Transition from Regular English Instruction to Bilingual Education: An Experience Using Gamification

1. Introduction 

Becoming bilingual is a goal for so many people to have the SKILLS to speak two different languages, a condition that makes you stand out in front of others. It does not only help our resume but, according to Hajimohammadi and Heidari (2025,) being bilingual fosters overall cognitive mechanisms. Moreover, Yang et al. (2025) state that individuals with an L2 domain are better at creative performance than non-bilingual speakers. As a result, many private schools are increasingly shifting from traditional instruction to bilingual education to make their educational plan reluctant from its competition. It makes local education evolve into one globalized with the use of English to offer public recognition. However, it is not yet an aspiration that not everyone can access (Bai & Zang, 2025). While some schools make a smooth transition, others face challenges, as becoming bilingual is a gradual process that takes time.

In many countries, English is a key factor that improves a person’s resume. In Ecuador, English is considered an asset in various educational fields (Alvarez et al., 2024). Nonetheless, among the countries in Latin America, Ecuador has one of the lowest English levels and worldwide reaches place #82 (EF Proficiency Index, 2024). It may center on demotivation, insufficient classroom hours, fear of learning a new language, and students carrying issues from the previous academic year. However, according to Sevy-Biloon et al. (2020), there are five factors affecting the learning of English in Ecuador such as pedagogical factors, use of Spanish in the classroom, perception of the status of CLT (Communicative Language Teaching), infrastructure, and educational policies. In addition, there is also the problem with the teachers, as some do not meet the required qualifications to teach English in the public school system, according to Acosta et al. (2023). There is insufficient funding to hire qualified English teachers, and schools’ last resort is to choose non-English teachers to teach basic English (Orosz et al., 2021). This problem is more prevalent in public schools, while private schools often strive to become bilingual institutions to attract students. As a result, there are two contrasting realities within the same country. Despite the efforts of private institutions, the overall English proficiency level in Ecuador remains low.

A different issue to consider in Ecuador is the teaching methodology. According to Song et al. (2025), traditional instruction prepares students to learn by memorization, which fails to foster higher-order thinking skills. Moreover, such pedagogical methodologies are typically teacher-centered, meaning that students are passive listeners rather than active participants in the classroom (Alelyani & Alharbi, 2025). The challenges are the impact of online classes during the pandemic, which have contributed to students' struggles with sitting still and listening to a teacher (Argudo-Serrano et al., 2023). These conventional methods are often perceived as boring and irrelevant, leading students to prefer technology and innovative methodologies (Srivani et al., 2022). It is in the teachers' cleverness to adapt their lessons using strategies that promote creativity and fun by focusing on including game elements in the lesson planning (Yuan et al., 2024).

To provide more context for the main topic of this investigation, the transition discussed here occurred from one school year to the next. The world has not fully recovered from the pandemic of COVID-19 effects, and during that time, teachers had to rapidly plan strategies and lessons to deal with and teach using online resources due to the lockdown. This transition was incredibly stressful for everyone, especially for teachers. These heightened stress levels impacted the quality of lessons and, consequently, affected students' performance, with the effects still evident in the years following the pandemic (Medina et al., 2024). In schools, deficits can be observed in some students, having difficulties concentrating for extended periods during class. As a result, these students are now navigating a world of constant change, which can overwhelm their ability to adapt. This study explores the experience and results of gamification during a transitional period from traditional instruction to bilingual education in EFL.

This article proposes a gamification methodology to support the transition into bilingual instruction by creating an environment of fun where students avoid burnout (DiCesare et al., 2025). It allows students to relate the vocabulary they learn to their native language easily (Burgos et al., 2024).

In addition, it is essential to clarify concepts to distinguish between game-based learning involving the use of digital tools for teaching (Vodenicharova, 2022) and gamification, which incorporates game strategies commonly found in videogames to engage and motivate learners through systems of progression and competition. Gamification does not always require digital resources (Charkova, 2024). Thus, there are differences between these two methodologies that people usually forget and think of as one. Sipone et al. (2025) also support this idea by stating that gamification does not necessarily require technology or games to develop a lesson. In contrast, game-based aims to teach content by fully integrating gameplay into the learning process.

