Vision: Journal for Language and Foreign Language Learning

Vol. 10, No. 2, October 2021, pp. 83-98

ISSN 2745-9667 (p), 2541-4399 (e)
DOI: 10.21580/vjv10i28577

The Effect of Gamified Flipped Classroom on the

Improvement of Vocabulary Learning of Iranian
Pre-Intermediate EFL learners

Farhad Fahandezh1, Asieyeh Mohammadi 2*

12
English Department, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hormozgan – Iran

Article Information
Received 13 July 2021
Accepted 14 September 2021
Published December 20, 2021
Abstract

The current study aimed to improve vocabulary learning by using gamification in the flipped classroom context. To
this end, all of the study’s population comprised high school learners at two high schools in Roodan, a city in
Hormozgan, Iran. The participants were divided into three classes, class A consisting of 40 students, class B
comprising 40 students, and class C consisting of thirty learners. All learners were female. In order to ensure that the
learners were homogeneous, the Preliminary English Test (PET) was applied. Class A was chosen as the experimental
group (gamified flipped classroom), whereas classes B and C were chosen as the control groups. Data were collected
through the vocabulary and placement tests. Results indicate that gamification in the flipped context could have a
significant effect on vocabulary improvement. This study suggests certain implications for English teachers,
policymakers, and material developers. As a new teaching model, it offers a new method of vocabulary teaching.

Keywords: gamification; flipped classroom; vocabulary learning; EFL; pre-intermediate

Additionally, English vocabulary acquisition

Introduction
must encompass both the grasp of word
Without grammar, language's expression is meanings and the progression of vocabulary
constrained. An expression is impossible in the acquisition; teachers' advice can aid pupils in
absence of vocabulary (Wilkins, 1972). The four vocabulary acquisition (Laufer, 2001). Learning
core language skills of listening, speaking, English can be difficult for second-language
reading, and writing are all tied to vocabulary. Learners or foreign language learners (Turgut &
For the development of listening skills, Irgin, 2009). Additionally, remembering English
information acquisition, speaking, writing, vocabulary is a tedious and passive learning task
reading, and learning, a diverse vocabulary is that saps pupils' motivation to learn (C. M. Chen
required (Goulden, Nation, & Read, 1990). & Chung, 2008).
Hence, vocabulary is the most important
In traditional learning and teaching
element of language development.
approaches, students, who attend lectures, are
__________ faced with much information given by the
 teacher and then try to comprehend
Corresponding Author: Asieyeh Mohammadi
([email protected]) Bandar information by doing homework outside of the
Abbass, Hormozgan, Iran

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Farhad Fahandezh, Asieyeh Mohammadi

