International scientific journal «Grail of Science» | № 12-13 (April, 2022)

476
.ARTICLE.
DOI 10.36074/grail-of-science.29.04.2022.083

SUSTAINING CONNECTIONS: IN-CLASS

LEARNING AND GAME-BASED LEARNING
IN ELT
SECTION XXVI. PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION

Artem Hurhish
Bachelor’s student of the faculty of foreign languages
Chernivtsi National University named after Y. Fedkovich, Ukraine

Research advisor: Maggie Sterlikova

Assistant Professor at the Department of the English language
Chernivtsi National University named after Y. Fedkovich, Ukraine

Summary: Nowadays, it is a deal of big significance to make our teaching innovative and enjoyable
for the students. One of the ways is to implement online learning games in our ESL classes. There
is a necessity to develop language in different contexts, but some students are becoming successful
only under certain learning conditions. The way to deal with and proceed is building connections
between learning contexts using scaffolding, reflecting upon students` prior knowledge, and using
students' implicit, intuitive knowledge.
Keywords: English language teaching, SLA – second language acquisition, scaffolding, game-based
learning, in-class learning, implicit knowledge, explicit knowledge, learning chunks, Bloom`s
Taxonomy

1. Introduction
Today, it is a deal of big significance not only to teach language but to teach it
in different learning contexts with a sense of flow and enjoyment and extend
language knowledge beyond classrooms. For example, one of the ways to make
students enjoy learning is to digitalize classrooms with online learning games.
However, we are always facing new difficulties to solve as far as learning via games
and traditional learning are a significant difference. According to “Scaffolding game-
based learning: Impact on learning achievements, perceived learning, and game
experiences” by Ina Blau and Sarit Barzilai, one of the major challenges while game-
based learning is sustaining connections between knowledge students acquire while
at school, being exposed to formal learning in traditional classrooms, and knowledge
they acquire while playing learning-games [1].
As a result, the necessity of building connections lies in differences in two
learning contexts: learning while playing and traditional in-class learning. The arising
difficulty within the classroom is, to be specific, that some students show successful
results while playing Kahoot or different learning game modes on Blooket, but, in the
long run, end up not capable of showing similar results within the learning contexts
of traditional classrooms. This leads us to the necessity of maintaining close

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477
connections between in-class and game-based learning and even extending this
knowledge to the higher levels of Bloom`s Taxonomy and beyond the classroom, as
far as our final goal is never successful drilling or great results in learning games and
always is reaching highly productive language knowledge our students acquire and
can implement in grounded contexts of ESL usage.
2. Building connections between learning contexts
At this point, the question emerges: what are the causes of this phenomenon
that happens in different learning contexts? According to “Learning context and its
effects on SLA” by Joseph Collentine, and Barbara F. Freed, and considering the
context sensitive theory of SLA, learning contexts determine the second language

С ЕКЦІЯ XXVI . ПЕДАГ ОГ ІК А ТА ОСВ ІТА

usage and acquisition [2].
To be specific, the causes of this difficulty are:
- Differences not only in a context but in complexity
- Difference between students` explicit and implicit knowledge within two
learning contexts [3]
- Different learning contexts include different levels of Bloom`s Taxonomy.
- Overexcitement while playing results in losing connections with the learning
purposes of an activity
Suffice it to say, that building connections between the following learning
contexts is a valid way to deal with extending students` knowledge beyond the
border of a learning game to proceed with higher levels of productivity.
What should be remembered is that one of the effective ways to build this
connection is to scaffold game-based learning using a variety of scaffolding
strategies, especially breaking learning into chunks to reduce the influence of a
complexity and productivity gap between learning contexts, making our learning
more gradual by splitting it into smaller parts that are easy-to-comprehend.
Consequently, it is easier for students to make connections between them [4].
What has to be mentioned: another effective strategy is to reflect upon
students` prior knowledge by making communicative context grounded for the
students` experience [5]. Additionally, by creating similar linguistic (common
vocabulary units) and communicative (purposes of language usage, narrative
components of an activity) contexts within in-class and game-based learning. The
matching communicative contexts encourage students` implicit knowledge to wake
up and give teachers a chance to connect it to explicit knowledge.
Additionally, game-based learning brings us the challenge of students`
overexcitement while playing. For instance, some students are seen to be
overexcited competing while playing Kahoot or Gimkit (the last one is claimed to be
“Kahoot on steroids”). As a result, the game itself becomes students` main priority.
Flow and enjoyment while playing have to be a stimulus to learn, but not substitute
learning entirely. Consequently, that is precisely why finding balance between a
sense of flow and learning is an essential element of successful game-based learning
[1]
Summing up the first and the second part of this article we are in front of a
challenge of building connections between traditional in-class and game-based
learning so that students' knowledge doesn`t exist only within the borders of
learning games.

