Gamification in EFL/ESL instruction: A systematic review of empirical research

Abstract

IntroductionThis systematic review aims to present the characteristics of the recent research in gamified EFL/ESL instruction, benefits and drawbacks of using gamification in EFL/ESL instruction, and gamification elements.MethodsThe researchers carried out database search in both Web of Science and the Scopus for relevant articles using 15 related key terms. Finally, forty journal articles aligned with the inclusion criteria.ResultsThe results found that gamification has been widely utilized in more than ten non-English-speaking countries and various English language skills, which indicated that gamification has gained popularity in facilitating EFL/ESL learning. The benefits of using gamification included improving students’ English language skills and abilities, positively affecting students’ attitudes and emotional responses, providing an authentic language learning environment and cultivating students’ comprehensive competence. The drawbacks of using gamification mainly included the technical problems, short-lived positive effect, and the negative influence caused by the gamified competition, and so forth. The most frequently used gamification elements were feedback, points, quiz, digital badges, leaderboard, and reward, followed by progress bar, story-telling, challenge, videos, time limit, and competition.DiscussionThe results provide a better understanding of the state of using gamification in EFL/ESL instruction in recent years. It will be useful for researchers seeking to understand and evaluate gamification as well as to practitioners interested in using gamification.

A Systematic Review of Gamification and Its Assessment in EFL Teaching

“…As to the limitations of use, Lim and Yunus's (2021) and Singh et al's (2020) results coincide with the findings in this study: The Internet and technology issues were the most prominent external negative factors when implementing gamification, and teachers' skills and interest were the most voiced internal negative factors, especially among senior teachers. Also Dehghanzadeh and Dehghanzadeh (2020) and Zhang and Hasim (2023) identified similar issues, with the majority of the studies reporting the Internet, logistics, and insufficient technology as the main challenges of using gamification platforms.…”

“…This coincides with Dehghanzadeh et al's (2019) and Singh et al's (2020) conclusions, as both identified several studies that reported positive outcomes of gamification on learners' motivation and engagement. Zhang and Hasim's (2023) systematic review revealed that both learners and teachers held a positive attitude toward gamification mainly because of its capabilities to increase learners' motivation and stimulate their interest and engagement in learning English. Al-Dosakee and Ozdamli (2021) and Kaya and Sagnak (2022) presented similar findings, as they reported a positive effect on learners' motivation, engagement, and overall enjoyment.…”

What is the next structure? Guessing enhances L2 syntactic learning in a syntactic priming task

“…Thus, the task could be successfully implemented following the introduction of the target structure(s) rather than prior to establishing a basic understanding of that structure. Incorporating a syntactic guessing game in L2 lessons and textbooks has the potential of gamifying L2 syntactic learning and in turn boosting engagement, resulting in improved learning ( Castillo-Cuesta, 2020 ; Sadeghi et al, 2022 ; Zhang and Hasim, 2022 ).…”

Motivation crowding effects on the intention for continued use of gamified fitness apps: a mixed-methods approach

“…Following these literatures, gamification in our research contexts refers to the incorporation of game design elements into the fitness apps while retaining its instrumental functions for promoting or supporting users’ physical activity/exercise. As an emerging design approach, gamification has attracted a large stream of researches in various contexts, including fitness/health/exercise ( Cheng, 2020 ; Whelan and Clohessy, 2020 ; Yang and Li, 2021 ; Li et al, 2023 ), education ( Sánchez Prieto et al, 2021 ; Behl et al, 2022 ; Chen and Liang, 2022 ; Ghai and Tandon, 2023 ; Oliveira et al, 2023 ; Zhang and Hasim, 2023 ), marketing ( Zhang et al, 2021 ; Wu and Santana, 2022 ), sustainable consumption ( Mulcahy et al, 2020 ), online community ( Xi and Hamari, 2019 ).…”