Abstract:

Gamification of learning process is a developing approach in education, and is used to transform students’ experiences at school. The approach of incorporating game-like elements in educational environments is aimed at increasing learners’ motivation and engagement in learning process.

As stated by Michael Guta, gamification is a process in which the mechanics of the game are integrated into an existing, non-game-related context to motivate engagement (Guta, 2017), thus, serving as an incentive for human, namely learners’, participation. The focus on the given approach when used in educational settings is related to its usefulness and benefits to improve learners’ motivation and involvement in learning process.

The current study aims at finding out whether the application of gamification approach in learning process promotes the acquisition of English as a foreign language, and is an effective method for learning English verb tenses in particular. Many learners find learning English grammar tedious and difficult as grammar lessons usually involve doing many repetitive exercises to practice the correct verb tense form and their use. The main element of the gamification approach is the inclusion of various tasks that learners have to perform independently, thus, gaining points for completing the tasks and moving to higher levels and receiving prizes, and achieving a predetermined goal.

To find out whether and how the introduction of gamification elements in learning process affects the acquisition of English verb tenses, a pedagogical experiment has been conducted. To measure learners’ knowledge on the grammar topic under the question and the effects of gamification approach used, two target groups were tested before and after the application of the methodological material with game-like elements, which has been developed in the framework of the current study. In addition, a survey to find out learners’ attitude to the method applied was carried out.

Based on the quantitative measurements of learners’ knowledge before and after the incorporation of the game-like elements in learning process, it can be concluded that gamification is a productive and effective approach to be used in educational environments.

Keywords:

Gamification, learners’ motivation, English as a foreign language, English verb tenses.