不同設計元素之遊戲式英文單字學習APP在學習成效、情緒及注意力之影響研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學圖書資訊學數位碩士在職專班碩士論文 Master’s Thesis E-learning Master Program of Library and Information Studies National Chengchi University. 不同設計元素之遊戲式英文單字學習APP在學習成效、情緒及注意力之影響研究政治. 大. 立 Factors of Game-based English Effects of Design. ‧ 國. 學. Vocabulary Learning APP on Learning Performance,. ‧. Emotion, and Attention. sit. y. Nat. er. io. 指導教授：陳志銘博士. al. n. v i n C hDr. Chih-Ming Advisor: e n g c h i U Chen 研究生：曹鼎撰 Graduate Student: Ding Cao. 中華民國一零五年六月 June, 2016.

(2) Abstract Game-based learning has been proved to effectively boost learners’ learning performance, while whether more enjoyment designed in the game brings better learning performance remains unknown. Besides, what game design factors will affect learning performance and simultaneously keep learners interested in the game is also worth investigating. Moreover, attention and emotion are two dimensions which. 治政 should be taken into account when designing learning大 games. As a result, this study 立 ‧ 國. 學. tries to assess the effects of using two different English vocabulary learning APPs with significantly different game design factors on learners’ performance, sustained. ‧. attention, meditation, and vocabulary memory retention, respectively.. sit. y. Nat. io. n. al. er. A pilot study was conducted beforehand to examine whether the two considered. i n U. v. English vocabulary game APPs differ significantly in game design factors including. Ch. engchi. concentration, feedback, challenges match player skills, control, and immersion. In the formal study, thirty-six Grade 12 students from Matsu senior high school participated in this study. They were randomly divided into two experimental groups based on gender and pretest scores, separately using two English vocabulary game APPs with significantly different game design factors for English vocabulary learning. The study lasted for four weeks. Analytical results show that students using game with lower scores in game design factors generated significantly better vocabulary learning i.

(3) performance, memory retention and meditation level than those using game with higher scores in game design factors, while sustained attention level was lower. Also, they were significantly correlated to one another. Moreover, this study further confirms that gender differences existed among English vocabulary learning games with different game design factors. Girls were found to have significantly better English vocabulary learning performance and memory retention in the game APP with. 政治大. lower scores in game design factors. Furthermore, “challenge matches players’ skill”. 立. was found to be the most important game design factor when designing game-based. ‧ 國. 學. English vocabulary learning APPs.. ‧. In conclusion, this study confirms that English vocabulary game APPs with. Nat. io. sit. y. lower exciting elements have more positive learning effects on learning performance,. er. memory retention than those with higher scores in game design factors. The result. al. n. v i n indicates that when designing C games, exciting game design factors are not h e nhigher gchi U. suitable for cognitive learning, such as English vocabulary learning. Finally, this study provides suggestions for future game-design developers to take gender differences into consideration when designing English vocabulary learning game APPs, and meanwhile tries to strike the balance between educational purpose and entertainment of the game APPs. Keywords: English vocabulary learning, game-based learning, mobile APP, game design factor, learning performance, sustained attention, emotion ii.

(4) 摘要遊戲式學習已被證實能夠有效提升學習者的學習成效，而遊戲的愉悅度是否設計得越強烈，對學習成效越有幫助，是個值得探索的問題。此外，遊戲過程中，有哪些遊戲設計要素能夠影響學習成效，同時讓學習者在遊戲中亦能夠感到趣味性，進而達到學習目標，值得我們關切。再者，學習的專注力及情緒在學習型遊戲設計中，也是必須納入考量的面向。因此，本研究分別探討兩款在遊戲設計要素上具有顯著差異的英文單字學習 APP，對於學習者學習成效、專注力、放鬆度及單字記憶保留上的影響。. 政治大性別將其隨機分派至兩款在遊戲設計要素上具有顯著差異的英文單字學習 APP，立本研究以馬祖高中高三的 36 位學生為研究對象，根據英語字彙前測成績及. ‧ 國. 學. 進行四週的英語字彙學習。結果顯示遊戲設計要素較低的組別的學習者，在英文單字學習成效、單字記憶保留上的成效均顯著優於遊戲設計要素較高組別學習者，. ‧. 同時放鬆度亦較高，而專注度不如遊戲設計要素較高的組別，且各依變項間彼此. sit. y. Nat. 有顯著的正相關。此外，本研究亦進一步證實性別差異存在於不同遊戲設計要素. al. er. io. 的英語字彙學習 APP 中，在遊戲設計要素較低的英文單字學習 APP 中，發現女性. v. n. 學習者擁有顯著較優的英語字彙學習成效及記憶保留度。而本研究也發現「符合. Ch. engchi. i n U. 程度的挑戰性」為設計遊戲式英文單字學習 APP 時最需要重視的遊戲設計要素。綜上所述，本研究證實相較於遊戲設計要素較高的高刺激性英文單字學習 APP，遊戲設計要素較低的低刺激性英文單字遊戲 APP 對於學習成效、單字記憶保留上具有較正面的效應。此一結果顯示像英語字彙學習這樣的認知型學習，在遊戲設計上並不適合納入刺激性較高的遊戲設計要素。此外，對遊戲設計者來說，未來設計英文單字遊戲學習 APP 時，亦應將性別差異納入設計考量，同時儘可能在遊戲娛樂性及教育性中取得平衡。關鍵詞：英語字彙學習、遊戲式學習、行動 APP、遊戲設計要素、學習成效、持續注意力、情緒. iii.

(5) CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................... i Abstract in Chinese ...................................................................................................... iii Contents ........................................................................................................................ iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Background and Motivation ............................................................. 1 1.2 Research Purpose of the Study ........................................................................ 5 1.3 Research Questions of the Study ..................................................................... 8 1.4 Research Limitations of the Study ................................................................... 9. 立. 政治大. 1.5 Definition of Important Terms Used in the Study.......................................... 10. ‧ 國. 學. ‧. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................... 13 2.1 Vocabulary Acquisition .................................................................................. 13 2.2 Computer Games ........................................................................................... 16 2.3 Game Design Factors ..................................................................................... 20 2.4 Learner’s Attention and Emotion ................................................................... 26. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. 2.5 Learner’s Emotion ......................................................................................... 28 2.6 Gender Differences in Games ........................................................................ 31. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................... 33 3.1 Research Architecture .................................................................................... 33 3.2 Experimental Design ...................................................................................... 36 3.3 Research Participants ..................................................................................... 38 3.4 Research Instruments ..................................................................................... 39 3.5 Data Analysis Schemes .................................................................................. 50 3.6 Research Procedures ...................................................................................... 51 3.7 The Pilot Study .............................................................................................. 54 CHAPTER 4 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS ............................................................... 59 4.1 Analysis of game design factors of two chosen games in the formal study .. 59 4.2 Research Participants ..................................................................................... 63 4.3 Analysis of Vocabulary Learning Performance ............................................. 64 iv.

(6) 4.4 Analysis of Vocabulary Memory Retention ................................................... 68 4.5 Analysis of Sustained Attention Level ........................................................... 71 4.6 Analysis of Meditation Level ......................................................................... 74 4.7 Correlation Analyses of Research Variables .................................................. 77 4.8 Results of Semi-Structured Interview ............................................................ 83 4.9 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK ............................................ 99 5.1 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 99 5.2 Suggestions .................................................................................................. 103 5.3 Future Research Directions .......................................................................... 105 References .................................................................................................................. 108 Appendices ................................................................................................................. 119 Appendix A. Vocabulary Pretest ....................................................................... 119. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Appendix B. Vocabulary Posttest ...................................................................... 120 Appendix C. Delayed Vocabulary Posttest ........................................................ 121 Appendix D. Questionnaire for Enjoyment of E-Learning Games.................... 123 Appendix E. Semi-Structured Interview Outline ............................................... 124. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. v. i n U. v.

