Among the different styles of teaching and many methodology strategies, we can find a relatively new way to help students learn: the gamification. Huotari & Hamari (2012) describe it as “[…] the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts”. So we, teachers, can take advantage of this too and include games in the classroom.
And why can it be good for education? By letting students play and transforming something formal into something more informal, we are creating a better learning environment for them. The game-designed activities may entertain them more than a traditional class with traditional tasks. They will have fun, and I think this will lead to more engagement and a rise in their motivation. Other benefits of it might be the sense of achievement after being successful in a challenging game, the friendly competition, the possibility to interact with the other classmates, the practice of problem-solving real life situations in a safe environment, and the instant feedback of losing or winning. But above of that there is the fact that a game can capture someone’s attention more than anything. Students can even forget that they are in a classroom, how long they have been playing, and be totally focused into the game. The psychologist Csikszentmihalyi calls it the ‘flow’ and some athletes and gamers ‘being in the zone’.
The gamification in the (foreign) language class can have more advantages: all the four skills in language learning can be involved, meaning will be more important than form/formS but the teacher can also focus on specific language forms, and any game will have the good things that come with any cooperative activity.
