relationships among motivation, learning style preferences, and perceptions in the use of video games and language learning for Taiwanese college student

The purpose of this study was to examine Taiwanese college students' perceptions of playing video games to learn English in their leisure time. In addition, two psychological factors that affect second/foreign language learning were examined to understand how students' language learning motivation relates to their perceptions as well as what types of learners prefer to use video game formats for language learning.;This study employed a survey research design. A questionnaire measuring (a) student perceptions of playing video games and foreign language learning, (b) language learning motivation, and (c) perceptual learning style preferences was administered to 972 college freshmen in a university of technology in central Taiwan. A final sample of 390 students was used for the analyses.;The results from the descriptive analyses indicated that playing commercial video games was perceived as useful and helpful for foreign language (English) learning. Students were motivated to learn the language and had a positive perception of using video game forms for language learning. Other findings from Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression analyses revealed: (a) students with higher motivation in understanding or enjoying multimedia showed a greater degree of assistance from playing video games for foreign language (English) learning and (b) kinesthetic learners demonstrated a higher level of preference in playing video games to learn a foreign language (English) than learners with other types of learning style preferences.