Bildiri: Digital Games as Informal Learning Environments for English Vocabulary Acquisition: A Mixed-Methods Study of Turkish ELT Students

Özet

This study investigates how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University use digital games as informal environments for English vocabulary learning. Utilizing a descriptive mixed-method study design, the study enrolled 35 participants, whose data were collected through an online questionnaire containing both Likert-scale items and open-ended questions. The analysis of the results demonstrates that the majority of these students engage in digital gaming as 88.6% of participants identify themselves as gamers. data indicate that 100% of the students encounter English vocabulary during gaming and they mostly (61.3%) guess the meaning from the context while some (38.7%) also intentionally use dictionaries. Importantly, digital games were perceived to be more effective than rote memorization for long-term vocabulary retention. Video games were mostly perceived as a supplement to rather than a substitution for formal education, signaling an opportunity for educators to take heed of this finding for potential integration into the classroom as well as guiding learners for their autonomous learning outside the classroom.

Esin ÖZER, Gülsüm KARAKUŞ