Athanasios Karasimos
Title
AI and Board Gaming Approach to Language Teaching and Learning: Beyond Age, Technology, and Learning Difficulties
Abstract
The integration of board games into the learning and teaching lessons stems from a need to enhance language engagement across all age groups and learning profiles, including those facing technological and cognitive challenges, and learning difficulties. This study explores a board gaming approach to language teaching and learning, grounded in the practical testing of multiple board games across different genres—such as abstract strategy, thematic and eurogames, worker placement, deckbuilding, dice-based games and family games. Our testing sessions reveals that this variety not only caters to diverse learner preferences and styles but also fosters an inclusive, adaptable, and engaging educational environment. We also examine the synergistic role of technological tools—such as AI co-players, companion apps, and digital storytelling platforms—in amplifying the learning potential of board games. These tools help overcome barriers related to age and learning difficulties, while aligning with contemporary educational practices.
This presentation will showcase a range of tested educational scenarios featuring both analog and tech-enhanced board games, implemented with learners from preschool to tertiary education. Our data highlight how educators can build expertise in using board games and narrative techniques to improve speaking skills, while also integrating vocabulary, grammar, and the four key language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) within their instruction. Emphasis is placed on practical strategies for motivating and engaging students through collaborative gameplay, discussion, and storytelling. To illustrate the application of CLIL principles, we will present specific techniques using board games such as Unlock, Codenames, Mysterium, The Kids Chronicles, Chronicles of Avel, Sleeping Gods, and Destinies, along with their companion technologies and AI-tools.
Bio
Athanasios Karasimos is an Assistant Professor in Computational Linguistics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of English. He is a graduate of the Department of Philology, University of Patras. He holds two European Masters in Speech and Language Processing (one of them at the University of Edinburgh) and his doctoral dissertation is in Computational Morphology. He participated in several research projects on Modern Greek dialects, corpora, aphasic speech, Digital Humanities, and training of English language teachers. He was a postdoctoral research fellow funded by IKY. He worked as an Adjunct Lecturer at HOU, AUTh, and NKUA teaching Educational Technology, Research Methodology, Computational Linguistics and Corpus Linguistics. He is a researcher in the national infrastructure for Digital Humanities DARIAH-GR / DYAS (Academy of Athens). His research interests focus on Computational Linguistics and machine learning, the use of corpora, education technology, and integrating video and board games into language teaching and learning.