GAMIFICATION IN EFL ADULT CLASSROOMS: MOTIVATION OR INFANTILIZATION?

Gamification – the application of game design elements such as points, badges, leaderboards, and streaks to non-game educational contexts – has been widely promoted as a tool for enhancing motivation and engagement in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction. While the empirical literature documents genuine motivational benefits, a growing body of critical scholarship raises a fundamental question largely absent from mainstream gamification research: is gamification compatible with the cognitive, psychological, and experiential profile of adult learners, or does it risk reducing the dignity and autonomy of mature learners to childlike reward dependency? Drawing on a systematic review of 64 empirical, theoretical, and critical studies published between 2013 and 2024, this article examines gamification in EFL adult classrooms through the dual lens of motivational theory and andragogy. The findings reveal a complex picture: gamification demonstrably enhances short-term motivation and engagement among adult EFL learners when designed in alignment with andragogical principles, yet poorly designed gamified systems risk undermining intrinsic motivation, generating learner resistance, and reproducing pedagogical dynamics incompatible with adult self-direction. The article concludes by proposing an andragogically-calibrated gamification framework and by situating the debate within EFL contexts in post-Soviet Central Asia, with particular reference to Uzbekistan.