NWALLT 2027

Theme

Serious Games for Language Learning in Educational Contexts

Description

NWALLT 2027 invites individuals from all over the world to participate in this hybrid conference which will focus specifically on various types of serious games for language learning that are used in an educational context as part of a curriculum, whether inside or outside the classroom. Serious games vary by educational domain and target audience, however “many scholars and practitioners see serious games as involving fun, as well as being educational, engaging, impactful, meaningful, and purposeful” as a general definition (Vorderer & Ritterfeld 2009, p. 24). For language learning, a successful serious game will allow students to transfer what they learned in a game to a real life context. For the purposes of this conference, we invite proposals that focus on either digital games or tabletop games.

Over the past decades, there have been many advances in gaming, but the development of serious gaming for language learning has been comparatively challenging due to the complicated junction of language acquisition with engaging gameplay, especially with respect to the concepts of meaningful communication and meaningful gameplay. Another significant challenge is fitting gaming into a classroom curriculum or context that is already overtaxed. This conference will explore these and similar issues via presentations from researchers and teachers as well as group discussions.

Cody, M., Vorderer, P., & Ritterfeld, U. (2009). Part I Serious Games: Explication of an Oxymoron. In Serious Games. Taylor & Francis Group.

Call for Proposals

The Call for Proposals is now open and will close Oct 30th, 2026.

Call for Proposals

Keynote

Jonathon Reinhardt, PhD (University of Arizona)

Submenu

Registration:

Info coming soon!

Program (draft):

Friday, June 25th

• 1:00pmArrival / Check-in / Meet and greet w/ snacks
• 1:45pmWelcome
• 2:00pmKeynote
• 4:00pmLab and Campus Tour
• 5:30pmGroup Dinner

Saturday, June 26th

• 9:30Coffee and Chat
• 10:00-12:00Presentations
• 12:00-1:00Lunch
• 1:00-1:30Group Discussion 1
• 1:30-3:30Presentations
• 3:45-4:45Group Discussion 2
• 4:45-5:00Wrap-up

back to top

Location of Conference:

Denny Hall, Room 159 & Zoom

back to top

Safety:

While every city, town, etc. has safety concerns and no where is without risk, we are providing the following map to show some areas near campus that are generally considered to be less safe than others. The RED area to the north of campus is probably the least safe at night, particularly to the north of Denny Hall (on the other side of 45th), which is Greek Row. The YELLOW area to the west is filled with student housing and restaurants serving the campus community. To the Northeast is 'University Village' which is a higher end shopping complex that has security and is usually fairly safe. If you are looking for a late night grocery store to take an UBER/LYFT/TAXI to (or if you are staying at a nearby hotel), there is a 24 hour QFC in the complex. Again, please note that we can't guarantee or predict anything, but are simply providing some local awareness for those who might be interested.

back to top

Transportation:

Light Rail

Seattle has a light rail which runs from Seatac Airport (you can walk from the arrivals terminal to the light rail station) to the UW campus. There are two stops for the UW, the second stop "U District" is the closest to most hotels and to Denny Hall.

More information on the light rail can be found here: https://www.soundtransit.org/Schedules/Link-light-rail

back to top

Lodging:

Walking Distance:

Watertown Hotel - A Staypineapple Hotel

University Inn - A Staypineapple Hotel

Residence Inn by Marriott Seattle University District

Silver Cloud Hotel Seattle - University District

Short Drive Away:

Mildred's Bed and Breakfast

Greenlake Guest House

back to top

Location of Friday Night's Dinner:

TBD

back to top

Contact:

Host:

University of Washington Language Learning Center

Denny Hall, Room 162 Box 353140 Seattle, WA 98195

website

nwallt@uw.edu

back to top

Past Conferences

NWALLT/SWALLT 2018 Joint Conference

back to top