Fighting with words: bridging language and culture gaps through games.

• Author: Jean, Grace
• Position: New computer wargame 'Tactical Iraqi Language Trainer' introduced

Computer scientist W. Lewis Johnson slipped on his headset and logged on to his latest creation. In a virtual Iraqi city, his military-camouflaged character began to negotiate the alleyways, streets and marketplaces. But unlike a typical first-person shooter video game, his avatar carried no M-16 rifles or hand grenades. He came armed only with his knowledge of Arabic language and customs.

In this PC-based game, Tactical Iraqi Language Trainer, advancing levels requires street smarts and cultural savvy, rather than the usual hand-eye coordination skills. Players run through a number of non-combat scenarios and must communicate with civilian characters to reach mission objectives, such as locating a local leader.

During a demonstration at the Serious Games Summit in Arlington, Va., Johnson approached two men sitting outside a cafe. Before uttering Arabic greetings into the microphone, he used the keyboard to take off his character's sunglasses and selected the palm-over-heart gesture. Trust meters located in the upper right hand corner of the screen reflected how well--or how poorly--he was doing.

Johnson then purposely neglected to introduce himself properly and offended the civilians, who grew angry and tossed curses at him in Arabic. Eventually, using the correct phrases and cultural knowledge, Johnson was able to mitigate the situation and succeed in locating the whereabouts of the local leader.

"This is an example of how within this game world, we can create various kinds of situations that learners have to deal with and prepare them for what they might possibly face when they show up in a foreign country," said Johnson, CEO of Tactical Language Training, LLC, which developed the game.

Game technologies now are being harnessed to teach troops how to communicate in the languages and cultures to which they will deploy. The need to develop such games is acute. Among the findings of the Iraq Study Group, Americans' lack of language and cultural understanding was pointed out as being "detrimental to the U.S. mission" in Iraq.

The ISG report recommended that the "highest possible priority" be given to professional language proficiency and culture training for officers and personnel about to be assigned to Iraq. But for the U.S. military, that task has been easier said than done.

"I can't stress enough the difficulty of trying to train 18 to 21-year-old Marines on Iraqi culture and language," said 1st Lt. Nathan Dmochowski, project officer for...