ENHANCING STUDENTS’ CONFIDENCE AND MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH WITH THE USE OF ONLINE GAME TRAINING SESSIONS

Abstract

Effective ESL teaching/learning has always been one of the most important interest areas for researchers and educators-practitioners. Over the past twenty years, teaching methods have been developed to enhance the students’ motivation and self-confidence with the purpose of improving their language skills. Learners with higher motivation do better in English, and learners with self-confidence tend to be more successful in learning. The contemporary society is constantly changing and developing new technologies. Using online games in ESL classroom is one of such methods supplementing the teaching-learning process. Learners are often motivated by hands-on and active learning opportunities. The students are able to work on accomplishing a goal by choosing specific actions. They experience the consequences of the actions, which is one of the ways that a game-based learning experience is similar to real life. In this article, we examined how the Kahoot game-based method of teaching ESL may affect the attitude of university students towards the language and their level of motivation and confidence. The obtained data revealed that using Kahoot training sessions was mostly successful in enhancing students’ confidence and motivation in learning English and the majority of students revealed positive attitudes to using Kahoot in language learning. However, 11% of students considered using online games to be a waste of time and 22% of students thought that learning English should not have fun as a necessary requirement. The author suggests that game-based method of teaching could be of use when utilized systematically over the academic year. However, university teachers should try various approaches and strategies to create a supportive learning environment in the classroom where learners feel interested, safe and secure to set and pursue their learning goals.