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How Gamification Can Enhance Vocabulary Learning with Teenagers in the EFL Classroom

Research Proposal:

How Gamification Can Enhance Vocabulary Learning with Teenagers in the EFL Classroom in the Province of Buenos Aires

Selena Barriento, Natalia Feliú, Laura Matías, Tamara Páez and Bárbara Sena

Abstract

The aim of this research is to describe the effects of gamification when learning vocabulary on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students, aged 12 to 13, in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. An experimental study to observe the relation between vocabulary learning and gamification will be carried out. Data will be collected using a pretest-posttest design and structured questionnaire after the study. Then, both the quantitative and qualitative evidence will be analyzed. The findings are expected to show how gamification can facilitate the vocabulary learning process. It will also shed light on other aspects that may hinder the game-related procedures. Personality traits, engagement, motivation and time constraints are some of the factors that will be examined. The outcomes of this research will provide pedagogical implications and further guidance for the usage of games in the EFL classroom.

Keywords: gamification, vocabulary learning, teenagers, EFL, motivation, engagement

How Gamification Can Enhance Vocabulary Learning with Teenagers in the EFL Classroom in the Province of Buenos Aires

Technology has paved its way into diverse contexts, including that of education where new approaches to learning and teaching have emerged. The possibility of incorporating gamification tools at schools has generated wide interest among teachers. According to Dichev and Dicheva (2017) “gamification of education is a developing approach for increasing learners’ motivation and engagement by incorporating game design elements in educational environments” (p.1). The English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom has not been an exception to this tendency where gamification has created diverse scenarios for newer and richer learners’ experiences.

In the following literature review, several sources were consulted to delve into this approach.

Welbers, K., Konijn, E. A., Burgers, C., Bij de Vaate, A., Eden, A., & Brugman, B. C. (2019). Gamification as a tool for engaging student learning: A field experiment with a gamified app. E-Learning and Digital Media, 16(2), 92-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042753018818342

Welbers et al. (2019) state the term gamification was first used in reference to the application of game mechanisms in different contexts to increase engagement. It has been mainly used in business and marketing, and then moved to educational settings becoming a popular tool to foster learning. Gamification means “using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems'' (p. 94).

Figueroa, J. (2015). Using Gamification to Enhance Second Language Learning. Digital Education Review, 21, 32-54. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278328067_Using_Gamification_to_Enhance_Second_Language_Learning

Figueroa (2015) explains education has recently become more technological-oriented. “The main objective of gamification is to increase participation and motivate users through the use of game elements such as points, leaderboards, and immediate feedback among other things” (p. 37). These features have helped learners engage better and gain more productivity and creativity. Educators have started choosing these tools to offer their learners a more enriching experience.

Lee, J. & Hammer, J. (2011). Gamification in Education: What, How, Why Bother? Academic Exchange Quarterly, 15(2), 1-5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258697764_Gamification_in_Education_What_How_Why_Bother

The authors explain how gamification provides opportunities for experimenting with social roles, emotions, rules, and feedback. The existence of game-like elements might highly motivate students to learn better, but it does not translate directly to engagement. They introduce gamification as a challenge because its application might absorb teachers’ time and imply the use of new resources. It is possible that students get used to learning only when provided with external rewards, resulting in project failure.

Mohandas, E., Hussin, A. and Syed Ahmad, T. (2020). Language Gamification in ESL Classroom: Teaching Perspective. European Journal of Open Education and E-learning Studies, 5(2), 178-188. http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejoe.v5i2.3445

These authors claim teachers are required to shift from traditional teaching to contemporary methods. In order to enhance teachers’ classroom practices, Mohandas et al. (2020) propose several steps to design flexible and interchangeable language games according to students' needs and context. The need to represent a continuous challenge, an interesting storyline, immediate and useful rewards, and a combination of fun and realism are key features that make an educational game successful.

Even though recent studies make an emphasis on the positive aspects gamification may bring into the classroom, Dichev and Dicheva (2017) hold there is still a lack of empirical evidence on how to implement gamification in a coherent and efficient way. Research has failed to prove how gamification in the EFL classroom leads to knowledge acquisition. Hence, further investigation is required to understand the connection of games with specific course content. The general objective of this research is to analyze to what extent gamification is a useful strategy to learn new vocabulary for teenagers aged 12 to 13 in the EFL classroom in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The specific objectives are to explore what game design activities foster learning and to identify the factors that may hinder game-related activities.

This paper is organized into different parts. An introduction covering a literature review, research objectives and paper structure is included in section one. The delimitations and limitations on section two will address aspects which were deemed to narrow down the scope of this research. The procedures and the methods employed to carry out this work will be developed in section three. Lastly, the expected outcomes and the appendixes will be covered in sections four and five respectively.

