Gamification and Game-based Learning as Methods to Motivate Students learn English Vocabulary

Abstract

Among all the innovative and emergent methodologies related to teaching foreign languages, we could claim that teaching vocabulary of a Second Language through games could be rightly applied in the classroom, as it might help learners become more motivated and interested for their own learning. Games could also help them become more autonomous, life-long learners and to study the given vocabulary in a more fun and less anxious manner. Among all these methods, we can mention Game-Based Learning and Gamification. Through this dissertation, I have tried to test the validity of the theory of how gamebased learning and some of the features of gamification can provide students with situations where they can learn a Second Language in a less anxious, more comfortable and quicker manner, developing the skills necessary to become autonomous learners and to retain the vocabulary studied in their long-term memories. To test the validity of such theory, I have carried out a Learning Situation which shares both elements of game-based learning and gamification with a group of fifteen students who have taken a course on Hospitality (Ciclo Formativo de Grado Medio de Restauración) at a secondary school in the outskirts of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. As it can be seen in the answers of the questionnaire related to such didactic unit, which these students have completed, the results seem to be quite satisfactory, and seem to validate the theory that game-based learning and gamification can contribute to foster and expand the vocabulary which is learnt in class. However, and as it will be explained in the results of the questionnaire, these results have been somewhat inconclusive due to a number of factors, such as the small amount of students who have taken the questionnaire and answers left unanswered. Nevertheless, it seems clear that both game-based learning and gamification, when combined properly, could provide students with environments where they become willing to learn and capable of remembering the lexicon studied, due to the engagement they experience when playing and competing. Through these teaching approaches, students learn to work in teams to reach a common objective, but they also learn to take greater responsibility for their knowledge, behaviour and motivations, developing skills such as curiosity, empathy, confidence, resilience and creativity among many others. 5 Using games in a Second Language classroom may help students become selfmotivated and interested in their learning. Through game-based learning and gamification, vocabulary might be taught and learned in a more contextualised manner which mirrors the acquisition of new words in the first language