(7) LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Research architecture ............................................................................. 34 Figure 3.2 Vocabulary learning functions of PHONE Words APP.......................... 40 Figure 3.3 Four different English vocabulary games of PHONE Words APP ........ 41 Figure 3.4 User interface of Star VOC of PHONE Words APP .............................. 42 Figure 3.5 User interface of Tic-Tac-Toe of PHONE Words APP .......................... 43 Figure 3.6 NeuroSky’s Mindwave headset used for measuring attention and meditation levels .................................................................................... 48 Figure 3.7 Brainwave detection system developed by Alchemy Technology Co. .. 48 Figure 3.8 Main receiver developed by Alchemy Technology Co. ......................... 49 Figure 3.9 The research procedures of the study ..................................................... 52 Figure 4.1 The procedure of formal study ............................................................... 62. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. vi. i n U. v.

(8) LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Definitions of five personal factors toward gaming experience .............. 21 Table 2.2 Definitions of three social factors toward gaming experience ................ 22 Table 2.3 Five forms of attention ............................................................................ 27 Table 2.4 Summary of empirical studies on attention ............................................. 27 Table 2.5 Summary of empirical studies on emotion .............................................. 30 Table 3.1 Number of participants and gender distribution of two experimental groups in the pilot study ........................................................................... 38 Table 3.2 Number of participants and gender distribution of two experimental groups in the formal study........................................................................ 39 Table 3.3 Comparisons of content features of two game APPs in five game design factors ....................................................................................................... 44 Table 3.4 Paired-samples t test analysis of degree of difficulty between pretest and posttest...................................................................................................... 46. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Table 3.5 Experimental procedures of the pilot study ............................................. 55 Table 3.6 Cronbach’s Alpha of two selected vocabulary learning game APPs ....... 56 Table 3.7 Cronbach’s Alpha of five dimensions of game design factor .................. 56 Table 3.8 Summary of dimensions analysis in the five considered game design factors for both vocabulary learning game APPs ..................................... 58 Table 4.1 Summary of analyses of game design factors for both games in the. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. formal study ............................................................................................. 61 Table 4.2 Distribution of participants in both groups .............................................. 63 Table 4.3 Paired-samples t test results of the learning performance for both group learners who respectively used different games ....................................... 64 Table 4.4 The independent-samples t test results of the pretest and posttest difference of learning performance for both group learners who respectively used different games ............................................................ 65 Table 4.5 The independent-samples t test results of learning performance of learners with different genders within two groups ................................... 66 Table 4.6 The independent-samples t test results of the learning performance of learners with different genders between two groups ................................ 67. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Table 4.7 Summary results of assessing learning performance within and between groups ....................................................................................................... 68 Table 4.8 Results of delayed vocabulary retention posttest between two groups ... 69 Table 4.9 Results of vocabulary memory retention of learners with different genders within two groups ....................................................................... 69 Table 4.10 Results of vocabulary memory retention of learners with different vii.

(9) genders between two groups .................................................................. 70 Table 4.11 Summary results of vocabulary memory retention within and between groups ..................................................................................................... 71 Table 4.12 Results of sustained attention level between two groups ...................... 72 Table 4.13 Results of learners with different genders in sustained attention level within two groups ................................................................................... 73 Table 4.14 Results of learners with different genders in sustained attention level between two groups................................................................................ 73 Table 4.15 Summary results of sustained attention level within and between two groups ..................................................................................................... 74 Table 4.16 Results of meditation level between two groups ................................... 75 Table 4.17 Results of learners with different genders in meditation level within two groups ..................................................................................................... 76 Table 4.18 Results of learners with different genders in meditation level between two groups .............................................................................................. 76. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Table 4.19 Summary results of meditation level within and between two groups .. 77 Table 4.20 Summary results of correlation analysis among different game design factors of two games and dependent variables ....................................... 78 Table 4.21 Summary results of correlation analyses of Star Voc among different game design factors and dependent variables ........................................ 80 Table 4.22 Summary results of correlation analyses of Tic-Tac-Toe among different game design factors and dependent variables ........................................ 81. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. Table 4.23 Summary results of the correlation analyses among dependent variables and game design factors for the two selected games ............................. 83 Table 4.24 Perceptions of learners toward attention and emotion from two games with different game design factors ......................................................... 85 Table 4.25 Perceptions toward attention from two games with different design factors ..................................................................................................... 87 Table 4.26 Perceptions toward emotion from two games with different design factors ..................................................................................................... 87 Table 4.27 Perceptions of learners toward learning performance from two games with different game design factors ......................................................... 88. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Table 4.28 Perceptions toward learning performance from games with different design factors ......................................................................................... 90 Table 4.29 Perceptions toward the most important game design factors when designing a vocabulary game APPs ....................................................... 91 Table 4.30 Perceptions toward future use of two vocabulary game APPs .............. 92 Table 4.31 Girls’ perceptions toward two vocabulary game APPs respectively ..... 93 viii.

(10) Table 4.32 Boys’ perceptions toward two vocabulary game APPs respectively ..... 93. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. ix. i n U. v.

(11) CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research Background and Motivation Undoubtedly, English has long been considered to be the most important international language around the world as well as the most popular second language in non-English speaking countries. Wilkins (1972, p.111) pointed out that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing at all can be. 政治大. conveyed.” Vocabulary knowledge is the basic prerequisite to understand and to be. 立. understood, and is viewed as a key element of proficiency in a language (Elgort,. ‧ 國. 學. 2013). Nation (2001) indicated that the size of vocabulary knowledge is the number of. ‧. words that language learners know at a particular level of language proficiency.. y. Nat. al. er. io. sit. Rupley, Logan, and Nicholas (1999) also suggested that having excellent and huge. n. vocabulary size is helpful to inferring the meaning of English sentences and articles.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Namely, the vocabulary size plays a crucial role in English learning. However, Oxford (1990) claimed that language learners typically have difficulty in memorizing a large number of vocabularies due to limited memory capacity in human’s brain. Several studies (Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Qian, 2002) indicated that the major obstacle in English learning is facing entirely new words in an English sentence. Moreover, owing to the lack of the exposure to English environment, English learners frequently experienced frustration when they forget vocabularies they had acquired. 1.

(12) Furthermore, traditional English pedagogies adopted in Asia cannot arouse students’ interest; on the contrary, old-fashioned pedagogies may lead to the resistance toward English language learners, followed by poor grades. In Taiwan, traditional vocabulary teaching methods are inadequate to efficiently enlarge basic vocabulary size of EFL learners. According to Prensky’s study (2001), one of the reasons for this failure is that most of the students have primarily been. 政治大. educated with old paradigms and methods, resulting in the decline of the English level. 立. among Taiwanese English learners. In addition, Nunan’s study (2003) showed that the. ‧ 國. 學. grade level in which English is introduced as a compulsory subject in schools has. ‧. been shifted to lower grade in the Asia-Pacific countries such as China, Korea, and. Nat. io. sit. y. Taiwan. It’s thus an urgent issue for English teachers in Taiwan to find an effective. er. approach to enhance students’ English level, especially vocabulary size, while. al. n. v i n C hEnglish learning simultaneously. fostering students’ interest toward That is, enlarging engchi U vocabulary size of students has been a challenging task to all English teachers. Paribakht and Wesche’s (1997) study proposed several English teaching methods. for EFL teachers to enhance students’ vocabulary acquisition performance. However, they did not discuss the issue of long-term vocabulary retention. The issue of vocabulary memory retention is of great importance for EFL learners because they do not want to see their endeavor to vocabulary learning turn nothing in just a month or 2.

