Review

Zhang and Hasim claim that gamification helps EFL students engage with English by utilizing multiple aspects of cognitive learning. Though the novelty does tend to wear off quickly as they state in their findings [[#^00b401]], the overall benefits of gamification cannot be ignored. [[#^808843]]. The article is a review of several journal articles (not a direct research study).

Some of the benefits they claim are reducing learning anxiety as well as increasing interest, motivation and engagement [[#^ca59ff]] as well as increase player autonomy [[#^01ad5b]]

Despite resistance from EFL spaces that value testing and entrance exams much more highly than linguistic competency, [[#^b64ae6]] [[#^fae02b]] Zhang and Hasim state that there are several aspects of gamification they state comprise of an effective gamified classroom, the primary of which are a) game dynamics [[#^613aa7]], game mechanics [[#^0b8311]] and game components [[#^4f91ad]].
By latticing goals/rules, sensory stimuli and adaptive challenges [[#^ca74fe]] on a framework of collaboration and meaningful feedback and context [[#^00b401]], gamification an be a highly effective tool to promote learner motivation, engagement and enjoyment in language learning.

2. Source Material

Zhang, S., & Hasim, Z. (2023). Gamification in EFL/ESL instruction: A systematic review of empirical research. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(Journal Article), 1030790. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1030790

page number 2

-> Kapp (2012) considered that gamification was not simply the use of game mechanics and elements to make learning more engaging, but the idea of increasing learners’ engagement, creating interactive learning contexts, and achieving students’ learning autonomy.

-> The design of gamified learning environment should combine three distinctive concepts: dynamics, mechanics, and components (Bicen and Kocakoyun, 2018).

-> Game dynamics refer to status, reward, self-expression, competition under rules that are explicit and enforced, and achievement, and others. Game mechanics refer to level-system, narrative context, challenge, achievements, leaderboards, and the like (Bicen and Kocakoyun, 2018). Game components or elements include selfrepresentation with avatars, feedback, points, trophies, badges, progress bar and virtual presents, and the like (Deterding et al., 2011)

-> All these elements are intended to arouse participants’ feelings of interest, competitiveness, curiosity, and frustration, convince them, and even change their behaviors, so that a gamification application could facilitate their learning process

-> However, some scholars argued that CLT has failed its intended goals in many EFL settings, because EFL contexts did not provide enough opportunities for students to use English outside of class time (Humphries and Burns, 2015; Lee and Wallace, 2018).

-> This study found a wide application of gamification in language learning, followed by immersive games and simulation games, maybe because they possessed rich game elements like goals, continuous feedback, and control, which could maintain learners’ motivation and confidence and raise their curiosity.

page number 3

-> The most commonly appearing game elements were “goals or rules, sensory stimuli, and adaptive challenges

-> The most common learning outcomes were vocabulary acquisition and students’ positive affective states

-> However, once the novelty effect of gamified presentation wears off, “the gamification elements cannot compensate for the design decisions prioritizing competition over collaboration, repetition and translation over meaningful feedback and context” (Shortt et al., 2021, p. 22).

-> Therefore, competition and repetition are not the necessary elements when designing gamified learning activities.

-> Dehghanzadeh et al. (2019) conducted a systematic review of the use of gamification for ESL learners in digital environments through 22 publications from 2008 to 2019 and discovered that ESL learners’ experiences were positive in using gamification; the positive outcomes were related to engagement, motivation, and enjoyment.

-> A plethora of studies has reported and confirmed the potential benefits of employing gamification by EFL/ESL learners, these include reducing students’ English learning anxiety (Hwang et al., 2017; Hung, 2018; Barcomb and Cardoso, 2020); increasing students’ learning interest, motivation, and engagement (Hwang et al., 2017; Bicen and Kocakoyun, 2018; Zohud, 2019; Reynolds and Taylor, 2020; Zou, 2020; Almusharraf, 2021); improving students’ learning performance (Wu et al., 2014; Hwang et al., 2017; Ling et al., 2019; Zohud, 2019; Barcomb and Cardoso, 2020); and fostering learners’ autonomy (Zohud, 2019; Setiawan and Wiedarti, 2020; Zou, 2020).

-> In contrast, some other studies concluded that students who had access to the gamified content performed better than the control group in the short run; however, it had no effect on the students’ final learning outcomes (Domínguez et al., 2013; Calvo-Ferrer, 2017).

