Interactive Fiction Learning Journal

Interactive Fiction Journal

Game:____________________________ Date:____________________________ Player:__________________________

An EnglishCaddy Document For use with Interactive Fiction for Second Language Acquision

Interactive Fiction Way back in the dark ages of computer technology during the birth of computer gaming, games emerged in world without graphics, and an uncountable number of text-only role playing adventures were created sparking the imagination of early personal computer users.

These games have since been republished and re-birthed as "Interactive Fiction", and thus creating a perfectly unique opportunity for English language learners. Revisiting these games of the past allows you to work your reading comprehension, expand your vocabulary, engage your imagination and make learning English an adventure.

What to do...

The first thing is to boot up your computer and start playing. The choices are diverse, adventure, fantasy, romance, mystery, sci-fi, and historical are just a sample of th types of games that await you.

Go to: www.englishcaddy.org/interactivefiction.htm to find a variety of the better known classics that you can play directly in your browser.

Next you'll find that playing an interactive game is very much like reading a book, well except that it's you who controls the main character's actions. You have the power to direct the story.

Learning a language by playing and participating in an interactive story is the closest thing to total language immersion you can achieve without having to travel. You'll have to imagine your environment using only the given written narratives, and then you'll have to act accordingly to each situation you encounter.

But most importantly...

These narratives were originally created as GAMES for the entertainment of millions, so it's a great idea to use them to have some fun while learning English!

- See more at: http://www.englishcaddy.org/interactivefiction.htm

Designed for English language learners as a companion workbook for use with early text-only computer adventure games, (interactive fiction)

This EnglishCaddy™ Document was created by Gregg Robert Salters and is available for free through ENGLISHCADDY PUBLICATIONS Strasbourg, France 2015

Interactive Fiction Journal by Gregg R. Salters is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. . To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.

To obtain copies of this document visit www.EnglishCaddy.org

How to use Interactive Fiction and this Journal as an aid to improve your English.

Firstly, vocabulary. These games are text heavy, so you will be doing a lot of reading and encountering a lot of new vocabulary words and expressions along the way. This journal will allow you to track your vocabulary, expressions, needed commands, and your place in the story line.

You'll notice that the journal is divided up into sections. In these sections write down Where you are at the point that you come across a new command, unfamiliar words or expressions. There are 18 of these sections provided for you, if you need more sections, simply copy a blank page, or print a single page, and insert it into the journal. Also not that this is to be a targeted activity and you should only fill in the section when you come to a point in the game where you have several new words or expressions that you should note down or a situation in the narrative that you think will be important to remember for use later during game play.

Here is an example of how to fill in a section.

Where: •At a crossroads in the forest.

•In a deep cave in the mountain.

•In the library of the mansion.

Notes:

New Command(s) (List important commands that you discovered) Light Lamp Say Abracadabra New Vocabulary (List new vocabulary words and their definitions) Cavern – a deep cave (natural) Stream – a small natural flow of water like a river.

Dresser – a piece of furniture to store clothes.

New Expressions (Write down expressions that you encountered)

Because I ran from the

I was blindsided by the troll. = (I didn't see the attack

troll, I didn't get to explore

coming)

enough. I need to come

The well was bottomless. = (The depth of the well is

back

unknown, unfathomable) (Incredibly deep!)

Remember you should not be making an entry in these sections for each decision the game requires you to make, so use the journal frugally. This will help you better enjoy the game and promote your increased autonomy in English.

Now!

READY PLAYER?

Page 1

Interactive Game Journal Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Page 2

Interactive Game Journal Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Page 3

Interactive Game Journal Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Page 4

Interactive Game Journal Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Page 5

Interactive Game Journal Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Page 6

Interactive Game Journal Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Where

New Command(s):

New Vocabulary: _______________ - _____________________________________________ Notes

_______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ _______________ - _____________________________________________ New Expressions:

Page 7

Now write a brief summary of the games storyline and include your personal experience with the adventure.

That's it!

GAME OVER Page 8