Graduate Action Research Project: “To what extent do board games improve a student’s oral proficiency skills in a middle school Spanish class?”

Audra Quesenberry

Emory & Henry College

December 9, 2014

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to identify to what effect board games could improve

students’ oral proficiency skills in an eighth grade Spanish classroom. Students in the

experimental group played a custom-designed board game for their class, EspañolLandia

for one time a week during the last five weeks of class. The control group only played the

board game for their oral pre and post test which was administered to both groups. The

control group reviewed the same phrases by identifying them on a study guide and working

with a partner on their own to create dialogues, without a game format. The two-student

teams were evaluated by their teacher as they played EspañolLandia. Johns Basic Reading

Inventory was used to assess the groups and designate them as demonstrating the

following reading levels: Independent, Educational, and Frustration. The results of this study

found that the experimental group had much greater gains than the control group in their

reading levels when comparing the scores of the pre and post tests. The study was inspired

by the author’s experiences teaching ESL abroad and her positive experience of using

board games to improve student fluency.

Section A-Question

To what extent do board games improve a student’s oral proficiency skills in a middle

school  Spanish class?

Segment B-Introduction and Rationale

The impact of globalization on society underscores the importance of learning a

foreign language. Spanish is the second-most widely spoken language in the world, behind

Mandarin Chinese (Lewis, Simons, & Charles, 2014). Increasing immigration of workers

from Latin American countries to the US has resulted in a large workforce of Spanish

speakers living and working here that might not necessarily speak English well. Free trade

agreements that the US has signed with nine Latin American countries provide economic

opportunities for international commerce.

All of the above considerations highlight the necessity of effectively teaching Spanish

as a foreign language. While most people recognize the usefulness of studying Spanish,

truly learning the language is a different challenge in itself. Many people preface their

experience having studied Spanish with, “Well, I studied Spanish some in school, but …”

Thus, the challenge of a foreign language teacher is not just to teach, but to create

opportunities for students to actively engage and demonstrate oral proficiency in the

classroom. How can students learn a language if they hardly ever speak it? How can

foreign language teachers get students to actually speak in class?

The main purpose of this action research project is to determine to what extent the

use of board games can impact oral proficiency skills in a middle school Spanish class.

Some specific objectives of the study include evaluating the use of small group activities in

fostering active student engagement as opposed to teacher-centered instruction, increasing

student’s awareness of the Spanish content that they are learning, and of course,

encouraging learners to have fun while initiating spontaneous use of language and

practicing targeted skills.

While observing the effects that games have on a student’s fluency, the teacher

examined any unintended consequences, positive or negative, that might result from using

this student-based approach in a middle school Spanish class. In particular, the teacher

noted if learners are truly on-task as they play or if any disciplinary problems arise from the

playing of the game. The results of this project could be helpful not only for teachers who

instruct Spanish at the middle school level but also for elementary or secondary teachers of

any given foreign language. My research will inform foreign language teachers to what

extent the use of board games is effective in improving the fluency of their students.

Gaudart (1999)  asserted that games turn the tables on the traditional teacher-based

approach of teaching a foreign language. Classroom games give students the opportunity to

practice speaking in a “nonthreatening situation” where students take center stage, actively

engage in oral production and “fully use the language that they have learned, participating

in the communicative process throughout the game.” (Gaudart, 1999, p. 290). She argued

that many language teachers are reluctant to use games not only because of disciplinary

worries but also because they were taught in a teacher-centered way and are simply

emulating their former instructors. Twenty-first century teaching must move away from

traditional, instructor-based methodologies and encourage active student engagement with

the material being taught (Bean 2011). This study will contribute to this body of research,

specifically focusing on the role of games in a middle school Spanish classroom and their

impact, if any, on student’s oral proficiency skills.

Segment C - Literature Review

Foreign language teaching: moving towards a more communicative approach

Foreign language teachers interested in teaching oral proficiency skills are faced

with the conundrum of teaching students who often lack a proper grammatical base due to

the fact that the majority of schools in the US do not offer foreign language electives to

students until the middle or high school levels. Due to this late introduction to foreign

language for many students, teachers have often resorted to passive, direct instruction

methods and students are awash in photocopies and grammatical exercises. For this

reason, students may study any given language for three to four years, but not actually

have any speaking skills to speak of, pun intended.

