During my sabbatical in spring 2018, I traveled to Asti, Italy, where I continued conducting research on video game-based learning (VGBL); coordinating contacts with colleagues in the field, who are interested and willing to cooperate on research projects; writing invited articles and chapter contributions; and delivering a series of invited lectures and workshops based on my research, expertise and teaching practices at academic institutions in Spain, Italy and Austria. Both my workshop and presentation formats were created with the assistance of the Saint Louis University Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning. Some of my research was founded by the James H. Korn Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award, which I received in fall 2017 for developing and teaching “Intensive Italian for Gamers.” The course, which applies game-based learning and digital media to second/foreign language acquisition, will be offered again at SLU in spring 2019.

While on sabbatical:

• I gave six invited presentations and workshops on VGBL at academic institutions in Spain, Italy and Austria.
I performed outcomes assessment and results have been very favorable. Over 95% of the participants gave favorable feedback on my presentations and workshops.

• I gave invited lectures on VGBL at three high-schools in the Piedmont region, Italy.

• I had an article published in Profession, the Journal of the Modern Language Association. The article, which was published on April 14, 2018, and the related SLU press release, resulted in a cascade of international recognition for me; for the Italian Studies Program; for the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures; for Saint Louis University; and for the SLU Reinert Center. In fact, as of today (August 19, 2018) over 100 news sources from all over the world have cited and/or reprinted my scholarship and teaching practice. Also, I was interviewed by several national and international news sources (radio, newspapers, educational).

• I submitted final revisions for one article; also submitted one invited book chapter, and three short chapters.

• I made substantial progress on suggested editorial formatting revisions to my manuscript on Dante’s Divine Comedy, “Locus Amoenus: Imitatio intertestuale/Interdiscorsiva nella Commedia (Intertextual/Interdiscoursive Imitatio in Dante’s Comedy.)” Final edits will be submitted to Longo Editore, Italy, in late September, 2018.

Presentations and Workshops
• On Wednesday, February 14, 2018, I delivered the workshop “(E-)Life is (not) Strange: Using Video Games in Foreign/Second Language Acquisition” to an audience of professors, instructors and MA students in Spanish and ESL at the New York University Campus in Madrid.

• On Thursday, February 15, I delivered a presentation entitled “Assassin’s Creed Taught Me a Foreign Language: Video Games in Second/Foreign Language & Culture Acquisition” to students and faculty at the SLU Madrid campus.

• On Thursday, March 8 and Friday, March 9, 2018, I delivered two VGBL sessions to an audience of instructors and students in Italian at the Spring Hill College Campus in Bologna.

• On Friday, March 16, 2018, I delivered delivered a 3-hour seminar on VGBL in Foreign/Second Language Acquisition to an audience of approximately seventy first-year students in Modern Languages in Prof. Elisa Corino’s Didattica delle Lingue Moderne course at Università degli Studi di Torino, my Alma Mater.

• On Wednesday, June 6, 2018, I delivered one presentation (Video Games & Learning in Higher Education) and two workshops (Video Game-Based Learning in Higher Education; Video Games in Second/Foreign Language & Culture Acquisition) at the “Lehre und Lernen” E-Learning Conference (Teaching and Learning Days) at the Alpen-Adria University of Klagenfurt, Austria.

• On Thursday, June 14, 2018, I presented the paper “Teaching Italian for Gamers – A Textbook Project” in the session “Teaching Italian with (Video) Games” at the American Association of Italian Studies conference in Sorrento, Italy. I was also the co-organizer of the session with Dr. Brandon Essary, Elon University.

Publications
• I published the invited article “Assassin’s Creed Taught Me Italian: Video Games and the Quest for Foreign Language Acquisition” in Profession, the Journal of the Modern Language Association: https://profession.mla.hcommons.org/2018/03/22/assassins-creed-taught-me-italian/

• I submitted final revisions for “Using Video Games to Teach Italian Language & Culture: Useful, Effective, Feasible?” that will appear in NEMLA Italian Studies XXXIX special issue “The Italian Digital Classroom: Italian Culture and Literature through digital tools and social media.” Expected publication date: fall 2018.

• I submitted three short chapters (1,000-2,000 words each): Assassin’s Creed; The Invisible Hours; Rise of the Tomb Raider, accepted for inclusion in “Learning, Education & Games Vol. 3: 100 Games to Use in the Classroom,” ETC Press/Carnegie Mellon. Expected publication date: spring 2019.

Media Reception and Interviews

My research and teaching practices were quoted in stories about teaching Italian through gaming that ran in Variety, Science Daily, Newswise, Eurekalert, La Stampa (Italian national newspaper), TGCom24 (Italian national TV news/website), IGN Italia, Forbes Italia, Brightsurf, Der Standard (Austrian national newspaper), Movies with Butter, Bioportfolio, PhysOrg, Science Magazine, India Today, Business Standard, The Asian Age, Tribune India, Deccan Chronicle, Hindustan Times, The University Network, St. Louis Magazine, El Mercurio, Fibonacci, Mastergame, Mid-day News, Multiplayer, Everyeye, the Google News feed, and more.
– On 4/29/18 I was interviewed in French by Radio Canada – Channel One. The interview can be found here: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/dessine-moi-un-dimanche/segments/entrevue/69870/simone-bregni-enseignement-italien-apprentissage-langues
– On 5/1/18, my course and research at SLU were mentioned on Radio Monte Carlo (Italian language radio station in the Principauté de Monaco) in the show: “Kay is in the air,” as well as on Radio Erft—Germany.
– On 5/5/18, I was interviewed on Radio Cusano Campus, the radio of Niccolò Cusano University ( https://www.unicusano.it/ ), a private institution in Rome and Milan, as part of their show “Giochi a fumetti”: https://t.co/OWVAbuhJ2K
– On 6/9/18, I was interviewed by the Italian national private radio station Radio Deejay as part of the program MegaJay about my research and teaching on video game-based learning at Saint Louis University. The interview, in Italian, is available here: https://www.deejay.it/audio/20180609-7/565158/ [40:37-43:40; comments: 46:50-54:20]
– On 6/28/18 an interview article was published by Altagram, a video game localization company based in Germany, on their company blog: https://altagram.com/learning-languages-through-gaming-interview-with-simone-bregni/
I would like to thank the SLU College of Arts & Sciences, the Reinert Center, and the Madrid Campus. I would also like to thank the NYU Madrid Campus; the Spring Hill College Bologna Campus; my alma mater, Università degli Studi di Torino; Villa Nazareth in Rome; and the Alpen-Adria University of Klagenfurt, Austria.

Photo: Dr. Bregni with 5th year students from Istituto Enogastronomico “Penna” in San Damiano d’Asti, Italy – April 2018