MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY ---------- THESIS DUONG THI THANH HUYEN EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS GAMIFIED LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND THEIR LEARNING ENGAGEMENT AT VIET ANH PRIMARY SCHOOL IN VUNG TAU CITY Ba Ria – Vung Tau 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY ---------- THESIS EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS GAMIFIED LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND THEIR LEARNING ENGAGEMENT AT VIET ANH PRIMARY SCHOOL IN VUNG TAU CITY Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Course code: 8140111 By Duong Thi Thanh Huyen Supervised by Tran Quoc Thao, Ph. Ba Ria – Vung Tau 2022 i The thesis entitled EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS GAMIFIED LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND THEIR LEARNING ENGAGEMENT AT VIET ANH PRIMARY SCHOOL IN VUNG TAU CITY was successfully defended and approved on September 18th at Ba Ria Vung Tau University (BVU). Academic supervisor: Dr. TRAN QUOC THAO ii BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE Ba Ria Vung Tau, December 2021 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: DUONG THI THANH HUYEN Sex: Female Date of birth: 08/03/1990 Place of birth: Quang Binh Province Major: English Language Student code: 18114193 I- Thesis title: EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS GAMIFIED LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND THEIR LEARNING ENGAGEMENT AT VIET ANH PRIMARY SCHOOL IN VUNG TAU CITY II-Objectives and contents: This study explores the EFL students' attitudes towards gamified learning activities and their learning engagement in gamified learning activities at the context of Viet Anh Primary School in Vung Tau.
The research objectives are as follows: To find out the EFL students' attitudes towards gamified English learning activities at Viet Anh Primary School. To identify EFL students' level of learning engagement in gamified English learning activities at Viet Anh Primary School. To examine the relationship between EFL students' attitudes towards gamified English learning activities and their learning engagement in gamified English learning activities. This study was carried out at Viet Anh Primary School in Vung Tau City.
Viet Anh Primary School is a private school which belongs to Viet My school system whose head office is in Ho Chi Minh City. One of the practical English teaching methods is gamification has been implemented recently in Viet Anh Primary iii School's English classrooms. The 4th grade and 5th grade students' attitudes and level of engagement toward the gamified English teaching activities are examined to evaluate the effectiveness of the methods in the environment of the studied school. Two methods of gathering data are executed in the research: Questionnaire and semi-structured interview.
The subjects to use these data collection methods to are 84 students from 4th grade and 5th grade. III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University) IV- Completing date:. V- Academic supervisor: (full name,title) TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph. iv CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: Efl students’ attitudes towards gamified learning activities and their learning engagement at Viet Anh primary school in Vung Tau City In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University Ba Ria Vung Tau province, June 2022 DUONG THI THANH HUYEN v RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Duong Thi Thanh Huyen, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses. Ba Ria Vung Tau, June 2022 Signature …………………… Duong Thi Thanh Huyen vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to those who have made great contributions to my thesis completion. First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr. Tran Quoc Thao, my supervisor, for his valuable comments and suggestions during the whole research process.
His dynamism, enthusiasm, vision as well as his patience have deeply inspired me. Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Secondly, I am very grateful to the school board staff including the principal and the vice principals as well as my leader at Viet Anh Primary School in Vung Tau who gave me the golden opportunity to do my research here. Any attempt at any level can’t be satisfactorily completed without the support and guidance of my friends and colleagues.
Especially, Mr Henry Boon has helped me a lot and given me encouragement and motivation to enroll this M. I also would like to thank the research participants and their parents who have contributed to this study. At last but not in least, my deepest and sincerest gratitude goes to my family members, including my parents, my husband and my son for their countless support, greatest sympathy, and unconditional love. Without their support I couldn’t have succeeded in completing my thesis.
vii Abstract Gamification’s benefits have been extensively acknowledged in a massive body of work, both philosophically and experimentally. However the research on gamification is popular, but the research on gamification that applied to and considered the views of young learners as primary ESL learners have not yet been clarified. Thus, the present study covers the research gap by conducting mixed-method research to explore the EFL students’ attitudes towards and their engagement in gamified learning activities in the context of Viet Anh Primary School in Vung Tau. This study includes 84 boys and girls students from grade 4 and grade 5 at Viet Anh Primary School in Vung Tau City.
A mixed-method research design was implemented, and data was collected through students’ questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings of this study divulged that 4th and 5th-grade students at Viet Anh Primary School had positive attitudes toward gamified English learning activities in the EFL classroom. Furthermore, they expressed positive and active engagement in gamified English learning activities. Also, the results revealed a positive relationship between EFL students’ attitudes and their learning engagement in gamified English learning activities.
In other words, an increase in students’ attitudes could increase their engagement with gamified English learning activities. (200 words) Keywords: attitudes, engagement, gamification, young learners. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Background of the study.
Statement of the problems. Aims and objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Definition of the key term. Organization of the study. 9 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of gamification.
Elements of gamification. The significance of gamification in teaching English as a foreign language. The challenges of learning and teaching by gamification method for EFL students. Attitudes towards gamified English learning activities.
Definitions of attitudes towards gamified English learning activities. The components of attitudes. Definition of student engagements. The importance of student engagement in learning English as a foreign language.
The relationship between student engagements and attitudes and gamification in teaching and learning. 31 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Sample and sampling procedures. Semi-structured interview.
Data collection procedures. Data collection procedures. Data analysis procedures. Reliability and Validity.
43 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Students’ attitudes toward gamified English learning activities. Students’ learning engagement in gamified English learning activities. Some negative comments from the semi-strutured interviews.
The relationship between EFL students' attitudes towards gamified English learning activities and their learning engagement in gamified English learning activities. Students’ attitudes toward gamified English learning activities. Students’ learning engagement in gamified English learning activities. The relationship between EFL students' attitudes towards gamified English learning activities and their learning engagement in gamified English learning activities.
67 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION. Summary of the main findings of the thesis. Limitation and further research suggestion. 86 x APPENDICES APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR RESPONDENTS APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS APPENDIX C: BẢNG KHẢO SÁT Ý KIẾN HỌC SINH APPENDIX D: CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN xi LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Participants’ general information .2 Structure of the questionnaire .3 Cronbach’s Alpha Score .1 The overall results of students’ attitude toward gamified English learning activities .2 Student’ attitudes toward gamified English learning activities in terms of cognitive attitudes .3 Student’ attitudes toward gamified English learning activities in terms of affective attitudes .4 Student’ attitudes toward gamified English learning activities in terms of behavioral attitudes .5 The overall results of students’ engagement toward gamified English learning activities .6 Students’ engagement toward gamified English learning activities in terms of behavioral engagement .7 Students’ engagement toward gamified English learning activities in terms of cognitive engagement .8 Students’ engagement toward gamified English learning activities in terms of affective engagement .9 Pearson Correlation Results.
61 xii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 The Octalysis Framework by Yu-kai Chou (Chou, 2015) .2 Conceptual framework of gamification and learners’ attitudes and engagement .1 Background of the study Language learning plays a prominent role in the present scenario as English is a language for communication in education and business, sports, trade, etc. Currently, more than 53 countries and territories use English as an official language. Vietnam is not out of the trend and has begun to teach English from the primary school level. Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has set English as one of the three most important subjects at school.
Specifically, many study promotion programs are proposed, from English talent contests in schools to competitions on the Internet, on TV, in scientific journals, annual Olympic competitions, etc. These programs are the motivation for students to practice and apply English in practice Bahang et al. Vietnamese students are also aware that English is considered indispensable luggage on the path of integration and development, a universal key to open the doors of knowledge to help them reach out to the world. To improve the quality of teaching English at schools, English teachers have applied various teaching methods in teaching.
One of the newest methods to apply is gamification, which has received much criticism in increasing students' engagement in the classroom (Phuong, 2020). The use of games to learn languages is an innovative method that is gaining popularity. Gamification for language learning is highly motivating and inspirational for students since there are several tasks to complete, goals to attain, and prizes to be won. Gamification is a concept that attempts to combine pre- existing successful teaching techniques with game elements such as competition, leaderboards, and advancement in order to make tasks and exercises more enjoyable, motivating, and engaging for learners (Kapp, 2012).
Gamification's beneficial benefits have been extensively acknowledged in a massive body of work, both philosophically and experimentally (Dehghanzadeh et 2 al. Gamification has the potential to improve student engagement, motivation, learning outcomes, problem-solving, and collaborative learning in ESL classrooms (Buckley & Doyle, 2014). The theory of motivation, engagement, and psychology has investigated and described the benefits of gamification. The self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan & Deci, 2000) is the most widely grounded theory linked to gamification.
It discusses both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. According to Muntean (2011), gamification increases intrinsic motivation by generating a sense of mastery, autonomy, and connectivity through the usage of extrinsic components such as levels, points, and badges. In particular, most research on gamification has emphasized its ability to engage learners actively. For example, after treatment with the Gamified Program, learner motivation in the experimental group (25 students) increased considerably (25 students).
Lam et al. (2018) used quasi-experimental and qualitative research methodologies to investigate engagement and motivation. The findings also revealed that learner engagement and motivation were much more significant in the experimental group. However, there was no difference in academic outcomes between the two groups in this study.