A short lecture on the nature of the tabletop RPG game Dungeons and Dragons and the importance of roleplay for helping to learn a new language.

1. *
Christopher Yap
Internet Engineering Laboratory
October 10th, 2013
1

3. What’s on the Agenda?
3

4. *
4

5. D&D: What is it?
5

6. D&D: What is it?
6

7. D&D: What is it?
7

8. D&D: What is it?
Probability
Video Games
Go home,
You’re Insane
D&D
Roleplay
Childhood
Play
Imagination
8

9. D&D: Imagination
The game is limited by two factors:
Game Rules
Player
Imagination
9

10. D&D: Probability (1)
Outcomes within the game are determined
through numerical statistics and dice rolls
“d20”
The most
often used die
in D&D
10

11. D&D: Probability (2)
304~30 BC!
11
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-575476971/ancient-d20-die-emerges-from-the-ashes-of-time/

12. RESULT
V
RESULT
V
D&D: Probability (3)
Difficulty
Check
Success!
Difficulty
Check
FAIL!
12

13. Let’s give it a try…
“The treasure chest
appears to be locked
tightly. You don’t have
the key to open the
lock, but you think you
may be able to break the
lock open. Maybe…”
Would anyone like to
attempt to break the
chest open?
13

14. References/文献
Yap, C. “On the Nature and Causes of the Loneliness of
Nerds”. 455th Annual Conference on Stochatic
Dorkocracies, Proceedings. 1998.
Schrute, D. K. et al. “Why don’t I have a girlfriend?”.
Dunder-Mifflin Publishing. London. 4th ed. 2009.
Miyamoto, M. “The Book of the Five Rings”.
(translation from Japanese by Victor Harris),
London: Allison and Busby, 1974.
Ackbar, A. “It’s a Trap!” Bull’s Hit Bros. New York.
1988.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYO1j2Vhztc
14

15. *
15

16. Roleplay (1)
ROLEPLAY IS A VERY POWERFUL AGENT!
Real
Life
D&D
World
Real
Life
Roleplay is the heart of D&D
16

17. Roleplay (2)
-Roleplay is pretending to be someone elseDrama
Creativity
RP
Dialect
Voice
Acting
Gestures
Facial
Expressions
17

18. Roleplay (3)
• Roleplay is an essential element for
D&D
• But more importantly,
• Roleplay is an EXTREMELY HELPFUL
tool for LANGUAGE ACQUISITION!
18

19. Roleplay (4)
-Roleplay is pretending to be someone elseDrama
Creativity
RP
Dialect
Gestures
Facial
Expressions
19
Voice
Acting
• Learning a foreign
language is like
becoming another
person
• Assuming a different
point of view also
helps with
expressing yourself
in your own language
• CONTEXT IS KEY!

20. Let’s give it a try… (Part 1)
ATTEMPT TO GET PAST SNAPE!
“You know the rules, Mr. Potter.
No students are allowed
through this door on Sundays.
Unless you feel you have
legitimate business in the 食堂,
I strongly suggest you move
along…”
20

21. Let’s give it a try… (Part 2)
In Groups: ATTEMPT TO GET A DEADLINE
EXTENSION FROM YOUR PROFESSOR!
You’ve got 5
minutes to
discuss the best
excuse.
21

22. *
Let’s play a game
22

23. “Communication Breakdown”
Popular
Animal
Eats
Bamboo
Cute
Midsized
Kung Fu
Black
and
White
Chinese
23

24. “Communication Breakdown”
Japan
Person
NAIST
Biology
Kung Fu
Cute
Kyoto
Nobel
24

25. “Communication Breakdown”
Japan
Food
Popular
Tasty
Healthy
Beans
Not
Tasty
Stinky
25

26. “Communication Breakdown”
YOU NEED:
• Roleplaying Skills
We’ll give you:
• One Mystery Envelope per group (DO NOT OPEN YET)
Here’s what’s happening:
1. As much as possible, get in a circle.
2. Decide the first person (whose birthday is coming up
next); from there go in clockwise order
3. Person picks a SECRET WORD from the envelope. That
will be the word you must explain in context
4. Once other group members correctly guess the word,
move on to the next player
26

27. “Communication Breakdown” Pt 2
YOU NEED:
• Roleplaying Skills
• Pen and Pencil
We’ll give you:
• One deck of cards (please shuffle thoroughly)
• Some note paper
Here’s what’s happening:
1. Same procedure as before, BUT this time pick a secret
word AND a card from the top of the deck
2. Depending on the CARD SUIT (Hearts, Spades, Diamonds,
or Clubs) you will have to adhere to some restriction…
27

28. “Communication Breakdown” Pt 2
Must Explain
with words;
NO GESTURES
Gestures
only; NO
WORDS
Must Draw a
Picture; NO
WORDS
Draw again
-ORExplain in
voice of
Opposite
Gender
28

29. In Summary…
Today we learned about:
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Roleplay (in terms of D&D and
Language Acquisition)
• Context
29