Development of grammatical speaking skills in a foreign language lesson in secondary school using gamification technique

Abstract

Introduction. Knowledge of foreign languages is now an indispensable condition revealing competence of a specialist in any field. As a result, a foreign language is one of the tools for personal and professional development. However, it should be noted that the motivation to learn a foreign language at the secondary education level is sometimes reduced. The research is aimed at determining the efficiency of introducing gamification technique into the educational process for the successful mastery of grammatical material in the fifth grade of secondary school. The research is based on the material of the German language; however, the proposed teaching technique might be used in the study of other foreign languages. Materials and methods. An experiment to identify the efficiency of using gamification technique for the development of grammatical speaking skills during the education process was performed on the basis of three secondary schools in the Lipetsk, Voronezh and Moscow regions. The initial and final level of development of grammatical speaking skills was determined. In order to assess the role of gamification for development of grammatical speaking skills among students in the fifth grade, a survey of teachers was conducted. Pearson’s chisquared test was used to evaluate the experiment efficiency. Results. During the experiment, the developed set of tasks and exercises aimed at the development of grammatical speaking skills and having formulations characteristic of the game, was tested. The use of the above set of tasks significantly influenced the development of grammatical speaking skills in a foreign language of the fifth grade students (χ2 = 6.290; p<0.05). Scientific novelty. It has been revealed that the use of gamification technique for the development of grammatical speaking skills in the fifth grade students is efficient when combining games with traditional didactic tasks, including those developed using digital tools. Practical relevance. The use of gamification technique in the educational process allows for successful solving of problems of teaching foreign languages being identified during the research. The proposed methodology for the development of grammatical speaking skills in the fifth grade students can be used in the practical activities of foreign language teachers as well as teachers of additional education.