中部大学教育研究20

60/168

andreactionsinordertocontinueasharednarrative.2Table-topRole-playingGamesThemostcommonwaytoimplementRPisthroughatable-toprole-playinggame（TTRPG）suchasDungeonsandDragons.ATTRPGisagameplayedbyagroupofplayersdividedintotwocategories,gamemasters（GMs）andplayercharacters（PCs）.AtypicalgamehasonlyoneGMandseveralPCs.Traditionallythegameisplayedaroundatablewithpencils,paper,andoftendice.Recently,onlineapplicationsandwebsiteshavealsobeendevelopedtoplaytheTTRPGsremotelyaswell.InaTTRPGthePCsdrivethestorybydecidingwhattheywanttodoorsayandcommunicatingtheirdesirestothegroup.Theyhavefullcontrolovertheactionsoftheircharacter.TheGM,ontheotherhand,isresponsibleforbuildingtheworldandcreatingtheoverallplotforthestory.Theyalsoworkasareferee,enforcingagreeduponrulesforthestoryandgame.TheGMalsocontrolsallthenon-playercharacters（NPCs）intheworld,fromshopownerstoworldleadersandeverythinginbetween.ItistheGMsresponsibilitytoexplaintheresultsofaPCsactionsandhowtheworldreactstoit,givingfeedbacktothePCsforthechoicestheymake.AlthoughTTRPGsprovidealotoffreedomtothePCs,therearecertainrulesorguidelinesthatgovernwhatabilitiestheyhaveandtheactionstheycantake.Generally,eachPCisgivenasheetofpaperthatliststheircharacter'sskillsandabilities.Forexample,onecharactermightbegoodwithtechnologyandabletomakeusefultoolsorgadgetswhileanotherismoreathleticandabletohelpwithmorephysicalproblems.WhileaPCmayattempttoperformanactionoutsideoftheirskillset,theirlikelihoodofsuccessisfarlower.ThisallowseachPCtobeuniqueandhavearoletoplayinthegroup.ItalsoforcesPCstocooperatewitheachothertosolveproblemsorachievetheircharacters'goals.3BenefitsofTTRPGsintheClassroomTTRPGsaredrivenmainlythroughverbalexchange.PlayersexpresswhattheywouldliketheircharactertodoandtheotherPCsorGMrespondwiththeirreactions.Assuch,theyprovidemanyopportunitiestopracticelanguageskills.TheyalsohelpbuildsocialandpragmaticawarenesssincePCsmustcooperatewitheachothertofurtherthenarrativeandcontinuethegame.Finally,TTRPGsrequirePCstousecriticalthinkingskillsbecausetheymustworktogethertoovercomeavarietyofsocialandlogicalobstacles.Thesetaskscanbeassimpleasshoppingforagifttoascomplexasarguingtheirinnocenceinacourt.Theirlanguagelearningpotentialisalmostlimitless.Perhapsthemostunique,andmostimportant,elementofTTRPGsforthepurposesofEFLaretheirplayer-drivennature,whichinthecaseoftheclassroomwouldtranslatetostudent-driven.Studentsaregivenfullautonomyoverthecharactertheycreate,whichallowsthemtheopportunitytoengageinveryauthenticsituationsandusethetargetlanguagedynamically.AgoodexampleofhowmuchagencystudentshaveinaTTRPGstemsfromacampaign（astoryarc）runduringanintensivecourseinthefallof2019,wherethestudentplayersweregivenataskofuncoveringthemysteryofa‘livingtree’inandnearbyparkandendeduptryingtonegotiatepeacebetweentwofactionsinordertopreventawar.Theturnofeventswasentirelybaseduponthedecisionsofthestudentsthemselves.Languageusageinthebeginningofthecoursefocusedonaskingquestions,gatheringinformation,andsharingtheirfindings.However,bytheendofthecourse,studentsdiscussinghistory,engagingindebates,andattemptingtomitigatemisunderstandings.Studentsalsohadtolearnhowtosocializewithdifferenttypesofpeopleinvarioussituations,includingindividualsthatwereinitiallywaryormistrustingofthem.Thisledtovariouslessonsonpragmaticsandsocio-culturalawareness.AnotherbenefitofTTRPGsisthattheyhelpstudentsbecomeintrinsicallymotivatedtobothlearnandusethetargetlanguage.Thereareseveralfactorsthathelptobuildthismotivation.Firstistheactofcreatingtheirowncharacter.Theactofcreationandtheownershipcaninstillanemotionalattachmenttothecharacter.ThisJournalofChubuUniversityEducationNo.20（2020）―46―