How to Run Your Own Online Business: A Gamification Experience in ESL

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Author Response

Dear reviewers:

Thank you very much for your kind considerations and revision. We have work on them as far as we could. We attached the final version of our article.

Thank you very much again

Yours faithfuly,
Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors: The gamification experience in the classroom is interesting. Fortunately, hundreds of them are being produced. Researching them is important to see their effectiveness.
Regarding the research design, I believe that it does not meet what is necessary to provide solid knowledge to the research field. The research focuses on the student's perception of a single activity, the relevance of this opinion / perception is relative. It is more important to know if they have improved their academic achievements, the learning obtained and compare them with other more conventional techniques. in any case, the greatest weakness is the sample, as you gather in the conclusions. Reliable results cannot be produced with such a small sample, it is also a special group, since it is a bilingual group, which in the Spanish context is a group segregated from the rest of the non-bilingual and with a different student body.

Regarding the conclusions, you make recommendations and give opinions that are not connected with the data of your research, such as the need for more training for IT and methodologies to reduce the time to create new gamified experiences. It is a common sense opinion, not relevant.

On the other hand, the name TIK TOK attracts attention for its connection with the music social network TIK TOK, but they have no connection. I think they should check if they can legally use it, because TIK TOK is a registered trademark.
Other minor problems: line 4 "th" instead of "the", line 98 "evolver" should be "evolved".

I recommend that you expand the study with a larger sample and that you try to evaluate the effectiveness of the methodology regarding the acquisition of new learning. Because, students normally value any variation in teaching techniques, but what interests us is to see if learning improves.

Author Response

Dear reviewers:

Thank you very much for your kind considerations and revision. We have work on them as far as we could. We attached the final version of our article.

Thank you very much again

Yours faithfuly,
Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

This is an interesting study with a compelling topic: role-play games in ESL classrooms in Spain. The study has several merits. For example, it offers good discussions on gamification and ESL games. It also offered nice background of pros and cons about several online tools used in ESL classrooms. Here are my suggestions for future submission:

• I was wondering the wording on title “The Tik Tok School.” The Tik Tok school did not appear in the abstract or the introduction. There is no discussion on this wording. The first wording of “Tik Tok” appeared on page 5. Please consider revise the title or expand your title in the introduction and abstract immediately.

• The idea of “innovative education” appeared in the first sentence. However, this idea lacks of definition and explanation. What is “innovative education”?

• There are language issues. For example, Line 6-7, there should be “,” before “we design.” Line 69-70, “It contributes to make ESL” maybe could be revised to “It makes ESL…”. Line 87-88, “Once recognized….the question to be asked is..” there should be a “,” before “the question to be asked is”. Line 90-94, “we started…to then…”, I suggest to delete “to”, and add a “,” before “then.” Line 131, “Another experienced conducted” should be “Another experience…”

• The connections between the literature review and the study need to be established. For example, why did this study discuss the other online tools? How did these tools connect to the role play?

• The gap in the literature review needs to be identified to situate this study. Why this study is needed? What is missing in the literature? Why this study is significant?

• The variables in the study design have not been reviewed in the literature. For example, why did we talk about “lived in an English speaking country”. More connections are needed in these categories?

• Line 205-211, the literature review is not part of the research design in this case. I believe the questionnaire is. But the questionnaire did not get much space in the discussion. How it is designed? What is the response rate? What is the rationale of design?

• Line 205-2011, needs more evidence and literature review on “English private classes”. The literature review did not mention this idea at all.

• Conclusion and discussions need to tie back to the literature review and design.

Author Response

Dear reviewers:

Thank you very much for your kind considerations and revision. We have work on them as far as we could. We attached the final version of our article.

Thank you very much again

Yours faithfuly,
Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Line 4:.....the importance...

In Abstract: You should not use the abbreviation ESL before you explained it.

Line 12 Please reconsider: After the data analysis, we conclude that this methodology positively impacts motivation and the acquisition of a second language. 

Line 18: Rephrase sentence: Nowadays, most teachers have opted for innovative education to transform and upgrade the educational practice.

Line 22: ....that it is said to have.

Line 29: To obtain a broader picture and avoid the usual confusion regarding gamification and some associated terms (please rewrite the sentence)

Line 28: ...adds that it is “the process ...

Line 30: ....Gamification is based on game mechanics...

Line 34: ...matches the educational curriculum with skills students will need in their lives, focusing on competencies. 

Line 37: that make an experience to...

Line 38: ...gamified, some stands out: avatars...

Line 40: Visual support can also be used, especially at the beginning of the gamification, to engage the students [13].

Line 41: The latter is achieved ....

Line 49: ....structure, to have a game like an appearance. 

Line 54: ...characteristics and canons still in use. 

Line 58: with another gamification modality: simulation

Line 60: two similar role-playing games

Line 60: Furthermore, during the game, the characters will develop 

Line 64: Like any methodology, gamification has supporters and detractors who discuss its educational use in an open debate.

Line 67: It is ideal for creating learning environments that actively involve, engage, and motivate people and favour conflict resolution in the learning process.

Line 71: the more “effective” the activities carried out

Line 69: It contributes to making ESL classes more fun.