Because of these challenges, foreign language teaching associations have voiced

the necessity in moving toward a more communicative pedagogical approach. For example,

the National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project (NFSLEP) created the Five

C’s to guide teachers in foreign language instruction: Communication, Cultures,

Connections, Comparisons and Communities. These 5 C’s are achieved through classroom

work in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Virginia’s Standards of Learning, which are

discussed further in Segment D-Research Site Description, also stress verbal

communication, since more than half of the points relate to student oral production.

Gomez, Gujarati & Heckendorn (2012) stated that it is unacceptable for secondary

schools students to have studied a foreign language for four years and not be able to have

speaking or comprehension skills. Noting the difficult task that foreign language teachers

have in creating opportunities for students to speak, they call for instructors to guide their

classroom and “provide opportunities for students to communicate in the target language in

authentic ways while scaffolding experiences to achieve proficiency” (p. 97). Their research

involved the Orbital Experience, an active, student-based research learning project, where

students choose a topic, research it, and prepare oral and written presentations (in Spanish)

that they share with their classmates.

This pedagogical shift towards a more participatory, communicative approach is of

particular interest to foreign language educators and they should also consider the use of

games in their teaching repertoire as an experiential learning tools that can lead to

improved student fluency. There is little research that has been conducted on the link

between student’s oral proficiency and the use of games. However, there are several trends

concerning related literature that will be addressed below: games as related to student

achievement, foreign language learning and student nervousness, indifferent or negative

opinions of games as being beneficial, and the selection of high quality games while

keeping curriculum standards in mind.

Games and student achievement

With the ever-increasing emphasis on student achievement as measured by local,

state, and national high stakes standardized testing, it is not surprising that research exists

to determine if there is a correlation between games and increased student achievement.

Randel, Morris, Wetzel, and Whitehill (1992) reviewed literature that compared the

effectiveness of traditional classroom instruction versus the use of games, evaluating 67

quantitative studies over a 28 year period. Of these studies, 38 showed no difference

between games and traditional instruction. While this may seem to negate the need for

incorporating games in classroom instruction, it is merely representative of the views of

many educators that games, while fun, may not provide any real educational benefit.

Twenty two studies favored the use of games, 5 favored games but did not have

sufficient controls and 3 favored traditional instruction. Studies on achievement in social

sciences, math, language arts, physics, biology, and subject matter interest and retention

over time were included. Mathematics was the subject that was most favored by use of

games followed by social studies.

Influential educational researcher Marzano (2010) suggested that games can

enhance student achievement in the classroom and recommended that they should: be

used for inconsequential competition, target essential academic content, and have a post-

game debriefing period conducted by the teacher. He also advised that students revise their

notes to include new information that they picked up from the playing of a game. Along

similar lines, it has been noted that student-made board games can be beneficial as an end-

of-the-term activity to review key concepts as well as an effective form of “constructional

learning” (Ji-Eun & Jeong-Ah, 2014, p. 34). This constructivist interpretation emphasizes

that students achieve meaning-making through the experience of personally making their

own board games, which explains its effectiveness as a revision activity.

Foreign language learning and anxiety

Researchers have focused on the affective domains and foreign language learning,

particularly on the nervousness that many students experience while studying another

language. Ewald (2007) noted that foreign language study may cause more anxiety than

learning in other core academic areas. The aforementioned Orbital Experience study

reported reduced student anxiety related to oral communication both because of the

relaxed, friendly setting in which the project was carried out as well as the camaraderie that

students had formed after getting to know each other and their interests (Gomez, Gujarati &

Heckendorn 2012). MacIntyre and Gardner (1994) explored the cognitive effects of anxiety

in foreign language acquisition and examined them in a three-stage model: input,

processing, and output. They found that anxiety was present in all stages and that anxious

students may have a poorer foreign knowledge base than their more relaxed peers.

Nearly all foreign language textbooks include reading, listening, and speaking

activities with accompanying scripts and cultural readings. While confident learners who

enjoy studying foreign languages may enjoy these more communicative activities, it has

been found that less sure students who were not familiar with these materials experienced

increased reading anxiety, which led them to earn lower grades than students with lesser

levels of reading anxiety. (Saito, Horwitz, & Garza, 1999). The researchers arrived to this

conclusion in their study of university level Japanese, Russian, and French learners.

Thus, it is important for teachers to anticipate the negative effects that foreign

language learning can produce in some students. Oxford (1999) suggested several

classroom strategies to mitigate student nervousness, including: providing multiple

opportunities for success, encouraging students to take moderate risks, differentiating

activities for varying learning styles, and using music, humor, and games to help loosen up

students. All of these recommendations stress the effectiveness of games  in helping

anxious learners to relax and overcome foreign language learning anxiety.