(13) two. Saragi et al. (1978) claimed that learners have to encounter the same word for at least 10 times so that the words can be successfully moved from the short-term memory into the long-term memory. Horst et al. (1998) also found that words that were met eight times or more were more likely to be acquired. All these findings demonstrated that there is a strong relation between word exposure and vocabulary memory retention.. 政治大. Many studies (Burguillo, 2010; Dickey, 2011; Ebner & Holzinger, 2007). 立. indicated that digital games could facilitate students’ learning performance and raise. ‧ 國. 學. their learning motivation. Also, playing digital games is particularly attractive to. ‧. adolescents nowadays. A rapid developing trend is to design learning games that can. Nat. io. sit. y. run on portable devices so that learners can learn anytime and anywhere. Currently,. er. the most popular one among all portable devices is the mobile phone. Particularly, the. al. n. v i n C h that can playUmultimedia content, download smart phones have offered functions engchi learning applications, and edutainment games to strengthen students’ enjoyment and motivation (Claudill, 2007). Moreover, a survey conducted in Taiwan showed 127 out of 137 students prefer mobile phone rather than PC when choosing the preferred medium for learning English (Lu, 2008). This is because mobile phones are particularly useful devices that fit in pocket, are always with, and are nearly always on (Prensky, 2005). Nowadays, mobile technologies have penetrated all aspects of our 3.

(14) daily activities and significantly changed our lives and behavior. Thus, modern people can use mobile devices to engage ourselves in many different kinds of learning activities anytime and anywhere. Furthermore, mobile applications, also known as APPs, are small computer programs that can run on mobile devices and perform tasks ranging from web browsing to social networking and gaming. According to Nielsen’s survey (2011), games are the top download category of APPs. With the rapid. 政治大. development of Internet and mobile technology, today’s mobile device users can play. 立. not only simple and embedded games but also play games on downloaded APPs. ‧ 國. 學. (Feijoo et al., 2012). Consequently, if designed properly, mobile game APPs can be. ‧. regarded as one of the potential ways to strengthen vocabulary acquisition for English. Nat. io. sit. y. learners, especially teenagers.. er. However, when it comes to factors related to effective learning, learners’. al. n. v i n C h roles during learning attention and emotion play essential e n g c h i U process. Jensen (1998) viewed attention as focused concentration in education field. Corno (1993) argued. that attention could improve the learning performance of learners with ordinary learning motivation or competitive intention. Chen and Huang (2014) also indicated that learning was ineffective when a learner did not pay attention to learning content. Namely, students cannot acquire any things effectively without adequate attention level. Moreover, how learners’ emotion states affect learning performance is also 4.

(15) worth investigating issue. Horwitz et al. (1986) mentioned that many learners experienced anxiety when learning foreign languages. Thus, how to reduce students’ learning anxiety when learning a second language is an important issue. Arnold and Brown (1999) mentioned that ‘‘anxiety is possibly the factor that most pervasively obstructs the learning process. It is associated with negative feelings such as uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension, and tension. When learners are. 政治大. bored, nervous, and stressed or lack motivation, their negative emotion will be raised,. 立. is also a critical factor affecting the quality of learning.. 學. ‧ 國. thus reducing their capability to process learning content. Therefore, learners’ emotion. ‧. 1.2 Research Purpose of the Study. Nat. io. sit. y. Computer games have played a crucial role in young people’s lives outside. er. school. In fact, it holds a special fascination and triggers a deep sense of engagement. al. n. v i n C(Facer, toward both teenagers and adults Kafai, 2001; Kirriemuir & McFarlane, h e n2003; gchi U 2004). Additionally, the entertainment of the game can be integrated with learning content to develop “Digital Game-Based Learning” (DGBL), which has been demonstrated to generate positive effects over traditional instruction on learning performance (Liao, 2010), and it has had great impact on modern education (Prensky, 2001). Games that consider educational objectives and subject matter have been confirmed to have high potential to enable learning of academic subjects more 5.

(16) learner-centered, easier, more enjoyable, and more interesting (Malone, 1980). Due to the growing popularity of mobile devices and APPs, mobile games have become one of the most popular entertainment media (Bose & Yang, 2011). In addition, many studies claimed that mobile technology can improve learning performance under suitable mobile learning contexts (Thornton & Houser, 2005; Lu, 2008; Cavus & Ibrahim, 2009 ). In other words, English learners are able to enlarge. 政治大. their vocabulary size by playing mobile vocabulary games through their mobile. 立. phones.. ‧ 國. 學. Moreover, compared with meaningful and engaging educational games,. ‧. action-based drill and practice games may not lead to effective learning because. Nat. io. sit. y. players simply concentrate on their actions until they gain high scores (Kiili, 2005).. er. Nevertheless, if drill and practice games can be designed well for learning purpose,. al. n. v i n they can also provide benefit C in h promoting players’Ulearning performance (Yip & engchi Kwan, 2006). Based on the flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), Sweetser and Wyeth (2005) argued that concentration, feedback, challenge, skills, clear goals, immersion, and social factors are the most crucial factors when designing a game. To the best of our knowledge, few studies have focused on investigating how the game design factors, including concentration, feedback, challenges match player skills, control, and immersion, influence learning performance, attention, and emotion of 6.

(17) learners. As what have been mentioned above, the purpose of this study is to evaluate whether two game-based vocabulary learning APPs with significantly different design factors on concentration, feedback, challenges match player skills, control, and immersion generate different effects on vocabulary learning performance, sustained attention, and emotion and whether gender differences exist among them. Furthermore, the vocabulary memory retention is also assessed in the study. Most. 政治大. importantly, this study investigates how English learning game APPs should be. 立. suitably designed based on design factors to effectively improve learners’ vocabulary. ‧ 國. 學. size instead of making learners concentrate too much on playing game itself while. ‧. learning English. To examine these questions, the questionnaire of enjoyment of. Nat. io. sit. y. e-learning games (QEEG), which has satisfactory reliability and validity (Fu, Su and. n. al. er. Yu, 2009), was applied to assess differences in the game design factors of two. Ch. engchi. game-based English vocabulary learning APPs.. iv n Moreover, U. portable brainwave. headset, which can identify a person’s attention and meditation level by using EEG signals, was employed to accurately identify the variation of attention and meditation of individual learners during learning processes. The results of the research provide valuable references and directions for game designers, indicating what game design factors should be considered for game-based vocabulary learning APPs so that English learners can obtain learning benefits from it. 7.

