Abstract:

The gaming aspect in language teaching has been an effective strategy in activities that are focused on memorization, acquisition of vocabulary, the practice of language skills, and even in the performance of role play. Among the elements used, stand out board games, memories, crosswords, flashcards, etc. The implementation of these resources in the teaching of English offers multiple possibilities for students and of course a stimulus in their learning styles. According to Mondria and Mondria-de Vries (1994), they mention that recreational resources in English classes have been used to teach a variety of purposes during the history of language teaching, highlighting the following: to teach prepositions, articles, sentence structures, verb tenses, and compound verbs. On the other hand, Culyer (1998) considers that the use of flashcards or lists of vocabulary in classroom activities allows students to recognize and identify new vocabulary during reading practices. In this sense, Brown (2000) states that for students to acquire a new word or vocabulary list there are several strategies focused on the use of dictionaries, repetition of words, or memorization; nevertheless, it considers that through the playful aspect using flash cards or other resources, it would allow the student to interact with more focused strategies in the motivation for learning English. In addition to what has been described, the ludic aspect over the years has evolved through new methodologies and the inclusion of technology in the adaptation or design of new educational games. In recent years, the implementation of traditional recreational resources has been employed or adapted with new strategies, allowing the emergence of a new concept called Gamification. The purpose of this article is to describe the potentials of Mobile Language Learning Application that provides bibliographic elements with the aim of encouraging language centers to promote the use of them.

Keywords:

Gamification, Language Learning, Mobile gaming.