Teachers’ and Students’ Perception towardsUsing Gamification in Teaching English Language

Abstract

Teaching is a dynamic process, that arises over time. In the same view, teaching EFL has to be enhanced according to the current updates, since today’ students are not the same as they used to be. Digital natives have a distinct mindset that allows them to grasp information differently since they grew using digital devices, in addition to their limited attention span, that hinders their learning process when exposed to the classical ways of instruction; thus, they are likely to be demotivated and have less intention to get engaged which also thwarts their autonomous learning. As a solution to this problem, gamification can be integrated in teaching EFL process. The reviewed literature of this study highlights the benefits of using gamification in teaching and the positive results obtained from this integration. This research aimed at investigating the effectiveness of gamification as an instructional technique to enhance the students’ motivation, engagement and autonomy. It was carried at the University of Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia, involving teachers and students at the department of English, through the use of a questionnaire for students and semi-structured interviews with teachers. The findings demonstrated that the teachers agreed, to a great extent, on the benefit of integrating gamification in their teaching, as it can be engaging for their learners. In the same line, the students favour the application of game elements in and outside the class, as they consider it to be motivating and fosters their autonomous learning. This research concluded that the technique of gamification, if included in teaching EFL, would enhance the students’ motivation, engagement, and autonomous learning