As technology evolved, people began integrating activities from their daily lives with technological tools to enhance their experiences. One of which is entertainment. When traditional games and technologies combined, a new realm of possibilities emerged. This innovation sparked interest in game-based learning, which combines digital technologies with education (Liu et al., 2025). As the educational field continuously seeks innovation, educators began exploring strategies from video games to enhance teaching. Nowadays, gamification has gained attention due to its potential to engage students and, more importantly, improve language proficiency (Song et al., 2025).

Thus, Zolfaghari et al. (2025) analyzed 33 articles on gamification in teaching English as a foreign language to ratify the benefits of such teaching methodology: (1)  It can increase motivation for learning,  engagement, and active participation, (2) The benefits arise from elements and activities teachers can incorporate into their lessons through gamification, (3) Games involve people for enjoyment or learning; they could be practiced alone or in groups, (4) Rewards are elements that make games enjoyable, based on the behaviorism theory.

Gamification applies diverse strategies to teach attractively. However, learners require rewards to take part in a lesson (Chen, 2025). It can be an extrinsic motivation. Consequently, students will not participate in lessons when they do not receive a reward (Cruz et al., 2018). According to Bardach and Murayama (2024), extrinsic motivation can foster intrinsic motivation.

The behaviorism theory developed by Csikszentmihalyi (1990) mentions that when people fully concentrate on an activity of their interest, they enter a state of “flow,” where they keep immersed in the activity and feel in control of their actions. An aspect of this theory is that when individuals engage in tasks that match their skill level, they enjoy the experience and avoid negative emotions such as frustration (Arai, 2025). In addition, the flow theory is closely related to gamification, as one of its goals is to minimize negative emotions in students, such as anxiety or shame. Gamification can guide students into a flow state to feel good about achieving their objectives through appropriately challenging tasks (Rababah et al., 2025).

In this article, the research team developed an educational intervention using multiple digital resources to engage students, such as Canvas, YouTube, Wordwall, Genially, and LyricsTraining. As suggested by Cordoba et al. (2024), the application of game-based learning relates to students' access to digital resources. The success of gamification is dependent on the teachers' creativity and adaptability (Tayeh et al., 2024). Videogame strategies encourage gamers to keep playing and use for learning a foreign language; it is necessary to ensure that rewards and challenges are clearly defined to foster a sense of progression among students (Jaramillo-Mediavilla et al., 2024).

According to Kamrach y Sriwichai (2024), speaking skills and confidence should be fostered for speaking fluency. Participants studied Science, Technology, Arts, Math, and Social Studies. Such an educational approach is beyond the language barrier academically recognized as STEAM (De la Cal et al., 2023). Each subject presented content-related challenges, and the abrupt transition to this approach made learners feel incapable of learning (Mcewin et al., 2025). The research team, non-native English language users, can attest to the challenges of learning English. In the early stages, it is crucial to master the concepts of vocabulary, sounds, and pronunciation. Effective acquisition of new words is essential to avoid difficulties in later stages, where communication may be misunderstood (Morsi & Sivakami, 2024).

Previous studies emphasize the increasing relevance of the English domain for personal success. Thus, Bai and Zang (2025) highlight that young people see proficiency in English as a mechanism to accomplish their goals in a globalized world when bilingualism is beneficial for their future careers. Furthermore, Srivani et al. (2022) and Yuan et al. (2024) discovered that modern students find traditional teaching methods ineffective, preferring interactive tools like games and videos. In addition, McEwin et al. (2025) inform that for the participants to study STEAM subjects is a complex challenge, marking as necessary that students understand the content entirely. Finally, studies by Zolfaghari et al. (2025) and Song et al. (2025) support the beneficial effects of gamification on student motivation and language development.

The questions of research to answer are:

1: What are the motivations for learning English as a foreign language?

2: What are the preferences regarding linguistic practice to learn English?

3: What are the perceptions concerning the challenge of bilingual education?