Researcher’s differing opinions on games

Even though classroom games are used to practice target skills, not all educators

employ them for the same reasons nor view their usefulness in the same light. What can be

said, however, is that students overwhelmingly look to them as a welcome break from the

normal classroom routine and a fun time to relax and enjoy time with their classmates. The

trick of an experienced teacher is to capitalize on this student enthusiasm for games and

carefully select games that reinforce target skills, as well as pay close attention to the

effectiveness of the game’s design.

Some educators have reported that games are indeed fun, but deliver no real

educational experience (Bennet, Wood, & Rogers, 1997). Others have suggested that

students do not take games seriously enough to get any educational benefit from them

(Rao, 2002). Games, while certainly entertaining, may not contribute learning in the

classroom (Conati, 2003). So, as the aforementioned research shows, for many educators,

the jury is still out on the degree of effectiveness that games have in the classroom.

Choosing high quality, developmentally appropriate, curriculum-aligned games

Educators should exercise caution in their selection of board games and ensure that

they are developmentally appropriate for their students, as well as aligned with their subject

area content. Perhaps in a nod to developmental differences, it was found that the use of

board games to enhance science instruction and achievement for elementary level learners

was beneficial for first graders, but not for kindergarteners (Pinder 2013).

Mayer and Harris (2010) have advocated for the incorporation of high quality board

games as part of the offering that libraries usually have available for students:

By using designer games that can also be aligned to curriculum standards,

school libraries can still promote a high quality of play while also remaining

focused on student achievement. Like so many other resources in student

libraries, games enrich and extend classroom instruction, while promoting

personal and aesthetic growth. (p. 12)

Note that they stress the use of “designer” games, and indeed, none of the games

they recommend can be found at a normal big box store and must be special-ordered.

Adherence to curriculum standards is also of central importance, so that as children play,

they are also preparing for the high stakes standardized testing which is now so

commonplace. And lastly, although it should go without saying, games should truly be fun

and winning should depend on strategy, not just luck.

Games as experiential, communicative learning tools

Fortunately, educators have come to rely more and more on research-based

practices, and thus are moving toward experiential learning methods and away from

traditional direct instruction. Gaudart (1999) addressed language teacher’s reluctance in

using classroom games and concluded that educators themselves were taught in a teacher-

centered way, and for this reason are wary to incorporate experiential learning tools such as

games into their instruction. Garris, Ahlers and Driskell’s (2002) extensive research has also

cast the use of games in a constructivist light, “we view the learner as actively constructing

knowledge from experience” (p. 446).  

An ethnographic qualitative study also conducted with four classrooms at the primary

level concluded that the use of games made students more excited about learning and

enabled them to comprehend the material in a “deeper” manner. An unforeseen plus of the

games, as observed by the teachers who participated in the study, was that student’s social

skills improved as they played and even carried on into the rest of the day, thus contributing

to better class management. (Bendixen-Noe, 2012).

The use of games in graduate level instruction has also been reported on favorably.

Reese and Wells (2007) elaborated on the usefulness of a card game in teaching

conversational skills to EFL learners with aspirations to attend graduate school in the US.

Games have also been used successfully in medical training programs, which are moving

away from traditional passive instruction methods where lecturers impart knowledge to

students; and are moving toward a more active, learner-centered approach (Bochennek, K.,

Wittekindt, B., Zimmermann, S., & Klingebiel, 2007; Premkumar & Bonnycastle, 2006).

However, Rao (2002), in his study of Chinese student’s attitudes towards communicative

learning, suggested that games were not conducive to adult learners.

As the literature has indicated, games not only serve as motivation for students, but

can also be useful teaching tools in experiential learning, since students are actively

engaging and reflecting with the material that is being taught throughout the game (Reese &

Wells, 2007, p. 546).  Garris, Ahlers, and Driskell (2002) concluded that well-designed

games serve as motivation for students to hone target skills via engaging in repetitive and

decision-making processes. Gaudart (1999) also reported on the motivational aspect of

games, and was surprised to see that even adult learners would compete with zeal to win a

chocolate bar in a game and seemed even more enthusiastic about games than children

were.

