ERIC Number: EJ1353768
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2227-7102
Preservice Teachers' Knowledge and Attitudes toward Digital-Game-Based Language Learning
Education Sciences, v12 Article 182 2022
There is a good body of literature about digital-game-based language learning (DGBL), but research has mainly focused on students as game players rather than as future educators. This paper reports on a research conducted among 154 teacher candidates at a higher-education institution in Spain regarding the adoption of digital games in education. It analyzes the participants' knowledge of and attitudes toward digital games in foreign language learning. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a pre/post-test, digital game presentations, and student blog posts. The research comprised five stages associated with critical thinking skills (definition, selection, demonstration, discussion, and reflection), including a game learning module. In the first two stages, preservice teachers completed the module activities and selected different games aimed at teaching English to children in preschool and elementary education. In the last two, they illustrated, discussed, and evaluated the digital games in class following a rubric and reflected on their perception in blog posts. In this four-week research based on a mixed method and convenience sampling, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through a pre- and post-test survey about student perceptions toward the use of video game in the classroom, class discussion, and blog posts. Statistical data analysis unveiled gender-based differences related to gameplay frequency and genre preferences. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used as a nonparametric statistical hypothesis test to compare the two sets of scores resulting from the same participants, and it showed a significant difference (p[less than or equal to]0.05) after the treatment in two of the five dimensions in the survey about teacher candidates' attitudes toward game usage in education, namely, usefulness (U) and preference for video games (PVG). Research findings revealed preservice teachers' positive attitudes but lack of practical knowledge about the use of digital games in foreign-language learning.
Descriptors: Computer Games, Game Based Learning, Preservice Teachers, Educational Games, Second Language Instruction, Second Language Learning, English (Second Language), Preschool Education, Elementary Education, Student Attitudes, Gender Differences, Foreign Countries
MDPI AG. Klybeckstrasse 64, 4057 Basel, Switzerland. e-mail: education@mdpi.com; e-mail: indexing@mdpi.com; Web site: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/education
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education; Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Spain
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A