=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2145/p02
|storemode=property
|title=Gamified EFL Instruction: an Overview of the Most Recent Research Trends
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2145/p02.pdf
|volume=Vol-2145
|authors=Vilma Mikašytė
}}
==Gamified EFL Instruction: an Overview of the Most Recent Research Trends==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2145/p02.pdf
Gamified EFL Instruction: An Overview of the Most
Recent Research Trends
Vilma Mikašytė
Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Informatics
Kaunas University of Technology Kaunas, Lithuania
vilma.mikasyte@ktu.lt
Abstract—This paper provides an overview of six gamified one can notice an increasing number of publications on such
learning environments that were developed for teaching English technology-enhanced language instruction. Recent studies
as a foreign language (EFL). The tools were reported upon in indicate a variety of potential or already proven benefits of
publications that appeared in top scientific journals in 2017. The game-based foreign language learning, including increasing
current survey describes the main features of the educational students’ involvement, motivation and attentiveness to detail
games that were employed in the conducted experiments and [9]. The aim of the present paper is to provide an overview of
focuses on the key findings that are specifically related to the the latest papers on game-based foreign language instruction
EFL learning outcomes. The results of the experimental short- that report the results of the learning outcomes when the tool
term studies reveal that students who played educational games
that is used for instruction was developed by the instructors
obtained significantly better results than those who received
conventional EFL instruction.
themselves.
Keywords—technology-enhanced, EFL, language learning, A. Data sources
game-based learning, gamification As the current paper gives a theoretical overview of the
newest research trends in a specific area, gamified EFL
I. INTRODUCTION instruction, the only data source is research papers. They were
selected by drawing on the methodology proposed by [10]. The
A variety of sources claim that English is the most popular
paper selection was carried out in several stages. Firstly, the
foreign language to learn [1], [2]. A couple of decades ago,
available scientific journals from the top 20 Google Scholar
English, as well as other foreign languages, was mostly taught
scientific journals on educational technology 1 were inspected
and learned in classroom-based formal education. However,
by looking for the keyword ‘language learning’. Then, to
with the rise of mobile technology, vast opportunities for non-
ensure that none of the potentially relevant papers remain
formal language learning emerged. People are no longer limited
unnoticed, the researcher went through all the issues of the
to learning at a specific place at a specific time. In other words,
aforementioned journals (published in 2017) manually. Later,
they have access to ubiquitous learning [3]. It can be suggested
the selected papers were assessed in terms of their suitability
that when it comes to ubiquitous foreign language learning, it
for the present survey. Some papers were deemed unfit for the
was especially boosted by free mobile applications. There are
purpose because they (a) do not focus on gamified EFL
hundreds of free or semi-free apps that address acquiring
teaching / learning, (b) do not focus on teaching skills, thus
holistic foreign language skills. Some of them, e.g. Duolingo,
were rejected.
Mindsnacks, and Memrise, feature simultaneous learning and
practicing of language skills via gamified environments. That
is, there are different game-like elements, such as levels, points, B. Structure
badges, and likewise. The aforementioned together with the The remaining of the paper is structured as follows: Section
gains of learning a language which is the third major language II provides an overview of technology-enhanced and gamified
in terms of the number of native speakers, English [4], are the language teaching/learning, Section III briefly describes the
reason why these apps are becoming more and more popular. educational games that were discovered in the most recent
publications, Section IV discusses the key findings, and Section
In the light of the above, it is evident that formal education V draws the conclusion.
must keep up with the changing preferences and needs of the
contemporary ubiquitous learner. Therefore, foreign language
instructors strive to employ Information and communication II. GAMIFIED EFL INSTRUCTION
technology (ICT) to make the teaching/learning process more This section provides a consine theoretical survey of EFL and
attractive, fun, and at the same time efficient. Foreign language gamified foreign language instruction.
teachers either come up with innovative ways to exploit already
existing ICT resources (e.g. social media [5], wiki [6], vine [7],
or e-books [8]) or develop their own. In the academic literature, Copyright held by the author(s).
7
A. EFL Instruction the lower-achieving students are compared, which means that
To begin with, EFL stands for English as a foreign there is no great difference between the intake of more
language. When it comes to foreign language teaching and advanced learners [13]. Ideally, gamified learning should be
learning, two main terms are used to define the phenomena. As beneficial to each and every student.