Line 72: role-playing games' most motivating characteristics stand out leaderboards, experience points, and badges 

Line 73: Moreover, this methodology promotes students' autonomy and improves learning outcomes similarly to how the brain learns than traditional teaching.

Line 80: Jassen [26] supports this idea by arguing that it is a demanding methodology; therefore, the teacher will need to prepare for each experience.

Line 83: design and develop each session

Line 87: Furthermore, once the multiple benefits attributed to gamification are recognised, the question is: could these benefits be applied in ESL?

Line 98: Language games [27], the literature about this topic has evolved considerably. There are several...

Line 103: ...help teachers implement it. 

Line 105: ..provide the teacher with sufficient...

Line 106: gamify curricular content.

Line 110: Despite the difficulties associated with the time per question or the possibility that some students do not have a smartphone Kahoot!, manages to decrease anxiety levels in the classroom and improve grammatical and lexical acquisition.

Line 120: and creating their narratives

Line 123: They conclude that is a more ...

Line 127: favouring interaction and feedback.

Line 130: they had similar results as before: students ...

Line 131: Another experience conducted by...

Line 135: speech of non-verbal communication..

Line 140:  For example, in the experience developed by Gordon...

Line 143: archaeological

Line 144: regardless of the context...

Line 147:  and qualitative leap.

Line 147: Research conducted by Ayuningtias et al. [38], which compares teaching the same content in two ways: traditional memoiristic learning and role-playing, showed that students participated more actively in the latter their learning.

Line 152: Using role-playing games, students can contribute to blended assessment, seeking new solutions to the posed problems, justifying their opinions, and assessing their peers.

Line 163: and more significant progress of the participants.

Line 167: repeated words to the gamification experience 166 are enjoyable, interactive and exciting,

Line 170: remotely and adapt their routines to their circumstances.

Line 171: Another app to consider is "Grammar Grabber"

Line 183: which increases the motivation ....

Line 184: n the other hand, it analyzes the students’ perception, within the context of ESL and after carrying out such intervention, about their proficiency level, role-playing games, educational gamification, and English use during the game.

Line 194: one of them has lived in an English...

Line 200: The most critical data is undoubtedly the little contact that the students have with English outside the classroom. As we can see, none of them has lived...

Line 210: Finally, we analysed the data collected, considering the following parameters: gender, attendance to English private classes and having English-speaking relatives. 

Line 213: Implementing a gamified....

Line 214: In this sense, and considering the role-playing game format, formality and professionalism must be two of the main features that mark students' relationship among themselves and with the teacher since they must remain as accurate as possible to their assigned characters.

Line 218: must be by the situation posed ...

Line 221: expressions students have learned 

Line 221: It consisted of creating a company, the Tik Tok School, in which the students had to face the challenges of any entrepreneur. Such challenges were to find the first students, to deal with a tax payment or, once the students arrived, how to run the school successfully.

Line 225: Before a role-playing game starts, players must complete the character sheet with the basic features and valuable information. 

Line 228: The first one is the CEO, which oversees decisions made at the company and makes sure it is profitable; the marketing person, who is in charge of advertising the company in social media: and the teacher, who is responsible for designing the classes. 

Line 231: To help them internalize their character and play their role as partners in a company, they had to fill in some details such as weaknesses, strengths, or objectives. Depending on the moment, the teacher may act as a representative of tax authorities or a television reporter, among others.

Line 243: For example, to practice vocabulary related to economy and money, we designed an activity inspired by the board game Taboo. Moreover, we used activity based 

Line 255: As it is an innovative methodology, they were informed that they all had to participate in the learning experience to acquire the didactic unit's curricular competencies

Line 271: The following 28 ...

Line 283: This section may be divided into subheadings..

Line 285: and the experimental conclusions that can be drawn. 

Line 329: Throughout the study, we have been detailing the benefits of role-playing games and educational gamification in general regarding motivation and improving students' outcomes.

Line 333:  are amply justified..

Line 334: Furthermore, the results obtained show that students prefer gamified sessions to traditional teaching methods.

Line 337: The role-playing game described in this paper was based on creating a company, improving the disciplinary curricular content and the students' entrepreneurship skills, teamwork, and motivation. Although there is no perfect methodology to work on entrepreneurship, the results can be improved as it is an experiential learning tool ..

Line 345: and writing, the last two the lowest ones...

Line 346: Even though speaking is always the most difficult skill that students find, they do not practice enough due to practical difficulties, such as anxiety, embarrassment, or mistake-phobia .

Line 347: the most challenging skill 

Line 350: that the skill they claim they have...

Line 352: In fact, some studies claim that through role-playing games...

Line 358: Role-playing games are a tool with which students must work in teams to achieve the same objectives as they would in the real world.

Line 363: being a direct consequence of this, they feel more comfortable speaking English 

Line 367: with whom we could work. Therefore...

Line 372: have not been considered...

Line 376: to maximize the results...

Line 383: achieve excellent results..

Author Response

Dear reviewers:

Thank you very much for your kind considerations and revision. We have work on them as far as we could. We attached the final version of our article.

Thank you very much again

Yours faithfuly,
Authors

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The greatest weakness of the research is the sample. Anyway, there are many improvements in this new version. And the work can certainly be interesting for teachers.