Development of a Mobile Game Application to Boost Students’ Motivation in Learning English Vocabulary

Abstract

Currently, the power to master the English language has become prominent in academia, research, and business. Therefore, many non-English speaking countries, including Arab countries, are striving to improve their education systems in teaching English as a foreign language, and English vocabulary is an important factor to boost English proficiency among Arab students. Moreover, in Arab countries, there is a lack of motivation among learners of English as a foreign language which affects the learning process of students. As such, digital gaming technologies, especially mobile games, are emerging as the best way to create enthusiasm for learning new languages. Therefore, a mobile application named VocabGame was developed based on a set of persuasive guidelines, and it was launched in the Google Play Store. This paper investigated whether the developed VocabGame can motivate native Arab students learning the English language to achieve better performance. Sixty-four students were divided equally into two groups: the control group (high-performance group) and the experimental group (low-performance group). Students in the experimental group improved their motivation level significantly after the mobile learning intervention. Our findings showed that mobile game application is helpful for those students who had poor performance initially while studying English and improves their confidence. There was also an association between the pre-test and the post-test scores according to the motivation to learn based on the analysis of the covariate analysis with η_p^2 being 0.148. A mobile application game was successfully developed to motivate Arab native students to learn English as a secondary language.

Designing Mobile Training Content: Challenges and Open Issues

“…Nine [12], [6], [46], [47], [48], [49], [50], [51] and [52] of the 50 studies indicated that there were challenges that related to a need for identifying and using instructional design guidelines to design mobile training content. Seventeen studies [6], [53], [54], [55], [44], [56], [57], [58], [59], [60], [61], [62], [63], [64], [65], [66], and [67] mentioned challenges related to adapting and appropriating mobile learning technology to learn in a compatible way with suitable learning theories, objectives and actual training/learning needs. The remaining twenty-four studies [6], [68], [69], [70], [71], [72], [10], [73], [37], [74], [1], [8], [75], [16], [76], [38], [45], [77], [78], [79]…”

“…[6], [53], [54], [55], [44], [56], [57], [58], [59], [60], [61], [62], [63], [64], [65], [66], [67] 17…”

A Systematic Literature Review on Teaching and Learning English Using Mobile Technology

“…Teaching and Learning Process [25] Implementation of content knowledge using multimedia to increase students' motivation. Mobile Game Application in Learning English Vocabulary [26] Using mobile game application (Vocab Game) to boost students' motivation in learning English language. Mobile Assisted Language Learning [27] Investigate the implementation of mobile technology in reading activity using mobile features and applications like camera, dictionary, Whatsapp, notes and website.…”

“…The content knowledge for this approach does not include animation. Mobile Game Application in Learning English Vocabulary [26] Using VocabGame in learning vocabulary increased students' motivation and they showed good performance in general.…”

A Development of an Educational Game for Learning a Concept of King Bhumibol's Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy

“…Results from research projects revealed that playing computer game encourages critical thinking [5] [6]. Under the fun environment, learning on difficult topics such as Mathematic [7] can be effective because it boosts student's motivation [8] [9]. In addition, Morsi and Mull [10] showed evidence that gaming in education also has positive impact on a wide range of people with diverse learning including college students.…”