Gamification in foreign language teaching: A conceptual introduction

Abstract Over the past few years, the concept of gamification has gained increased attention in foreign language teaching research as it demonstrates potential to promote motivation and learner engagement. The authors of the paper believe that gamification can become an innovative and promising tool to help students overcome their motivational difficulties. When it comes to language learning and teaching, one of the major issues to be tackled is the differences among students in terms of academic achievement. Applying gamification in the field of education profoundly supports the process of teaching and learning by creating a supportive environment, which is reinforcing and enables individual progress. One specific feature of gamification is that it breaks down learning into elements, similarly to motivation theory, where goals are not uncommonly divided into subgoals. It also includes applying the characteristics of games, and implementing these in real-world situations, while generating specific behaviours within the gamified situation. The most important benefit of using gamification in language teaching is that it provides differentiation. Learners can progress at their own pace, their assessment is individualised, their motivation is strongly influenced by their own skills and abilities that are reinforced by gamification itself. As the process of learning meets the individual’s needs, differentiation can be brought about. This paper highlights the most important outcomes of research into gamification in language learning, while exploring its underlying principles in the field of motivation.