classroom. This approach has several limitations (Reinders & Wattana, 2015). (Reinders &
(Sams & Bergmann, 2013). Some of the Wattana, 2015)
limitations are limited interaction between
teacher and students, the inflexibility of Gamification in learning
lectures, and the use of strict ways of P. Z. Chen et al. (2020) looked at how
transferring knowledge (Goodwin, 2013; Toto & gamified classroom management affected
Hien Nguyen, 2009). primary students' divergent thinking and
The development of new technologies has creative tendencies. The students played various
led to the hope that it can effectively solve the roles and completed different tasks. The
learning problems of foreign language learners. experiment involved two groups of primary
Students go to an independent learning students. The classroom management of 44
environment without time or location primary students was gamified, whereas the
constraints by altering the teaching-learning classroom management of the remaining 42
process. The situation also changes the learning primary students was traditional. The
ways of the new generation of learners (Girmen experimental and control groups were
& Kaya, 2019). The new generation is better at compared to see how divergent thinking and
using the internet. Students born after the creative tendencies differed. According to the
internet have a more independent learning style findings of the study, role-playing in gamified
and a deeper conviction in the power of classroom management increased students'
technology to improve learning. Boring teaching linguistic divergent thinking and creative
can be changed into an active learning process propensity in classroom tasks. Also, the results
by using game-based learning approaches and showed that gamified classroom management
strategies. Learning through games can improve was operative in improving learners’ creativity
teamwork, communication, and social and served as creativity teaching for primary
interaction among students. These instructional learners.
methods enable students to learn actively and Alavi & Gilakjani (2019) investigated the
independently (Burguillo, 2010; Jong, Lai, Hsia, impact of games on the vocabulary learning of
Lin, & Lu, 2013; Wu, Hsiao, Wu, Lin, & Huang, Iranian high school pupils. The vocabulary Bingo
2012). game was utilized by the researchers to achieve
Overall, digital game-based learning is a this goal. The participants were 40 students who
useful method of learning (Wu et al., 2012). In were selected for the study. They were divided
addition, digital game-based learning can into 20 learners for control and 20 learners for
improve learning motivation (Huizenga, experimental groups. The experimental group
Admiraal, Akkerman, & Dam, 2009) and was taught utilizing a vocabulary Bingo game,
performance (H. R. Chen & Lin, 2016). Digital whereas the control group received traditional
game-based language learning is advantageous instruction. In ten sessions, the experimental
since it makes use of game aspects to provide a group was taught vocabulary through the use of
less stressful learning environment for students a vocabulary Bingo game. The data was
collected and analyzed using the Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). An

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independent sample t-test was used to Bressler, Bodzin, & Tutwiler (2019) used a
determine the effect of the vocabulary Bingo collaborative mobile game in science education
game on the experimental group. There were and its effects on engaging students. In this
statistically significant differences in the pre-test study, 202 students from two eighth-grade
and post-test mean scores, according to the science courses participated in a cooperative,
findings. Moreover, the experimental group mobile scientific game. A self-report survey was
outperformed the control group, and the used to gather the information. Three elements
statistical results were considered in the post- were analyzed in this study to determine their
test. The results also showed that the use of relationship with game activity players’ flow
games is effective in enhancing students’ experience. The elements included achievement
vocabulary knowledge. track, gender, and group composition. The
Davis et al. (2018) explored the effect of result displayed that gender affected flow
gamification in game-based learning by experience. The girls got more flow experience
students' gamification experiences. The scores. The achievement track had no
participants were 139 students in an correlation with flow experience.
undergraduate informatics course. The findings
Gamified Vocabulary learning
revealed that students' perceptions of their
learning, achievement, and engagement are all P. Z. Chen et al. (2020) indicated that
improving. Furthermore, students who played because of the characters' fast-talking pace and
recreational games had some effect on the level many new vocabularies, more lexical supports
of engagement in the course. There were no should be prepared in the games. As a result of
differences in attitudes toward gamification this research, an adventure game with two
between male and female pupils. versions was created. The first edition was an
adventure game, whereas the second included
In Ahvaz, Bavi (2018) investigated the impact
vocabulary drills. Two classes were allocated at
of employing entertaining activities on
random to play two different versions of the
vocabulary learning at the elementary level.
game and take pre-, post-, and delayed post-
Forty female students were chosen from among
tests. A survey was also presented to find out
the eighty students that took part in the study to
what the participants thought. The study
accomplish so. They were enrolled in an English
suggested that both groups learned new words,
institute to study the language. Their ages
but the experimental group performed better
ranged from eight to fifteen. As a pre-test, the
than the control group in both the immediate
teacher constructed an exam based on Hill's
and delayed post-tests. These results revealed
book. They were split into two groups: one for
that the adventure game alone could assist
the experiment and one for the control. The
contributors in obtaining new words.
experimental group received instruction, while
the control group received traditional Yu (2018) recognized serious gaming as a
vocabulary instruction. At the end of the course, source of vocabulary growth in English (as a
they took a post-test. The experimental group foreign language); researchers employed a
did better than the control group (p<0). mixed-method approach that included two
studies and two interviews. In both studies,
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Farhad Fahandezh, Asieyeh Mohammadi

