Effects of gaming applications on English Language vocabulary learning among young learners in Saudi Arabian elementary schools

Abstract EN

The past few decades have witnessed tremendous innovations in technology.

The digital revolution has immensely reconfigured the way of life.

Among the sectors significantly impacted by the digitalization of the world is the education sector.

In Saudi Arabia, technology has found widespread use in the education system.

This study aimed to investigate whether gaming applications can improve learning English vocabulary among young learners in elementary schools.

The study involved 30 students aged between 6 and 11 from two elementary schools in Saudi Arabia.

The participants were subjected to a pre-test followed by the treatment during which they were subjected to different gaming applications under the supervision of their parents, teachers, and researcher for one month.

After the experiment, the students took a post-test to assess the effects of the gaming applications.

The pre-test and post-test scores were subjected to normality and homogeneity of variance tests before analysis.

Since the post-test scores violated the parametric test assumptions, the data was analyzed through the non-parametric Wilcoxon's Signed Ranks test.

The results show significant differences between pre-test and post-test scores (T = 455.0, Z = -4.79, p < 0.001).

The null hypothesis was therefore rejected.

These results imply that gaming applications are important in improving English vocabulary learning among young learners in elementary schools in Saudi Arabia.

These results therefore inform language teachers in Saudi Arabia to make games an integral part of foreign or second language learning for young learners.