Louis Chase on Language Embodiment in Gaming
What is your thesis about, generally?
Linguistics major Louis Chase described their thesis as an investigation into language and embodiment in “Hardcore” vs. “Cozy” Gamers. They applied a matched guise study procedure in order to understand how gamers’ language is perceived as a product of the environments they inhabit. Chase asks questions like, ‘Is the fact that gamers frequently communicate without video (that is, visual embodiment) changing the way that they speak?’ or ‘What social meaning are gamers transmitting when they change their language?’
You might have seen the posters around campus requesting participants for a survey about gamer language, and, well, this is the result if you were one of the brave and honorable souls who filled it out. In a previous study conducted as part of Linguistics 412: Research in Sociolinguistics, Chase, along with students Grace Anderson ’25, Tommy Schacht ’25 and Professor Kara Becker, found that self-identified hardcore gamers shifted to speak faster when they were gaming, while self-identified cozy gamers shifted to speak slower, relative to a baseline. Interestingly, both groups shifted to a higher pitch when using their gamer voices.
The task was to then interpret these findings in the context of prior literature, trying to make a connection between the data and how language is used to index social meaning, particularly meanings related to bodily energy. Unfortunately, the results were a little bit hard to interpret and theories were difficult to falsify (and thus, be found valid) given the production data (the raw audio data and acoustic analysis) alone. In particular, the fact that both groups shifted to a higher pitch threw the researchers off.
Chase’s thesis study is a perceptual follow-up to that previous production study, aiming to answer some of the questions it left open. Chase took some time to explain the concept of a ‘matched guise study’, and so this fascinating nugget of theory from sociolinguistics will be explored here. The main idea is to have participants listen to recordings of people speaking, where each individual recording can vary between subjects along one dimension, and study how the participants react.
In the case of this study, participants were given either an audio clip or a video/audio clip. Participants were then asked to provide answers on a scale of one to seven in terms of “perceived energy, physical activity, emotional investment” and whether or not the person in the recording was a “Hardcore” or “Cozy” Gamer. These results would then be interpreted to understand how language manifests the body, and how gamers orient themselves towards ideologies of the body. Chase noted that in a typical gaming setup (voicecall) you can only convey the body through language, so it’s a prime spot to investigate how humans use language to present their bodies.
What got you inspired in this? Was it a hobby / interest, what’s a little bit about you?
The study is a perceptual follow up to a conference presentation where they had the opportunity to work on with fellow students under the wise guidance of Professor Kara Becker. Chase also cited a similar study on language and embodiment in Yoga vs. Bodybuilding youtube videos. Interestingly, Yoga instructors were found to have a much lower pitch and rate of articulation compared to the bodybuilders, even when they weren’t exercising. This countered Chase’s initial expectations, and so they became interested in knowing more.
What has the process been like for you, logistically and on a large scale?
Thesis advisor Allison Casar was very helpful in keeping the project going and preventing Chase from overthinking. He lamented that he made methodology a lot more complicated for himself than it really needed to be early on in the process, which required laborious compensation later down the line.
What do you hope this accomplishes?
“I hope this is able to tell us more about the relationship between the relationship and the body, potentially denaturalizing ideological associations with gaming.” Language ideology is very broadly any notion language users have (that may or may not be truthful) about language use. For example, that certain uses of language are objectively ‘wrong’, or other linguistic stereotypes.
How people use language as a social means of relating to the body has been extensively studied, largely in the context of gender. Chase hopes to expand on this promising area of research.
Any advice for thesising, or soon to be thesising students?
Chase's main suggestions were to keep scope under control and know from the onset how you’re going to do analysis while designing your experiment. “Don’t make commitments to doing specific things without knowing what they may or may not tell you,” they said, focusing on experimental design. “With quantitative study [you should] be sure you know how you’re going to be analyzing your results and know what to do if you don’t find exactly what you expect.”
Anything else you’d like to share with the Reed student body?
Chase said, “I’m doing a social science thesis at a time when the social sciences are doing really horribly [politically speaking].” That is, even people who would normally be approving of the social sciences now see them as less valuable (and they don’t make a lot of money), and hence, they have been put on the backburner. However, Chase believes it’s “worthwhile to study all aspects of the human experience” before we head fully into tech dystopia.