Abstract:

Gamification is quickly emerging as the next big thing in technology-enhanced learning in many different fields, but especially education and foreign language learning. For most language teachers, playing games has been part of their repertoire of professional practice in the classroom for a long time. However, with the development of technology and Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), game components, such as digital badges and quests, are increasingly being used in mobile applications to help learners improve their language knowledge, and especially their vocabulary, beyond the classroom. This paper examines the literature on the use of gamification in education, MALL and Mobile Assisted Vocabulary Learning (MAVL) in order to develop a theoretical framework for the most effective way of utilising gamification in MAVL. A systematic review of the current literature reveals that this is an emerging field with a small, but increasing number of empirical studies that have investigated the effectiveness of game components in education and MAVL. However, many of these have focused on a limited range and demonstrated mixed results (Nacke & Deterding, 2017, p. 452). It is hoped that a new framework can act as a starting point for empirically testing a wider range of game components in order to identify those that might better facilitate the main cognitive processes involved in MAVL.

Keywords:

Gamification, mobile learning, vocabulary learning, mobile-assisted vocabulary learning, literature review.