The Effects of Digital Educational Games on Secondary School Students’ Attitudes Towards Elective English Class and on Increasing Their English Listening Skills and Vocabulary

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of digital educational games on secondary school students' attitudes towards elective English lessons, as well as the influence of digital educational games on the development of EFL listening skills and vocabulary learning. The study group included 40 students in two classes of 6th grade elective English course from a secondary school in Samsun province of Türkiye during the academic year 2022-2023. A quasi-experimental model with a pretest-posttest control group was used in the study. A total of six weeks, namely two hours of instruction each week, made up the trial period. Digital instructional games meeting certain criteria set by the study were used to teach the experimental group. In the control group, no digital educational games were employed, and the same teaching strategies as before the experiment were used. An academic achievement exam covering vocabulary and listening and the "Middle School English Course attitude scale" were utilized as data gathering tools. The study revealed that digital educational games had a favourable impact on secondary school students' views about the elective English class. Additionally, it was noted that the pupils in the experimental group improved their vocabulary and listening skills more than those in the control group. In conclusion, considering the positive outcomes of using digital educational games in both foreign languages and other disciplines, we can say that their integration into education will have positive effects on academic achievement and may positively affect students' attitudes towards that course by providing them with a fun learning environment. This makes the case for the potential use of digital educational games as a tool for learning-reinforcing activities in elective English and other elective classes.