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 International scientific journal «Grail of Science» | № 12-13 (April, 2022)
478
3. Practical employment. Positive and negative outcomes
At this point of discussion, we are craving the practical employment of
connecting knowledge within the learning game with the one acquired in the
classroom. We conducted practical research with a group of 5 students aged 13-14
years, who were taught Past Simple via game-based learning. To implement learning
games into the classroom and to scaffold it successfully, we used the EdApp web
platform that gave us instruments to scaffold game-based learning via breaking it
into chunks, giving visuals and audio recordings – courses on EdApp are made in a
form of presentations preceded by learning games or quizzes. The choice of a web
platform was based on the necessity to maintain a balance between enjoyment and
SECTION XXVI. PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION

learning – EdApp was an excellent option because it is not overwhelming us with

playing sections and it is rather formal. Generally speaking, the structure of the
lesson can be expressed by a “study and play” game-based learning approach, in
which learners, via each separate chunk, are first introduced to the formal
representation of information and then can play learning games [1] and do quizzes.
To be specific and give more details let us take a deeper look at the structure
of the EdApp course:
Table 1
General information about the class
The topic of the class Past Simple structure
Level A2
Age of the learners 13-14
Main aim To learn new grammatical structure, how it is built, and in what
contexts we may use it
Materials used The lesson was created on EdApp educational platform, audios
and visuals, Quizlet course on irregular verbs
Game-based learning Study and play – first explicit knowledge and then – learning
approach games
Anticipated problem Students may find it difficult to understand the theory they are
given in EdApp class
Probable solution To give extra verbal support as a teacher to help students
understand the material before playing

Table 2
The structure of the edapp course
1) Contextual examples and
analyzing them A learning game on
2) General exemplified rules. learning chunks #1 -
Past Simple “were/was” and and #2
“could/couldn`t” Playing a final
3) Past Simple regular verbs A learning game on Playing a learning game
and orthography a chunk #3 learning game that gathers all
4) Past Simple irregular A learning game on on chunks #3 the learning
verbs a chunk #4 and #4 chunks together
A learning game on
5)Past Simple negative A learning game
a chunk #5
on chunks #5
A learning game on
6) Past Simple interrogative and #6
a chunk #6

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 Міжнародний науковий журнал «Грааль науки» | № 12-13 (квітень, 2022)

479
As far as you can observe, the Past Simple grammatical topic is divided into
learning chunks to make it easier for students to comprehend. Moreover, we made
sure that the difficulty of learning games and the degree of language productivity is
increasing gradually, step by step, making it to higher levels of Bloom`s Taxonomy
while progressing in learning games. What is important is that we introduced Past
Simple in a certain communicative context that is familiar to the students in their first
language (in this case – talking about past habits, historical facts, retrospectives) and
take this communicative context to proceed with in-classroom activities beyond
EdApp.
At this point, we are in the doorway to talking about the outcomes of practical

С ЕКЦІЯ XXVI . ПЕДАГ ОГ ІК А ТА ОСВ ІТА

research. The game-based learning conducted by us was successful and outcomes
were generally positive. Therefore, we successfully built connections between
learning contexts and learners felt a vague, almost imperceptible difference between
them, despite feeling stimulating game enjoyment before and being exposed to a
specific ESL usage context.
Nevertheless, it is the nature of any educational process to face errors and to
reconsider everything to correct them. Let us pay attention to the small table about
this:
Table 3
Negative outcomes with probable solutions
Negative outcomes Probable solutions

One of the students found difficulties
joining the EdApp course – this is
considered to be a technical issue.
To present the way of joining in advance via
screen demonstration. If a physical
classroom is digitalized, use an interactive
whiteboard to show it visually or watch a
tutorial on YouTube.

One of the students, who was exposed to
Past Tenses before in his learning
experience, was confusing Past Simple with
Past Continuous.
We should reconsider our EdApp course
and present Past Tense comparatively with
Past Continuous for those students who
have been already exposed to this grammar
and reflect this way upon their prior
knowledge.

Summing up, we successfully identified ways of building connections between

in-class and game-based learning contexts and proved it to be an efficient strategy
in terms of giving a sense of flow and enjoyment with a simultaneous sustaining of
balance between entertainment and learning. Even though we faced certain negative
outcomes, it is our opportunity to reflect upon our research and reconsider
problematic moments and things that can be found controversial.

References:
[1] Ina Blau, Sarit Barzilai (2014). Scaffolding game-based learning: Impact on learning
achievements, perceived learning, and game experiences. URL:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259127159_Scaffolding_game-
based_learning_Impact_on_learning_achievements_perceived_learning_and_game_expe
riences

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 International scientific journal «Grail of Science» | № 12-13 (April, 2022)
480
[2] Joseph Collentine, Barbara F. Freed (2004) Learning Context and Its
Effects on Second Language Acquisition: Introduction.
URL:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231914507_Learning_Context_and_Its_E
ffects_on_Second_Language_Acquisition_Introduction
[3] Sepidah Mehraein, Hamideh Marefat, Hossein Karami (2022): L2 English Knowledge:
Implicit, Explicit or Automatized? The Role of Structure Difficulty.
URL:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359921315_L2_English_Knowledge_Impl
icit_Explicit_or_Automatized_The_Role_of_Structure_Difficulty
[4] Elizabeth Mulvahill (2021): 15 Ways to Scaffold Learning. URL:
https://www.weareteachers.com/ways-to-scaffold-learning/
[5] Chris Drew (2021): Instructional Scaffolding In Education (Examples & Techniques) URL:
SECTION XXVI. PEDAGOGY AND EDUCATION

https://helpfulprofessor.com/instructional-scaffolding-strategies/

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