The Effectiveness of Teaching Persian Signs Based on Gamification Strategies on the Academic Engagement of Bilingual Students in the First Grade of Elementary School

This study investigates the effectiveness of teaching Persian diacritics based on a gamification approach on the immersion and academic engagement of elementary bilingual students. Differentiating Persian diacritics is a key skill in linguistics and language processing. One of the main challenges in modern education is the lack of learning motivation, and gamification, as one of the most attractive educational innovations in recent years, has gained attention by creating excitement and interaction. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test design and a control group. The statistical population included first-grade elementary students in Shahriar city during the 2023-2024 academic year. A sample of 70 bilingual students was selected, and after conducting a pre-test on the diacritics "اِ (ه ـه)" and "هـ (ه ـه)" at the end of words, 40 students who met the criteria were randomly assigned to two groups: control and experimental. The control group received traditional teaching methods, while the experimental group was taught using a researcher-developed gamified software over three sessions of 35 to 40 minutes. The tool was a researcher-made questionnaire on immersion and academic engagement, and both groups were assessed with the same post-test. The data were analyzed using multivariate covariance analysis and paired and independent t-tests. The results showed that gamification positively affected students' immersion, academic engagement, and improved their ability to differentiate Persian diacritics. This study emphasizes the importance of gamified learning environments and suggests that gamification strategies be taught in in-service training programs for teachers.
Extended Abstract:
Introduction
One of the earliest learning opportunities for children is alphabet instruction. Teaching the signs of the Persian language should be engaging and not cause fatigue in children (Eslamdoust, et al., 2018). The skill of distinguishing Persian signs is crucial in linguistics and language processing, involving the recognition of letters, numbers, punctuation, and symbols (Nasrollahi-Pour, 2019). However, a major challenge in modern education is the lack of motivation and active engagement among learners (Kiriakova, et al., 2014).
Huizinga (2020) described games as a "magic circle," emphasizing their use in fostering interaction and communication within societies. Players become immersed in this circle, which promotes full engagement. Educational games, by stimulating sensory and mental growth, can enhance student learning (Chenani, et al., 2022). Gamification, the application of game elements in non-game contexts, has emerged as an effective mechanism for improving motivation and learning outcomes (Rivera & Garden, 2021).
In recent years, gamification has become a trend in education (Aura et al., 2022). The theory of flow, introduced by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, plays a key role in educational gamification, highlighting full immersion and intense focus during tasks, often resulting in improved performance (Toda et al., 2023). Studies have shown that game-based learning is effective in teaching the Persian alphabet. For instance, the virtual game “Alphabets of Nations” improved pre-schoolers' ability to learn letters more quickly and effectively than traditional methods (Ghaderi et al., 2022).
Given the benefits of using games to teach concepts and boost motivation, it is essential to incorporate gamification in teaching Persian alphabet distinctions. This research aims to examine the impact of gamification on student engagement and immersion, especially in early grades, where it could significantly influence reading and writing skills in later years. The hypotheses include positive effects of gamification on focus, engagement, and improved performance compared to traditional teaching methods.
 
Methodology
This study is applied research and employs a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups. The statistical population consisted of all first-grade elementary school students in Shahriar during the 1403-1402 academic year. A sample of 70 students took a pre-test on the letters 'اِ' (ه ـه) and 'هـ' (ه هـ) at the end of words, with 11 questions evaluated by four first-grade teachers. Based on the results, 40 students scored below 13 and were randomly assigned to two groups of 20.
The control group was taught for three sessions of 35 to 40 minutes using traditional methods, following Gagné's 9-step instructional design model (as detailed in Appendix 1). The experimental group received the same amount of instruction via a gamified software designed by the researcher, adhering to gamification principles (as detailed in Appendix 2). Both groups were evaluated using the same post-test. To ensure consistency, the researcher, with 18 years of experience teaching first grade, taught both groups.
To measure students' engagement and immersion, a researcher-developed questionnaire was used, consisting of 20 Likert-scale questions. The questionnaire’s content validity was approved by five first-grade teachers, and its reliability, determined by Cronbach’s alpha, was 0.87, indicating good reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS software, employing descriptive statistics (frequency tables, charts, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multivariate covariance analysis, paired t-tests, and independent t-tests).
 