Richard-Amato (2010), in her monograph Making It Happen: From Interactive to

Participatory Language Teaching -- Evolving Theory and Practice, devotes an entire

chapter to games and includes nonverbal, board-advancing, word-focus, and guessing

games as well as treasure hunts. She recommends downplaying competition while playing

games and including few game rules and clearly explaining them. Use of games is

suggested in reinforcing concepts, injecting diversion into daily classroom proceedings, and

as icebreaker activities. “However, their most important function is to give practice in

communication.” (Richard-Amato, 2010, p. 300). The functional importance of

communication via the playing of games emphasizes their effectiveness in improving

student’s oral proficiency in foreign language learning.

Increasing and improving student’s oral proficiency skill in foreign language

instruction is of central interest to my study, as my personal experience teaching ESL in

Argentina for eight years reinforces just how difficult it is to actually get students to speak in

the target language in an authentic way. I often incorporated games into my teaching not

only as a break from the hours of English they had to learn each day, but also as a tool to

“trick” them into spontaneously engaging in conversation with their classmates, while using

targeted structures that we had gone over in that day’s class. It is my desire to translate this

experience to my teaching Spanish as a foreign language to US students, and determine to

what extent that games are effective in increasing student fluency skills in a middle school

Spanish class.

Segment D-Research Site Description

The United States is home to 37 million Spanish speakers (Lopez & Gonzalez-

Barrera, 2013), which ranks it with the fourth-highest population of inhabitants who speak

Spanish, after Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Argentina. It is spoken as a heritage language

and by immigrants around the country, but particularly in urban and suburban areas, as well

as in the Southwest. A place that one would certainly not expect to find a sizable population

of fluent Spanish speakers is in Southwest Virginia, a rural, mountainous corner of the state

nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. In fact, the study will be carried out in an area where

97 percent of the population is classified as non-Latino white, and this statistic is similar in

most counties that comprise Southwest Virginia. Since the focus of this study is on

improving students’ oral proficiency skills in Spanish, the research will be conducted in an

area where there are few Spanish speakers to be had.

The southwestern part of Virginia, while rich in natural beauty and in the hospitality of

its people, is and has been the most economically depressed portion of the state. The

region has always relied heavily upon the coal industry, an economic sector which has

greatly suffered within recent years due to punishing economic regulation by the federal

government. There are few other industries in the area, and like the rest of the country, the

manufacturing sector has also taken an economic hit. There is some small-scale farming,

retail and service jobs, and a growing tourism industry.

In keeping with confidentiality, the county where the study will be carried out will be

called Jefferson County. Hunting, fishing and Nascar races are some of the pastimes

enjoyed by a majority of residents of the area. This area is part of the Bible Belt, and

churches dot the countryside. The county’s demographics are quite homogeneous, with a

total population just under 55,000 and 97 percent of residents designating themselves as

Caucasian. (Quick Facts. US Census, 2013)

The study was conducted at one particular school, Sinking Spring Junior High. The

school, although in a rural area, is located right off of a major Interstate highway. The school

is perched upon a hill before arriving to the small but revitalized downtown area. The

panoramic mountain views that the school enjoys are truly spectacular. The campus is well-

maintained and has historically had a good reputation in the area. The student body is

composed of 309 students. Of these students, 161 are female and 148 are male. There are

12 minority students. Forty eight percent of the student body qualifies for free or reduced

lunch.

Research was collected in the junior high’s eighth grade Spanish classes, which

were held in the morning. Eighth graders who were taking Spanish had already taken the

language in sixth and seventh grade as well. Sixth and seventh grade classes are

designated as “exploratories” and last for 30 minutes. All sixth graders rotate through six

exploratories throughout the school year including: Spanish, Art, Keyboarding, Agriscience,

Technology Explorations, and a choice between Chorus or Band. Seventh graders choose

four exploratory courses to complete during the year, with each class lasting nine weeks.

Both sixth and seventh graders are given a Pass/Fail grade. Since they are not core

academic content areas, class time is often taken away from these class periods for

extracurricular school programming. Course content for these grades focuses on culture,

geography, and introduction of basic phrases and vocabulary in Spanish.

Eighth grade Spanish, however, has a different dynamic. It is designated “Spanish I”,

and students earn high school credit for this course. A letter grade is assigned, instead of

Pass/Fail. Students who pursue an advanced studies high school diploma must take at

least three years of a foreign language. The class duration is 47 minutes. This course is

more academically rigorous, as students must learn the grammatical base of the Spanish

language, through verb conjugations, parts of speech, specialized vocabulary, cultural

readings, and listening and speaking activities. Frequent formative and summative

evaluations are administered to ensure student progress.