information was gathered from volunteers who improve learning and outcomes. Moreover,
were assigned to one of three groups at there was more time in the classroom for game
random: (1) In Group A, learners learned English and interactive activities that helped students
vocabulary through playing serious games with apply, analyze, and evaluate the knowledge.
increased engagement. Hujiang Fun Vocabulary This is because professors take into account
was employed in the first experiment, and New students' pre-class self-learning and assist them
Oriental Fun Vocabulary was used in the second; in remembering and understanding the
(2) Students in Group B studied English fundamentals.
vocabulary with less interactive serious games, Sailer & Sailer (2021) explored the effects of
such as Baicizhan in the first experiment and gamification in a flipped classroom. Two
Kingsoft Vocabulary in the second. (3) In both hundred five educational science students took
experiments, they learned English vocabulary part in the study, which included gamified in-
using typical methods. class activities such as a gamified quiz with
At the significance threshold of p=.05, it is points and a team leader board, as well as non-
determined that (1) Interactivity-prone serious gamified in-class activities such as printed
gaming is significantly more operative in English worksheets. The findings revealed that
vocabulary learning than less interactivity-prone gamification had an indirect effect on
serious gaming; (2) At the significance level of application-oriented knowledge, which was
p=.05., males significantly outperformed aided by learning process performance.
females in serious game-aided English Furthermore, gamified in-class activities had
vocabulary learning. (3) At the significance level positive effects on intrinsic motivation and social
of p=.05., serious gaming is significantly more relatedness, but had no effect on competence
successful than the traditional strategy in English need satisfaction, according to the self-
vocabulary acquisition. determination theory framework.
Gómez-Carrasco, Monteagudo-Fernández,
Gamified flipped classroom
Sainz-Gómez, & Moreno-Vera (2019)
Zou (2020) conducted research on gamified investigated the effects of trainers' use of
flipped classroom research for elementary gamification and a flipped classroom program
learning. The study involved 277 elementary on students' motivation and perceptions of
children and eight teachers over the course of a learning. The 210 participants were allocated
year in a gamified flipped English as a foreign into four classroom groups at the University of
language classroom. In-class observations, Murcia (Spain). A perspectives questionnaire
interviews, meeting sessions, researcher's was used to gather information. The mean test
observation diaries, and teachers' and students' and Pearson correlations between subscales are
self-reflection were used to gather data. The provided as descriptive statistics. The study’s
information was analyzed using grounded result indicated the positive effects of
theory and theme analysis. In a gamified flipped motivation and perception of learning.
classroom, both learners and teachers agreed to However, there were some differences between
raise learning motivation and engagement, group classes and genders.
promote learning and self-confidence, and

