Reassessing games in glottodidactics: Wittgenstein and second language teaching

Abstract

This article reconsiders the foundations of second language teaching through the lens of Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, arguing that linguistic competence is best understood as participation in shared practices rather than as the internal possession of rules or representations. Contemporary glottodidactics still operates, often implicitly, within cognitivist and computational metaphors that reduce language to information processing or measurable performance. By contrast, Wittgenstein’s notion of language games highlights the public, normative and situated nature of meaning, which emerges through use, action, and participation in forms of life. In what follows, ‘language games’ refers to Wittgenstein’s philosophical notion, while ‘games in language teaching’ designates classroom techniques such as role‑play and gamification. The article contrasts these two pedagogical uses of “game”: role-play immerses learners in socially meaningful practices, while gamification can fragment language into decontextualised tasks driven by external rewards. This contrast reveals opposing conceptions of learning and of what it means to “follow a rule”. A brief reflection on contemporary AI systems highlights the difference between producing correct output and genuinely understanding an expression. The article argues that a Wittgenstein-inspired glottodidactics should prioritise participation, context and embodied interaction, understanding language learning as an entry into a network of regulated practices rather than the acquisition of abstract structures.