Delimitations and Limitations

Delimitations

This research will be carried out in a private school in the city of Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Twenty students attending 1° year of secondary school will participate in the study. They are between 12 to 13 years old, and they have all been studying English as a Foreign Language since primary school, having two-hour lessons per week. Their current level of the language, according to the Common European Framework of Reference, is A1. The teacher in charge of the course plans the lessons following the requirements of the school curriculum.

The chosen school has Internet connection available, and every classroom counts with a projector and audio system. Students are used to working with a virtual platform; furthermore, all of them have cell phones, which may be used in class with a pedagogical purpose. To analyze the impact of gamification, different games will be designed. Students will be introduced to online games using Kahoot! (2022) and Wordwall (2022), and they will also be asked to participate in traditional games, such as miming, bingo, and hangman.

Limitations

To evaluate whether gamification is a helpful strategy to learn vocabulary, different digital games have to be designed and later used in the classroom. Students might not be familiar with gamification strategies or applications, so close guidance should be provided by the teacher. The use of these types of activities may be affected by the availability of technical resources in the classroom. As for games which require students to be involved actively, classroom size and number of students could interfere. Moreover, students might respond in different ways according to what they are asked to do. Emotional factors, group dynamics, level of difficulty, and time constraints may affect the development and outcomes of the research. Learners may need assistance to understand and complete a self-reflection questionnaire at the end of each stage in the study.

Methods

Participants

Twenty students from 1° year of a private secondary school in Buenos Aires will participate in this study. Their participation will be voluntary and subject to their parents’ consent.

Materials

Parents’ legal consent (see Appendix A) will be required before the start of the research. Quizzes will be used to check students’ previous knowledge at the beginning of each stage and afterwards to measure the vocabulary learnt. Different types of games will be included during the study. Games using different digital tools and strategies will be designed, using platforms such as Kahoot! (2022) and Wordwall (2022). Other game-related activities will be implemented such as bingo, miming games and hangman. To gather data for the study, Likert scale questionnaires will be completed by students (see Appendix B) and observation sheets by the teacher.

Procedures

Before starting the study, legal authorizations will need to be signed by students’ parents. This measure is a requirement to protect the participants’ privacy and to inform parents about the procedures which will be carried out. Two different stages will be needed to carry out this study.

During stage one, the students will work with a selected list of vocabulary through a period of two weeks without being in contact with any kind of gamified activity. In the beginning, the group will do a quiz to check previous knowledge on the vocabulary presented. At the end of the non-gamified weeks, students will do the same quiz to check their progress. Both quizzes will be compared.

Throughout Stage 2, students will do a quiz at the beginning of two weeks with the new vocabulary input. This time, the group will play different types of games through the allotted period of time. At the end of the two weeks, progress will be checked by doing the same quiz and the outcomes of both stages will be compared. The teacher will write class observations and students will be asked to answer a self-reflection questionnaire.

Expected Outcomes

Through this research students will be exposed to different teaching situations in which a variety of games are used in order to foster the learning of new vocabulary. Some of them will be of students’ liking and others may hinder learning. Students learn faster and more straightforwardly not only when they are engaged and motivated but also when they are challenged. Therefore, students are expected to best remember those words which have been learnt in a creative or motivational environment. Gamification could be considered a fruitful technique to apply when teaching vocabulary. The outcomes of the research will vary according to different factors, such as games’ characteristics, classroom and groups’ variation, and students’ personalities and interests. After analyzing the results, those games which benefit students’ performance will be highlighted. This research is expected to shed light on gamification techniques that can provide positive results in the classroom. Teachers will benefit from its outcomes as they can take it as guidance when planning their lessons.

References

Dichev, C. & Dicheva, D. (2017). Gamification in education: what is known, what is believed and what remains uncertain: a critical review. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher education, 14(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0042-5

Kahoot! (2022). Kahoot! [Mobile app]. App store. https://kahoot.com/home/mobile-app/

Wordwall. (2022). Wordwall [Software]. https://wordwall.net/es

Teachers in Action, a Guide to Conduct Action Research

Being part of a changing society where education also endures constant shifts, teachers often find themselves noticing diverse issues which require their attention and action. Nowadays, educators may choose to go beyond their teaching practices and dive into action research (AR) with the aim of looking deeply into these practical problems. Burns’(2010) Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners is a valuable resource for teachers desiring to embark on research since it provides a thorough explanation of the steps and aspects to be considered when carrying out an investigation. The book is organized in five chapters, each one presenting a specific stage in the AR cycle, ranging from the first motivation to delve into AR to the reflection process which derives after the investigation is concluded.