 4: How engaged are participants in practicing EFL through gamification? 

5: What changes reached the participants' English language knowledge at the end of the intervention?

This study aims to examine the effects of gamification on the transition from traditional English language instruction to bilingual education in Manta - Ecuador.

2. Methodology                                   

This study subscripts to the interpretative paradigm, with a mixed-method approach. The participants are 81 students, 39 male and 42 female.  The participants’ ages are between sixteen and seventeen years old; they attended regularly to a private school located in Manta-Ecuador which transitioned from a conventional educational system in Spanish language toward a bilingual instructional system. The research follows the ethical codes of University Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabi in Ecuador and the American Psychology Association (APA). It means that the data collected is under the care of the research team leader for at least 7 years. Data can be used only for academic purposes never for commercial purposes.

2.1. Instruments

The instruments used in this research are:

Flash Survey. - The instrument ad hoc has as purpose of collecting evidence of students’ motivations for learning EFL. It collects participants’ opinions, ideas, thoughts, and perceptions concerning their motivations for learning English as a foreign language. A panel of three experts in educational research ascribed to the ULEAM university from Ecuador evaluated the instrument. They recommended using the following categories to analyze the information collected: (1) cultural access, (2) professional opportunities, (3) social communication, (4) educational advantages, (5) traveling benefits, and (6) learning experience perspective. Participants responded to the flash survey after every EFL lesson in printed formats which takes about 2-4 minutes on average.

Focus Group guide. – The instrument ad hoc, collects information about the participants’ fear before facing a new methodology and lessons having a language complexion higher level. The instrument was evaluated by a panel of three experts in educational research ascribed to the ULEAM university from Ecuador. They recommended to reduce the number of questions from 14 in the original version to 6 in the final version used in the study.  The categories used in the focus groups are related to the teaching methodologies (a) gamification, (b) digital teaching tools, and (b) active lessons. A total of 3 focus groups allowed to collect 95 minutes of participants’ voices. The focus groups took place at the installations of the school.

Class Observation Form. – The instrument used the Lesson Study Methodology. It evaluates students’ engagement in English as a Foreign Language lesson. The items were planned to determine evidence concerning to the categories (1) participants’ engagement when practicing English language, (2) use of digital didactic games, and (3) use of no-digital didactic games. Due to some limitations of the research team, school instructors recorded the sessions, therefore analyzed by the research team. They are a total of 12 class observations.

English Language Knowledge pretest and posttest. – The instrument uses the rubrics of the First English Test (FET) of Cambridge Press. It assesses participants’ changes in their English knowledge with a higher focus on grammar and vocabulary. The pretest administrated at the beginning of the research (two weeks after students started the scholar year). The pretest assesses all the communication skills and content that participants studied the previous school year. The post-test shows participants’ communication skills changes after the educational intervention; it consists of all the grades students acquired for around 3 months that intervention lasted. The pretest and posttest were executed at the installations of the school under the supervision of school official instructors.

2.2. Process

Stage 1. Selection of participants and design of research instruments. – The participants are students of a private high school located in Manta Ecuador. The participants’ parents and tutors were informed about the project aims and they signed a consent inform letter.

Stage 2. Flash Surveys administration. – Researcher team runs flash surveys after every lesson in printed versions. They were 6 flash surveys to collect information about students’ motivations for learning English language and the relations between their motivations and subjects they study.

Stage 3. English language knowledge pretest administration. – It was administered at the beginning of the research evaluated participants’ knowledge about previous studies content. It consisted of questions for writing, speaking, listening, and reading skills. The time required for the evaluation of each skill is: 60 minutes.

Stage 4. Focus group administration. - It collected participants’ opinions to improve the teaching transition from regular toward bilingual instruction. It allows the collection the information about activities to learn and practice English language. The time required per focus group session is 25 min, a total of 92 minutes.

Stage 5. Educational Intervention design. – The researcher designed an educational intervention with the application of digital and non-digital tools.  The research team chose gamification as main teaching methodology to foster participants’ English knowledge. The list of activities includes video-games and games for introducing vocabulary. It also followed the National high school curriculum. The subjects considered are Reading and Language Arts, Arts and Music, Social Studies, Natural Science and Math. The time required per session is 1 hour 20 minutes. The total intervention time is 10 weeks.

