EQ2 helps teach English in pilot study

You may pick up the odd new word here and there playing MMO's, but a recent university study has used the game EverQuest II to reinforce the entire English language. The article was noticed by one of EQ2's senior producers Scott Hartsman on his personal blog. Hartsman muses that people will always find new ways to use code or software to achieve things that they had not been designed for, but also says that this particular use of EQ2 "wasn't something that was on the radar".

There were a number of reasons that EQ2 was chosen by the Northwestern University researchers for their project. They had considered World of Warcraft too, but in the end EQ2's clear descriptions and labeling made it the ideal choice. Everything is explained in detail in the game, and most items and places have extra labels on them. The researchers said that there is simply a lot more text in the game than in WoW.

Another reason for choosing EQ2 was the game's provision of chat channels specifically for the purpose of finding groups or questing partners in your character's level bracket. This assisted the learners in starting communication with the right people, and they could then "actively learn" while trying to solve quests with their group-mates.

Further along in the article, it is mentioned that some researchers are currently constructing a language-learning environment in Second Life. It will be interesting to see what can be accomplished with SL, as it allows a lot more control over content than other MMO's, and the purpose-built learning island is being designed to pair people who are studying opposite languages, so that they can assist each other with exercises.