Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

Gamification and the ESL Challenge

Upon entering South Korea to start a career in the ESL teaching profession, I had very
minimal experience in teaching, let alone working with young learners. I entered the public
school sector through the English Program in Korea, and fortunately many of the textbooks that
are government issued are not too bad, however a native English speaking instructor is not flown
over to simply review and discuss already written textbooks, mostly our job is to get students to
enjoy English. Many of their Korean teachers are very well qualified in teaching English,
however in order to get the students to be immersed in it and to expose them to live English, it
is our job to find a way their classes both educational and something out of the ordinary, or
simply fun. My initial year in Korea I was working at three different schools, elementary and
middle, I was also teaching a group of my Korean coworkers (adults obviously). I quickly
learned that in order to stand out and not just be another piece of the boring school pie; I had to
learn to modify the lessons of the book to turn them into game and activities.
I started experimenting with different kind of games and interactive activities that I was
finding online or learning from other teachers. I quickly realized that gamification encourages
students to learn more enthusiastically and they are more focused when an element of
competitive positive reinforcement is involved in the classroom. Gamification tends to encourage
behavior with instant and positive feedback (Stanley, 2014). This is something very useful and
important when it comes to younger learners, because children tend to feel rewarded and show
positive instantaneous results when instant and positive feedback is involved. Gamification can
be considered something as simple as keeping score or tallying up when correct answers are
made, or any form of competitive nature and rules of play. I noticed vast differences and
improvements when teaching the same lesson when it was gamified or not.
Gamification can involve the use of technology and digital media, or rather a simple
system of scoreboards, stickers, stamps, etc. Through my undergraduate years I learned that
positive reinforcement is more often more effective than negative reinforcement, unless negative
reinforcement is absolutely necessary in the form of classroom management and punishment. I
prefer to reward students with points when correct answers are given, however the class acts
inappropriately or they are too rowdy, there are ways to gamify that as well. Sometimes Ill write
the names of my students on the board and Ill draw a line (tally) under the names of the students
that talk too much or disrupt class. If there is a sticker/stamp system in place, removing one of
the tokens is a very effective way in getting the class back in order. Its amazing how effective
these tactics are, even when the tokens and points have no real-life significance. It is simply the
gamified element that reinforces the good behavior in young students. I think the fact that
Korean children are so competitive has a lot to do with the effectiveness of such methods and
practices.
Just as in my personal experiences in using computer and digital games with my students,
Jonathan deHaan reported that digital media projects helped his L2 learners to become

Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

motivated, challenged, provided opportunities for authentic discussions in the English language,
and game them concrete experiences in teamwork, technology use, and creativity (2011). Since
almost all Korean students seem to own a smartphone and they are a very tech-savvy youth, I
would say that the implementation of digital media and games is one of the best resources when
it comes to gaining their attention in the academic setting. I believe deHaan put it best when he
says effective L2 teaching and acquisition with games is more likely to occur as long as sensible
conclusions can be drawn from experimental evidence (2011). As Shelly Terrell (2014) put it,
instead of giving students bookwork and homework, we ought to give them missions, games, and
adventures. We should be rewarding younger students for their experiences in efforts, rather than
discouraging them with grades and scores. I believe the academic progress of young L2 learners
can be greatly hindered when they are judged on the same playing field as their peers. Rubrics
are not fair when it comes to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of individuals. This is why
I believe gamification is an excellent mode of educational stress relief and an anxiety reducer to
young learners.
With the constant and ever-changing nature of technology and scientific advancement, it
is our duty as pedagogical foot soldiers to always be up-to-date and media literate. Bates (2015)
states that Technology is forcing us to examine more fundamentally the purpose and process of
teaching, what constitutes valid knowledge, and how best acquire it. (p. 476). I think this is
really what it comes down to when examining the real of gamification; what constitutes
something as academically viable and how to roll with the times in digital era. I also agree with
Bates when he says that we are immersed and surrounded by technology, and it affects every
aspect of our economy, communication, and relations with one another, so why not update our
archaic educational systems to catch up with this era we live in (2015).
I was first introduced to the world of gamification through a very useful website that is
very popular amongst public school teachers in South Korea, Waygook.org. I started using basic
yet wildly popular PowerPoint games with my students. These games are often referred to as
Bomb games because often one of the choices in the selection of questions in the games leads
to a bomb which obliterates all of the acquired points of the individual or team. Here is a
popular Super Mario template that I used with many of classes:

Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

The great thing about these games is that they are easily modifiable and reformatting or
completely changing the content and theme is very easy to do. My student really enjoyed these
games, especially since the variety in point and rewards are often surprise attacks or unexpected
twists. They bring an element of innocent competitiveness to the class atmosphere and students
are learning while are they also have a tremendous amount of fun. Each day I would lesson plan
and along with normal bookwork, I would modify and adapt one of these games to fit the lesson

Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

of the day. There were also an endless number of templates to choose from, so my students
would not get bored and tired of the same game. There are literally dozens of these sort of game,
but my most popular ones were themes of Doraemon, Batman, Mario Brothers, Pokmon, Angry
Birds, PSY, Harry Potter and Yogiyo.

Another thing these games did when it came to contributing to the success of my classes
was that they forced each student to be active and involved, without stress or anxiety. Without
games, shy and lower-level students are much less likely to raise their hands and involve
themselves in discussions and answering. With these Bomb games however, each student took
turns in picking and answering one of the more than 2 dozen questions, and even the quietest and
reserved students were eager to answer and receive points and digital merits.
Personally I believe that the success and popularity of mobile phones in South Korea is a
big part of the reason of the success of such games. Young Koreans are so addicted and attached
to their mobile devices in which they mostly play games on, that by being able to implement
something just as interactive and visual in the class curriculum, we are affectively utilizing the
media literate and visual learning capacities of the society they live in. Scholars also agree that in
the 21t century students need personal devices as well as good quality responsive desktop and
laptops because these forms of technology provide a greater advantage in learning rather than
only using outdated paper and pencil activities (Bjerede & Bondi, 2012). My PowerPoint games
had success in the classroom, because we used desktop computers, large monitors, or laptops that
in return fostered more cooperation and improved in-class participation and engagement (Cronk
2012). Essentially what Im doing with such games is assigning points for participation. Cronk
defines gamification as applying game design philosophy to non-game applications in order to
make them more entertaining and engaging. Isnt that exactly what every student wants when
they enter a classroom?
As the age range of my classes varied, so did the material and the type of gamification
that I used. With younger students I noticed that it was much more effective to use multimedia as
well as props and/or physical movement. Making use of both the Total Physical Response
method and gamification, I realized that through motor activity and interactive game play, I

Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

could better manage the class and students remembered the material much longer. Total Physical
Response involves the coordination of both speech and action, and teaching language through
physical movement (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). As I started to look for more engaging forms of
gamification that would not be repetitive and boring for younger students, I came across
activities such as Pass the Ball or Pass the Bomb. These involved having students throw a
ball or a crumbled piece of paper to one another, until an explosion (or similarly exciting sound
effect) was heard onscreen, at which point the student holding the prop would have the answer
the concurrent question.

As you can see, these games did not even involve points or keeping score, but the simple act of
throwing and trying to avoid the ball was enough motivation for them to continue. Another

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TESOL 501

successful game that I used with very young students (kindergarten -2nd grade) was 4 Corners.
This used quite a bit of physical movement, which is very good for overly energetic young
students who cannot sit still. I used with bigger classes (~20 students), and to my initial surprise
it worked out quite well despite the disorderliness and size of the classes. Students simply had to
stand up and run to the corner of the class which pertained to the correct answer.

Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

These games were helping me to pass the time and allowed my students to enjoy one of
the many classes they had to endure every day, but how could I go beyond simply entertaining
and amusing schoolchildren? I believe that is why teaching experiences with middle school aged
or adult students is much more valuable, because it allows you to go beyond your technical
competence and try to instill a sense of rightful development in achieving the mindset of an
English speaker/reader/listener/writer. That is essential what digital literacy comes down to
(Hafner, Chik, & Jones, 2015). Eventually I became good at gamifying just about any lesson.
With a simple paper clip, dice, coin, or a chalk & blackboard, you can take any bland and boring
lesson and turn into an amusing and interactive session. This is a skill thats especially useful
when technology fails you or you do not have the materials available to you at the time.
Teaching at a girls middle school was my first and biggest challenge in gamifying
lessons for more mature and higher-level students. Eventually I learned to create many similarly
creative and entertaining games for the girls. Some of the more successful and often requested
games that I stumbled upon and tweaked were Top 5 and Family Feud. These involved using
both technology and pen & paper. Classes had to be split up in groups and lots of cooperation
and teamwork was necessary for the completion of each round. I handed each group a worksheet
with a list of blank numbers, and students had to work together to come up answers pertaining to
each round as a timer was going off. Points were assigned to each time who answered according
and in the correct order.

Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

Mohammad Panahi

TESOL 501

I feel like these games for the middle school students were more effective because of the
level of teamwork that was involved with them. This allows lower level and struggling students
not be left out of the lessons. Despite the competitive nature of Korean students, they are quite
helpful in aiding their peers, especially when gamification is being implemented. For those who
believe that such forms of gamification are distracting and ineffective, Id like to tell them to reexamine the reasons why they are resisting to engage in such things, and to recognize that a big
change in the pedagogical world has occurred and is occurring. We need to use these tools to
improve and better the letter of our students, rather than refuse to go along with the progression
of the modern classroom. I often let my students use their mobile phones to look up words or
find ideas for their writings, because I can see that it improves their papers and not allowing
them would simply discourage them from learning English. Smartphones and these forms of
digital media that I have mentioned can and must be used as pedagogical tools to engage and
motivate L2 learners, and anecdotal research shows that they are indeed affective (Smyth, 2011).
During my experiences with gamification as an English educator, Ive seen it as a very
useful tool and valuable incentive for students to pick up skills and learn a language that would
otherwise be very boring or stressful for them. I still use even now that I teach a group of adult
high-level Korean students. Sometimes at the beginning of class, I will write 6 topics on the
board (numerically numbered) and I will hand a dice to one of the students. They have to roll the

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TESOL 501

dice and talk about the pertaining topic for 1-2 minutes straight. Then they throw the dice to the
next person. Why? Because it is a good ice breaker for arduous early morning classes and I see
nothing but positive results. Theres no better way to get otherwise shy and withdrawn students
to get involved. The interest and desire to learn isnt necessarily a result of gamification, but
rather an indirect outcome of it. If you know to properly address students and plan your lessons
to fit their needs and interests, then the gamification acts as a lubricant for the learning process.
Humans are naturally motivated by the desire to be competent at something, have autonomy, and
to be part of a meaningful unit or community (EFL, 2013). That is exactly what gamification
has done for me and my students.

References
Bates, T. (2015). Teaching in a Digital Age. Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0
International License.
Bjerede, M., & Bondi, T. (2012). Learning is Personal: Stories of android tablet use in the 5th
grade. Learning Untethered. Retrieved from http://www.learninguntethered.com/?p=24
Cronk, M. (2012). Using Gamification to Increase Student Engagement and Participation in
Class Discussion. In T. Amiel & B. Wilson (Eds.), Proceedings of EdMedia: World
Conference on Educational Media and Technology 2012, 311-315. Association for
the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved October 17, 2016 from
https://www.learntechlib.org/p/40762.
deHaan, J. (2011). Teaching and learning English through digital game projects. Journal of
Digital Culture & Education, 3(1), 46-55.
EFL Gamification 1: Intrinsic and Extrinsic rewards. (2013). Mozuka: Learning and EFL.
Retrieved from http://mozuku.edublogs.org/2013/02/08/efl-gamification-1/

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Stanley, G. (2014). Gamifying the Language Classroom. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/bcgstanley/gamifying-the-language-classroom
Hafner, C. A., Chik, A.,& Jones, R. H. (2015). Digital literacies and language learning.
Language Learning & Technology, 19(3), 17. Retrieved from
http://llt.msu.edu/issues/october2015/commentary.pdf
Richards, J.C., & Rodgers, T.S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Smyth, T. (2011). Smartphones in the Classroom: Are We Ready?. In Proceedings of Global
Time 2011, 54-57. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
(AACE).
Terrell, S.S. (2014). The 30 Goals Challenge for Teachers: Small Steps to Transform Your
Teaching. New York: Routledge.