Moeller and Catalano [11] explain, ‘foreign language teaching Nonetheless, the abovementioned research conclusions
and learning’ refers to when students are being taught a should not be taken for granted. There is a lack of longitudinal
language other than their mother tongue in a different country studies that indicate the long-term retention results of learning
than the language is typically spoken. Another term is ‘second via gamified educational environments [24]. To prove or
language acquisition’, which describes learning a non-native disclaim the actual educational potential of gamified EFL
language while living in the environment where it is commonly instruction, more scholarly effort needs to be invested in
spoken [11]. Scholars indicate that regardless whether carrying out longitudinal studies on the long-term effects of
individuals are taught a foreign or second language, the relying on educational games to learn English (as well as any
traditional teaching paradigm has shifted from teacher-centered other foreign languages).
to learner-centered language teaching [11], [12]. It means that
the teacher should establish rapport with the students and take
III. THE IDENTIFIED EDUCATIONAL GAMES
into consideration their learning styles, needs, and preferences
[12]. This section contains a brief overview of the educational
games that were identified after carrying out a survey of the
In the times when technology is omni-present, it does not most recent publications on technology-enhanced EFL
make much sense to be still using the old ways of giving instruction.
instruction, especially when it comes to foreign languages.
Nowadays, the majority of students own a mobile device or can
A. The Conference Interpreter [25]
be provided with one (for educational purposes) by their
educational institution. Despite that, some scholars (esp. those The game was developed by the authors of the paper back
from Taiwan, e.g. [13], [9]) emphasize that some foreign in 2013. The authors note that before applying the game in an
languages, especially English, are still taught by relying on the
actual teaching/learning environment, in total 17 versions of the
archaic paper- and memorization-based tasks [9]. Such
teaching style does not comply with the new educational game were piloted and revised after receiving feedback from
paradigm. Nor does this type of instruction provide the players. The intended audience is university students. The
authenticity, which is important in foreign language educational game is in essence a simulator of a conference, thus
teaching/learning [13], [14]. More technology-oriented teachers students have to simultaneously translate, for which they need
know that it is exactly where gamified learning environments to know and use appropriate lexis. The simulation is in English,
can come in handy. while the target language is Spanish. Students are then exposed
to multiple-questions-type exercises in which they need to
B. Gamified Foreign Language Instruction choose the appropriate option (see Fig. 1b). The purpose of the
Almost a decade ago, in 2009, Thrilling and Fadel claimed game is to increase the learners’ vocabulary and a variety of
that the available digital tools help to develop the key “21st skills needed for an interpreter. In addition to the educational
century skills: critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, content and instant feedback, the game also features a level and
innovation, media literacy, ICT literacy, flexibility, initiative, reward system and enables collecting scores and power-ups.
and self-direction” [15]. It can be argued that all of these skills To test the effectiveness of the game, an experiment was
should be also transferred into the context of learning foreign conducted. One group of students played the game without
languages. There are teachers around the world who are trying any teacher intervention (experimental group). Another group
to achieve exactly the aforementioned. Not only do they got to study from a booklet with the same contents as in the
experiment on using diverse teaching methods (e.g. problem- game (control group). The students were also asked to
based learning [16], flipped classroom [17], or language complete a pre-test, post-test, and delayed test. Statistically
immersion [18]), but they also devise their own teaching processed data reveal that even though students in the
materials and those who are more tech-savvy even develop experimental group had no help from the instructor, they
their own educational games. learned the target vocabulary because they played the game.
Recently, gamified language instruction has become very Moreover, their learning results were better than those of the
popular. The benefits as well as challenges of educational students in the control group. However, when their test results
games have been discussed and reported upon by quite a were compared six weeks after the experiment, there were no
number of scholars globally (e.g. [19], [20], [21]). To prove significant differences in students’ knowledge of lexis.
that the outcomes of gamified learning are more satisfactory
than those achieved by the traditional means, experimental
studies are conducted and the two teaching/learning styles are
compared. The latest studies usually note that when playing
educational games, students actually acquire more knowledge
and improve their language skills (e.g. those of listening and
speaking) [15], [22], [23]). Some studies, on the other hand,
reveal that the only significant learning outcome result is when
8
An experiment was conducted to check whether the
students in the experimental group would achieve the target
results without any teacher intervention, by solely relying on
playing the educational game. The students in the control
group read a traditional children’s storybook with the same
contents as in NEU-CST. The students in the both groups also
completed a pre- and post-test. The results reveal that there is a
statistically significant difference when it comes to the
aforementioned students’ achievement. The experimental
group shows better learning outcomes of vocabulary,
comprehension, pronunciation, and listening.
