Investigating Chinese College Students’ Cognitive Load in a Gamified Foreign Language Class: A Pilot Study

In recent years, gamification has gained popularity in the educational context. A considerable body of research has explored effects of this innovative instructional method on students. However, limited studies investigated how gamification design exerts influence on students’ cognitive load in language learning. In order to have a better understanding of the influence of gamification design in a foreign language class, this pilot study incorporates different game elements into instructions and activities in an English course at a Chinese university and examines students’ perceived cognitive load through semi-structured interviews. The research findings indicate that the complicated game rules and learning tasks exerted extra cognitive load, while the paper-pen based game operation did not. The findings and implications are discussed from the perspective of instructional design and gamification implementation.