Correlation between Gaming, Motor Abilities, and Knowledge of English

Abstract

In the last decade, gaming has become one of the activities that many school-aged children have been using daily. As such, gaming has been having a bad effect on children’s physical activity but, at the same time, it has helped them in the process of learning English. The goal of the study was: 1) to establish a correlation between the frequency of gaming with motor abilities and grades in English; 2) to establish a correlation between motor abilities and English. Thirty-four 7th- graders (m=19, f=15; age 13.24±0.55) of a primary school in Split participated in the study. The subjects were tested in 3 motor and 1 functional ability test. Grades in English were collected. The participants also filled out the questionnaire on the frequency and manner of gaming. The questionnaire is reliable. There is no statistically significant correlation between the frequency of gaming and better grades in English. Girls game less than boys (MWU Test), have better grades in English, and achieve less in certain motor abilities (MWU Test trunk lifting; 6-min running). The findings suggest that by gaming we do not improve our knowledge of English but that gaming is statistically negatively correlated with motor abilities.