Applying Gamification in Portuguese Learning

Abstract

With the rapid development of mobile technology, teaching and learning become location-less and time-less. The increasing popularity of mobile technologies provides more opportunities for educators and developers to create a wider range of educational tools. Gamification in the field of education is to motivate students to enjoy learning by applying game design. This project seeks to apply gamification techniques in Portuguese learning for Chinese learners using mobile technology. Gamification elements, progression and leaderboard are used to encourage and motivate students to achieve better results. Finally, an evaluation survey was conducted to verify the effectiveness of beginners' language learning and building their confidence. Further studies could design experimental studies and adopt more qualitative research methods. Some different individual characters of students, like confidence level and cognitive style, could be considered in the future research. An idea to increase the interests and motivation of Portuguese learning is worth studying.