Impacts of gamification in an English classroom in a Thai technical college

Gamification is an instructional approach that aims to systematically exploit game elements, such as competition and reward, to increase learner motivation and subsequently learning. In this research, one group of Thai vocational college students in a beginner level General English class (N=21) participated in a gamified approach to vocabulary learning for 5 weeks. Learners were assessed in weekly quizzes and compared to those of a control group (N=22). Within group repeated measures ANOVA results indicated that both groups significantly improved vocabulary test results over the 5 weeks. A between-group ANCOVA test indicated that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group at the end of the experiment (F=9.39, p<0.05). However, a delayed posttest indicated that the experimental group regressed somewhat. Participants in the experimental group esponded positively respond to the gamified classes, indicating increased motivation. The article contributes to gamified pedagogy by making recommendations on how to implement gamification in beginner level classes.