Gamificando la evaluación formativa para mejorar la precisión del habla y la motivación en estudiantes de inglés como lengua extranjera

Abstract

Education First (2019) reported that there has been a consistent very low English proficiency in Ecuadorian learners, whose score was 46.57 out of 100. Similarly, some findings done in Ecuador have evidenced the necessity to contribute to the speaking skill area. Therefore, this article focused on the analysis of the effects of a gamified formative assessment process through Factile on learners’ skills in speaking accuracy and to increase their motivation to communicate in L2. The study reports the findings of action research. It used two groups, the control group and experimental group, whose data are compared through the use of quantitative instruments. The pre-post tests and pre-post surveys were used to answer two research questions: 1. To what extent does Formative assessment through the use of Factile improve learners’ speaking accuracy skills? 2. Does students’ motivation toward speaking English increase due to the implementation of the innovation? Findings support previous studies. First, it revealed that applying a gamified formative assessment process through Factile improved learners’ speaking accuracy. The effect size was large, Cohen d= 1,11844. Second, it proved that the implementation of the innovation engaged learners and increase their motivation to use L2 in speaking. However, it is recommended to conduct more studies to contribute to the development of speaking skills, as well as regarding the use of Factile to facilitate formative assessment. The results of the present study have implications to conduct subsequent research in the same field of study.