Regarding the demographics of the class participating in this study, class

composition was equally divided between girls and boys and there were no ethnic

minorities. The teacher-student ratio was 14:1. In the control group the student teacher ratio

was 16:1 and the gender and ethnic characteristics of the class mirror the class which will

be participating in the research.

The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) outline that Spanish I students will start to

develop “communicative competence”. The learning objectives related to oral

communication include interpersonal communication (exchanging information between two

or more people), interpretive communication (listening and reading for understanding) and

presentational communication (speaking and writing for an audience). Additionally, “an

important component of learning Spanish is using the language in the real world beyond the

classroom setting.” (Virginia Department of Education, 2014, p. 12). This study will offer not

just Spanish teachers, but all foreign language instructors a better understanding of how

games can go improve a classroom setting and, in turn, impact a student’s oral proficiency

skills in the middle school classroom.

Segment E-Research Design and  Instruments

Participants

Two eighth grade Spanish I classes participated in this action research project.  Both

classes were in the same school and held in the morning. The class participating in the

experiment had 14 students, one of which has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP); the

control group had 16 students, two of which had IEPs. These classes were chosen to

participate in the study because of their similar class demographics, as well as the fact that

both classes took place in the morning.

Instrumentation

Interpersonal and presentational Spanish phrases were selected from the students’

book, Buen Viaje. None of the students came from Spanish-speaking households, and the

teacher had had all of the students in sixth and seventh grade Spanish; this ensured that

these phrases were not previously known by the learners.The list of phrases can be

referred to in Appendix A.

The research study began at the beginning of the sixth, or last six week academic

period. This time period was ideal for the research to take place since students had learned

phrases throughout the year, reviewed them again in preparation for and while playing the

game, and also developed oral proficiency skills. Thus, the research for the experimental

group was also effective in that it served as a means to review what had been taught during

the school year. Additionally, even if students could understand the context and/or meaning

of a phrase, they could not always use it orally and in an extemporaneous and authentic

way. Playing the game remedied this problem for students who could not use the phrases

naturally in conversation.

Students from both the control and experimental group took an oral pretest, which

consisted in the students being given the game for the first time and playing it. The format of

the oral pretest was identical for both groups, so as to not skew any data. Regarding the

format of the pretest, it was identical to the format of the game itself; students were given a

deck of cards with the phrases and were told to use them correctly during their turn in the

game. The teacher acquired video cameras and tripods from the Jefferson County Schools

so that each student group’s play could be taped simultaneously on the same day. Filming

took place from the beginning of play until the end, that is, when a group won the game.

The researcher then watched each video and used the speaking rubric to assign individual

students their grade.

A speaking rubric was used to evaluate students on their use of the phrases as well

as task completion, comprehensibility, fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax. A

copy of the inventory form used in evaluating the students as they played the game can be

referred to in Appendix F. The results of this pretest were used as a reference to gauge

student knowledge on the meaning of the phrases, as well as their adeptness at using them

orally. The scoring chart with the pretest results can be found in Appendix C. Both classes

participated in the speaking pretest on the first Friday of the beginning of the sixth six week

grading period. They were not given their results, as they knew that the test was strictly for

research purposes. The following Monday, the game format was formally introduced and

taught by the teacher.

The game is called EspañolLandia, which, in Spanish, means “Spanish Land”. The

name is a play on words taken from the childhood board game, Candy Land, since the

board game format is similar to that of Candy Land. The board game was adapted for the

purposes of this research study, and the instructions follow.  Play centers around a deck of

43 total cards. Each card has a Spanish phrase written on it, and cards are color-coded

according to their language use. An even number of players is needed to carry out the

game.The teacher divided the teams into two-member, mixed sex groups. The youngest

player will begin play by drawing a card from the stack. This student  must draw a card from

the pile in the middle of the board and initiate a dialogue with their partner using the

particular phrase.  They must use the phrases via mini-dialogues that they create with their

partner in a grammatically-correct way and with natural pronunciation. Mini-dialogues

should consist of at least four dialogue entries. For example, a student draws a card with

“Tengo una pregunta”. They read the phrase out for their partner and begin creating their

mini-dialogue.

Student A: Tengo una pregunta.

Student B: Si. Que es?

Student A: Puedo ir al bano?

Student B: Por supuesto.

If the students are playing on their own, they decide among themselves if the

dialogue is acceptable and if the team can move the amount of spaces that they rolled on

their dice. Teams advance one space on the board for a correct dialogue. If the team makes

an error with their phrase, they cannot advance to the next space. The team that reaches

the end of the twenty space board game is the winner.  

