41GAMIFICATION AS A BRIDGE FOR LINKING EDUCATIONAL PROCESS AND REAL LIFE: WHY TEACHERS SHOULD NOT STOP GAMIFYING?
N. M. Mirodilova
Uzbekistan State World Languages University
ABSTRACT
The article highlights the importance of playing in teaching a foreign language. It defines main terms that related to the selected theme such as gamify or gamification representing the notes of many researchers. Moreover, it clarifies why and how teachers should apply various games in learning processes.
Keywords: gamify and gamification, points, ratings, feedback and competitiveness.
Children must be taught how to think,
not what to think.
Margaret Mead
INTRODUCTION
A foreign language, as a general educational subject, can and should contribute to the development of students' creative abilities. As learning new language means learning new culture and traditions, nations and lifestyles. Without learning these factors, we can not use the new language that has a bunch of words representing good or bad emotions within various idioms or set phrases and etc. So, it is clear that students will be able to expand their educational horizons, develop their critical thinking, memory, feeling and emotions by learning a foreign language, only if the process of learning includes communicative and cognitive activities which possess both educational and social values. This type of tasks should be carefully formed and implemented accordingly to the learner's level and individuality and their ability.
METHODOLOGY
In this technological century, teachers have to concern all factors that surround students and as a teacher, we should not blame our learners on overusing their gadgets or showing lack of attention to the lesson. Instead, we should try to catch their wave in
order to direct them in a right way. I believe that the best way of achieving all above mentioned goals is gamification.
Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts. It can also be defined as a set of activities and processes to solve problems by using or applying the characteristics of game elements.
The terms "gamification" and "gamify" appeared with the spread of information technology and were associated with the introduction of gaming techniques into various processes such as personnel management, promotion of goods and services, business and training. Gamification in education is developing quite rapidly in connection with the development of digital technologies, distance learning and the involvement of the "generation of computer games" in the educational environment.
Many modern researchers are considering the use of games in education and teaching foreign languages. Ya. M. Kolker, ES Ustinova, TM Yenalieva remind that "more than a hundred years ago one of the most famous naturalists of his time, Thomas Huxley, defined education as the study of the rules of the game called " life ". R. P. Milrud, I. R. Maksimova pay great attention to the game in educational activities. They believe that "interactive behavior is always based on gaming technology. Only the form of winning is different " Moreover, Milrud and Maksimova view life itself as a megagame. "The game is the implementation of strategies for winning. Life requires a person to solve a continuous series of choice of strategies for activity and behavior. Therefore, vital activity is a continuous mega-game with other players or with oneself. Everyone is necessarily involved in this mega-game, which encompasses all types of human activity. " Such a broad interpretation allows us to speak about the popularity of various directions in methods (including gamification) associated with the use of games in the educational process.
RESULTS
Applying games to learning processes helps to create a stable feedback with the learner, to direct and correct the actions of the participants, to intensify the assimilation of the educational material. The main advantage of gamification is the increase in motivation for learning through involvement in the game process. Thus, being highly motivated can help you cope with difficult situations, show persistence and commitment, and seek effective problem-solving strategies.
Playing games is an effective way of repeating linguistic phenomena. In general, students love games that have an element not only specific skills or experiences, but also luck and chance. Games that rely on students' skill might seem boring, as the same talented guys are able to win, so the enthusiasm of most players might drop. Games including an element of luck consist of guessing games, dice and cards games. Most games are adversarial and can be won by one person or team. The use of team and group games helps to reduce the pressure of competition on one person. Keeping these principles in mind - luck and skill, competition and cooperation, surprise, which are the basis of all games - the teacher can turn an exercise from a textbook into a game. The use of various games helps to captivate children with a foreign language, creates conditions for success in learning the language. And students who want to play will definitely want to improve their knowledge of a foreign language. When planning lessons, the teacher should think not only about making students remember new words, this or that structure, but also strive to create all the opportunities for the development of the individuality of each child. To keep children interested in their subject, you need to understand what kind of work or methods can captivate children. Every teacher of a foreign language must constantly look for reserves to improve the quality and efficiency of teaching a foreign language. Games help children become creative personalities, teach them to be creative in any business. To be creative in a business means to carry it out with high quality, at a higher level. Creativity is constant improvement and progress in any activity. Games bring creativity to children and adults alike. Without the joy of creativity, our life turns into boredom and routine. A creative person is always passionate about something. A person's standard of living depends on the creative potential of a person.
