Perceptions of non-English major college students on learning English vocabulary with gamified apps
Open accessAbstract
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.
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- Authors
- Fu, Y., Zhang, L., Zhao, S., & Chen, Y.
- Affiliations
- Harbin Institute of Technology (CN)
- Venue
- International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET)
- Published
- 2021-09-20
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 18
- Pages
- 268
- ISSN
- 1863-0383 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3200748858
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 4.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Games and Gamification
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Second Language Acquisition and Learning
- Keywords
- gamification, English vocabulary learning, mobile learning apps, non-English majors, university students, Chinese learners of English, student motivation, study habits, game mechanics, immediate feedback, competitive pressure, student perceptions
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