Eventos complexos de letramentos na aprendizagem de inglês: relações entre práticas de letramentos, gamificação e motivação

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation discusses the connections between literacy practices, especially game literacy, and the processes of motivation and English learning. This discussion is conducted through data collected from gamified and non-gamified activities done by undergraduate students of two courses in English Teaching Degree. The concepts of gamification, literacy practices and events, and motivation are presented and the analysis is conducted theoretically and methodologically through the Complexity perspective. The activities were prepared for each group of students using open educational resources. They were used in two moments: in Study 1, conducted in 2015 with four students, and in Study 2, conducted in 2016 with eight students during an academic semester. We aimed to analyze the way in which the presence or absence of gamification influences: 1) students’ motivation to do the English activities; 2) the relationship between the students’ game literacy practices and the processes of motivation and language learning; 3) the relationship between the students’ game literacy practices and the doing of the activities. We also analyzed the kinds of feedback that emerged during the doing of the activities, seen here as complex literacy events. This concept is in accordance with a complex perspective of analysis and methodology. We propose a reflection on the complex literacy events that happened during the doing of each activity by the students, the factors involved in these events and the processes that are connected to them – language learning and motivation. Besides we understand that the students’ literacy practices, especially game literacy practices, are also important and may be related to the events and processes connected to them. This concept of complex literacy events is an attempt to understand the interaction among the elements that might have influenced their constitutions during the period of analysis through a holistic perspective. It also helps us to understand the relationship established with other processes, such as motivation, language learning and other literacy practices. The data was collected using recordings, questionnaires and conversations. This research demonstrated that the doing of listening activities led to a positive feedback in the complex literacy events, since the students were in contact with literacy practices that they enjoyed, such as watching videos, movies or TV series in English. On the other hand, the practice of studying linguistic aspects was not part of those students’ practices before that semester and, according to my perceptions about the group, it had a negative feedback because it was seen as difficult by them. Not having contact with game literacy practices was not a more important factor than the kind of activity or theme aspects for the motivation of most students. However, this fact does not diminish the relevance of using open educational resources with the students in this research, especially with the ones who participated in the Study 2. These resources were very useful for those students, who enjoyed doing the activities through the authoring system ELO. However, it’s not possible to generalize the efficiency of gamified activities for English learning, since there is the influence of other aspects in the students’ motivation.