Research seems to show that frequent gamers are better at English

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Researchers from Karlstad University in Sweden have shown a relationship between game play and English writing skills in children in ‘grade 9’, which means 15 or 16 years of age in Sweden.

The study was done as part of a national exam in Sweden. It looked at how good frequent gamers were at essay writing and various other tests in English compared to non-gamers and average gamers. The study involved 77 students who were divided into three groups: frequent gamers, average gamers and non-gamers. Frequent gamers played more than five hours a week and average gamers less than five hours.

It seems that the English vocabulary of students who frequently game is larger than that of children who play less, although the researchers do indicate that the study is too small to establish a causal relationship. To find such a link, larger and longer studies are needed. Still, the researchers say they adjusted for several variables, such as differences between parental education, reading habits in both Swedish and English, and how often students traveled abroad.

Despite the corrections, gamers remained above average. Frequent gamers were more likely to use words described as “difficult,” such as “creation,” “furthermore,” “maturity,” “opportunities,” “resources,” “surrender,” and “vehicle.” Also, the frequent gamers group received the highest marks on average for English essays, followed by the non-gamers, with the average gamers the worst. Vocabulary-only tests showed that both groups of gamers had larger vocabulary than the non-gamers.

Although the vocabulary of the gamers in this study appears to be larger, the non-gamers scored second in the essays. According to the researchers, this may be because there are significantly more girls in the group of non-gamers and girls generally do better at school. Incidentally, there was only one girl in the group of frequent gamers.

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