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Ho (2019) investigated how to teach English flipped classroom instruction separately. (Özer,
story genres using digital sketching and active Kanbul, & Ozdamli (2018) stated that there had
learning techniques, i.e., story creating and been no studies that have analyzed both
storytelling. It also investigated a gamified approaches.
flipped classrooms’ perceptions of Hong Kong The present study is an attempt to explore
University’s students, beyond their the effect of the gamified flipped classroom on
understanding of the narrative concepts, taught the improvement of vocabulary learning in
according to surveys, narrative writing scores, Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners.
and interviews. This study’s finding was to prove Furthermore, this study examines the
that group-based game task students were vocabulary differences between a gamified
more effective than discussion tasks. The finding flipped classroom and traditional learning for
showed that the students who were in game- Iranian pre-intermediate EFL students. The
based learning reduced their anxiety about research aimed to determine whether the
using English. Moreover, they had a positive gamified flipped classroom has any effect on the
classroom atmosphere and helped the students improvement of vocabulary learning in Iranian
identify their areas of improvement. pre-intermediate EFL learners and whether
Despite the fact that the flipped classroom there is any difference between a gamified
and the gamification notion are two distinct flipped classroom and traditional vocabulary
applications, they are seen to be compatible. learning in Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners
Gamification is a concept that has been around in order to achieve the study's objectives.
for a long time, with Nick Pelling mentioning the We expected that a gamified-flipped
word in 2002 (Marczewski, 2013). Dichev & classroom would have no substantial impact on
Dicheva (2017) conducted a study of 51 Iranian EFL students at the pre-intermediate
empirical studies on gamification in education. level's vocabulary. The relationships between
Zainuddin (2018) mentioned that gamified the experimental and control groups were used
flipped classroom is gathered from the mixture to support this hypothesis. On the other hand,
of gamification concept and flipped classroom we hypothesized that there is no significant
teaching. It is essential to understand that these association between the gamified flipped
two terms are different in their definition and classroom and traditional learning when it
operation. Joining the two approaches should comes to improving the vocabulary of Iranian
have positive results for students learning and pre-intermediate EFL students.
educational performance. Reversing the
classroom through flipped teaching and using Method
the gamification method provided a chance to
engage students, reinforce their learning, and Participants
support them with direct feedback on their This study involved 110 female EFL learners
learning (Nkhoma, Nkhoma, Thomas, & Tu, studying at two high schools in Roodan, a city in
2018). However, there is research on the Hormozgan province, Iran, in 2019. All the
literature about gamification in education and participants were twelfth-grade Iranian

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students. They were chosen non-randomly vocabulary of this book was taught in one
through handy selection and had the same semester.
educational background. Individuals were
randomly assigned to one of two groups: Measurement
experimental or control to begin the study. For data collection, different instruments
Three of the lessons were taught by an Iranian were designed: A placement test of PET was
non-native English teacher. A placement test of used to find out the proficiency levels of the
PET was given to the learners on the first day of participants. The Language Center at Oxford
the study to find out the proficiency levels of University designed this test. Then, a pre-test of
participants before the treatment. vocabulary was given at the first session of the
class to understand the students’ vocabulary
Procedure knowledge. A vocabulary test was prepared by
The video lectures were prepared by the the instructor. The reliability and validity of
teacher and were shared in the WhatsApp the test were examined by the teacher. The
groups. In every session, some specific test included 30 multiple questions, and two
vocabulary with some examples and practices university professors approved it for
were given. The students watched the videos validity. The reliability of the test was
before coming to class and took notes while established by Cronbach’s Alpha reliability
watching the videos. coefficient (r=.781). A pilot test was
During the in-person classes, the teacher designed for a small group of learners, not
applied vocabulary games from Khate-Sefied the target group(N=20).
application to review the vocabulary taught On the last day of the project, a multiple-
through video lectures. The teacher prepared a choice post-test was given to test the
game board at school, and each group played participants after instruction. This test aims
the vocabulary games and received scores. In to discover how many words were learned
the traditional classroom, the teacher taught from the gamified-flipped classroom and
vocabulary through conventional training, how many words were learned through non-
lecture teaching. A teacher gave some gamified flipped classrooms. Experts agreed
homework to students to do at home for the on the validity of the test in EFL, and
next session. reliability issues of the post-test were
addressed.
Materials
The material used in this study was Vision3, a Data collection
book of high school students who studied in This study aimed to investigate the
grade twelfth. This book is used as a primary influence of the gamified-flipped classroom
instructional sourcebook. According to the on improving vocabulary learning by EFL
standards of the Ministry of Education and learners. The teacher first offered the
Ministry Science, Research, and Technology students a placement test to determine
(MSRT) Iran, the book is mandated. The their level of competency. The teacher
administered a pre-test in the first session