Actually, there is a method in medicine and psychology - game therapy. Patients can be diagnosed within playing process. With the help of the game, specialists can correct, improve, develop important psychological properties of individual. The game always involves making a decision - how to act, what to say, how to win. The desire to solve these issues speeds up the thinking activity of the players. However, for children, play is primarily an exciting activity. In the game, everyone is equal. It is feasible even for weak students. A sense of equality, an atmosphere of enthusiasm and joy, a sense of the feasibility of tasks - all this makes it possible for learners to overcome shyness that prevents them from freely using words of a foreign language in speech and has a beneficial effect on learning outcomes. The linguistic material is imperceptibly
assimilated, and at the same time a feeling of satisfaction arises - it turns out that I can speak on an equal basis with everyone.
Games might contribute to the fulfillment of the following methodological tasks:
- creation of psychological readiness of learners for verbal communication;
- ensuring the natural necessity of repeating linguistic material by them;
- training students in choosing the desired speech option.
Despite being usable and useful at any time, lesson or level, utilization of games should be balanced by educators. They should create games depending on a number of factors; the material studied, the objective and subject, topic of the lesson.
As Fardo notes that the main goals of gamification are to enhance certain abilities, introduce objectives that give learning a purpose, engage students, optimize learning, support behavior change and socialize. An educational game is a complete gameplay with game mechanics, plot, character. In the passage of knowledge that has already been formed, only sometimes notes or hints float up. In this way, you can master a large amount of information, but this is a good method of consolidating or checking what you have learned.
The experience of pedagogical activity testifies the effectiveness of utilizing games in the educational process. In the game, students can learn and memorize foreign words better, which leads to an expansion of their lexicon. Games in the educational process should be selected as follows: first, games are used to introduce new themes, terms and notions; after that, games are used to consolidate knowledge and to automate new lexical units.
Thus, the process of teaching a foreign language will be more effective if the games are appropriately applied in the classroom, taking into account the age and individual characteristics of children, in accordance with the goals and objectives of the lesson.
In a university, a game should be an independent cognitive activity of a student within the framework of specific rules and conditions, aimed at finding, processing and assimilating educational information for making decisions in a problematic situation. Providing dynamism and productivity of thinking, memory efficiency in the process of mental and cognitive activity, it becomes a means of intellectual development. In this case, the foreign experience of using the game is interesting, including the system of higher education.
Using the game in the classroom, the teacher forms and develops students' skills and abilities to find the necessary information, transform it, develop plans and decisions on its basis, both in stereotypical and non-stereotypical situations.
It is known that the game has always been and is one of the most effective, flexible and universal teaching methods. It is designed to activate the learning process, make it more productive, close to the conditions that can be encountered in a natural communication situation. Therefore, the educational game becomes the last, transitional stage, connecting the educational process with real life (practice). This is followed by the real practice of communication. As an example, you can use the game situations "At a doctor's appointment", "In a cafe", "In a store". In this case, the game creates an opportunity for timid, unsure learners to speak and thereby overcome the barrier of uncertainty, facilitates learners' contacts with each other and with the teacher. In addition, the game creates conditions for equality in speech partnership and cooperation, prepares students to solve real problems, form their cognitive interests and consciously master a foreign language.
DISCUSSION
Analysing the positive influence of game on the development of the student's personality, its role in foreign language classes, one must not forget that success in achieving results will depend on the following factors: the content of educational information and its compliance with educational goals and objectives, as well as the interests and needs of learning ; relevance, quality, the moment of introduction into the educational process, individual and age characteristics of the students' group and the level of training its individual participants; the degree of complexity of the material being studied; mastery of the teacher, his competence, qualifications, knowledge of his learners and the ability to manage the educational process, as well as his individual characteristics and personal characteristics.
Therefore, the teacher using the game in the lesson should:
1. clearly imagine for what purpose he is using this game, what language material is being worked out in this lesson;
2. clearly formulate game situations that should not be repeated, each of them should carry an element of novelty;
3. explain the rules of the game, talk about what will happen as a result, thereby arouse positive emotions, interest, desire in the trainees to join the game as soon as possible;
4. constantly replenish the list of games, study the accumulated experience of their application in the educational system of our country and abroad.
