dc.description.abstract | In the academic area, academic English is a main language because the usage of academic English is not only stricter than general English, but also the usages of some vocabularies are different from those used in general English. On the other hand, academic English involves many aspects. Among them, academic English writing is the most important because students need to write academic papers via academic English. However, learning academic English writing is difficult for students; in particular, they are not only unfamiliar with English grammar, but also make mistakes in English sentences. Therefore, they obtain frustration in learning academic English writing. This may be due to the fact that they lack opportunities to practice English in their daily life so that they have low motivation to learn English grammar and English sentences.
On the other hand, game-based learning, which includes various game elements, can improve learners’ learning motivation. Among various game elements, competition is widely used in game-based learning because it can increase learners’ sense of competition, intrinsic interest and engagement. Due to the aforementioned advantages, this research integrated competition into the development of two game-based English learning systems, which were applied to enhance learners’ learning motivation as well as their English abilities. However, learners’ English abilities needed to be improved in many aspects, one of which is English grammar. This is because English grammar involves many complex rules. Thus, one of the competitive game-based English learning systems was applied to help learners learn English grammar. Subsequently, learners needed to learn how to make English sentences after they had sufficient understandings of English grammar. Accordingly, the other competitive game-based English learning system was used to help learners learn how to make English sentences. More specifically, the Reversi game was applied to help learners learn English grammar in Study One while the Solitaire game was used to help them learn how to make English sentences in Study Two.
Furthermore, game-based learning also has some disadvantages, such as cognitive overload. However, such cognitive overload cannot be copied by all learners. Moreover, low-ability learners might show negative reaction to competition. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the impacts of individual differences. Among various individual differences, prior knowledge plays an influential role because it affects connections between existing knowledge and new knowledge. Due to such influences, this research conducted two empirical studies to examine how prior knowledge affected learners’ reactions to the competitive game-based English learning systems.
Regardless of Study One or Study Two, participants were research students, who came from a university in the north Taiwan. More specifically, Study One explored how learners learned English grammar via the Academic English Competitive Reversi Game (AECRG). The results showed that differences existed between HPK learners and LPK learners, in terms of learning performance, learning behavior, gaming performance and gaming behavior. Regarding learning performance, HPK learners performed better than LPK learners, regardless of pre-test scores, post-test scores, task scores or answer statuses. Regarding learning behavior, both HPK learners and LPK learners appreciated the semi-control approach provided by AECRG. However, LPK learners had additional learning behavior when compared with HPK learners. For instance, LPK learners were not willing to learn English grammar knowledge when they undertook the last task. Regarding gaming performance, HPK learners performed better than LPK learners, regardless of gaming scores or bonus scores. Regarding gaming behavior, both HPK learners and LPK learners attained final winning in the Reversi game. Nevertheless, LPK learners had additional gaming behavior when compared with HPK learners. For example, LPK learners obtained more chess pieces than virtual opponents after virtual opponents placed chess pieces.
Study Two explored how learners made English sentences via the Academic English Competitive Solitaire Game (AECSG). The results indicated that differences existed between HPK learners and LPK learners, in terms of learning performance and learning behavior. Regarding learning performance, HPK learners performed better than LPK learners, regardless of pre-test scores or task scores. However, HPK learners and LPK learners obtained similar post-test scores. Regarding learning behavior, there were many differences between HPK learners and LPK learners. In the overview, HPK learners preferred to collect large-scaled information while LPK learners tended to collect small-scaled information. Moreover, HPK learners directly sought information they needed while LPK learners attempted to obtain additional clues. When learners undertook easy tasks, HPK learners attempted to collect comprehensive information while LPK learners demonstrated fragmented behavior sequences. When learners undertook difficult tasks, LPK learners required extra information to conduct the difficult tasks.
To sum up, the results from these two studies showed that HPK learners and LPK learners shared some similarities but there were also differences between them. Regarding similarities, both HPK learners and LPK learners appreciated the semi-control approach. Regarding differences, HPK learners preferred to collect large-scaled information and directly sought the information they needed while LPK learners tended to collect small-scaled information and attempted to obtain additional clues. Therefore, the results from this research can be applied to develop a personalized learning system in the future so that the needs of HPK learners and LPK learners can be accommodated. | en_US |