If you are like me and either teach young children (in particular boys) or have a boy of your own, then you are probably very much aware of Pokemon and the phenomenon that surrounds it. But for those of you who have been able to avoid it, then here is some background for you. Pokemon came to North America from Japan and includes a variety of different formats - T.V., books, video and Gameboy games, films, plushies, trading cards and board games. Its name is the Japanese pronunciation of Pocket Monster. For many, Pokemon was their first interaction with Anime. If you take a moment to look at it, you realise that Pokemon provides parents and more importantly teachers with a wealth of raw material. Pokemon live in Pokemon balls and come out when called on by their human trainers. Currently there are over 400 Pokemons and the list continues to grow. Each one has its own distinctive traits and characteristics. Each name is descriptive in that it matches the characters unique images. For example: Bulbasaur is a turtle-like creature that looks like it has a fat tulip bulb growing from it's back. Hence its name - bulb and saur (as in dinosaur).
A number of other Japanese popular culture gaming texts have since followed: Digimon, Dragonball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Beyblades and most recently Go-Go's. With each of these popular gaming texts is an associated discourse which the participants use when playing the games and communicating with each other.
To ignore the presence of such a powerful phenomenon means that teachers are missing an opportunity to tap into and learn about a game that covers a number of literacy domains and crosses a variety of platforms that can be used to deliver our language curriculum.
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