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INTEGRATING DIGITAL GAME-BASED LEARNING IN ESL CLASSROOM: REVIEW OF CURRENT RESEARCH

Ainur AITKUZHINOVA ARSLAN (Muğla, Turkey)

Instructor, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University

[email protected]

ABSTRACT 

This research paper aims to analyze the current state of research on the integrating game-based learning by using technology in ESL classroom. The terms Educational Technology, Bring Your Own Device, Digital Game-based Learning are explained. The recent studies on digital game-based learning in the context of ESL classroom are reviewed.  Additionally, the effect of digital game-based learning on student engagement and motivation is discussed.

Keywords: Educational Technology, BYOD, Digital Game-Based Learning, ESL.

Introduction

Technology has become one of the essential tools in education systems in 21stcentury. According to Spector (2015), Educational Technology consists of the disciplined application of knowledge to improve learning, instruction and/or performance. It also involves various disciplines, activities, people, tools and opportunities to make significant change easier.

There are different perceptions among educators towards educational technology. The main reason of that variation is its’ wide usage in multiple areas such as pedagogy, psychology, didactics, computer sciences, informatics...That’s why the authors characterize the term of educational technology according to their needs (Stosic, 2015). Stosic (2015:111) claims that ‘educational technology has three domains of use:

-         Technology as a tutor (computer gives instructions and guides the user),

-         Technology as a teaching tool and

-         Technology as a learning tool’.

Educational technology means the implementation of different kinds of information technology and materials in order to maximize the learning experiences. The teachers of a new era are expected to introduce their learners to new style of education system by integrating technology in learning process. Goswami (2014:6) defines educational technology as ‘...an array of tools that is helpful in advancing student learning and measured in how and why individuals behave’.

Integrating technology in the learning period provides both teachers and learners with an opportunity to experience new educational tools and thus, it can be an effective tool in learning and development. However, the most important point is to know the way through which technology is used to support learners and to offer more efficient learning process, to open access to new ideas and information, and improve learners’ individual abilities to express themselves (Al Musawi, 2011).

Keswani, Banerjee and Patni (2008:1) point out the following benefits of using technology in education:

-         ‘It induces scientific, economic, technological, information and multicultural literacy and global awareness.

-         It promotes inventive thinking.

-         It develops effective communication which leads to teaming, collaboration and interpersonal skills. Moreover, it induces personal, social and civic responsibility.

-         It leads to high productivity which given the ability to plan and manage results. It also gives you a sense of using real-world tools with effective, relevant, and high quality results’.

So educational technology is used to encourage the students to get involved into classroom activities, improve their personal abilities, and expand their outlook regarding modern learning procedure.  The use of technology in education process has been tested and widely accepted as an effective educational tool around the world (Pun, 2013).

Expansion of technology brought up new term Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). BYOD is a popular trend both in education and business. BYOD term refers to the use of personally owned devices such as laptops, netbooks, tablets, smartphones, etc. at the workplaces or educational institutions (Attewell, 2015). The results of research done by European Schoolnet and its network of Ministries of Education, in partnership with Cisco Systems, indicated “Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) … is becoming more widespread and schools are developing policies that allow students and teachers to connect and use their own portable equipment (smartphone, tablet…) in school, as is now the case in 75% of schools (in Europe) on average”. As it was mentioned by Attewell (2015) the usage of BYOD is the most common at secondary and upper secondary school levels. Electronical devices of learners are used especially in science subjects and in the language classroom.

Teachers should decide carefully when and how to integrate technological devices and how it will help to accomplish the classroom task. There are too many ways to implement technology in classroom in order to involve learners to classroom environment. One of them is through games. The findings of existing research show evidence that using game-based learning increases motivation and maximizes the effect on student engagement (Liu and Chen, 2013).

What is digital game-based learning?

According to Jaypuriya (2012), game-based learning refers to giving value to your users by presenting unforgettable journey in game environment. The games such as role-playing or online social games provide the teachers with an opportunity to present the safe environment for learning.

Nowadays, game-based learning is considered to be compound with the digital learning term. The fact, that digital games play an important role in education system, cannot be overlooked and therefore many studies reported the positive impact of digital games in pedagogical platform (Chiang, Lin, Cheng, & Liu, 2011; Yang, Chen, & Jeng, 2010). The term ‘Digital Game-Based Learning’ is defined in big number of research papers.  As Marc Prenscky claims in his book ‘Digital Game-Based Learning’ (2001:5), it is “precisely about fun and engagement, and the coming together of and serious learning and interactive entertainment into a newly emerging and highly exciting medium — Digital Learning Games’. Prensky (2001) also points out that digital game-based learning is still not fully accepted in teaching and learning area. The reason of that is the bulk of the people who are not ready to accept new innovation of the 21st century.  Coffey (2009) characterizes DGBL as ‘…an instructional method that that incorporates educational content or learning principles into video games with the goal of engaging learners. Applications of digital game-based learning draw upon the constructivist theory of education’. Additionally, Deubel (2006) recommends teachers to integrate the digital game-based learning according to some important components such as students’ age, gender, competiveness or number of players, the role of teacher, and etc. Following rules and goals are also important components to succeed within digital game-based learning period.