-> That is, English teachers should be equipped by digital literacy. Using digital technology to create gamified language learning activities is part of English teachers’ digital literacy

page number 4

-> Specifically, the present study addressed the following three research questions:
1). What are the characteristics of the current research into the use of gamification in EFL/ESL instruction in the selected studies?
2). What is the impact of utilizing gamification in EFL/ESL instruction in the selected studies?
3). What are the main gamification elements used in designing EFL/ESL learning activities in the selected studies?

page number 5

-> Based on Supplementary Table 1, most of these journal articles were published in the last 6 years, which indicates that gamified EFL / ESL instruction is a relatively new field of research.

-> Researchers of the studies reviewed used a variety of digital learning environments, not only including the widely used Kahoot ( Hung, 2017; Zou, 2020; Alawadhi and AbuAyyash, 2021; Almusharraf, 2021; Chen, 2021; Ebadi et al., 2021 ).

-> Duolingo ( Bahjet Essà Ahmed, 2016; Guaqueta and Castro-Garces, 2018; Ajisoko, 2020 ), Moodle ( Barcomb and Cardoso, 3020; Ho, 2020 Qiao et al, 2022 ), and some gamified English learning APPs used in China like Baicizhan ( Dindar et al., 2021 ) and Shanbay ( Fan and Wang, 2020 ); but also self-designed gamified software or webpage ( Hwang et al.,2017; Hung, 2018 ), which indicates that digital gamified tools could play a vital role in EFL / ESL instruction and learning.

-> As shown in Supplementary Table 1, although there were some drawbacks of using gamification, many empirical studies reviewed reported that both students and teachers held a positive attitude toward using gamification in EFL / ESL learning and teaching, because a gamified course system did increase students ' motivation to learn ( Lis and Chu, 2010; Hwang et al., 2017; Ge, 2018; Homer et al., 2018; Hung, 2018; Sun and Hsieh, 2018; Ho, 2020; Zou, 2020; Alawadhi and Abu-Ayyash, 2021; Almusharraf, 2021; Chen, 2021; Kaban and Karadeniz, 2021; Qiao et al., 2022), stimulate students’ interest and engagement in learning English (Hung, 2018; Kingsley and Grabner-Hagen, 2018; Sun and Hsieh, 2018; Ho, 2020; Zou, 2020; Alawadhi and Abu-Ayyash, 2021; Wang et al., 2021), help to create an authentic language environment (Wu et al., 2014; Mei and Yang, 2019), help students to make improvements in English skills performance and competence (Sandberg et al., 2014; Hung, 2017; Hwang et al., 2017; Sevilla Pavón and Haba Osca, 2017; Lam et al., 2018; Hashim et al., 2019; Hong et al., 2020; Zou, 2020), foster the habit of self-learning and realize learning autonomy (Sandberg et al., 2014; Rueckert et al., 2020), and help students to get better knowledge retention (Ge, 2018; Chen et al., 2019).

page number 6

-> Therefore, it is suggestive to continue the gamified flipped EFL classroom among primary students.

-> There were sixteen literature classes in one semester, eight were traditional sessions with teacher-led lecturing and reading from the PowerPoint slides, and the other eight used Kahoot as a tool to review something previously taught and do formal assessment.

-> Through an online survey and the classroom observations, it was found that the students’ engagement level was higher in game-based sessions.

-> The findings also revealed that students showed favorable attitudes toward a game-based learning environment.

-> According to Supplementary Table 1, the drawbacks of utilizing gamification involve the technical problems (Hung, 2017; Guaqueta and Castro-Garces, 2018; Tan, 2018; Ebadi et al., 2021), fixed learning routines (Fu et al., 2021), the potential useless implementation of the gaming elements in teaching and learning (Iaremenko, 2017), not necessarily to improve students’ English skills (Homer et al., 2018; Lam et al., 2018; Qiao et al., 2022), and causing students’ high-level learning anxiety in a competitive learning context (Hwang et al., 2017; Ge, 2018).

-> Moreover, some gamified elements like the leaderboard and the competition context might scare off some children and could not improve their academic performance (Li and Chu, 2021).

-> In addition, once the novelty of gamification has worn off, the positive influence of gamification might be short-lived (Hung, 2018).

-> On the other hand, Luo et al. (2021) investigated the factors that influence teachers’ intention to use gamification in secondary schools in China and found that these EFL teachers showed negative attitudes toward gamification.

