Aspects of gamification in the ESP program for maritime students

Abstract

This paper explores the possibilities offered by the integration of various gamified learning tasks in the teaching of maritime English at “Mircea cel Bătrân” Naval Academy, with a focus on the enhancement of the acquisition of specialized vocabulary. The study will discuss the impact of online interactive activities in a game-like format on student motivation, as well as on the speed and quality of the subsequent linguistic intake. Classroom observations have shown that gamified learning activities and strategies have enriched the learning process by prompting a higher level of engagement with the learning content, by fostering participation, developing transferable digital skills, encouraging student autonomy and ultimately leading to learner empowerment. The paper will also provide some practical demonstrations of such gamified language learning activities with the aim of sharing best practices and encouraging the use of ICT means in the teaching and learning process.