Gamification: Implications for Student Motivation

Over the last decade, there has been growing interest in gamification, the "use of game design elements in non-game contexts" (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, & Nacke, 2011). Educational gamification promises to motivate and engage learners; however, published research has demonstrated mixed results. This article explores educational gamification for second language learning by synthesising several strands of theory: Lander’s (2014) theory of gamified learning; the MDA framework (Hunicke, LeBlanc, Zubek, & Zubeck, 2004); and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1980; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Two pieces of educational research are described and critiqued (Deci & Ryan, 1980; Ryan & Deci, 2000) revealing the need for a systematic approach to gamification design based on a clear description of the teaching and learning context, including the likely motivators of the targeted students; the FRAGGLE (Mora, Zaharias, González, & Arnedo-Moreno, 2016) framework is suggested as a useful model for such innovations.