We interviewed Professor Tom Cobb about My Word Coach!

Incorporating the proven methods of a linguistics professor, My Word Coach was designed to assess, monitor and reward your Expression Potential, a percentage score that represents your ability to command and use the English language. Scored on a scale from 1 to 100, the higher your number, the better you are at expressing yourself!

Are you satisfied with the results of translating your linguistics research into a video game?

Very satisfied, but I would love to get my hands on the game itself. I still do not have a copy!

Would you recommend this game? Why?

I would definitely recommend the game, mainly because I believe it is an enjoyable way to achieve a rapid expansion of one's vocabulary. Tiny vocabularies are a major factor in the erosion of worldwide literacy at the present time, particularly for those who are university bound. My Word Coach is the most promising antidote to this alarming trend to appear in many years.

What's your general feeling about video games?

I largely follow the thinking of Professor James Paul Gee, whose work argues that game designers are the most talented learning theorists of our time. To sell their products, game designers must determine how learning and motivation work for particular groups of players/learners. Somehow, "traditional" educators are spared this necessity! Something about free vs. Captive markets...

Professor James Paul Gee's excellent book on the subject

Do you think video games can help people better express themselves?

Well, the effects of game playing will be felt on the comprehension level first, and then later on the expression level. Experimentation should not look to achieve immediate expression effects, but rather instant comprehension effects and eventual expression effects. As I mentioned above, I would be interested in testing some of the outcomes of playing My Word Coach - I believe I would often find a positive result. But for such a test it would be important to determine what to look for before predicting what could be reasonably expected. In other words, it would be important to first know the vocabulary acquisition research.