Stage 6. Observation Form. – It consisted of a form to evaluate the participants’ motivation for learning EFL, participants’ interaction, and conversations among peers concerning to the lessons. The lessons were recorded and their analysis executed at the end of the school week.

Stage 7. Posttest of participants’ English knowledge. – It executed at the participants’ school installations. They used a printed format. The instrument gathers all the scores from the time the researcher started the intervention to the end.

Stage 8. Data analysis. – The researcher decided to execute data descriptive statistical analysis using Excel. The use of percentages allowed to group all the data in a way that facilitates the analysis. It also used graphics to show the demonstrate the differences between the results.

3. Results

The results presentation follows the order of the research questions that appear in the introduction section of this paper.

3.1. Participants’ motivations for learning English as a foreign language

In answer to the research question 1: What are participants’ motivations for learning English as a foreign language?

The answers obtained using the flash survey were analyzed by choosing the most repeated answers due to their frequency and similarities for finally being shown in percentages.

Table 1: Motivations on learning the English Language

For the subcategory (1) Cultural Access, most of the students gave similar answers to the indicated, this means in percentages the 40% for watching movies and series in their original language, this highlights the interest that people have in the language because they want to understand what they are into.

In the subcategory (2) Professional Opportunities, it was the same procedure and the most repeated answer by 100% was that students want to learn English because they know that it is possible to get better opportunities due to the language.

For the subcategory (3) Social Communication, the repeated answer gave a percentage of 40% and it was said that due to English being the most spoken language in the world. A statement which is true nowadays since thanks to the power of the countries where English is spoken everyone wants to learn it.

The subcategory (4) Educational Advantage, the total was 100%, it was something that amazed me due to many students considered English important because at the moment to look up for information on internet they found it in English thus being able to translate it is a big achievement.

For the subcategory (5) Traveling Benefits. - It is the subcategory with less participant frequency. The most of the participants are not sure about this reason for learning EFL. The 30% of the participants were related to travel specifically about going to other countries and being able to speak with foreign people.

For the category (6) Learning Experience Perspective, the percentage is 80% being one of the highest numbers, that means that in the moment of analyzing the answer the most repeated were related to learning English is fun because the lessons are interactive and different from the others. Participants voted total agree meanwhile 20% were not sure about this reason for learning English language.

3.1.1. Categorical analysis

Main category: participants’ motivations for learning EFL. - They are the reasons students have to begin, continue, and finish the linguistics practices using English language during their lessons every day.

Subcategories: (1) cultural access (2) professional opportunities, (3) social communication, (4) educational advantages, (5) traveling benefits, and (6) learning    experience perspective.

Sub-categories levels: High, Moderate, Low.

From the categories and subcategories analysis of the participants’ voices is extracted the table 2.

Table 2: Analysis of the participants’ motivations subcategories for learning EFL

The evidence shows that the wish to establish direct communication with people from other countries is probably the main reason for learning EFL in the groups of participants.

3.2. Participants’ preferences regarding linguistic practice for learning English language

In answer to the research question 2: What are participants’ preferences regarding linguistic practice to learn English? The data collected using a survey is presented in table 3.

Table 3: Linguistics practices participants prefer for learning

The table 3 shows the participants’ preferences concerning linguistic practice to learn English as a foreign language. Most of the answers refer to interactive games as the best practice to improve learning. However, one participant commented

 “I learn better playing in a competition because it motivates me to participate”

Participant mentioned in his statement one of the principles of gamification which is motivation.

The second percentage that predominates is watching videos, previous the application of this instrument the researcher made students remember the past simple tense by showing a scene from the famous TV series “Friends”. Afterwards students were asked to choose a character and act out the scene.

The activity seemed to be enjoyable and it the interpretation of a role is another of the principles of gamification. The third most requested is reading and writing in a lesson the reasons students gave me were related and in summary it is because they can learn and practice at their own pace, without being stressed out by the teachers.