(18) 1.3 Research Questions of the Study According to the research purposes and motivation of the study, the study aims to examine the following questions: 1. Is there a significant difference in learners’ vocabulary learning performance between two English vocabulary learning APPs with significantly different game design factors?. 政治大. 2. Is there a significant difference in learners’ sustained attention between two. 立. English vocabulary learning APPs with significantly different game design. ‧ 國. 學. factors?. ‧. 3. Is there a significant difference in learners’ meditation between two English. Nat. io. sit. y. vocabulary learning APPs with significantly different game design factors?. er. 4. Is there a significant difference in learners’ vocabulary memory retention. al. n. v i n Ch between two English vocabulary APPs with significantly different e n glearning chi U game design factors?. 5. Are there the gender differences in learners’ vocabulary learning performance, sustained attention, meditation, and vocabulary memory retention between two English vocabulary learning APPs with significantly different game design factors? 6. Are there significant correlations among learners’ vocabulary learning 8.

(19) performance, sustained attention, meditation, vocabulary memory retention, and game design factors when learners use two English vocabulary learning APPs with significantly different game design factors? 1.4 Research Limitations of the Study Due to many inevitable reasons, the research limitations of the study are listed as follows:. 政治大. 1. The experiment was conducted in outlying island, Matsu. All of the. 立. participants were from Matsu Senior High School. Therefore, whether or not. ‧ 國. 學. the results of the study can be transferred readily to other age groups requires. ‧. further study.. Nat. io. sit. y. 2. Given the situation that this study tried to assess the attention and meditation. er. of the participants during learning processes, the experimental time was. al. n. v i n C heach for eight times minutes e n g c h i U in a month.. restricted to 15. Consequently,. whether or not giving longer period of experimental time will lead to different results needs to be further investigated. 3. This study only focuses on two English vocabulary games with different design factors in PHONE Words APP. The results of the study cannot be transferred readily to other sorts of mobile vocabulary learning APPs. 4. The instructional experiment of the study was conducted during the class 9.

(20) hour within limited time. Thus, whether or not the participants used these two APPs for any reasons after class remains uncontrollable. This may affect the research results to some extent. 1.5 Definition of Important Terms Used in the Study 1.5.1. Game Design Factors Csikszentmihalyi (1990, 1996) proposed “flow theory” which can be. 政治大. experienced when eight game design factors including concentration, challenge, skills,. 立. control, clear goals, feedback, immersion, and social interaction are combined. Based. ‧ 國. 學. on flow theory, Sweetser and Wyeth (2005) also proposed concentration, challenge,. ‧. skills, control, clear goals, feedback, immersion, and social as the most important. Nat. io. sit. y. game design factors when designing games. In summary, games should keep player’s. er. concentration throughout the game play; while the difficulty level of the game should. al. n. v i n Cskills sufficiently match with players’ U Also, the tasks should be h e nat gthecsame h i time.. goal-oriented and the player must get feedback on their progress towards completing the tasks. They also feel a sense of control during the game play, and then may lose self-awareness of things around them. Lastly, social interaction can help players interact with other people, making a better playing experience for them. In short, this study considered game design factors to be the key elements for motivating student’s inner learning motivation. The learner could experience “flow” when these game 10.

(21) design factors are properly embedded in the vocabulary game APPs. 1.5.2. Sustained Attention There are several kinds of attention related to learning performance including sustained, selective, spatial, focused, shifting, and divided attention (Driver, 2001; Lezak, Howieson & Loring, 2004; Wager, Jonides & Reading, 2004). Smith, Colunga and Yoshida (2010) pointed out that the most important type of attention related to. 政治大. learning performance is sustained attention, and it plays a major role in gathering,. 立. acquiring, and applying knowledge. DeGangi and Porges (1990) defined sustained. ‧ 國. 學. attention as “the ability to direct and focus cognitive activity on specific stimuli”,. ‧. which is important for cognitive development because one cannot process information. Nat. io. sit. y. without sustained attention. Furthermore, Sarter, Givens and Bruno (2001) regarded. er. sustained attention as a basic attention function that determines the efficacy of higher. al. n. v i n C h capacity. Broadbent aspects of attention and of cognitive e n g c h i U (1958) also indicated that identification, effective learning and memory are impossible when learning without attention. In this study, students’ sustained attention was assessed based on detecting their EEG signals by using the NeuroSky’s MindWave headset. 1.5.3. Emotion Many education scholars claimed that emotions are directly related to and influence learning performance (Goleman, 1995; Piaget, 1989). Generally, emotions 11.

(22) can be broadly categorized as positive and negative respectively, both of them can be generated by instructional designs that may affect learner experience and performance (Um et al., 2007; Chen & Wang, 2011). Moreover, according to Krashen’s (1988) Affective Filter Hypothesis, learner’s mood and attitude determine the quality of learning. Learning efficiency would be reduced when fear, anxiety, and other negative emotions appear, whereas positive emotions can efficiently enhance learning. 政治大. outcomes. Thus, this study assessed the difference in the meditation level of learners. 立. between two English vocabulary learning game APPs with significantly different. ‧ 國. 學. game design factors in PHONE Words APP based on detecting their EEG signals by. ‧. using the NeuroSky’s MindWave headset.. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 12. i n U. v.

(23) CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Vocabulary Acquisition Vocabulary knowledge has long been thought of as a major prerequisite of assessing language proficiency. Many studies (Wilkins, 1972; Nation, 2001; Jensen, 2005; Elgort, 2013) emphasized the importance of vocabulary learning in language acquisition. In the field of language education, vocabulary plays an indispensable role. 政治大. among all language skills and knowledge including reading, writing, speaking,. 立. listening, and grammar. Additionally, it has been considered to be one of the key. ‧ 國. 學. factors to the success of language learning (Jordan, 1997). Nation (2001) also claimed. ‧. that vocabulary knowledge is one of the most vital elements of language learning. As. y. Nat. al. er. io. sit. second language learners are aware of the limitations of their vocabulary knowledge,. n. they may encounter difficulties when trying to express their ideas under some. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. circumstances. That is, vocabulary knowledge has tremendous influence on language skills since vocabularies carry the basic information that can be comprehended and expressed. Vocabulary size, also noted as vocabulary breadth, signifies the number of words a person knows in a language (Laufer & Goldstein, 2004). Nation (2001) mentioned that vocabulary size has been viewed as one of the key factors for students to accomplish better academic performance. Therefore, cultivating learners’ ability to 13.

(24) enlarge their vocabulary size independently and strategically has been one of the major goals for language instructors (Graves & Fink, 2007). 2.1.1 Vocabulary Memory Retention Most of the language learners have difficulty in memorizing English vocabularies (Oxford, 1990). As time goes by, many language learners may forget words they have learned as memory fades away. Many studies put emphasis on the. 政治大. importance of vocabulary memory retention (Pimsleur, 1967; Huang, 2003; Jensen,. 立. 2005; Dondi & Moretti, 2007). For example, Pimsleur (1967) suggested that the. ‧ 國. 學. acquired vocabulary could not be retained in memory for a long time without an. ‧. effective reviewing mechanism. Huang (2003) also confirmed that vocabulary. Nat. io. sit. y. memory retention will gradually decline after a period of time. Jensen (2005) pointed. er. out that assessing learners’ vocabulary memory retention ability can be considered to. al. n. v i n be an effective way to evaluateC vocabulary performance. Moreover, Sobel et h e n glearning chi U al. (2011) indicated that when learning English vocabularies, spacing strategy can efficiently enable learners to produce superior long-term memory retention compared to massed learning. However, it’s rather challenging for EFL learners to retain vocabulary knowledge in long-term memory as they don’t have chance to truly use these words like native speakers in everyday life. As a result, Nation (2001) claimed that EFL learners are inclined to forget words easily if they do not use them 14.