Assessment

Students played EspañolLandia once a week, every Friday class period, for the

second through the fifth six weeks of the sixth six week grading period. This totaled five

cycles of the game that students had played before they took the posttest; which was

administered on the last Friday of the sixth six week grading period. The game format was

exactly the same in the pretest as well as the posttest. The pretest was then compared with

the posttest in order to detect to what extent learner’s appropriate use of the phrases and

fluency in speaking them had changed within the course of playing the game. The control

group also took the posttest in the board game format, although they had learned the

phrases through the traditional method of looking at them on their study guides. Once a

week, on Fridays, the teacher would ask students to create dialogues using the phrases.

Segment F-Graphics to Display Data Analysis and Findings

Figure 1:  Experimental Group Results (Pretest and Posttest)

Figure 2: Control Group Results (Pretest and Posttest)

Figure 3: Percentage of Change Between Pre and Posttest Scores

Percentage of Change Between Pre and Posttest Scores

Experimental Group 16%

Control Group 8.8%

Segment G-Findings and Implications

The marked pedagogical shift towards a more communicative approach in foreign

language instruction hints at the effectiveness of board games as a teaching tool to improve

student’s oral proficiency skills. Students actively engaged with the conversational phrases

that they had been using throughout the year and felt challenged to use them correctly with

their teammate in a festive, competitive setting. In the course of the game, they had to come

up with new, extemporaneous ways to use the phrases. This contrasted from their use of

the phrases as they had learned them earlier in the year, where they had just spoken them

in a way that was similar to how the book had presented them.

The teacher who carried out this research suspected that students would enjoy the

game, but was truly surprised at just how much the students looked forward to playing the

game. They were especially enthusiastic on the Fridays that the game was played, and

even asked their teacher how to say certain phrases related to board game play in Spanish.

A list of these phrases can be referenced in Appendix D.

However, while students certainly had fun playing the game, this did not mean that it

was necessarily easy for them. This was demonstrated in the marked difference between

their pretest and posttest scores that correspond to the first and last games they played.  

Complete student scores can be referred to in Appendix C for the Experimental

Group, and in Appendix  E for the Control Group. The Experimental Group’s percentage

change between pre and posttest scores was 16%, while the Control Group’s was 8.8%.

While these increases may not seem significant, one must keep in mind that a 7.2%

increase, or a full letter grade. The greatest gains were made by students who had scored

low on the pretest. Thus, this research might suggest a particular benefit of board game

play for low achieving students.

While some of the students’ initial uncertainty was likely related to unfamiliarity with

the game, it was also clear that as the played the game, they developed stronger oral

proficiency skills. This is witnessed in the stark contrast between the experimental and

control group’s posttest reading levels. The greatest gains were seen in the experimental

group, which played the game once a week for five weeks. The control group, who

practiced using the conversational phrases on their own and without the weekly use of the

game other than the pretest and posttest.

While the control groups’ oral proficiency skills did improve, they did not improve at

the rate as the experimental group. This would suggest a link between the repeated playing

of the game and improved oral proficiency skills on the part of the two-person student

teams. Both the experimental and control group had identical prior knowledge of what was

tested, since the phrases on the game cards were simply conversational phrases that had

been compiled from the book they had used all year. Thus, the pretest reading levels are a

reflection of each student group’s background knowledge. The notable difference between

both group’s pretest and posttest reading level assessments leads one to believe that the

instructional use of board games in a foreign language classroom can lead to a

considerable increase in student’s oral proficiency skills.

The benefits of EspañolLandia mirror the findings that are discussed above in the

literature review. The use of a board game to promote speaking skills in a foreign language

classroom is indicative of the move to communicative competence that educators strive for

in foreign language teaching. In the case of this study, student achievement increased,

when comparing the experimental and control groups, because of playing the game. While

this study did not specifically address student anxiety due to foreign language acquisition,

one could interpret the results of the study to shed a favorable light on the use of board

games to decrease student anxiety, due to the fact that the experimental group had more

successful results than the control group. Concerning the design and implementation of the

game, the format of EspañolLandia was carefully chosen to be not only developmentally

appropriate for middle schoolers, but also of high instructional quality. The purpose of the

game was not for students to have fun and take a break from traditional instruction, rather, it

was carefully crafted to produce improvements in student oral proficiency. This

recommendation is a fundamental one for those educators interested in using board games,

they must take the time to create truly curriculum-aligned games and participatory learning

activities. When the current literature regarding board games during instructional time is

taken in sum, it can be concluded that, when used correctly, they truly can be

communicative, experiential learning tools.

