Assessing EFL Students’ Performance and Self-Efficacy Using a Game-Based Learning Approach
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Does using GBL as an assessment tool affect EFL students’ performance?
- Does using GBL as an assessment tool affect EFL students’ self-efficacy?
2. Background and Related Work
2.1. Assessment
2.2. The Use of Games in Education
2.3. The Use of Games in Language Education
2.4. Self-Efficacy
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Research Design
3.2. Instruments
3.3. The GBL Assessment Tool
3.4. Participants
3.5. Procedure
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Limitations and Future Work
7. Conclusions and Recommendations
- The alignment between the game and learning goals and objectives that are being assessed. The game should be assigned in a way to allow students to use and show their newly gained language skills effectively.
- Providing ongoing feedback to students throughout the game is essential to support their learning during this assessment activity and encourage them to progress further in the game. It is considered a type of formative assessment that aids the overall learning process.
- Students should be made aware before engaging in the game about what is being assessed, for example, which skill, as well as how they are going to be assessed, and according to which criteria or rubric? This knowledge would help students focus on what they are expected to achieve while using the game.
- If possible, assessment games to teach foreign languages should be designed to encourage collaborative learning, where students can interact and communicate with each other, engage in meaningful conversations, share their knowledge, and help each other. This would be particularly useful in immersive online learning environments, such as those provided by virtual reality (VR) games.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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First Dimension | Self-Efficacy | Mean | Std. Deviation |
SE1. | I can answer the questions on the provided English language test. | 4.67 | 0.516 |
SE2. | I do well on the provided English language test using the game. | 4.17 | 0.753 |
SE3. | I do well on the English language test using the characters in the game, though answering English tests is usually difficult for me. | 3.67 | 0.816 |
SE4. | I can answer the most difficult English language test questions by trying to reach higher levels in the game. | 4.17 | 0.753 |
SE5. | I can solve the most difficult English exam questions by trying to collect the electronic awards and points in the game. | 3.83 | 1.169 |
SE6. | I can finish my English exam using the game. | 4.33 | 0.816 |
SE7. | I cannot answer the English language test questions without the game. | 2.00 | 0.632 |
SE8. | I am not capable of excelling in English. | 1.50 | 0.837 |
Second Dimension | GBL as an Assessment Tool | Mean | Std. Deviation |
GE1. | Competing with opponents inspires me to continue with the English language test. | 4.17 | 1.169 |
GE2. | I can finish the listening questions by having a conversation with the ‘listening opponent’ in the game. | 4.67 | 0.516 |
GE3. | I can finish the reading questions by having a conversation with the ‘reading opponent’ in the game. | 4.00 | 1.095 |
GE4 | I can finish the grammar questions by having a conversation with the ‘grammar opponent’ in the game. | 4.00 | 1.095 |
GE5. | I can finish the pronunciation questions by having a conversation with the ‘pronunciation opponent’ in the game. | 4.17 | 1.169 |
GE6. | I can finish the vocabulary questions by having a conversation with the ‘vocabulary opponent’ in the game. | 4.00 | 1.095 |
GE7. | I would take more English language tests if I could compete against different opponents in the game. | 4.00 | 1.095 |
GE8. | I can complete choosing the correct answers on the English language test by competing with opponents in the game. | 4.00 | 0.894 |
Null Hypotheses | Test | Sig. a,b | Decision |
---|---|---|---|
1. The median of the post-test is the same across categories of group type. | Independent-sample median test | 1.000 c | Retain the null hypothesis |
2. The distribution of the post-test represents the same across categories of group type. | Independent-sample Mann–Whitney U test | 0.937 c | Retain the null hypothesis |
Group Type | N | Mean | Std. Deviation |
---|---|---|---|
Control group | 6 | 19.667 | 2.58199 |
Experiment group | 6 | 19.6667 | 2.65832 |
Spearman’s Rho | GBL Assessment Tool | Self-Efficacy | |
Correlation coefficient | 1.000 | 0.886 * | |
Sig. (two-tailed) | - | 0.019 | |
N | 6 | 6 |
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Meccawy, M.; Alzahrani, A.; Mattar, Z.; Almohammadi, R.; Alzahrani, S.; Aljizani, G.; Meccawy, Z. Assessing EFL Students’ Performance and Self-Efficacy Using a Game-Based Learning Approach. Educ. Sci. 2023, 13, 1228. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13121228
Meccawy M, Alzahrani A, Mattar Z, Almohammadi R, Alzahrani S, Aljizani G, Meccawy Z. Assessing EFL Students’ Performance and Self-Efficacy Using a Game-Based Learning Approach. Education Sciences. 2023; 13(12):1228. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13121228
Chicago/Turabian StyleMeccawy, Maram, Asma Alzahrani, Zinah Mattar, Rawan Almohammadi, Samah Alzahrani, Ghadeer Aljizani, and Zilal Meccawy. 2023. "Assessing EFL Students’ Performance and Self-Efficacy Using a Game-Based Learning Approach" Education Sciences 13, no. 12: 1228. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13121228