(25) frequently enough. 2.1.2 Studies on Vocabulary Learning Strategies Much attention has been paid to the development of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) by many language researchers since the 1970s (Schmitt, 1997). Several language researchers (Nation, 2001a; Schmitt, 2000) suggested that VLS should play a crucial role in improving students’ vocabulary acquisition, which makes. 政治大. them learn words independently and strategically. Traditionally, rote memorization. 立. has been considered an inflexible, outdated way of learning in language teaching. ‧ 國. 學. (Read, 2000, p. 39). However, Fan (2003) claimed that excellent English learners may. ‧. adopt a great variety of VLS to learn more knowledge and then plan their vocabulary. Nat. io. sit. y. learning strategies by themselves. Sanaoui (1995) also found that those who were. n. al. er. good at retaining vocabulary were prone to utilize a more systematic and structured. Ch. engchi. way to learn vocabulary compared to those who. iv n were U less. successful ones who. utilized unsystematic and unstructured ways. In other words, whether one is proficient at language or not mainly lies in how he/she utilizes vocabulary learning strategies. Among several vocabulary learning strategies, Lip (2009) indicated that the repetition strategy is the most frequently used approach among EFL Chinese students. However, Liang’s study (1996) argued that the repetition strategy may make learners passive and indifferent to their learning, which may reduce their interest in English, 15.

(26) causing inreversible consequences. Gu and Johnson (1996) proposed two vocabulary learning strategies: metacognitive regulation and cognitive strategies, which included six parts: guessing, using a dictionary, note-taking, rehearsal, encoding, and activating, all of which were regarded as efficient vocabulary learning strategies. As for the learning of L2 (Second Language) vocabulary, Brown and Payne (1994, as cited in Hatch & Brown, 1995, p. 373) demonstrated five steps of English learning. 政治大. strategy: (a) having suitable materials for meeting new words, (b) getting a clear. 立. image, either visual or auditory forms of the new words, (c) learning the meaning of. ‧ 國. 學. the words, (d) making a strong memory link between the forms and the meanings of. ‧. Nat. io. sit. some degree, related to these five steps mentioned above.. y. the words, and (e) using the words. All strategies for learning L2 vocabulary are, to. er. However, many studies (Sylven & Sundqvist, 2012; Smith et al., 2013;. al. n. v i n Sundqvist & Wikstrom, 2015) C confirmed that vocabulary games have high potential heng chi U to enhance learners’ English level. Accordingly, this study aims to measure whether or not two kinds of different mobile phone vocabulary learning game APPs with significantly different design factors have different effects on vocabulary learning performance. 2.2 Computer Games Among several definitions for “game” in the past literatures, Hays (2005: 15) 16.

(27) argued that game as “an artificially constructed, competitive activity with a specific goal, a set of rules and constraints that is located in a specific context.” At present, computer games have become an indispensible part in our social and cultural environment (Oblinger, 2004) and are particularly attractive to children and adolescents, some of whom are therefore addicted to it because of its miscellaneous variety and entertainment (Downes, 1999; Mumtaz, 2001). Many previous studies. 政治大. (Gee, 2003; Rickard & Oblinger, 2003; Schwabe & Göth, 2005; Shaffer, Squire,. 立. Halverson, & Gee, 2005) indicated that if combined well with meaningful learning. ‧ 國. 學. materials, games can be excellent ways to improve learning motivation and. ‧. performance.. Nat. io. sit. y. 2.2.1 Digital Game-Based Learning. er. Digital games have long been viewed as important entertainment in the lives of. al. n. v i n C h1970s, digital games children and teenagers. Since the e n g c h i U have been mainly used as a. leisure activity. In recent years, however, such use has changed; more and more people nowadays try to make use of it for different kinds of purposes, not just for leisure and entertainment (Boyle, Connoly, Hainey, & Boyle, 2012). For instance, games that are designed for the use of education goals are thought of as “serious games”, which are designed differently from games for entertainment purposes (Sørensen & Meyer, 2007). 17.

(28) Game-based learning, meaning that games are used for educational purposes, has been widely used in many fields of language education. Many studies (Barab et al., 2007; Hopelab, 2006; Ito et al., 2008; Schrader and McCreery, 2007; Squire et al., 2008; Warren et al., 2008) paid attention to building connections between gaming and learning. For example, Papastergiou (2009), who utilized digital game-based learning for a high school computer science class, demonstrated that game-based learning can. 政治大. efficiently enhance the knowledge of computer memory concepts of high school. 立. students as well as raise their learning motivation when compared with group without. ‧ 國. 學. game-related material.. ‧. Garris, Ahlers, and Driskell (2002) pointed out that there are three major reasons. Nat. io. sit. y. why educators prefer utilizing game applications as tools in teaching. First, the trend. er. of educational philosophy has shifted from traditional method, teacher-centered model,. al. n. v i n C h nowadays are encouraged to learner-centered model. Learners to play a more active engchi U. role in their own learning. Second, evidences show that games can effectively enhance users’ learning and understanding toward complex subjects. Finally, thanks to the entertainment of the game, which will undoubtedly attract users’ attention, games can successfully trigger users’ motivation for learning. Gee (2003) suggested that computer games are powerful educational approach which enhances the ability of problem-solving behavior, motivation and social networks, and that it also facilitates 18.

(29) and supports learning. In recent years, DGBL has been broadly utilized for a variety of educational purposes since it enables learners to attain their learning goals by simply playing games (Federation of American Scientists, 2006; Gee, 2003; Prensky, 2001). Prensky (2001) pointed out that computer games can develop a new learning field of education that fits students’ learning habits and interests. Norman (1993) also argued that games. 政治大. can meet the needs of basic requirements of learning environments and that they can. 立. offer an engaging environment for learning. Moreover, Yu, Chang, Liu, and Chan. ‧ 國. 學. (2002) conducted an experiment on the use of a game for high school English learning,. ‧. mainly focusing on students’ preferences and satisfaction from the learning. Nat. io. sit. y. experience. Moreover, Rosas et al. (2003) found that the use of games on portable. er. devices can successfully improve motivation and learning outcomes compared to. al. n. v i n C h and reading. Similarly, traditional teaching in mathematics Virvou, Katsionis, and engchi U Manos (2005) compared a virtual reality game to educational program without the gaming part in geography, confirming that the game was very motivating and that it helped the students retain or improve their knowledge. In language learning field, Sukstrienwong and Vongsumedh (2013) claimed that those who learn English vocabulary by using digital games generated more positive attitude toward vocabulary learning. Besides, they had significantly better performance than those who didn’t 19.

(30) play games on mobile devices. Also, Uzun et al. (2013) found that learners utilizing digital games for learning turned out to outperform other groups, generating positive perceptions toward vocabulary learning and further had great influence on future vocabulary retention. 2.3 Game Design Factors Many previous studies (Choi & Kim, 2004; Dickey, 2005; Mulligan & Patrovsky,. 政治大. 2003) revealed that the design factors of the game are highly related to enjoyment,. 立. and enjoyment has a strong influence on players’ intention to play. Different levels of. ‧ 國. 學. game design features might be able to provide users with different gaming. ‧. experiences.. Nat. io. sit. y. Choi et al. (2004) conducted a study which separated the game design factors of. er. Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) into personal and. n. al. social factors to examine. v i n C hgaming experience. users’ e n g c h i U Eight. game factors were. identified in their study. Personal factors include challenge, fantasy, curiosity, control, and reward, whereas social factors include game participants, audiences, and communities. The following subsections show the detailed descriptions of them. 2.3.1 Personal factors Malone and Lepper (Malone, 1980, 1981a; Malone & Lepper, 1987) proposed four game design factors that can be utilized to demonstrate users’ gaming 20.