(a)
C. Problem-based English listening game [9]
The authors developed the game. They do not indicate at
what specific age category the game is aimed, but in this case,
it was played by ninth graders. The purpose of the game is to
enable the students to practice, enhance or develop their
listening skills and to reduce their language anxiety. They
supposedly do so while following a storyline of a wizardry
school from which they will eventually graduate provided they
perform the necessary tasks and successfully overcome some
challenges on their way. The game is built on three databases,
namely those of materials, gaming elements, and students’
(b) profile. The first database is comprised of resources (i.e.
Fig. 1. The interface of the game The Conference Interpreter listening tasks, a vocabulary, and extra materials) provided by
an expert language instructor. The second database holds a
B. Near East University Children’s Story Teller (NEU- variety of game components, such as battles and weapons as
CST)[26] well as treasures and bonus rewards. The third database
collected information on the learners’ status and learning
The Android mobile application was developed by the behaviours. The listening game has different difficulty levels
authors. As it is based on children’s stories, it is aimed at (see Fig. 3), or phases, to achieve which, students need to
young students (more precisely, 12-13 years old). Some complete various listening tasks.
features of the application (e.g. music) are based on previous
studies that reveal what aspects make the learning process not
only successful, but enjoyable as well. The authors indicate
that the game includes a unique component, which is speech-
to-text application that allows to listen to the text being read as
one is looking at it on the screen. The learner also gets instant
feedback. The simplicity and colourful imagery of the game
(see Fig. 2) addresses vocabulary acquisition as well as
comprehension, pronunciation and listening skills. The game
has an in-built testing option, too.
Fig. 2. The interface of the game NEU-CST
Fig. 3. The interface of problem-based English listening game
9
The authors compared the problem-based game to develop the game, the authors combined game science and
conventional technology-enhanced teaching. The experimental mobile computing. The game was played by tenth-graders. In
group was exposed to the former, and the control group to the the game, the learner can choose an appropriate level of
latter. The both groups took a pre- and post-test. The statistical difficulty and, to proceed with the game, has to answer the
analysis shows that students benefited more from playing the questions that are based on the learning objectives. In addition,
problem-based game than from the other type of instruction. students have the chance to discuss the materials and the game
itself on Facebook. The game is built to be beneficial to the
D. Task-based learning AR educational game and Self- instructor as well. That is, the teacher can manage the
directed learning AR educational game [27] resources that are present on the game and see the discussions
Both games were developed by the authors with a specific on the Facebook forum.
audience, third-graders, as well as different learning styles in
mind. The AR educational games run on Tablet PC. The goal
of the games is to expand learners’ vocabulary and increase
their spelling skills. To investigate and compare different
learning approaches, one game is built upon the self-directed
learning style, whereas another game is based on task-based
learning. The former AR educational game allows students to
regulate their own learning by giving them the opportunity to
choose the order of the learning targets as they wish. The latter
AR educational game gave no freedom for the students to
select the sequence of the tasks, and everything was controlled
by the system. Another difference between the two games is
that in the first version, students can re-choose the target,
whereas in the second game they can only proceed to the next
step if they have successfully fulfilled the previous one.
Despite the aforementioned differences, the games have some
features that they share; for example, they contain the same
vocabulary resources and have seven situational stations.
Every learning target is superseded by a vocabulary test. As
children cannot type well enough yet and the screen is rather
small, the tests rely on dragging the letters with fingers to
make up the words required.
Fig. 5. The interface of Happy English Learning System
The effectiveness of the game was experimentally tested.
There was an experimental and a control group, both of whom
also took a pre- and post-test. After applying statistical
analysis to their dataset, the authors conclude that the group
that played the educational game achieved better results.