The use of digital game-based learning in ESL classroom

Nowadays, there is a wide use of educational technology in classroom and thus, the number of publications on the subject regarding the integrating digital game-based learning in ESL classroom has recently increased.

Wen-Kao (2014) cites that digital game-based learning is more effective than traditional instruction such as grammar translation methods or audio-lingual methods in the context of EFL. Wen-Kao (2014) discussed positive impact of digital games on the acquisition of procedural knowledge of EFL learners who are experienced with long treatment duration of digital game-based learning. As one of the negative factors of this analysis Wen-Kao (2014) mentions that the further study should find out the explicitness in other potential moderating variables to present more detailed information of what sorts of variables are effective and what sorts are not.

The study conducted by Alyaz and Genç (2016) investigated the effect of educational digital games on the pre-service teachers’ vocabulary dimension and language competence and contribution  to the teachers’ qualifications in terms of digital game-based language learning. The results of this descriptive study illustrated considerable improvement in pre-service teachers’ professional language skills and attitudes and intentions to use digital game-based learning future teaching. According to Alyaz and Genç (2016: 142), ‘...digital serious games should not be associated only with young learners and suggests considering serious games for adult language learners as well and integrating them into teacher training curriculum for enhancing DGBLL pedagogy through practical game applications with pre-service teachers. The integration of DGBLL into foreign language education curriculum is definitely recommended’. Integrating digital game-based learning in classroom is very beneficial for foreign language teachers because teaching language requires special creativity and modern pedagogical strategy in order to keep learners motivated and engaged in classroom activities.

In the review of ‘Language at play: Digital games in second and foreign language teaching and learning’ written by Sykes and Reinhardt (2013), Thorne and Watters (2013) emphasize that implementing digital games in education process has become as one of formal teaching and learning approaches. The strong demand for digital games in education promoted research fields: such as psychology, computer science, etc. Thorne and Watters (2013:47) claim that ‘The strong and growing interest in digital games, coupled with rapid technological advancements, have created what is unquestionably one of the most inventive, fast-moving, complex media enterprises currently in existence’.

The interest in implementing digital game-based learning in the classroom has increased significantly in recent years, and both researchers and practitioners believe in pedagogical benefits of the use of educational technology in ESL context. Examining the findings from an exploratory study investigating L2 gaming and learning practices on young people’s daily lives, Chik (2014) concludes that teachers and researchers should provide learners with the structures and guidance on how to use L2 games appropriately in order to turn their preferred leisure activities into learning practices, and learn how to seek help from online communities.

The educational value of games has been recognized, but particularly digital games are known as a one of the educational technique that increases the students’ engagement and encourages being motivated in classroom while learning foreign language. Reinders (2012:1) claims that ‘The use of computer games in language education is based on the premise that successful learning is integrated into the sociocultural context of learners’ lives and encourages collaboration and lifelong learning. The use of new technologies, and in particular digital games, thus facilitates the bridging of learning within and outside of the language classroom’.

The effect of digital game-based learning on student engagement and motivation

Integrating digital game-based learning in classroom can be helpful to provide an effective learning environment and to keep learners motivated and engaged in classroom activities. However, the use of games needs to be examined constantly to update existing theories of motivation and engagement. Understanding the reason of keeping learners engaged and motivated could have a significant impact on how learners value and use games for learning. There is a need to understand clearly how to encourage learners to be enthusiastic playing digital games for educational purposes. This will lead to a greater understanding of how to design more engaging digital games by using educational technology (Ioanna, James, Eileen, and William, 2011).

Sabourin and Lester (2014) assert that digital game-based learning environment presents significant potential for enhancing student engagement and motivation in the learning process. Game-based learning is the reason of increasing attention, motivation, and interest. ‘Students are particularly less likely to report highly negative emotions such as boredom and anxiety though these states are often reported during other learning activities. As in other learning systems positive affect was correlated with increased learning’ Sabourin and Lester (2014: 53).  

The studies regarding the use of digital game-based learning have focused on investigating content support for learning motivation and related game characteristics. Motivation, volition, and performance (MVP) theory points out that cognitive load and learning motivation simultaneously influence performance. Woo (2014) showed that motivation and cognitive load exposed meaningful relationship with learners performance in the classroom. Thus, designers should enhance motivation through digital game-based learning in order to increase learning effectiveness.

Conclusion

This paper was aimed at reviewing the existing literature on Digital game-based learning in ESL classroom and discussing the directions for further research. According to Alyaz and Genç (2016), the integration of digital game-based learning into foreign language education curriculum is definitely recommended. Additionally, implementing digital games should not be associated with only young learners. Adult learners should also be involved in learning process in which digital games are implemented. However, according to Deubel (2006), the learners’ age, gender, level, and the role in game should be taken into account while integrating digital games-based learning in classroom environment. These are the components which play an important role in the learning process and should receive researchers’ attention.

Another line of research is the use and effect of particular games and platforms in the classroom. Kahoot is one of such platforms. It is used in many classrooms and certainly needs more attention from the researchers. 

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