(31) experiences when interacting with game content: challenge, fantasy, curiosity, and control. These four game design factors have also been proven to have the ability to motivate people to play the game (Rieber, 1996). Table 2.1 shows the definitions of these personal factors. Table 2.1 Definitions of five personal factors toward gaming experience Personal Factors. Definition The achievement of goals to the difficulty level of the. Challenge. problem. 政治大. A circumstance that one has never experienced in their reality life, which can trigger users’ imaginations and draw them into a world outside their own experience (Myers, 1990).. Fantasy. 立. sit. io. Whether users can effectively conduct their tasks Factor that can satisfy users and facilitate their. er. Nat. al. v i n C h in their activity (Deci motivation & Ryan, 1987; U i e h n g c 2004) Ducheneaut & Moore,. n. Reward. y. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Curiosity. Control. (a) Sensory curiosity: sound and light effects that trigger sensory experiences (b) Cognitive curiosity: incompleteness in the game world that may surprise or interest users, and increase user motivation to explore the game in return.. 2.3.2 Social factors Social bonding can be one of the most important game factors for motivating people to play games (Rouse, 2000). Because of the Internet, social factors strongly connect a user’s social interactions with others. A user might have different experiences while interacting with different types of users. Users in the game world can be classified into three social types as shown in Table 2.2: the game participant, 21.

(32) the audience, and their community. Table 2.2 Definitions of three social factors toward gaming experience Social Factors. Definition Those players who are with the player throughout the game.. Game Participants. Game-watchers’ in the virtual world, who share no conflicts of interest with the user.. Audiences. Groups of users who share the same goals and interests in virtual worlds (Ducheneaut, Yee, Nickell, & Moore, 2006). Communities. However, from a psychological point of view, the concepts of perceived. 政治大 enjoyment have been widely studied and used in games as well as perceived 立. ‧ 國. 學. enjoyment of games has been considered to be the most important and necessary. ‧. factor in game playing (Sweetser and Wyeth, 2005). Several previous studies. sit. y. Nat. illustrated the perceived enjoyment by using disposition theory, transportation theory,. n. al. er. io. parasocial interaction, attitude, cognition theory, and flow theory (Oliver & Nabi,. Ch. i n U. v. 2004). Among them, flow theory is the most influential and broadly used one.. engchi. Therefore, it is regarded as the foundational theory of this study. Csikszentmihalyi (1975) introduced the flow, which is also called the optimal experience, or being in the “Zone.” Flow describes a state of mind with complete involvement or engagement in an activity and refers to the optimal experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1991). During optimal experience, a person is in a psychological state where he/she is so absorbed in the goal driven activity that nothing else seems to. 22.

(33) matter. While the flow experience appears, players lose track of time and worries. Past research confirmed that the flow state has positive effect on learning performance (Webster, Trevino, & Ryan, 1993) and recommended that it should be taken into account when designing games. Moreover, Csikszentmihalyi (1990, 1996) presented nine major factors of flow: challenge-skill balance, merging of action and awareness, clear goals, immediate. 政治大. feedback, concentration on the task at hand, a sense of control, loss of. 立. self-consciousness, time distortion, and autotelic experience. Flow theory has been. ‧ 國. 學. widely applied in the studies related to game playing behavior and game design. ‧. (Johnson & Wiles, 2001). Furthermore, to assess whether experiences of playing. Nat. io. sit. y. games for players were enjoyable or not, Sweetser and Wyeth (2005) demonstrated a. er. model, which consists of eight dimensions: concentration, challenge, skills, control,. al. n. v i n C h and social interaction. immersion, e n g c h i U They. clear goals, feedback,. are addressed as. follows: (1) Concentration: To get enjoyable feeling, concentration of the game is needed, the player must be able to concentrate on the game while playing (Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005) Also, concentration is strongly connected to learning performance and directly affects the knowledge acquisition afterwards. (Bruning, 2004). 23.

(34) (2) Challenge: In order to increase the likelihood of flow experience, it is vital that the challenge and the skill level of the player should be matched as close as possible during the game play. If the challenge is beyond player’s skill level, the game users may feel anxious. On the contrary, if the challenge is less than player’s skill level, the player may feel bored instead (Kiili, 2005; Johnson and Wiles, 2003).. 政治大. (3) Skills: A successful game should keep the player in flow condition by. 立. gradually increasing the skill level of the game while the player’ skill. ‧ 國. 學. increases simultaneously (Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005).. ‧. (4) Control: The player should be capable of moving objects easily and. Nat. io. sit. y. effectively through the game world. With the manipulation of the game, the. er. goal of game can be accomplished (Gee, 2004). In addition, the interface of. al. n. v i n Ch the game should be user-friendly, players to play games as they like e n gmaking chi U (Pagulayan et al., 2003), switch the game on and off (Desurvire et al., 2004), and further save the game. These features enable players to have a sense of control on their character so that they can explore the game freely in their own way (Federoff, 2002; Desurvire et al., 2004). (5) Clear goals: A goal is needed in a game (Federoff, 2002). However, to experience flow, the goals must be clear as well (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; 24.

(35) Johnson & Wiles, 2003), and it should be clearly sent to the player in a straightforward way (Pagulayan et al., 2003). (6) Feedback: During the flow, immediate feedback will be received by the player if they concentrate on the game (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Games should provide players with feedback in their playing processes (Lazzaro, 2004). For instance, games should design a scoreboard in the screen so that. 政治大. the players are able to recognize their scores, which can provide positive. 立. feedback for game players (Federoff, 2002).. ‧ 國. 學. (7) Immersion: When experiencing flow, player may produce deep involvement. ‧. toward the game, which contributes to the loss of the sense of time. Nat. io. sit. y. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Players are completely indulged in the game and. n. al. er. become less self-aware about their surroundings than before (Brown & Cairns, 2004).. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. (8) Social interaction: It is not a factor of game flow experience, but it may interrupt immersion during the play of the game. Game experiences should be designed to increase interpersonal interaction and to create enjoyment in playing with others inside and outside the game (Lazzaro, 2004). Moreover, there are several studies related to similar factors of flow theory. Choi and Kim (2002, 2004) pointed out that people will go back to game play if they are 25.

(36) content with their previous experience of the game. The optimal experience can be achieved if the player has had effective personal interaction with the game system or pleasant social interactions with other people connected to the Internet game. 2.4 Learner’s Attention and Emotion In recent years, human physiological signals have been successfully utilized to be valid measurement tools to assess emotion (Chen & Sun, 2012; Chen & Wang,. 政治大. 2011) and attention (Rebolledo-Mendez et al, 2009). The following subsections. 立. discuss the literatures regarding attention and emotion, respectively.. ‧ 國. 學. 2.4.1 Definition of Attention. ‧. Attention level is a vital factor affecting learning performance when people learn.. Nat. io. sit. y. There are several studies regarding the definitions of attention: Sohlberg and Mateer. er. (1987) regarded attention as the ability to concentrate on any particular parts of. al. n. v i n C h or interestingUso that the information can be surroundings that one thinks important engchi. manipulated. Since the 1970s, attention research has been an important research topic in the psychological field. James (1983) viewed attention as a psychological process, which was composed of focus and concentration, and it can facilitate the speed of thinking. Solso (1995) defined attention as the degree of focus or concentration on specific matters. If the learner paid no attention to the learning goal, the learning itself was ineffective. Sohlberg and Mateer (1989) classified attention as five different 26.

