Teaching GBL Principles to Japanese Students of Education in an EFL Setting

This study examines whether game-based learning (GBL) principles can be taught to Japanese students of education through a content and language integrated learning (CLIL) curriculum delivered within first- and second-year English communication classes at the University of Teacher Education Fukuoka during the 2019 academic year. The authors developed a course drawing on Boller and Kapp's instructional game design framework and a revised Bloom's Taxonomy, with the aim of addressing the near-absence of GBL in Japanese teacher training. The sample comprised 147 education majors, 107 first-years taking the course as a requirement and 40 second-years taking it as an elective, with reported CEFR levels between B2 and C1.

Analysis of students' written responses to a survey question about how they would use games in their subject teaching found that most participants demonstrated understanding of GBL principles, synthesized them into practical examples, or explicitly valued GBL for education. Only 23 responses were coded as negative, largely due to indiscernible or omitted answers. Instructor observations reported higher engagement than in traditional EFL classes, and final group projects, which ranged from simple quiz and roll-and-move designs to near-publishable educational games, were judged to exceed teacher expectations.

The authors frame these results as exploratory and note a key limitation: the course offered no means of assessing long-term retention of content or language. The study concludes that GBL may be valuable for EFL instruction and for teacher preparation programs more broadly. Recommendations include pre- and post-intervention surveys, more detailed measurement instruments, and explicit vocabulary and grammar support in future iterations of similar curricula.