My Video Game-Based Learning Publications [Updated 09/09/2019]

“Assassin’s Creed Taught Me Italian: Video Games and the Quest for Foreign Language Acquisition.” In print. Profession, the Journal of the Modern Language Association. https://profession.mla.hcommons.org/2018/03/22/assassins-creed-taught-me-italian/ (published on 4/13/2018).
“Using Video Games to Teach Italian Language & Culture: Useful, Effective, Feasible?” Published. NEMLA Italian Studies XXXIX special issue “The Italian Digital Classroom: Italian Culture and Literature through digital tools and social media.”, 2017, pp. 42-71. Available as a PDF download and in print. https://www.buffalo.edu/content/dam/www/nemla/NIS/XXXIX/NeMLA%20Italian%20Studies%202017%20-%20Using%20Video%20Games.pdf [published on October 6, 2018]. NOTE: This 30-page article is my most extensive contribution to the field of VGBL in F/L2 acquisition to date. While this practicum focuses mainly on Italian as F/L2, it can be applied/adapted to any major language/any language in which the mentioned games are localized. While the publication bears the 2017 date, it was published on 06/10/2018.
“(Digital) Narrow Streets of Cobblestone: Video Game-Based Learning as a Preparatory Device & Simulation Strategies for Study Abroad Programs.” Beyond, The ISI Florence & Umbra Institute Journal of International Education, 2, 2019. https://www.beyondjournal.online/post/video-game-based-learning-as-a-preparatory-device-simulation-strategies-for-study-abroad-programs (published on 7/2/2019).

Articles/Chapters

Assassin’s Creed – The Ezio Collection; The Invisible Hours; Rise of the Tomb Raider: Three mini-chapters (1,000-2,000 words each) accepted for inclusion in Learning, Education & Games Vol. 3: 100 Games to Use in the Classroom , ETC Press/Carnegie Mellon. Expected publication date: fall 2019.
“Unarmed prophets have always been destroyed, whereas armed prophets have succeeded:” Machiavelli’s Portrayal in the Assassin’s Creed Series. Invited publication. Benincasa, A. & Polegato, A. Machiavelli Pop. The Power and its Representations in the Media. Expected publication date: late 2019.
“Hybrid Design & Flipping the Classroom in Thematic/Content-Oriented Foreign Language Courses: Developing Intensive Italian for Gamers.” Invited publication. RILA (Rassegna Italiana di Linguistica Applicata). Expected publication date: 2020.

Book Projects

“Italian for Gamers” – A textbook project. This is part of my sabbatical research project. The material I created for my Intensive Italian for Gamers course will be revised and put in textbook form. The text, intended as a supplement for “regular” elementary/lower-intermediate textbooks, is about to be proposed to publishers (fall 2018). I have been cooperating on this project with fellow faculty members in Italian at other US institutions, since the AAIS conference in april 2017. I am the main editor/first name, and my colleague Brandon Essary, Ph.D., Elon University, is my co-author. Our textbook project, while focusing on Italian, which is the foreign language we teach, is a format that is potentially translatable/adaptable/editable in all major languages.
“Gaming in Second/Foreign Language Acquisition” – A book project. This is a collaborative effort, currently being explored with colleagues in Italian, French, Spanish and German in universities in North America. We are at the initial, planning stage of the project: a collection of essays on digital, interactive realia, “gamification”, “serious” gaming, commercial gaming as applied to F/L2 acquisition. I would provide an introduction and one essay.

“The Ubiquitous Language Lab – Using the iPod Touch to Enhance Language and Culture Acquisition.” Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal, Volume 4, Issue 2 (2012), pp. 81-90. PDF download at http://ijq.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.186/prod.177 , and in print.
“Enhancing language Learning and Culture through P2P.” In print: Academic Exchange Quarterly Spring 2006, pp. 33-37.

Simone Bregni, Ph.D.