(37) forms shown in Table 2.3. Table 2.3 Five forms of attention Attention forms. Description The state of concentrating on one stimulus to the exclusion of all others.. focused attention sustained attention. Generally called concentration, the ability to maintain concentrated over prolonged period of time.. selective attention. The act of focusing on a particular object for a period of time while simultaneously ignoring irrelevant information that is also occurring.. shifting attention. The process by which information that is currently relevant in the mind is replaced by other information.. 政治大 try to focus on multiple things. 立. A term used to describe the mental state where people. divided attention. ‧ 國. 學. Among the different forms of attention, sustained attention has strong relation with e-learning performance (Chen & Huang, 2014). Besides, Steinmayr, Ziegler and. ‧. sit. y. Nat. Träuble (2010) also emphasized the importance of sustained attention due to its. n. al. er. io. significant correlation with learning performance. This study thus focuses on. i n U. v. examining how two kinds of vocabulary learning game APPs with significantly. Ch. engchi. different game design factors affect sustained attention of learners. 2.4.2 Empirical Studies on Attention Many empirical studies regarding attention have been proposed over the past few years. Table 2.4 shows the summary of several studies on attention. Table 2.4 Summary of empirical studies on attention Researcher Prater et al. (1991). Descriptions / Findings ● Using poster as a visual reminder in class and self-monitoring strategy to detect the learners’ attention level. 27.

(38) ● Self-monitoring can successfully increase student’s attention and learning performance. ● Adopting music therapy to maintain attention for older adults with cognitive impairments. Gregory, D ● An active music listening intervention can be designed to (2002) maintain purposeful selective attention for older adults. Bjo¨rn B. de Koning (2007). Wan et al. (2013). ● Using an attention cueing technique to prevent cognitive overload and foster learning. ● It’s concluded that attention cueing can improve learning performance from animation. ● A portable attention level monitoring and alarming (ALMA) system, along with EEG platform, apply to monitor the driver’s fatigue level.. 立. ● A EEG-based neurofeedback computer games that can identify the attention level of the learners.. ‧ 國. 學. Thomas et al. (2013). 政治大. ● It’s proven that the system can accurately detect drivers’ attention and fatigue level.. ‧. y. sit. er. al. v. ● The experimental group utilizing ASRLM has better performance than control group.. n. Chih-Ming Chen et al. (2015). while they read annotated English text online.. io. Sheng-Hui Huang (2014). ● Attention-based self-regulated learning mechanism (ASRLM), which is based on brainwave detection, is employed to enhance sustained attention of learners. Nat. Chih-Ming Chen &. ● It demonstrated that the game can effectively enhance the concentration and memory skills of the learner.. Ch. engchi. i n U. ● AAS (Attention Aware System) can accurately identify the low-attention periods of video lecture generated by students who engaged in learning activity. ● AAS is effective, capable of assisting online instructors in evaluating student’s attention levels to enhance their online learning performance.. 2.5 Learner’s Emotion 2.5.1 Definition of Emotion Emotion stands for a common internal state of mind and experience that. 28.

(39) everyone feels and has close relationship with motivation and cognitive learning processes (Chen & Sun, 2012). Several previous studies confirmed that learning emotion will directly affect learners’ motivation and learning achievement (Pekrun et al., 2009, 2002; Robinson, 2013; Trautwein et al., 2009). Previous emotion studies (Fassbender et al., 2012; Sanchez-Franco, 2010) proposed that emotion consists of two main aspects, valence and arousal. Valence. 政治大. means whether the emotion experience is positive or negative, and arousal means. 立. whether it is calm or arousing in emotional experience. To sum up, a learner’s. ‧ 國. 學. emotional state can be categorized in four types by valence and arousal: calm positive,. ‧. arousing positive, calm negative, and arousing negative emotions (Shen et al., 2009).. Nat. io. sit. y. 2.5 Emotion in learning process. er. Many previous studies (Pekrun, Elliot, & Maier, 2009; Pekrun, Goetz, Frenzel,. al. n. v i n C hGoetz, Titz, & Perry, Barchfeld, & Perry, 2011; Pekrun, e n g c h i U 2002) identified that the most common emotions associated with learning performance include enjoyment, hope, pride, relief, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, anger, frustration, and boredom. Also, emotion has both positive and negative effects on knowledge acquisition. On one hand, the learning performance can be improved with positive emotion; on the other hand, it could also undermine the learning achievement with negative emotion (Linnenbrink-Garcia & Pekrun, 2011). Frijda (1986) and Simon (1967) also supported 29.

(40) the standpoint that emotion and learning performance are intertwined. Izard, Kagan, and Zajonc (1984) argued that a person’s emotional condition before learning may affect his/her learning outcomes. Therefore, it’s conceivable that emotions play important role throughout the learning process. 2.5.2 Empirical Studies on Emotion Several empirical studies regarding emotion are discussed below. Table 2.5. 政治大 Table 2.5 Summary of empirical studies on emotion 立 Researcher Descriptions / Findings ● Using. of. sit. y. children’s paralinguistic presentations ●Develop a reliable, valid scale to assess emotion. n. al. er. while learning with computers ●Predictive validity was corroborated by consistent. io. Chih-Ming Chen, Hui-Ping Wang (2011). Analysis. ‧. Nat Bo Wang, Xiaolan Fu (2010). DANVA2-CP(Diagnostic. Nonverbal Accuracy Child Paralanguage) to identify emotion in children’s tone of voice ●It’s an appropriate measure to identify emotion in. Rothman, A. D. Nowicki, S. (2004). Robin H. Kay, Sharon Loverock (2008). 學. ‧ 國. shows the summary of several studies on emotion.. Ch. i n U. v. and significant correlations among emotion, computer knowledge, and use ●Examine gender differences in the effects of. engchi. post-learning emotion on consolidation of item memory and source memory ●For females, post-learning negative emotion enhanced consolidation of item memory; for males, neither negative nor positive emotion after learning had a significant effect on either item memory or source memory. ●Using emWave system to explore how different multimedia learning materials affect learning emotions and learning performance ●Video-based multimedia material generates the most 30.

(41) positive emotion ● Significant gender differences in emotion states while using different multimedia ● The study investigated how learners’ emotional valence and arousal, induced by video clips, influenced their learning performance and mental effort in an animated instruction with different modalities ●The results showed that both arousing groups. Sungwon Chung et al. (2015). outperformed calm groups only in the written-text group 2.6 Gender Differences in Games. 治政大 and effective for both boys To confirm whether DGBL can be equally appealing 立 ‧ 國. 學. and girls is a valuable research issue. Previous studies on computer use indicated that games are more popular with boys, who are often regarded as more intensive game. ‧. players than girls (Facer, 2003; Harris, 1999; Mumtaz, 2001). Traditionally, games. sit. y. Nat. io. n. al. er. have been considered a male-dominated area (Cassell & Jenkins, 1998). Hence, boys. i n U. v. are always more familiar with computer hardware and software than girls, and possess. Ch. engchi. more confidence and problem-solving ability toward computer games (Cassell & Jenkins, 1998; Downes, 1999; Papastergiou, 2008). Additionally, Sundqvist (2009) found that boys spent significantly more time on Internet games than girls. Moreover, boys tend to play game more frequently and for longer time than girls do (Bryce & Rutter, 2003; Griffiths & Hunt, 1995), and interestingly, they tend to have different game preference (Lenhart et al., 2008; Lucas & Sherry, 2004). Therefore, how foreign language is acquired through games in school should take gender difference and their 31.