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to see whether the target terms that would and validity of the test was estimated
be taught to the learner were new and through the SPSS. The reliability of the pre-
unfamiliar to them. As a result, the test and post-test of vocabulary was tested
gamified-flipped classroom and non- by Cronbach’s Alpha.
gamified classrooms received identical A paired-sample t-test and an
information and instructor in one semester. independent t-test in the SPSS (version 25)
Gamified flipped classrooms would start were used to analyze the data. The
with watching videos, presenting the comparison was between two sets of scores
vocabulary based on the 12 th grade English from the same group of language learners.
curriculum before attending the class. The Before conducting of paired-sample t-test,
video included the meaning of the words the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to
with some examples in appropriate contexts ensure that the test was normal.
and the correct pronunciation of words. The
experimental group was taught with the Result and Discussion
gamified-flipped classroom approach using
teacher-made board games to encourage Result
students' participation by playing board
games in a small group as a way to review
Descriptive statistics of pre-test and post-
test
and assess students’ mastery of video
content. The teacher monitored the groups The first hypothesis of the present study
and gave feedbacks when necessary. was that the gamified-flipped classroom has
no significant effects on improving the
In the traditional classroom, the contents
vocabulary of Iranian pre-intermediate EFL
were taught inside the classroom. The
learners. In order to obtain the answer, a
teacher explained each word using visual
paired sample t-test was used. Before
and example sentences. The teacher asked
conducting the t-test, the normality of the
students to repeat words after the teacher
distribution was measured. Descriptive
as pronunciation practice. At the end of
statistics and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test
each session, the teacher gave vocabulary
were checked for scores of the gamified-
exercises as homework. After teaching
flipped classroom, the flipped, and the
vocabulary items, the teacher gave learners
traditional classrooms. The results were
a post-test to compare the amount of
presented in the following tables and
vocabulary learning in a traditional
figures. The descriptive statistics of the
classroom and those learned through the
scores obtained for the gamified-flipped
gamified flipped classroom.
classroom were presented first. Then, the
Data analyses descriptive statics of the scores obtained
from the flipped classroom and traditional
There were two sets of scores for each
classroom were provided. Finally, a paired
group. The data were analyzed in the
sample t-test was conducted to answer the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
first research question.
(SPSS) version 25. The degree of reliability
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Table 1
Descriptive statistic for a pre-test of gamified flipped – vocabulary learning
Gamified flipped N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Pre- test 40 5.00 21.00 12.9643 3.95795
N=28
Table 1 displays the descriptive statistics of Kolmogorov-Smirnov checked the normality of
pre-test scores of the gamified-flipped the distribution, and the results are shown in
classroom in terms of vocabulary learning. Table 2.
Table 2
Kolmogorov-Smirnov result of gamified flipped – vocabulary learning for pre-test
Gamified flipped classroom
N 40
Mean 12.9643
Normal Parameters a,b
Std. Deviation 3.95795
Absolute 0.132
Most Extreme Differences Positive 0.132
Negative -0.096
Test Statistic 0.132
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.200c,d
The Sig. value under the Kolmogorov- a value higher than.05, which indicated that the
Smirnov part of the table (i.e.,.200) represented distribution of scores was normal.
Table 3
Descriptive statistics for the traditional vocabulary learning
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Traditional class 30 7.00 18.00 14.0000 3.01846
N=10
As shown in table 3., the mean score of the normality of the distribution of the Kolmogorov-
traditional participant was 14.00, and the Smirnov test was applied.
standard deviation was 2.48. To ensure the
Table 4
Kolmogorov-Smirnov result of the traditional vocabulary learning for pre-test
Traditional vocabulary learning
N 30
Mean 14.0000
Normal Parameters a,b
Std. Deviation 3.01846