-> These secondary school teachers in China were dubious about the capacity of gamification in providing learning opportunities, and it weakening of pedagogical purposes and teaching efficiency. They would also feel at risk of decreasing students’ scores in exams if using gamification.

-> Finally, the technical feature of the tool is also a problem. Both the teachers and the students prefer tools with interface aesthetics and ease-to-use features. The aforementioned two studies hold different views about using gamification in EFL/ESL course, mainly because the educational levels of students and their learning purposes are different.

page number 7

-> A variety of digital gamification elements used in the reviewed publications have been presented in Table 1. The most frequently used elements were feedback, points, quiz, digital badges, leaderboard, and reward, followed by progress bar, story-telling, challenge, videos, time limit, and competition.

-> Unlike some previous studies (Phuong, 2020; Govender and Arnedo-Moreno, 2021) which claimed that online gamification was mainly used to teach vocabulary, and very little used to teach content knowledge and English grammar, not to mention other aspects of English learning, the quantitative findings of this study were that gamification could be widely used in teaching vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation, college English, and even English literature. This indicates the feasibility and practicality of using gamification in actual EFL/ESL classrooms.

-> Our review also found that gamification has been employed in different educational levels ranging from primary school to higher education, but being favored for the higher education.

-> Overall, the combination of the advantages of gamified learning and flipped classroom or the ubiquitous learning environment could develop innovative approaches for language learners, help to create an effective learning process, and produce better learning achievement.

page number 8

-> For example, in a secondary school English class in China, teachers dare not risk using gamification (Luo et al., 2021), because they are afraid that gamification cannot help students get a high score in College Entrance Examination which is the most important summative assessment for Chinese secondary school students and determines whether students could be accepted by a university

-> Based on the alignment theory proposed by Pickering and Garrod (2004), successful communication occurs when interlocutors well align their linguistic representation during dialogue and construct similar situation models to each other.

-> Similarly, students would successfully get a high score in College Entrance Examination when they could well align their linguistic knowledge with the real test papers.

-> Therefore, whether to use gamification depends on the learning purpose and demand.

page number 9

-> As Bicen and Kocakoyun (2018) noted, the design of gamified learning environment should combine three distinctive concepts: dynamics, mechanics, and components.

-> Game dynamics used in the reviewed studies refer to reward, competition, collaboration, and quiz, and others.

-> Game mechanics in the reviewed studies refer to levelsystem, challenge, leaderboards, and the like.

-> Game components in the reviewed studies involve feedback, points, trophies, badges, progress bar, story-telling, and avatars, and the like.

-> To have a positive impact on learning outcomes, various gamification elements have been used to design fair rules, clear goals and social opportunities in gamified English learning activities (Aldemir et al., 2018).

-> Immediate feedback and quizzes can help students to become aware of their performance and progress (Tan, 2018; Lee and Park, 2020; Rueckert et al., 2020). Because teachers or peers could read students’ answers as soon as they are posted in the online gamified platform and give immediate feedback, students could evaluate their work in time and make improvements.

-> With the help of the progress bar, students are able to monitor their own progress and the class average, and see how many scores they need to earn the award, so that they are motivated to work harder if they are not the top students.

-> The leaderboard section lists participants based on their achievements, promotes the recognition of the top students’ achievements, and can provide a sense of competence (Ding and Orey, 2018).

-> As noted by Lam et al. (2018), according to social comparison theory, human beings like to evaluate their competence and achievement by comparison with those of others (Festinger, 1954).

-> Therefore, it is recommended to add gaming elements like collaboration to the gamified learning activities, so that children who do not like competition can engage in it.

-> Future gamified learning activities design should explore ways to increase students’ motivation and performance through gamified cooperation.

-> Therefore, both Dindar et al. (2021) and Li and Chu (2021) recommended using collaboration in designing gamified learning activities rather than competition to facilitate students’ EFL/ESL learning.

-> Shortt et al. (2021) also considered that collaboration and meaningful feedback were more feasible gamification elements when designing gamified learning activities, comparing with competition and repetition.

-> The reasons for using gamification in EFL/ESL instruction include 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.

page number 10

-> This review contributes to a growing body of knowledge on the utilization and effects of gamification in EFL/ESL area and is intended to provide researchers and teachers, who would become material designers of gamified learning materials and early adopters of the gamified classroom, with the information on how to design innovative gamified learning materials, refine the EFL/ESL learning process, and promote EFL/ESL learners’ productivity.