(42) preference into account. For instance, boys prefer using computers and escaping the classroom space (Carr & Pauwels, 2006), while girls often express less positive attitudes toward technology (Young, 2000). Several previous studies indicated that girls are more interested in games of skill than games of kill, whereas the boys prefer the latter one (AAUW, 2000; Yelland & Lloyd, 2001). Consequently, this study aims to identify whether the gender difference exists in. 政治大. vocabulary learning performance, sustained attention, emotion, and vocabulary. 立. memory retention for learners using two kinds of vocabulary learning game APPs. ‧ 國. 學. with significantly different design factors for English vocabulary learning.. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 32. i n U. v.

(43) CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This study aims to examine the effects of game design factors of different game-based vocabulary learning APPs on learning performance, attention, and emotion as well as whether or not correlations exist among learning performance, attention, emotion, and game design factors when learners use two game-based vocabulary learning APPs with significantly different game design factors for English. 政治大. vocabulary learning. Furthermore, the vocabulary memory retention was explored and. 立. analyzed as well. The research architecture, experimental design, research participants,. ‧ 國. 學. research instruments, data analysis schemes, and the results of pilot study are detailed. ‧. in the following sections:. y. Nat. er. io. al. sit. 3.1 Research Architecture. n. This study adopted two English vocabulary learning APPs with significantly. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. different game design factors to explore how game design factors affect the learning performance, attention, meditation, and vocabulary memory retention of the participants. Based on the research goal of this study, the research architecture of this study is shown as Figure 3.1.. 33.

(44) Figure 3.1 Research architecture 3.1.1 Independent Variables. 治政 The independent variables of this study are two大 vocabulary game APPs with 立 ‧ 國. 學. significantly different game design factors in concentration, feedback, challenge matches player skills, control, and immersion. The two vocabulary games are Star Voc. ‧. and Tic-Tac-Toe, respectively. The experimental group 1 was assigned to use Star Voc. sit. y. Nat. io. al. n. use Tic-Tac-Toe.. er. for English vocabulary learning, whereas the experimental group 2 was assigned to. 3.1.2 Dependent Variables. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. The dependent variables of this study are composed of four aspects including vocabulary learning performance, sustained attention, meditation, and vocabulary memory retention, which are respectively described as follows: (1) The vocabulary learning performance was assessed based on the posttest results of vocabulary after finishing English vocabulary learning activity; (2) The sustained attention and meditation were assessed by Neurosky’s mindset 34.

(45) earphone based on human EEG signals; (3) The vocabulary memory retention was assessed based on the delayed posttest of vocabulary taking place two weeks after performing the posttest. 3.1.3 Control Variables 3.1.3.1 Experimental Time Two experimental groups using two different vocabulary game APPs with significantly game design factors were controlled with same amount of experimental. 治政 time, which lasted for four weeks, twice in a week 大 and each time for ten-minute 立 ‧ 國. 學. learning and fifteen-minute playing games. Also, all of the experiments were conducted in an English class.. ‧. 3.1.3.2 Learning Source. sit. y. Nat. io. n. al. er. Both of the employed vocabulary games in PHONE words (全民 PHONE 單字). i n U. v. APP consisted of the same official TOEIC words. In other words, two experimental. Ch. engchi. groups have the same vocabulary source for learning. 3.1.3.3 Vocabulary Tests Both of the experimental groups were performed with same vocabulary tests in pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. They were all based on TOEIC vocabulary. Furthermore, the order and answer sets of the test questions were purposely exchanged in order to avoid memory effect.. 35.

(46) 3.2 Experimental Design The study aims to investigate the effects of two English game-based vocabulary APPs with significantly different design factors on vocabulary learning performance, sustained attention, meditation, and vocabulary memory retention. The vocabulary learning performance and vocabulary memory retention were assessed through pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest, which were based on TOEIC vocabulary. However, in. 政治大. order to find out potential problems and evaluate if significant differences exist in five. 立. design factors including concentration, feedback, challenge matches player skills,. ‧ 國. 學. control, and immersion between two English vocabulary game APPs, a pilot study. ‧. was conducted before performing the formal study. Additionally, the reliability of the. Nat. io. sit. y. questionnaire of enjoyment of e-learning games (QEEG) adopted in the study was. er. also assessed in the pilot study. In the pilot study, all participants used both of the. al. n. v i n English vocabulary game APPsCtohimprove their vocabulary e n g c h i U size. There were totally 27 Grade 11 senior high school from Lienchiang County (Matsu), Taiwan, participating in the pilot study. The pilot study took ten minutes to explain the experimental procedure for the participants in the classroom. Next, all of the participants spent ten more minutes reviewing English words of game APPs. Then, they played both of the two English vocabulary games respectively for 15 minutes. Lastly, the QEEG was immediately employed for the participants to fill out. 36.

(47) Participants in the formal study were also recruited from the same senior high school, while they did not take part in the pilot study. Totally, there were 36 Grade 12 Matsu senior high school students participating in the formal experiment. Based on their pretest scores and gender, they were evenly assigned to Game 1 (Star Voc) group (n=18) and Game 2 (Tic-Tac-Toe) group (n=18). In the formal study, researcher took 10 minutes to explain the detailed experimental procedures for all participants. Then. 政治大. both of the group learners started to learn English vocabularies for ten minutes, and. 立. played the assigned vocabulary game APPs to assess the acquired vocabularies for. ‧ 國. 學. fifteen minutes afterwards. All the learners wore EEG device, a NeuroSky MindWave. ‧. headset which can assess sustained attention and meditation of learners while they. Nat. io. sit. y. were playing the games. Namely, the time of the experiment was controlled. The. er. QEEG was filled out right after the first experiment out of eight experimental sessions. al. n. v i n C h of game design differences e n g c h i U factors. to assess if significant. exist between two. vocabulary learning game APPs. The whole experimental time lasted for 4 weeks, twice in a week. The posttest, which was used to assess learners’ vocabulary learning performance, was immediately conducted after finishing the formal experiment. In addition, a delayed posttest was also conducted two weeks after the formal experiment to assess learners’ vocabulary memory retention. Moreover, a semi-structured interview was conducted at the end of the formal 37.

(48) experiment to collect valuable qualitative data which may not be assessed from the quantitative data analysis. Namely, the mixed-methods research which considers both quantitative and qualitative data analyses was adopted in the study. The quantitative data was collected from EEG headset, vocabulary tests, while the qualitative data was obtained from the semi-structured interview. 3.3 Research Participants. 政治大. The study recruited 27 students including 17 males and 10 females from Matsu. 立. senior high school, Taiwan, to participate in the pilot study. All of the participants. ‧ 國. 學. were Grade 11 students. Table 3.1 shows the number of participants and gender. ‧. distribution of two experimental groups.. sit. Number of Participants. n. al. er. io. Groups. y. Nat. Table 3.1 Number of participants and gender distribution of two experimental groups in the pilot study. Ch. Experimental Group 1: Star VOC Experimental Group 2: Tic-Tac-Toe. e n g c27h i U 27. v ni. Gender. Male. Female. 17. 10. 17. 10. There are totally 36 Grade 12 students from Matsu Senior High School, including 18 males and 18 females, recruited to take part in the formal study. All participants recruited in the formal study were averagely divided into two experimental groups using different vocabulary game APPs with significantly different game design factors based on their pretest scores and gender distribution in. 38.