Skip to main content

A Pilot Ethnographic Study of Gamified English Learning Among Primary Four and Five Students in a Rural Chinese Primary School

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Book cover Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue (iConference 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12645))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

This pilot ethnographic study examines the feasibility of learning English with a gamified English e-learning platform among Primary Four (P4) and Primary Five (P5) students in a remote primary school in Henan, China. Forty-one students participated in a summer reading camp where the gamified platform in question was used. Results show that following 4 weeks of playing on the gamified platform, the majority of students developed substantial interest in reading more English books upon the fulfillment of their innate psychological needs for competence, relatedness and autonomy. The authors conclude that under a self-determination framework, the gamified platform has been effective in helping Chinese students in a rural community to learn English.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Bianco, J., Orton, J., Gao, Y. (eds.): China and English: Globalisation and the Dilemmas of Identity. Multilingual Matters, Bristol, UK (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Deci, E., Ryan, R.: A motivational approach to self: integration in personality. In: Dienstbier, R. (ed.) Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Perspectives on Motivation, vol. 38, pp. 237–288. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., Nacke, L: From game design elements to gamefulness: defining gamification. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments 2011, pp. 9–15. ACM, Tampere, Finland (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Gui, M., He, Y., Shang, Y., Yu, Y.: Rural area primary school english teachers’ perception of the english course standards for compulsory education农村小学英语教师对《课标》的认识. Basic Foreign Lang. Educ. 21(2), 39–46 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hong, Y.: China launches national cloud learning platform as teaching goes online amid epidemic. China Global Television Network, 21 February 2020. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-02-19/China-launches-national-cloud-learning-platform-for-online-education-Ods9XruOR2/index.html

  6. Internet Network and Information Center: In: 45th Statistical Report on Internet Development, p. 17, April 2020. https://cnnic.com.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/202008/P020200827549953874912.pdf

  7. Krashen, S.D.: Free Voluntary Reading. Libraries Unlimited, Santa Barbara, CA (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Ministry of Education, The People’s Republic of China: Standard English Curriculum in Compulsory Education, 2011 (edn.) 义务教育英语课程标准(2011年版). Beijing Normal University Press, Beijing (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Palmer, S.: Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World Is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About It. Orion, London, UK (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Plowman, L., Stephen, C., McPake, J.: Growing Up With Technology: Young Children Learning in a Digital World. Routledge, New York, NY (2010)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  11. Qi, G.Y.: The importance of English in primary school education in China: perceptions of students. Multiling. Educ. 6(1), 1–18 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. The 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China 2016-2020. Central Compilation & Translation Press, Beijing (n.d.)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Zhao, Y.: World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Zhou, W.: Children make early start at learning English. China Daily, 24 January 2019. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/24/WS5c48f51da3106c65c34e629f.html

Download references

Acknowledgement

Our thanks go to SPDP who had welcomed us into Henan for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Na Meng .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Appendices

Appendix 1: Students’ Comments in the Original Chinese Wording (Listed in the Order of Appearance In Text)

See Appendix Tables 10, 11, 12.

Appendix 2: Students Concentrated on Reading on the Gamified Learning Platform

See Appendix Figs. 2 and 3

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Meng, N., Lee, S.Y.C., Chu, S.K.W. (2021). A Pilot Ethnographic Study of Gamified English Learning Among Primary Four and Five Students in a Rural Chinese Primary School. In: Toeppe, K., Yan, H., Chu, S.K.W. (eds) Diversity, Divergence, Dialogue. iConference 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12645. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71292-1_45

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71292-1_45

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-71291-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-71292-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics