The effects of a serious game activity and learning tasks on students motivation towards reading skill

Abstract

English language is considered a global language, and it is widely known that it is crucial for many students to acquire English language successfully in order to communicate, work and enter into the global workforce. However, it has been noticed that Jordanian English language learners lack motivation in learning English language. And since motivation is very important in learning English language, it is crucial for researchers to explore how to foster learners' motivation in order to achieve the outcomes of the learning process. Hence, the aim of this paper is to examine the effects of serious game activity and learning tasks based on the Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction model within the technological pedagogical content knowledge framework on students' motivation towards English reading. A pre-experimental research design was conducted among fifty undergraduate students who registered in 'Effective communication skills' subject for semester II 2016/2017 at Yarmouk university, Jordan. Further, pre and post motivation questionnaires were used to measure the students' motivation towards English reading skill. The results indicated a significant improvement of students' motivation towards learning English reading skill. Moreover, the serious game activity and learning tasks had a positive impact on students' attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction levels.