dc.description.abstract | Under the influence of globalization, communication between countries has become more and more frequent, and English is considered to be one of the most common communication tools. Speaking English is not an easy task for Chinese learners. In a traditional lecture English teaching environment, learners usually lack a learning environment where they can practice English dialogues, and in Taiwan, the paper-based examinations and rote memorization greatly reduce the opportunities for learners to practice their spoken English, and learners are also prone to anxiety during the learning process. Therefore, appropriate learning methods are needed to help learners learn to speak English.
As mentioned in the literature on digital game-based learning, digital game-based learning can enhance learners′ motivation, increase learners′ opportunities for oral practice, and reduce learners′ anxiety. In addition, the goals provided in the digital award system can help learners to increase their willingness to learn, and learners can have a clearer understanding of their progress in learning, as well as provide them with visible motivation, recognition and a sense of achievement. However, there have been both good and bad studies on rewards in the past. In the past studies, it was found that rewards were not easy for learners to notice, and even failed to set clear goals for learners, so some people started to allow students to design their own rewards to help them set clear goals in this way, but most of the applications are in online learning platforms. However, it has not been found that this learner-designed reward mechanism can be applied to digital game-based learning systems and combined with oral English learning to compare the effect of learner-designed rewards with that of traditional researchers on learners. However, self-regulated learning also allows learners to have better learning outcomes through goal setting, progress monitoring, and learning regulation, which helps students to master knowledge. This study wants to utilize self-regulated learning in combination with the medal mechanism to allow learners to design their own medals, so that the medals can have a better effect. Therefore, this study develops an online role-playing game-based learning system, "Adventure on Legendary Island", which incorporates English spoken language, and designs two versions of the learning system with two different reward mechanisms, namely, traditional rewards (researcher-designed rewards) and self-paced learning rewards (learner-designed rewards).
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different reward mechanisms on learners′ English speaking learning effectiveness, game effectiveness, learning motivation, perceptions of learning, and behavioral patterns, as well as the correlations among the variables, in a digital game-based English speaking learning environment, and also to investigate the effects of different English speaking abilities on learners′ English speaking learning effectiveness, game effectiveness, learning motivation, perceptions of learning, and behavioral patterns. A total of 48 learners were divided into two groups: 25 learners in the researcher-designed award group and 23 learners in the learner-designed award group, and then divided into two groups according to their pre-test scores: 13 and 12 learners in the researcher-designed award group for high and low oral proficiency, and 10 and 13 learners in the learner-designed award group for high and low oral proficiency, respectively. The instruments used in the study included the English Spoken Language Learning Effectiveness Test (ESLET), Learning Motivation Scale (LMS), Perception of Learning Scale (PLS), and systematic records.
The experimental results of this study showed that after using the digital game-based English oral learning system, the effects of different medal mechanisms on the learners consisted of the following six points: (1) using the English learning system developed in this study, the learners with different medal mechanisms showed significant improvements in learning effectiveness; (2) the learner-designed medal group was the most effective in the effectiveness of the game; (3) there was no significant difference between the two groups in the learning motivation; (4) in the learning perception, the researcher-designed medal group came out better than the learner-designed group; (5) the two groups had better medal results than the learner-designed group; and (6) in the learning perception, the learner-designed group was better than the learner-designed group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in learning motivation; (4) in learning perception, the researcher-designed medal group was better than the learner-designed medal group; (5) the behavioral transfers of the two groups were more or less the same, while in the learner-designed medal group the learner-designed medal group was larger than the researcher-designed medal group in the total number of components due to the additional medal design function; (6) in the learner-designed medal group, there was a greater correlation between learning effectiveness and game effectiveness, with a higher degree of correlation between learning effectiveness and game effectiveness, and a greater degree of correlation between learning effectiveness and game effectiveness. (6) In the learner-designed medal group, there was more correlation between learning effectiveness and game effectiveness, and learning perception was negatively correlated with game effectiveness. In the researcher-designed medal group, there was a positive correlation between learning motivation and game effectiveness.
After using the digital game-based English oral learning system, the effects of different medal mechanisms on learners with different English speaking abilities include two main points: (1) learners with different English speaking abilities in the different medal mechanism groups showed significant improvements in their English oral learning outcomes; (2) learners with high English speaking abilities had higher game play and higher game motivation than learners with low English speaking abilities in the groups with the researcher-designed medals. The results of this study will be useful for future research in the field of English language learning.
The results of this study will be useful to future researchers who are engaged in digital game-based learning and English oral learning, and will provide a direction for future research in the area of reward mechanisms in game design. In addition, the system developed in this study can also be used by future educators to apply different medal mechanisms in different teaching and learning environments. | en_US |