A survey of students’ attitudes towards applying games-based learning to enhance the learning of grammar

This study was conducted to examine students' attitudes towards applying games-based learning to enhance the learning of grammar and investigate the differences among the participants regarding age, gender, major, and academic year. In this study, there were 57 participants who filled out the questionnaire out of 116 students who enrolled in a basic grammar course. The study included participants with a variety of characteristics, such as gender, age, faculties, majors, and academic years. Additionally, the study utilized a mixed-methods approach, meaning that both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. To collect data, the researchers used three research instruments: a survey questionnaire, interview questions, and an observation checklist. The questionnaire for the survey comprised three separate parts, including 1) students’ backgrounds; 2) guidelines; and 3) students’ attitudes toward learning grammar through game-based learning. A Likert scale was utilized, which is a widely employed research instrument that enables participants to express their agreement or disagreement with a statement by using a scale that spans from strongly agree to strongly disagree. This research used the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software to conduct data analysis and calculation. The objective was to assess the frequency, percentage, average, standard deviation, and significance (P) of the variations in attitudes among the variables. The findings from survey questionnaires and interviews revealed that the participants had positive attitudes towards applying games-based learning to enhance the learning of grammar, and the findings suggest that most participants believed that using games in the classroom made the content more interesting and engaging. Additionally, many participants felt that game-based learning was motivating and helped them become more engaged in the classroom. Moreover, the observation checklist findings revealed that the students’ behavior and feelings revealed that most students enjoyed learning grammar through the use of games. Specifically, the students seemed to take an interest in the games’ rules, enjoyed sharing ideas with their classmates, and found the interactive nature of the games to be engaging. In addition, they review the contents with the teacher's additional explanations during gameplay. The finding also indicates that there were no significant differences in the variables examined, except for the student’s academic year, and that there were no significant differences in the attitudes of first- and second-year students towards the acquisition of grammar abilities through educational games.