The active, participatory strategy of employing board games to improve fluency

produced much  higher gains than the typical strategy of having students pair off and work

on their own. This could be because the game kept students on task and motivated them to

produce more orally, since they could use the cards to prompt them in their mini-dialogues

that they created with their partners. The color-coded game cards also could have aided

students in either consciously or unconsciously identifying the function of the phrase they

were using, since each card had a particular color that corresponded to phrase’s function.

In the course of playing the game, students actively engaged with the conversational

phrases and were forced to use them in an authentic way. Drawing a card and having to

use it successfully in a mini-dialogue with their partner made students really think about

what they were going to say. Conversely, in the control group, students referenced the

phrases in their study guides and used textbook excerpts to create mini-dialogues that were

nearly verbatim copies of material that students had already read in the textbook.

Another factor that contributed to the success of the board game strategy is that

students felt at ease playing a board game and viewed it as a special time and almost a

treat. This, arguably, could also have affected (either positively or negatively) student

anxiety that is often related to foreign language learning. Then, of course, the element of

competition also inspired students to correctly use the phrases, not just as an end in itself,

but to be able to beat their opponent’s and arrive at the finish line of the board game. The

control group, on the other hand, was learning the phrases simply as a revision and were

much more likely to be off task in their oral production.

Although it remains to be seen exactly how much instructional time should be

dedicated to games in foreign language classrooms, this study has demonstrated the clear

advantage and increase in student’s oral proficiency because of their use. Thus, the

question is not whether a teacher should include games in their teaching repertoire, but,

rather, how to design them to maximize student learning, specifically in increasing fluency.

These findings should motivate foreign language instructors to do just that, to research

board game formats, adapt their teaching content to the game they have selected, and

incorporate the playing of games into their instruction as they see fit.

This instructional strategy of using board games to improve fluency was successful

because students used the game to construct meaning, relating the phrases with prior

knowledge and linking it to the competition of the game. The more traditional revision

method used by the control group encouraged rote memorization and relying on excerpts

from the textbook. Current educational research overwhelmingly supports the use of active

learning strategies where students are active participants in the learning process as

opposed to traditional, passive techniques.

Segment H: Limitations of the Study

While the benefits of using board games as an active learning tool to increase

student’s communicative competency seem quite obvious given the results of this study,

one must be careful to generalize the usefulness of board games in foreign language

learning in general. In particular, this study focused on a middle school classroom, and

students only used conversational phrases that they had already learned throughout the

course of the school year. The results of the study could have been very different if it were

conducted at the elementary or high school level. Additionally, the results could have varied

if there were a different board game format as well as other phrases or vocabulary,

particularly ones that had not been studied previously. Another limitation of the study was

the fact that students took the oral pre and post tests in two-person teams, and were then

evaluated on their reading level based on that team effort. Therefore, hypothetically, the

reading level of a student with stronger or weaker speaking skills could have gone up or

down depending on the performance of their partner. Anxiety is also a component of the

study that could have potentially affected student’s oral production either positively or

negatively in both the experimental and control group pre and post tests. Lastly, the

objectivity of the educator in assessing the student’s reading levels could be called into

question. To remedy this issue, a second, neutral observer who had never had contact with

the group of students could also sit in on the pre and post tests and evaluate their reading

levels; then an average could be taken of the assessment made by the teacher and the

neutral educator. Even though the results of the study provide convincing evidence for the

use of board games in foreign language classrooms to improve fluency, one must be

cognizant of the limitations of the study.

Segment I: Suggestions for future study and abstract

A suggestion for future study that is inspired by this particular research project is

whether board games can improve student achievement in low SES students. Since Sinking

Spring Junior High has a student population of 48 percent of that qualifies for free or

reduced lunch, this issue of how to improve the academic achievement of low SES students

could complemented by the use of board games.  Researchers have used numerical linear

board games and have found that their use can potentially increase student mathematics

achievement, particularly among low-income children (Siegler & Ramani, 2008; Ramani &

Siegler, 2008). Since growing income inequality  and its effect on student’s educational

outcomes is such a central issue in public education, and low income children often have

had less experiential learning opportunities than their middle or upper class peers,

researchers should continue to explore the use of games as a means to enrich low SES

student’s educational experience. The use of games would allow students of all

socioeconomic backgrounds to practice target skills, be actively involved in the construction

of their learning, and contribute to increased classroom achievement. These positive side

effects of games would also level the educational playing field for low SES students, in an

effort to ensure that public schools can continue to be society’s “great equalizer” (Reardon,

2013).