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Absolute 0.200
Most Extreme Differences Positive 0.154
Negative -0.200
Test Statistic 0.200
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) 0.200c,d
According to the result of the Kolmogorov- Table 5. shows the descriptive statistics of
Smirnov test, the Sig was 0.200, higher than the scores of vocabulary learning through the
0.05, which proved that the distribution of gamified flipped classroom.
scores for traditional vocabulary learning was
normal.
Table 5
Descriptive statistics for the gamified-flipped vocabulary learning post-test
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Gamified-flipped classroom 40 14.00 30.00 24.0357 3.74643
N=28
As shown in the above table, the mean score distribution equaled 3.74. Kolmogorov-Smirnov
of the gamified-flipped vocabulary learning was checked the normality of the distribution, and
24.03, and the standard deviation of the the results are shown in Table 6.
Table 6
Kolmogorov-Smirnov results for the gamified-flipped vocabulary learning post-test
Gamified flipped classroom learning
N 40
Mean 24.0357
Normal Parameters a,b
Std. Deviation 3.74643
Absolute .137
Most Extreme Differences Positive .074
Negative -.137
Test Statistic .137
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .188c
The Sig. value of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov in Table 7. shows the descriptive statistics of
the table (i.e.,0.188) indicates a value higher the traditional vocabulary learning scores of the
than 0.05, proving that the distribution of scores students.
for the gamified flipped classroom was normal.
Table 7
Descriptive statistics for the traditional vocabulary learning post-test
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Traditional learning 30 14.00 23.00 18.9000 2.96086
N=10

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As shown in table 7., the mean score of the the normality of the distribution, the
traditional participants was 18.90, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied.
standard deviation was 2.96. In order to ensure
Table 8
Kolmogorov-Smirnov results for the traditional vocabulary learning post-test
Traditional vocabulary learning
N 30
Mean 18.9000
Normal Parameters a,b
Std. Deviation 2.96086
Absolute .161
Most Extreme Differences Positive .136
Negative -.161
Test Statistic .161
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .200c,d
As the results indicated, the sig value of the group and the control (traditional classroom)
traditional vocabulary, 0.2, represented a value group indicate that the distribution of scores
higher than 0.05. It means the distribution of was normal. So, a paired sample t-test was
scores for traditional vocabulary learning was conducted to compare the learners gamified
normal. flipped classroom vocabulary learning. The
The results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov for results of this test are presented in table 9.
the experimental (gamified-flipped classroom)
Table 9
Paired sample t-test results of the Gamified-flipped classroom
Paired Differences
95% Confidence
Std. Sig.
Std. Interval of the t df
Mean Error Difference (2-tailed)
Deviation
Mean
Lower Upper
Pre- test -
5.20633 .98390 -13.09023 -9.05263 -11.253 27 .000
Post-test t 11.07143

Table 9. indicates that the sig (2-tailed) value flipped classrooms significantly outperformed
for the gamified flipped classroom traditional ones.
(experimental-group), (.000), and “t” value was In order to answer the second research
(-11.253). It means there was a statistically question, an independent t-test was used to
significant difference between the performance compare the experimental and control groups.
of the pre-test and post-test of the experimental The results of the tests are indicated in the
group. The findings showed that gamified

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Table 10
Results of the independent t-test of the gamified-flipped classroom and the traditional classroom
Levene's
Test for
t-test for Equality of Means
Equality of
Variances
95% Confidence
Sig.
Mean Std. Error Interval of the
F Sig. t df (2-
Difference Difference Difference
tailed)
Lower Upper
Vocab Equal
variances .162 .690 3.909 36 .000 5.13571 1.31380 2.47120 7.80023
assumed
Equal
variances
4.375 20.050 .000 5.13571 1.17386 2.68748 7.58395
not
assumed
After the normality hypothesis, the vocabulary learning to some extent learning
homogeneity of group variances was checked by may lead to vocabulary improvement with
Levene’s test. The significance level of this test playing games in the flipped context. The
was more than 0.05, meaning that the variability findings of the study can be summarized as
in the two conditions was equal. So, the follow. First, in the comparison between the
researcher considered the first row of the t-test pre-test and post-test of the gamified-flipped
table as a reference for making statistical classroom, there was a positive effect on the
interferences. An independent sample t-test learning of vocabulary for EFL learners. Second,
was employed to compare the rate of in the comparison between the gamified-flipped
vocabulary learning for the gamified-flipped classroom and traditional learning( teacher-
classroom and the non-gamified flipped center classroom), significant positive
classroom learning. The finding showed the t differences were found between the gamified-
value was 3.909, and Sig equaled 0.000. flipped classroom and traditional learning.
According to the findings, there were In other words, the gamified flipped learning
statistically significant differences in vocabulary was an effective resource for enhancing the
learning between the gamified-flipped vocabulary knowledge of Iranian female EFL
classroom and non-gamified flipped classroom students. This indicates that gamified flipped
(traditional learning) (p<.05). learning is more helpful in terms of vocabulary
learning. A gamified flipped classroom is an
Discussion
effective and useful method that can help
In the present study, flipped learning with students improve vocabulary learning. It can
gamification promoted students’ vocabulary also help the trainers and learners by providing
learning. Improvements in the participants’ EFL a fun, interesting, and creative condition to get

