Open AccessPerceptions of Non-English Major College Students on Learning English Vocabulary with Gamified Apps
Author(s) -
Yang Fu,
Luying Zhang,
Shuang Zhao,
Yang Chen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of emerging technologies in learning/international journal: emerging technologies in learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1868-8799
pISSN - 1863-0383
DOI - 10.3991/ijet.v16i18.24125
Subject(s) - vocabulary , psychology , perception , vocabulary learning , mathematics education , foreign language , english vocabulary , distraction , english as a foreign language , cognitive psychology , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience
As gamified English vocabulary learning Apps are increasingly popular among Chinese English learners, this study explores how non-English major college students, who may lack initiatives in foreign language learning, perceive those Apps. Following a qualitative approach, this study analyzed interview data from fifty-three students who have used gamified English vocabulary learning Apps in latest 12 months. The major findings of this study include: (1) the preferred game settings included challenge, team, leaderboard, competition, coins, and badges; (2) students perceived the motivation activation effects of the apps by receiving instant feedback, enjoyment, and sense of achievement, and inactivation effects considering the attention distraction, additional competitive pressure, and imperfect words matching; and (3) students believed that the apps helped to form vocabulary learning habits because of its convenience, rewarding mechanism, and group setting, while others did not because they had fixed learning routines. Then, this study explained and discussed the findings considering factors from or related to both the gamified Apps and students. This study explored the potential of the popular vocabulary learning Apps in enhancing students’ English learning motivation and learning habits and extended the scopes of research on gamification in foreign language education.