CALL
Z. Saeedi; N. Nikoobin
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Educational psychology is one of the core concepts in the area of teaching and learning and plays a key role in any educational context including language instruction. Learners’ mindset (fixed or growth) may have an impact on the learning process and the ubiquitous technology ...
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Background and Objectives: Educational psychology is one of the core concepts in the area of teaching and learning and plays a key role in any educational context including language instruction. Learners’ mindset (fixed or growth) may have an impact on the learning process and the ubiquitous technology can be of influence in making a change in students’ mindset. Despite the claim that through practice learners can improve in their subjects, many still consider it futile without related innate intelligence. Finding solutions for shifting this detrimental mindset is essential. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the effect of using gamified and interactive content (H5P) on shifting English learners’ mindset, moving from a fixed mindset into a growth one. Another purpose was to discover the probable relationship between learners’ different General English (GE) levels, the rate of their initial mindset, and the proportion of change induced in their mindset throughout the course.Materials and Methods: The participants consisted of 225 students aged 12-13 (111: experimental; 114: control). After conducting a placement test and using Dweck’s (2017) mindset questionnaire to measure their initial mindset, both groups went through a 12-week-long course, receiving similar instruction, except for the teaching phase. While the experimental group’s course was conducted through gamified and interactive content hosted on the Learning Management System, the control group’s was conducted live through web conferencing. Afterward, the learners redid the questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using ANCOVA and ANOVA statistical tests.Findings: To compare the GE levels two by two, a Scheffe test was used, and based on its results, it can be deduced that mindset differences mean for Pre-A1 (p = 0.001), A1 (p = 0.001) and A2 and above (p = 0.025) were all significant. Comparing the mindset differences means between the three English level groups, it can be inferred, however, that the Pre-A1 group was the highest in mindset differences mean, while A2 was the lowest. In other words, the weaker was the students’ level of GE, the higher the amount of change in their mindset type towards a growth one. The findings of the present study showed that the use of gamified interactive content (H5P) in the bichronous format of the LMS can have a significant effect on improving high school EFL learners’ Growth Mindset levels by 39%. The contents, which were provided for students in both gamified and H5P classes, resulted in immediate feedback exchanges, which raised the motivational level and encouraged them to go on with different interactive tasks and activities.Conclusions: After carrying out the research, the researchers concluded that using gamified and interactive content as part of the learning process could induce a Growth Mindset in learners, higher GE students mostly had higher initial rates of Growth Mindset, and weaker learners experienced greater shifts towards growth. This study can motivate language learners and teachers to utilize gamified and interactive content in online courses and can help educational system policymakers notice more deeply the effect the application of gamification and H5P plugins have on teaching English, which can result in new curriculum development for schools.
CALL
S. S. Hosseini; H. Soleimani; F. Hemmati; J. Afshinfar
Abstract
Background and Objectives: In response to the burgeoning significance of environmental and sustainability education, the educational landscape is undergoing rapid transformations, presenting new opportunities for foreign language classrooms to assume a distinctive role in exposing learners to the fundamental ...
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Background and Objectives: In response to the burgeoning significance of environmental and sustainability education, the educational landscape is undergoing rapid transformations, presenting new opportunities for foreign language classrooms to assume a distinctive role in exposing learners to the fundamental concepts and principles of environmental literacy. Drawing on a newly constructed Ecolinguistic computer-assisted language learning (CALL) evaluation scale, this study aims to investigate the implementation of this scale and the interplay between language, centering on an Ecolinguistically-based task that illustrates the interaction between and among the affordance of technology, the teacher participant's pedagogical considerations and their goal of encouraging learner agency in nurturing learners' ecological perspectives, content aspects, and competency of environmental knowledge.Methods: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was adopted to implement a newly constructed Ecolinguistic CALL perspective to promote environmental literacy among foreign language learners. Two intact classes, including 30 English foreign language learners, were randomly assigned to investigate the implementation of the subscales. A paired-sample t-test was applied to analyze the quantitative data. As part of implementing the Ecolinguistic scale and qualitative data analysis, the participants were assigned an Ecolinguistically technology-based task and were informed about the fundamental concepts of the subscale domains of environmental literacy using a technology-mediated task. Thematic analysis was run to gain a more robust view of the participants' ecological views.Findings: The study findings unveil a notable and affirmative influence on students' ecological perspectives, as evidenced by the rigorous quantitative data analysis and the participants' thematic analysis reflections. The successful implementation of the Ecolinguistic subscales and the Ecolinguistically-based task significantly bolstered learners' ecological perspectives while concurrently enhancing their comprehension of intricate ecological concepts. These outcomes substantiate the proposition that integrating Ecolinguistic dimensions into technology-mediated pedagogies holds promising potential for cultivating environmental literacy among English foreign language learners.Conclusions: This research highlights the need to reconceptualize environmental challenges and problematizes the traditional positivist framework underlying mainstream linguistic inquiry. It accentuates the significance of thoughtfully integrating appropriate technologies into language learning environments to enrich students' learning experiences and stimulate motivation that aligns with their individual interests. Moreover, the study underscores the importance of employing practical and cost-effective evaluation techniques to assess students' environmental literacy. The findings yielded by this research endeavor will facilitate and advocate for embracing an eco-dimensional strategy that harmonizes numerous concerns about the volatility of the human habitat and the augmentation of the ecosystem's capacities via the integration of technical concepts, methodologies, and linguistic analysis techniques. This approach endows us with universally applicable to implementing humanitarian endeavors through CALL. It furnishes invaluable perspectives that enrich our comprehension of environmental literacy, thereby bolstering the efficacy of decision-making processes in enhancing our grasp of transformative endeavors within the realms of curriculum design and policy. Several noteworthy limitations warrant consideration. Primarily, the investigation failed to acknowledge the potential ramifications of additional constructs on the subscales of the Ecolinguistic scale. Secondly, the inquiry into the environmental literacy of the participants surpassed the confines of the study's purview. Notwithstanding these limitations, the study's findings and methodologies have propelled our comprehension of environmental literacy to new heights. Nonetheless, further measures are imperative to bolster curriculum design and policy formulation decision-making processes. The study carries substantial implications for pedagogy and academia, encompassing the enhancement of environmental literacy among English as a Foreign Language learners and the cultivation of a comprehensive approach to language acquisition. Additional research is indispensable to delve into the pedagogical preferences of educators, regulate variables, and encompass a more expansive sample size. Educators are strongly encouraged to adopt student-centered, transformative pedagogies while simultaneously ensuring equitable access to technology-driven resources. A thorough understanding of sociolinguistics and a thoughtful consideration of technological affordances also assume pivotal roles in this endeavor.