The book starts by defining Action Research as well as comparing it with other types of research. Chapter 1 also provides a much-needed guidance on how to put AR into practice. It is important to highlight that each chapter includes a variety of resources such as pre-reading questions, reﬂection, action and summary points and classroom voices, giving the researchers-to-be the chance to reflect upon their learning. If the author had not included these sections, it would have been difficult for teachers to know what direction to take first.

In chapter 2, Burns (2010) focuses on the planning stage. The importance of narrowing the scope of the problem to make the investigation doable as well as morally and responsibly conducted are highlighted. The reader ends the chapter with a clear idea of how AR is organized and what must be considered before endevouring in it. If the author had failed to carefully provide these tips, many teachers would have been convinced that AR is an inaccessible and complex process.

Moving forward, a useful guide on how to collect data can be found in chapter 3. While multiple teaching activities can be well used to collect data, the researcher might sometimes get overwhelmed by the amount of data. Therefore, the author suggests two leading questions: “What do I need to see? And what do I need to know?” (Burns, 2010, p. 56). By answering them, the researcher can define what and how to observe; and what roles and techniques to be adopted. This chapter can be used as consultation material when doing research, as it provides useful tips for designing questionnaires, planning observations and conducting interviews.

Chapter 4 expands on data analysis, which Burns (2010) describes as a challenging and overwhelming task. It outlines a handy step-by-step process the researcher should follow in order to review, classify, compare and understand the data collected. As a result of the analysis, teachers will not only interpret their findings objectively, but they will also gain understanding of their own teaching contexts and practice, and seek for further improvement.

To top it all, chapter 5 deals with reflection and the actions that could be taken after the research cycles are coming to or have come to an end. Considering that having conducted research is a profound mark in any teacher’s professional life, what is encouraged next by the author is finding a way of socializing the knowledge gained with the endmost reflections. Thus, various procedures through which teachers could share and broaden their insights are described. Reflection is the ultimate goal in the cycle of Action Research.

To conclude, Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners (2010) can be considered a useful tool to get introduced into the action research world as it covers all the topics required to carry out an investigation in the teaching context. Not only is this book engaging in style, and persuasive in terms of its content and structure, but also the writing is straightforward and reader friendly. In addition, it introduces concepts and offers a step-by-step guide with examples from different contexts. If teachers were doubtful about conducting research, they would be persuaded into doing so after reading this book as the author manages to convince the audience that it is a reachable and worthwhile experience.

References

Burns, A. (2010). Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203863466

In-Text Citations and Reference List Analysis

Muñoz, Carolina

Sena, Barbara

There are certain requirements that all academic writers should follow in order to participate in a discourse community. Those who are part of the Social Science fields must use the Manual of Style of the American Psychological Association (APA). This documentation system provides guidelines on writing, formatting and using citations and reference lists. Documenting sources is a highly important part in the writing process as it helps the writer avoid plagiarism. In this paper, the article Beyond Reflection: Teacher Learning as Praxis (Hoffman-Kipp et al., 2003) is going to be analyzed according to what APA states for in-text citations and reference pages.

Writers must “cite the work of those individuals whose ideas, theories, or research have directly influenced them” (APA, 2020, p. 253). “In-text citations have two formats: parenthetical and narrative” (APA, 2020, p. 262). In the article analyzed both are used many times. Concerning parenthetical citations, Hoffman-Kipp et al. (2003) include correct citations when there is one author as they write the author’s surname and the publication date between parentheses. When there are two authors, both must be included using an ampersand. Although APA (2020) states that when there are three or more authors, only the first surname must be included plus et al.; Hoffman-Kipp et al. specify the name of three authors in every parenthetical citation. When using secondary sources, the primary source must be identified and then it should be written as cited in the secondary source used. In the article analyzed, it is recognised only with the phrase cited in.

In narrative citations the author’s surname is part of the sentence, but the year of publication should go between parentheses next to the name. Hoffman-Kipp et al. (2003) incorporate many authors in the text, but on some occasions the date of publication is missing. According to APA (2020) the publication date can only be omitted from a citation when it appears many times in the same paragraph. After the subtitle Modeling Activity Systems for Proleptic Praxis, Hoffman-Kipp et al. cited the same publication many times in the same paragraph, they could have applied the guideline mentioned before so as not to repeat the same citation. Moreover, in some parts of the article, the author is mentioned at the beginning of a sentence, and then at the end of the idea they repeat the author and the date in a parenthetical citation; for example, when providing the cultural-historical view of teacher learning, Engestrom is cited twice in this way. If they had included the year between parentheses the first time he was mentioned, the later parenthetical citation could have been avoided.