Appendix A

Phrases used in the game according to function and color-coding

Functions and Color on Card Phrases

Greeting/common courtesies (Green)        Hola! Que tal?Hi, how are things?

Buenos diasGood morning

Buenas tardesGood evening

Buenas nochesGood night

Hasta luegoUntil next time

No hay de queNot at all

GraciasThanks/Thank you

PerdonSorry/Excuse me

Asking for information (Yellow) Que dia es hoy?What is today?

Cual es la fecha?What is the date?

De donde eres?Where are you from?

De que nacionalidad es?What nationality are you?

Cuanto es?How much is it?

Cuanto cuesta?How much does it cost?

A que hora…?At what time….?

Cuantos anos tienes?How old are you? (informal)

Tengo …. anosI am …. years old

Asking for personal information (Red) Que te  gusta ….?What do you like?

Que te interesa …?What are you interested in?

Que te aburre….?What bores you?

Puedes…..?Can you…?

Quieres ………?Do you want…?

Cuántos hermanos tienes?How many siblings do you have?

Tienes mascotas?Do you have pets?

De donde eres?Where are you from?

De donde es tu compañero?Where is your classmate from?

Describing (Blue) Como es (un compañero)?What is he/she like (a classmate)?

Como soy yo?What am I like?

Como es su pelo?What is his/her hair like?

Cómo son sus ojos?What are his/her eyes like?

Es alto/a o bajo/a?Is he/she tall or short?

Es serio/a o gracioso/a?Is he/she serious or funny?

Es estudioso/a o perezoso/a?Is he/she studious or lazy?

Agreeing/disagreeing (Orange) No, de ninguna manera

No, not at all (formal)No, no way (informal)

Si, por supuestoYes, of course

Appendix B

EspañolLandia Template

Note: The teacher will print out the template and change “Start” and “Finish” to

“Comienzo” and “Fin”, respectively.

Appendix C

Experimental Group Results

Student Pretest Posttest

1 94 100

2 86 96

3 86 98

4 80 92

5 78 88

6 80 92

7 78 92

8 82 94

9 76 92

10 84 94

11 84 96

12 70 90

13 70 84

14 72 88

Appendix D

Board game phrases used during competition

English phrase Spanish equivalent

Good luck Buena suerte

Cheater! Tramposo!

My turn Me toca a mi

Your turn Te toca a ti

Let’s go! Come on

No way! No puede ser!

Winner Ganador

We are the champions! Somos los campeones!

Good game Buen juego

Appendix E

Control Group Results

Student Pretest Posttest

1 94 98

2 94 96

3 84 92

4 86 96

5 78 84

6 82 84

7 80 84

8 86 94

9 78 88

10 78 90

11 82 92

12 80 92

13 78 92

14 84 86

15 70 74

16 72 78

Appendix F

Student Name:___________________________

Speaking Rubric for Evaluating Students on Speaking in Spanish

14 16 18 20

Task completion minimal completion and/or responses frequently inappropriate

partial completion of the task; responses mostly appropriate, yet underdeveloped

completion of the task; responses appropriate and adequately developed

superior completion of the task; responses appropriate with elaboration

Comprehensibility and pronunciation

responses barely comprehensible

pronunciation frequently interferes with communication

responses mostly comprehensible

occasionally interferes with communication

responses comprehensible and require minimal interpretation on the part of the listener

does not interfere with communication

responses readily comprehensible, requiring no interpretation on the part of the listener

enhances communication

Fluency speech halting and uneven with long pauses and/or incomplete thoughts

speech choppy and/or slow with frequent pauses; few or no incomplete thoughts

some hesitation but manages continuous and complete thoughts

speech continuous and few pauses and stumbling

Vocabulary inadequate and/or inaccurate use of vocabulary

somewhat inadequate and/or inaccurate use of vocabulary

adequate and accurate use of vocabulary

wide use of vocabulary

Syntax inadequate and/or inaccurate use of syntax

emerging use of syntax

emerging control of syntax

control of basic syntax

Score sheet:

Task completionComprehensibility and pronunciationFluencyVocabularySyntax Total: ______/100

Letter Grade: Adapted from: Speaking Rubric for Spanish Class Conversation/Speaking Assignments. Pebble Brook High School, Mableton Georgia.Retrieved from: http://pebblebrookhigh.typepad.com/files/project-rubric.pdf

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