Study on Improving Oral Communication Skills of the Second-Year Students of English Majors in Henan Province via Flipped Classroom Combined with Game-Based Learning

Background and Aims: Under the framework of national education policies such as The Outline for Building a Leading Education Nation (2024-2035), oral communication skills are core competencies for English majors. However, Chinese English majors often lack sufficient speaking practice due to traditional teaching biases and limited real-world contexts. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of combining flipped classroom (FC) and game-based learning (GBL) to improve the oral communication skills of sophomore English majors in Henan Province and to assess whether the intervention helps students meet the 70% proficiency criterion. Methodology: The study adopted a one-group pre-test and post-test pre-experimental design. Thirty-three sophomore English majors were selected via cluster random sampling. The intervention integrated FC (pre-class knowledge transmission through videos and quizzes) and GBL (in-class role-plays, scenario challenges, and cross-cultural games) over 14 weeks (28 class hours) covering tourism English themes. Pre-test, post-test, and satisfaction questionnaires were used for data collection, with the SPSS statistical package analyzing data via paired-samples t-test, one-sample t-test, and descriptive statistics. Assumption testing (normality and outliers) was conducted before statistical analysis, and 95% confidence intervals were provided for key statistics in accordance with APA reporting standards. Results: Students’ oral communication scores showed significant improvement after the intervention, with the pre-test mean score being 58.76 (SD=5.06) and the post-test mean score increasing to 76.85 (SD=5.58) (t=42.13, p<0.001, 95% CI [17.23, 18.95]). The effect size (Cohen’s d=7.33) is attributed to the synergistic effect of the FC+GBL integrated model, the targeted design of tourism English themes, and sufficient practice opportunities. Post-test scores exceeded the 70% criterion (t=7.05, p<0.001, 95% CI [4.82, 8.88]). Additionally, 87.9% of students achieved the 70% proficiency criterion. The overall student satisfaction mean was 4.24 (SD=0.38), indicating high acceptance of the integrated method. Conclusion: The combination of FC and GBL shows positive effects on enhancing the oral communication skills of English majors and helps them meet educational proficiency standards. This integrated approach provides a practical reference for improving oral English teaching in higher education, with certain limitations regarding generalizability due to the research design and sample size. Given the pre-experimental nature of the one-group pretest-posttest design, these findings should be interpreted with caution regarding causal inferences.