“The reference list at the end of a paper provides the information necessary to identify and retrieve each work cited in the text” (APA, 2020, p. 281). There is a connection between in-text citations and the reference list; every piece of information that is cited in the text must be stated in the reference list so that the reader or another researcher is able to retrieve that specific source. After reading the article certain considerations as regards the reference list can be taken under analysis. It is clearly observed that the writers have followed certain APA guidelines, but they have omitted some others. As regards the followed rules, it can be noticed that the publications in the reference list appear in an alphabetical order and all the list shows indentation as it is stated in the APA manual. Moreover, all the titles are written in italics.

However, there are some points that the authors have not followed from the APA manual. According to the APA Style, each reference list should be on a separate piece of paper and in this article, it is immediately below it. Besides, the articles cited within the text do not show the retrieved site on the reference list, e.g. the link to the site. Another point worth mentioning is the fact that all the cites are mentioned in the references accurately. Only some of them do not follow the APA principle which states that the place of publication plus a comma, the abbreviation for the state followed by a semi colon. For example, in the last reference on the list “Milwaukee, WI.” the semicolon is missing.

To conclude, it can be claimed that in-text citations and reference lists are used in academic writing to organize the sources used and to avoid plagiarism, they also help other researchers to retrieve the sources. Although the ability to cite in academic writing is complex and needs knowledge of APA rules, it is essential for the writers to master these principles in order to write according to the discourse community they belong to. In the article under analysis, the authors have applied APA Style, but not accurately. They should revise their work and correct the in-text citations and format the reference list according to what was mentioned before.

References

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org./10.1037/0000165-000

Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A., & Lopez-Torres, L. (2003). Beyond Reflection: Teacher Learning as Praxis. Theory into Practice, 42(3), 248-254.

My Performance during the First Term of English for Academic Purposes

During the first lessons of the course, we were asked if we were part of a discourse community, my immediate response was to answer negatively. However, after reading the material, reflecting upon it and participating in the forums, I found myself immersed in the academic discourse community of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course. I consider myself an active member of the group since I always participate and complete the activities proposed, yet I sometimes feel hard to follow the discussion forums or connect to the virtual meetings since my timetable is a bit complicated on week days. When doing the questionnaires and activities, I could apply my previous knowledge, but it struck me that English and Spanish apply different writing styles.

Regarding group participation, when I read we had to do a collaborative writing, a feeling of anxiety filled me. I have never been good working in groups as I know from experience that dealing with people is not easy. In the first task, we were asked to adopt a role in the group and write a vignette collaboratively. It was daring to adjust myself to the editor function and when we received the feedback, I realised I had not fulfilled my job. It reminded me that style, format and vocabulary are equally important in academic writing. In the second activity, I found it challenging to write a specific summary because there were many technical aspects to take into consideration. The outcome was acceptable; even though there were comments to work on. The main difficulty was the group organization as two members left the subject. Therefore, we could not meet the requirements since the self-evaluation section was incomplete.

To conclude with, my work throughout the course has been steadily and committed. I still have plenty of aspects to work on, such as improving group work participation and enriching my academic vocabulary. I feel motivated to continue working in EAP developing and improving my writing skills. I consider that the corrections help strengthen self-awareness and by taking them into account, I think I am prepared to delve deeper into academic writing.

Figures and Tables: Differences Between APA 6th and 7th Edition

The Effects of Corrective Feedback

Yamashita, T. (2021). Corrective feedback in computer-mediated collaborative writing and revision contributions. Language Learning & Technology, 25, 75-93. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/73434

In this article, Yamashita (2021) presents her investigation on the effects of corrective feedback during in-class computer-mediated collaborative writing. The results show that learners improve their development and use what they have learned in the collaborative writing in their individual tasks. This study raises awareness of the importance of teachers’ feedback and the need of designing revision and corrections stages in the writing process. Although the research offers positive evidence, corrective feedback facilitates only long-term learning. Limitations of the study, such as the fact that learners' performance is situated in a laboratory seeting, have to be taken into consideration.

An Enthusiastic Lesson

Mrs. Peralta enters the 4th year classroom one Friday morning. It is very early in the morning and the learners already know that they are finishing with the topic of Simple Past in their English class. They are supposed to start with the “Diary Project.” After Mrs. Peralta greets them, she starts explaining the project and the activities they will have to undertake. They are asked to work individually and most of them seem to be curious about the task.

They are supposed to write down all the activities they did last week, so with those notes, they are going to create a diary telling what activities they did each day of last week. They are said to describe all their actions in each day using the simple past tense, including regular and irregular verbs. Previously, they were showed an example to be used as a guide. They are also instructed to add pictures or drawings to illustrate their narrations.

After listening to Mrs. Peralta's explanations, they are eager to start working. Some learners show confidence in the task while others look confused, so Mrs. Peralta helps and fosters them. After some minutes, they start asking about the past tense of certain verbs and the teacher advises them to check on their irregular verb list.

They work enthusiastically as they can not only talk about their own experiences, but also use the language they have learned in this context.