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Farhad Fahandezh, Asieyeh Mohammadi

better performance in learning a language. The for classrooms, teachers are strongly
result of the study is in line with (Jo, Jun, & Lim encouraged to go beyond the question and
(2018), who mentioned that the degree of answer structure by integrating diverse game
exams after performing gamification was higher mechanics to keep their students motivated.
than the degree before applying. Moreover, the Therefore, the results need to be inferred
participants’ learning in flip class with using with caution, given that these findings might not
games had statistically significant improvement, be transferable to the study of the students of
in comparison with the traditional flip learning. other countries. The impact of gamified flipped
In addition, these results are also in learning on L2 was explored in this research
agreement with Huang & Hew (2021), who study. For practical reasons, the study was
stated that goal-access-feedback-challenge– restricted to L2 English. So, there may be good
collaboration classes completed significantly value in future studies looking at other L2s if
more pre-and post-class activities than non- gamified flipped learning affects teaching and
gamified classes. The results support the learning them or not.
findings of (Sailer & Sailer (2021), which indicate
that gamification had a positive indirect effect Conclusion
on application-oriented knowledge in a flipped The present study aimed to investigate the
classroom context. The result of the present effect of the gamified-flipped classroom on
study is also in line with Huang, Hew, & Lo improving vocabulary learning of Iranian pre-
(2019), demonstrating that students in the intermediate EFL learners. According to the
flipped learning with gamification class results of the data analysis, the gamified flipped
outperformed those in a traditional and online classroom, in general, had a positive influence
independent study. The findings of the present on learning vocabulary. The instruction of
study were consistent with other previous vocabulary was integrated into the flipped
studies. classroom with gamification. The vocabulary
scores of the pre-test and the post-test were
Limitations and future directions
analyzed. According to the test findings, the
This study has some limitations that should flipped classroom with gamification has a
be addressed in future research. This study is positive effect on vocabulary learning.
restricted in teaching vocabulary, in which other
According to the findings of the study,
skills of language such as grammar, writing, and
the use of gamified flipped classrooms has a
reading are ignored. All data in this study were
significant effect on the learners’ vocabulary
collected from pre-intermediate English learners
improvement. By looking at the difference
studying at two high schools in Roodan,
between the mean score of pre-test and
Hormozgan, Iran. So, the results obtained by
post-test of the gamified and non- gamified
studying participants may not be generalizable
flipped classroom, the gamified flipped
to others with different proficiency levels or
classroom was more effective than the
vocabulary sizes. The number of pedagogical
traditional classroom.
games that are related to target vocabularies is
limited. Moreover, in developing board games

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 The Effect of Gamified Flipped Classroom on the Improvement of Vocabulary Learning…

Acknowledgment management on the divergent thinking

and creative tendency of elementary
We thank all the people who have supported students. Thinking Skills and Creativity,
us to complete the research work directly or 36.
indirectly. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.1006
64

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