3.3. Participants perceptions concerning the challenge of bilingual education

In answer to question 3: What are the participants’ perceptions concerning the challenge of bilingual education? The data is presented in the graphic 1.

Graphic 1: Participants’ perceptions having the challenge of bilingualism.

Thus, most of the participants reported no worries before the change to bilingual instruction, which is something attractive considering that the same percentage of students said that they were worried about having several subjects in English language.

Therefore, in the responses obtained most of the students agreed on 3 items, which are item: (5) English language proficiency at the beginning of the process, item (6) Potential negative impact on their academic performances, and item (9) Subjects taught in English language.  Consequently, participants perceive worried about not having the enough English level to accept the change, they are worried that having to learn in another language could affect their scores compared to previous years and they are worried about not having the enough vocabulary/pronunciation of technical words before the challenge of bilingual instruction.

3.4. Participants’ engagement in practicing EFL through gamification

In response to the research question 4: How engaged are participants in practicing EFL through gamification? The participants’ engagement responses appear in the table 4.

Table 4: participants’ engagement to practice EFL using games

Scale: 0: No experience/No opinion (e.g., I have never experienced this or cannot evaluate it.), 1: Very negative/Strongly disagree (e.g., I feel very frustrated, anxious, or disengaged.), 2: Negative/Disagree (e.g., I feel somewha

t frustrated or disconnected.), 3: Neutral (e.g., I neither feel positive nor negative about this experience.), 4: Positive/Agree (e.g., I feel engaged and somewhat enjoy the experience.), 5: Very positive/Strongly agree (e.g., I feel highly engaged and thoroughly enjoy the experience).

From the participants’ responses is possible to infer that -Past Simple Relay- and -Grammar Roulette- are the most accepted games. Participants demonstrated their competence by being actively involved and following the games’ rules, however in a classroom not everyone has the same domain of the English language. This was observed in the practice of speaking, vocabulary acquisition, and communication during the practice using games. The limitation of the activity is the diverse participants’ EFL knowledge level thus, not all participants have the language level required to speak fluently in English.

Items I7 -Students show healthy competitiveness without discouraging others- and Item I8 -Students are continuing to engage even if they make mistakes- were about the participants’ peers communication and linguistic resilience. Those both items can be related due to with the healthy competitiveness the students do not seem affected to make mistakes. In addition, the Item I10 -Students show frustration, anxiety or disengagement- shows that a few students felt frustration in the moment of expressing their opinions because their language knowledge limitations, but most of them were enjoying the activity.

Finally, Item I11 -Students show improvement as the game progresses- is important since at first the students that were wrong with their answers improved due to others’ participations, demonstrating that peers’ assessment was a good way to indirectly help them improve while the game was progressing.

3.5.  Participants' English Language knowledge evolution

In response to the research question 5: What changes in students' English language knowledge are observed at the end of the intervention?

Graphic 2: participants’ EFL knowledge evolution when using gamification

The changes are presented in the graphic 2.  Data allows to infer that the factor interfered in participants of last year of high school progress is related with their future university studies.

4. Discussion

Based on previous research and the results obtained in the current research, the research team agrees with Bai & Zang (2025), who affirm a global trend among youth who see English fluency as a key factor for success in a globalized world. Thus, the results showed the participants' motivations for learning the English language. It clarifies that bilingualism benefits their future professional careers.

The results about -Practices/Activities that can improve learning- allow the research team to ratify the position of Srivani et al. (2022) and Yuan et al. (2024) concerning students find traditional methodologies not useful and boring. Such selection of methodology depends on teachers' dexterity preparation and imagination. In addition, survey results show that students prefer to play interactive games and watch videos as instruments for learning.

Each teacher is free to choose a teaching methodology. However, according to the numbers acquired, the application of gamification has demonstrated benefits, especially considering that it was applied in a bilingual institution, in which English is not only taught in one way.

The lessons used games, images, videos, didactic explanations, movement, music, points for each student, and rewards that they could claim by saving the points they got from participation.

