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Project Technical Data

  • Principal Investigator: Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora
  • Co-investigators: Sebastián Castaño, Michael Hernandez, Tyrone Steven Orrego, and Daniel Ramírez .
  • Phase One design stage: June 2014 - January, 2015
  • Phase One data collection stage: January, 2015 - March, 2016
  • Phase One data analysis stage: January 2016 - December, 2016
This project was funded by the Center for Research, Development, and Innovation (CIDI) at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Sede Central Medellín [File No. 515B-11/15-S80]

Setting the Scene

As part of a globalized society (Blommaert, 2010), English is generating a variety of new practices and uses (Mora, 2014b). In these new language ecologies (Mora, 2014), the physical and virtual converge, raising new questions about language learning (Leu et al., 2011) and appropriation (Black, 2009; Engeström, 1999; Leander & Lewis, 2008). One of the new challenges for literacy research (Bruce, 1997; Cope & Kalantzis, 2008, 2009; Lankshear & Knobel, 2011; Mora, 2014b) is to comprehend the new challenges that are emerging in these new spaces of practice.

Every day, more academic studies and positions on video games emerge (Cogburn & Silcox, 2009; Gee, 2003; Hawisher & Selfe, 2007). Every day, we recognize the potential benefits of video game research for literacy practices (Beavis, 2015; Hawisher & Selfe, 2007).

Stage One of the LaV project aimed to take a first look at how gamers used English occurs, both individually and in gaming communities, as well as the new narrative genres that emerge as a result of video games. This is part of one of the few systematic studies in our country that investigates how English serves as a communicative resource in video games and gaming communities, as well as one of the few worldwide in which the players are the researchers themselves.

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Stage Zero: Autoethnography

As a previous step to this project, the student researchers developed a pilot study from their vantage point as gamers. Relying on the methodology of autoethnography, all researchers took reflective notes and collected screenshots from their own gaming experiences. We used these data as the basis of a presentation at the Tenth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, which has also become the source to write the research proposal for this project.

Stage One: Language-as-Victory as a Linguistic and Semiotic Affair

The initial members of #TeamLaV worked on this project between 2014 and 2016.  Since this project explored practices in digital spaces, the team delved in digital ethnography as the methodological tool to carry out this study. Guided by the question of how English appears in these communities, the student researchers mentioned the issue that English is not just a resource at times... but the resource to thrive in these games. From this research, we coined the notion of Language as Victory (LaV) as the conceptual basis of our inquiries.

Stage One explored the taxonomies of LaV in four distinct video game genres:
  • Flight Simulators/IVAO
  • Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Games - MMORPG
  • First-person Shooters - FPS
  • Multiplayer Online Battle Area - MOBA

Academic Presentations and publications

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Tyrone and Sebastián presenting at ASOCOPI 50th Annual Conference (2015)
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Michael and Raúl presenting at the 6th International Seminar at UdeA (2016)
During Stage One, #TeamLaV presented a total of six international (including one at LRA), two local, and one national presentation, in addition to one proceedings paper,

Here is the yearly detail:
2014
  • May - International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (University of Illinois)
  • August - ISLE 3 (University of Zurich) [Joint presentation with Urban Literacies Phase I]
  • October - UPB Student Research Group Annual Meeting
2015
  • May - International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (University of Illinois)
  • September - UPB Student Research Group Annual Meeting
  • October - ASOCOPI 50th Annual Conference (Medellín)
2016
  • INTED2016 (Valencia, Spain) - Publication in Proceedings
  • May - International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (University of Illinois)
  • August - Symposium at 6th International Seminar on the Professional Development of Foreign Language Teachers (Universidad de Antioquia)
  • November - Literacy Research Association 66th Annual Conference
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(All banner photos for this website were created by Dr. Berry using Midjourney)
  • A Dream Called LSLP
    • Mission, Vission, Values
    • Our History
    • Expanding our Dream
  • Leadership & Networking
    • Leadership
    • LSLP Worldwide
  • Our Research Agenda
    • Research Manifesto >
      • 2023 Divergent Award
    • Community Literacies - #TeamCaL >
      • Meet #TeamCaL
      • CaL Phase 4
      • CaL Phase 1
      • CaL Phase 2
      • CaL Phase 3
    • Gaming Literacies - #TeamLaV >
      • Meet #TeamLaV
      • LaV Stage 3A
      • LaV Stage 3B
      • LaV Stage 1
      • LaV Stage 2
      • LaV Beyond
    • Literacies and Language Education - #TeamLiLE >
      • Meet #TeamLiLE
      • Stories In and From Our Classrooms
      • Academic Literacies Through Micro-Writing
      • Multimodal Critical Des(ai)gn
  • Academic Production
    • LSLP Micro-Papers
    • Our Publications
    • Terminal Works
    • Our Presentations >
      • International Presentations
      • National and Local Presentations
      • Webinars and Talks
  • Contact