interaction brings the learners enhanced input. Later, the learners learn to use computer as a help for them to focus on learning language.
However, computer use in language learning can also disturb the learners. Paiva 2011:5 discusses the behavior of human beings and computer in
her paper. She clarifies this statement. The same way silence or a still face
disturbs the participant in an interaction,
as shown in Tronick’s experiment, computers also
disturb their users if the machine does not give them any hint in response to their actions. Computer specialists took interactional
instinct into account when they devised semiotic clues to calm us down. To mention just a few, an hour-glass tells us that it is worth
the wait for saving a file, or opening a program; a specific sound gives us feedback about wrong actions, and a green bar informs us
about the progression of a file downloading, where one can see a myriad of different information pieces: percentage of downloading,
the representation of the percentage in a bar, the amount of MB downloaded, the rate of the transference speed, and the amount of
time expected for the conclusion of that task. Paiva, 2003
Based on this explanation, it indicates that learners need to be provided with signals to facilitate their interaction with electronic devices.
From the explanations above, it can be inferred that interaction is unavoidable and happens everytime. The hour-glass, the specific sound, or the
green bar appearing repeatedly inform the learners about what is actually happening and later they learn what to do through trials and errors when the
signals appear.
2.1.1.2.3 Negotiation of Meaning
When learning, learners often find themselves in confusion. Interaction allows learners to engage in the negotiation of meaning through signals occurring
during the interaction. Long 1996 as cited in Yang 2007:22 defines negotiation as:
The process in which, in an effort to communicate, learners and competent speakers provide and interpret signals of their own and
their interlocutor’s perceived comprehension, thus provoking adjustments to linguistic form, conversational structure, message
content, or all three, until an acceptable level of understanding is achieved.
This negotiation encourages language acquisition because of the occurrence of interactional modification as expressed by Long 1996 as the Interaction
Hypothesis Gass, 2003:234. Negotiation for meaning, and especially negotiation work that
triggers interactional adjustments by the NS or more competent interlocutor, facilities acquisition because it connects input,
internal learner capacities, particularly selective attention, and output in productive ways.
It explains that negotiation of meaning takes place when the learners do not understand some utterances. In the process to negotiate, learners learn to both pay
attention to the utterances that are not comprehensible and attempt to produce comprehensible output.
When negotiating meaning, learners obtain feedback for their study, implicitly and explicitly Gass, 2003; Long, 1996. Implicit feedback appears
indirectly in form of clarification requests, confirmation checks, and recasts. Meanwhile, explicit feedback happens directly to correct the learners’ errors
Braidi, 2002. The concept of negotiation of meaning appears as a result of learners’
inability to comprehend a part of their learning. In the process, learners will get
feedback from what they do. It can be positive, such as appraisal, or negative, like rejection. In this study, feedback is essential to provide the learners with the
ability to analyze and later overcome problems happening during their learning process.
2.1.2 Educational Games
During the learning process, motivation leads to the success of the learning. However, learning in classroom is considered as boring and not
motivating to learners. Therefore, games are developed to create different learning atmosphere. For this reason, educational games are created to give more
motivation to learners during their learning process. In this part, the discussion about educational games is elaborated.
2.1.2.1 Definition of Educational Games
Educational games combine education and games to create different atmosphere in teaching learning process. Education is divided into many different
disciplines. Therefore, different games are created to help learners learn different subjects. However, games in education are not always educational. Below is the
illustration of educational games and games in education.
