Effects of a Gamified Strategy on Communicative Competence through Reading Comprehension in English

Abstract

In contemporary educational systems, there is an increasing emphasis on individuals who possess the requisite skills for the labor, tourism, and education sectors. In this regard, fundamental competencies such as second language proficiency, digital literacy, and collaborative teamwork are cultivated. The objective of this article is to determine the effect of implementing a gamified strategy to strengthen communicative competence through reading comprehension in the area of English as a foreign language among primary school students at the Institución Educativa Comercial de Envigado. The study was framed within the hypothetical-deductive method, in accordance with the positivist paradigm. It employed a quantitative, explanatory approach and a contemporary, univariate, quasi-experimental cross-sectional design. The sample population comprised a total of 80 students, with 40 students assigned to the experimental group and 40 students assigned to the control group. An initial English questionnaire (pre-test) was administered to both groups as a data collection technique and instrument. Subsequently, a gamified strategy was implemented in the experimental group, while the control group did not receive any strategy. Finally, a final English questionnaire (post-test) was administered to both groups to analyze and statistically compare their results in both the pre-test and post-test, after the implementation of the gamified strategy. To analyze the results of the experimental and control groups, normality and non-parametric tests were applied. These tests determined that there was a significant improvement in the final results of the experimental group, while the results of the control group remained constant. In summary, the implementation of a gamification-based strategy has been demonstrated to enhance communicative competence through reading comprehension in English.