The research inspired the dilemma of transitioning from regular subjects to STEAM subjects. Thus, Mcewin et al. (2025) state students need to grasp the content of each subject to comprehend the ideas and perform tasks. Students’ perceptions before the change to bilingual instruction (Table 3) show learners expressed concerns about learning new subjects in the English language, while the other half did not feel uncomfortable with the changes.  

The research team agrees with Zolfaghari et al. (2025) that learners appreciate gamification contributions. Such benefits can foster engagement in students during the lessons. The evidence ratifies Song et al. (2025) about gamification and its potential to catch the students' spotlight and prepare their language proficiency to establish an improvement in their scores before and after the educational intervention.

Game design elements in lesson planning helped teenagers improve their English and reduce stress during lesson administration. However, it is necessary to clarify the rewards, progress system, and challenges for students. They need to understand healthy competition. Everyone can accomplish and obtain the rewards.

Meanwhile, gamification was effective during the intervention, but some weaknesses were identified, particularly in group activities. Despite the low-stress environment intended, some students were reluctant to participate in the early classes. It suggests that gamification may not be as suitable for introverted learners as activities, such as Lyrics Training, rely on collaboration.

An unexpected result obtained in this research is related to behavior toward the activities becoming more competitive than anticipated. In addition, the interaction was not very engaging in the first rounds of the activities since they needed some time to accommodate the tasks.

In addition, maintaining student motivation through rewards proved to be challenging. Even though a progression system used a points tracker to reward students, it appeared that those with the highest scores participated less than those with lower averages. The author suggests it may be because students who need to improve their grades put in more effort to earn score rewards. While gamification is a teaching tool, the rewards and progression system must be adapted to accommodate all student needs to ensure equal participation.

Future studies should consider extending the duration of the intervention, application in different schools as privates as publics, and ensuring that instructions are communicated more clearly. Using visual aids, such as graphics, may also help students understand the activities at first sight. Educators interested in implementing this methodology should thoroughly research how game design elements can be effectively integrated into lesson planning to enhance learning outcomes.

The author hopes that the findings of this study are valuable to those interested in gamification. However, gamification alone is not a complete solution to educational challenges. Based on this research, the investigator believes that a combination of methodologies, such as integrating gamification with game-based learning can lead to more effective results.

5. Conclusion

The authors declare 100% fulfillment of the aims of the research project. It examined the effects of gamification on the transition from traditional English language instruction to bilingual education in Manta-Ecuador. The use of gamification can enhance motivation and language proficiency in the participants. The comparison between pre-test and post-test results indicates that gamification improves English language proficiency, with scores increasing from 6.1 to 8.4 and 7.0 to 8.8. additionally, the participants’ attitudes toward the lessons resulted in scores from 2 to 5, with 5 indicating a very positive attitude towards the game. 2 indicating frustration or disconnection. Most of the participants’ responses were good when administrating gamification in the process of EFL learning is enjoyable. Based on these results, the authors conclude that gamification helps to reduce stress levels and increases students’ motivation for learning a foreign language.

In conclusion, game design elements can be beneficial in the transition from traditional English instruction to bilingual education. These results can guide curriculum designers in innovating EFL classroom practices and help educational administrators reconsider teaching methodologies based on student feedback. The participants showed interest in gamification as a didactic strategy that encouraged them to step out of their comfort zones. However, a limitation of this study is the execution in only one educational institution with a sample of 81 participants. Thus, the data corpus does not allow a generalization. Future research should explore its application in diverse schools, not necessarily for bilingual education, but for enhancing English proficiency. The research encourages further studies on game design elements in longer interventions and hopes this work contributes to improving EFL teaching strategies in both public and private educational settings in Ecuador and similar contexts worldwide. Through this study, the researchers expect to contribute to the ongoing innovation in English instruction across Latin America and, more importantly, support the transition to bilingual education through gamification.

Author Contributions: All authors contributed to this research.

Funding: Not applicable.

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent Statement/Ethics Approval: Not applicable.

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted Technologies: This study has not used any generative AI tools or technologies in the preparation of this manuscript.