Perceived effectiveness and identity development in gamified intercultural learning among EFL learners
Keywords:
Gamified learning, intercultural competence, global citizenship identity, identity development, EFL pedagogyAbstract
Traditional, teacher-centric English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms often exacerbate intercultural anxiety and reduce student agency, leaving learners with passive cultural awareness. This study investigated how a structured, theory-driven gamified learning environment influences student perceptions and the development of global citizenship identity. A survey design that was quantitative to study a specific group of 186 advanced English majors from four public universities. The results revealed a critical psychological paradox. Although the game-like design effectively encouraged teamwork and active involvement in the classroom, turning this online participation into real skills for communicating across cultures was still a very disjointed experience for each learner. Importantly, strong variance analysis showed that a student's identity plays a key role in how they see things; students who feel connected to global citizenship were much more open to using the gamified platform compared to those who focused mainly on their local community. Teachers need to go beyond just using simple rewards and should carefully design game-like learning structures that match the different identities of language learners.
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