F. OpenSimulator Project-CLILiOP [Content and Language
Integrated Learning in Opensimulator Project] [15]
The authors report that it took a total of 160 hours to
develop the game. It was then piloted and afterwards
improved. The target age group is not specified, but the
educational game was employed to teach six-graders. The aim
Fig. 4. The interface of the AR educational game of the game is to teach the learners lexis related to Geography,
thus they get to control avatars that are visiting a virtual island
The two approaches to learning were compared. Students and exchanging conversations in English. In the game,
took pre- and post-tests. Interestingly enough, after applying students traverse the island and get information about the
statistical measures to see whether there is any significant target vocabulary on the way, at sign-posts and media corners
difference between the results of the two groups, none were which were specifically designed for that function. The latter
found. In other words, all students performed equally well. two elements of the game contain such resources as videos and
presentations. Students can interact with them by pausing,
E. Happy English Learning System [28]
rewinding, and likewise. The game also suggests benefits for
The downloadable off-line game is based on Monopoly and the instructor as it is based on ready-made scripts. This means
Chance and was designed for mobile devices. It incorporates that s/he need not invest too much time in scripting and
course materials and assignments with gaming elements. To programming. The authors claim that once the script is
10
developed, it does not require too much effort to adapt it variety of different topics (e.g. [15], [28]). It can be suggested
according to other lesson plans. that the games could also be adapted to teaching languages
other than English as well.
By looking at the screenshots of the game interfaces, one
can see that some of the games are more sophisticated than
others. The quality of the graphics and game elements may
have an effect on how well the game performs its desired
function – conveying educational content that one is supposed
to comprehend and consequently learn. None of the studies
address this issue, but future studies should take this concern
into account.
Despite the aforementioned short-comings, the results of
the studies can be regarded as promising to at least some
extent because the educational games are compared to
traditional teaching/learning materials. That is, authors
conduct experiments on two (in one case, three [15]) groups.
One is exposed to experimental conditions (i.e. play the
game), the other works on the same materials but in a more
traditional way (i.e. students do the exercises and tests on
paper).
Fig. 6. The interface of OpenSimulator Project-CLILiOP
In general, it can be stated that the six educational games
comply with the student-centered educational paradigm. The
The authors investigated the potency of the game. In total,
amount of instruction is reduced and there is more emphasis
there were three groups of students that took part in the
on self-regulated learning, thus empowering the learner to
experiment. The first one was control/conventional, the second
control his/her learning process. More importantly, by learning
was taught by using conventional CLIL, and the third one was
EFL via educational games, students also acquire or at least
exposed to CLILiOP. The members of each group got to take
improve the earlier mentioned 21st century skills (e.g.
pre- or post-tests. The results indicate that those students who
problem-solving, creativity, and ICT literacy).
had the latter method included in their learning process
achieved more than two times greater results than the control
group. V. CONCLUSION
IV. DISCUSSION This paper provided an overview of six educational games
that were developed in order to teach EFL. All the six games
Almost all the previously described educational games
were developed by EFL instructors themselves with the
(except [25]) are used as a supplement for at least somewhat
purpose to increase their students’ language skills. The games
traditional teaching/learning. It is not specified whether
address holistic language skills and are mostlly directed at the
instructors employ any additional innovative strategies in
youngest segment of EFL learners. The effectiveness of the
teaching EFL. The latter is important because it may effect
educational games were tested experimentally. Five out of six
students’ cognitive abilities, motivation, or other factors that
games result in significantly greater learning outcomes when
play a role in language learning.
compared to the results of the control groups. Nevertheless,
The greatest drawback of the surveyed studies is reliability.
the results should not be taken for granted as the studies only
The experiments were carried out with small samples in a
reveal short-term results. Future studies could address this
short period of time. Only one paper [25] employed a delayed
issue and reveal the potential of technology-enhanced EFL
test, and its results suggests that with time, the better learning
learning in the long run.
outcome achieved by playing an educational game, plunge to
the same level of those who received traditional EFL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
instruction. It is of paramount importance to investigate the
The author of the paper would like to thank the anonymous
long-term results of playing educational games, otherwise
reviewers and editors for their insightful comments.
their real educational potential remains undisclosed. That is
not to say that carrying out long-term studies of this kind
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