Often, traditional teaching methods focus on the learner's mistakes. The student is shown what he did wrong. In playing techniques, the emphasis is on the content and principles of achieving success. Students are not afraid to "learn from their mistakes". Gamification allows you to gradually complicate educational tasks, like in a computer game, from simple levels to complex ones.
By controlling the process of the game, the teacher receives feedback from cadets, active communication takes place. With the help of gamification, it is possible to overcome some of the problems and contradictions that exist in teaching a foreign language in non-linguistic educational organizations: "insufficient motivation of students; initial multilevel training students"
Gamification refers to interactive teaching methods that enable different interaction strategies for educational purposes. "A key element of a foreign language course should be a high degree of interactivity." - confirms E. N. Solovova. She welcomes the variety of forms of communication in teaching practice. "These forms of communication include: role-playing and situational games, debates, discussions, student conferences, various forms of research, creative and game projects ...".
Gabe Tsikherman highlights the main characteristics of gamification; emotions, motivation, thirst for acquisition, desire to receive a prize, competitiveness, craving for superiority, competitive spirit, passion, the ability to achieve victory, voluntary participation and feedback.
Robert S. Becker suggested practical ways to gamify learning taking into account real-life situations amuse, reward, encourage independence, plan difficulty levels, implement ideas. He believed that rivalry is one of the main features of gamification. We agree with Becker about the key role of competitiveness in gamification.
Participation in the game, like participation in sports, is caused by certain motives and needs. Any need awakens search activity aimed at finding a way to satisfy it. A person can choose any method from those that he can apply, but the area of his choice is limited by external conditions. Often circumstances lead to the choice of a certain path. A person chooses sports or play activities as a way to meet their needs. GD Gorbunov
includes in these needs: the need for activity, movement, the need for the realization of reflexes of purpose and freedom, the need for rivalry, competition, self-affirmation, the need to be in a group, to communicate, the need for new impressions, etc.
Gamification techniques include points, badges, ratings - the PBL triad (points, badges, leaderboards). These techniques help to organize the game in such a way that the process is controlled, and the achievements of the players are understandable and visual.
Points help to keep score, according to them the winners are determined by the sum of the points scored, the achievements and progress of the players are evaluated. Points provide feedback to participants. In gamification, there is much more scope for assessment. Different scales can be introduced into the game, points are awarded for completing certain tasks. You can use "conventional units", "lucky pounds", "stars" or just marks. Points are calculated at the end of the game. Points can play the role of a recognition tool or virtual money, they can be used to get additional bonuses, for example, participation in an excursion or a prize.
Badges are awards, tokens, nominations that recognize a player's achievement in a certain area. For example, "best translation", "fastest translator", "vocabulary expert" or "best guide". Badges allow you to organize the game more flexibly, so they can be assigned for any achievement at the discretion of the teacher. They are designed to visually demonstrate achievements and motivate the given behavior of the participants in the game process. Badges symbolize a certain status and, as a rule, are beautifully decorated in the form of medals, badges, pictures. The fact of receiving an award increases motivation and desire to participate in the game.
Ratings (leaderboards) show the position of one participant relative to others. They visually represent the players' achievements in the form of a kind of standings. To see their name on the leaderboard, many get involved in the game and progress. On the one hand, the application of the rating motivates the participants who are at the top of the standings. They strive to achieve leadership and intensify their actions. On the other hand, there is a danger of demotivating weak players. Students with a low rating understand the futility of the effort to chase a leader and become less active. Not all students approve of the competitive moments, it is necessary to take into account the personal and psychological characteristics of different learners. Therefore, the introduction of gamification into the educational process should not occur
spontaneously, but taking into account the learning conditions, internal and external motivation of the participants.
CONCLUSION
All in all, it can be inferenced that conducting educational games, contests, quizzes, gamification of the processes of mastering speech skills and controlling the studied material can be an effective way to intensify educational activities. Involvement in teamwork and increasing the motivation of students contributes to the development of communicative competence and improving the quality of the educational process.
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