| dc.description.abstract | In today′s globalized era, learning foreign languages is an essential skill for cross-cultural communication. Japanese has become the second most popular language to learn, largely due to Japan′s diverse media industries and culture, such as drama, animation, and manga, which attract many international students. Japanese onomatopoeia is frequently used in everyday spoken Japanese, yet it poses significant learning challenges for non-native speakers. Digital game-based language learning (DGBLL) has gained increasing attention from language learners, educators, and researchers. Studies have shown that digital game-based learning (DGBL) can be an effective tool for foreign language vocabulary acquisition. However, most existing research focuses on English learning, leaving the field of Japanese learning, particularly the study of Japanese onomatopoeia through DGBL, underexplored.
Previous research indicates that DGBL encompasses various goals, potentially leading to different learning performances among learners with different performance goal orientations. Studies suggest that students prefer learning games incorporating elements of uncertainty, which can enhance their engagement and learning motivation. However, integrating uncertainty into learning games remains a challenge, and current DGBL studies have limitations in addressing this factor. This study, therefore, designs a digital game-based learning system for Japanese onomatopoeia that incorporates game mechanisms with uncertainty, tailored to different performance goal orientations. The study aims to explore the differences in learning performance, in-game performance, learning motivation, and learning perception among learners with performance-approach and performance-avoidance orientations using this system, as well as the correlations between these variables.
This study employs quantitative analysis with 42 Japanese major university students participating in the experiment. Based on the results of a performance goal orientation questionnaire, students were divided into two groups: 24 learners with performance-approach orientation and 18 learners with performance-avoidance orientation. Research tools included a Japanese onomatopoeia proficiency test, a learning motivation scale, a learning perception scale, and system log files. The experiment lasted for a total of 100 minutes.
The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) Learners with different performance goal orientations (performance-approach and performance-avoidance) significantly improved their proficiency in Japanese onomatopoeia after using the system, with performance-avoidance learners showing significantly higher improvement scores compared to performance-approach learners; (2) In terms of in-game performance, performance-avoidance learners significantly outperformed performance-approach learners in the number of times they read the material in the learning zone, while performance-approach learners excelled in other aspects of in-game performance; (3) There was no significant difference in learning perception between the two groups; (4) Performance-avoidance learners demonstrated higher intrinsic motivation compared to performance-approach learners, while there was no significant difference in extrinsic motivation and overall motivation between the two groups; (5) There were significant positive correlations between learning perception and learning motivation, as well as between learning performance and the average challenge score of in-game performance for both groups. Performance-approach learners exhibited more correlations between learning perception and in-game performance, while performance-avoidance learners showed a positive correlation between learning performance and the cumulative number of materials read in-game, with performance-approach learners having more total correlations than performance-avoidance learners.
In summary, the digital game-based learning system for Japanese onomatopoeia with incorporated uncertainty game mechanisms developed in this study was effective in improving the learning performance of both performance-approach and performance-avoidance learners. Performance-avoidance learners showed significantly higher improvement in proficiency tests than performance-approach learners. In terms of in-game performance, performance-approach learners outperformed in most aspects, while performance-avoidance learners read the material more frequently. The study also identified differences and correlations in learning perception and learning motivation between the groups, providing insights and directions for future research. | en_US |