Results
This study consists of two parts. The first part compares the effects of a gamification-based teaching method and a traditional lecture method on enhancing students' skills in distinguishing Persian language signs. The second part examines the impact of learning analytics in gamification-based teaching across different levels of engagement and immersion on improving these skills. Data from the first part were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and paired t-tests, while data from the second part were analyzed using independent t-tests.
Table 1 Descriptive Findings for Variables in Part One




Test Type


Post-Test
Mean (SD)


Pre-Test
Mean (SD)


Group


Variable




Paired t-Test


17.34 (2.63)


17.65 (2.65)


Experimental


Skill in Distinguishing Persian Signs




Paired t-Test


16.00 (2.70)


16.82 (2.82)


Control


Skill in Distinguishing Persian Signs




 
As shown in Table 1, the pre-test mean and standard deviation for the skill in distinguishing Persian language signs were 5.90 and 2.65 for the experimental group, and 6.00 and 2.82 for the control group. The post-test mean and standard deviation were 17.30 and 2.63 for the experimental group, and 16.20 and 2.70 for the control group.
Based on the paired t-test results, the difference between pre-test and post-test scores in both experimental and control groups was significant at the 0.01 alpha level (p < 0.01). Therefore, both the gamification-based method and the traditional method were effective in improving students' skills in distinguishing Persian language signs. To determine which method was more effective, a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to compare the effects of the two methods.
Before applying ANCOVA, the assumption of normality for the variable of distinguishing Persian language signs was confirmed for the control group in both pre-test and post-test stages, and for the experimental group in the pre-test stage, with significance levels greater than 0.05 (p > 0.05). However, this assumption was rejected for the experimental group in the post-test stage. Given that ANCOVA is robust to violations of this assumption when sample sizes are equal, the rejection of this assumption does not hinder the use of ANCOVA (Shavelson, 2016).
Levene's test results for homogeneity of variances for the skill of distinguishing Persian language signs are reported. According to the results, the assumption of equal variances for this variable was confirmed with (p = 0.65, F_(1, 38) = 0.20) (p > 0.05). The regression slope for the variable of distinguishing Persian language signs was also confirmed with (p = 0.82, F_(1, 36) = 0.052) (p > 0.05).
Table 2 Results of One-Way ANCOVA for the Skill of Distinguishing Persian Language Signs Between the Two Groups




Source of Variation


Sum of Squares


Degrees of Freedom


F Value


Significance Level


Effect Size


Power




Pre-Test


153.71


1


48.33


0.001


0.56


1.00




Group


13.76


1


4.33


0.044


0.10


0.81




Error


117.68


37

 
 
 
 



Total


11506.00


40

 
 
 
 



 
According to Table 2 (F = 4.33, p < 0.05), after adjusting for pre-test scores, the difference between the experimental and control groups in the skill of distinguishing Persian language signs was significant. The adjusted mean for the experimental group was 17.33, while for the control group it was 16.16. Thus, it can be concluded that students receiving gamification-based instruction showed significantly greater improvement compared to those taught using traditional methods.
Next, an independent t-test was used to compare the effects of gamification-based teaching on skill in distinguishing Persian language signs across different levels of engagement and immersion. Among the 20 students in the experimental group, 11 students were in the moderate engagement and immersion group, while 9 students were in the high engagement and immersion group. No students were in the low engagement and immersion group.
 
Table 3 Results of Independent T-Test for Examining the Impact of Gamification-Based Teaching on Skill Distinction Across Different Levels of Engagement and Immersion




Group


Mean (SD)


Levene's F Test


Independent T-Test




High Engagement


18.00 (3.00)


0.55


T = 1.08, p = 0.29




Low Engagement


16.72 (2.28)

 
 



According to Table 3 (T = 1.08, p = 0.29), there was no significant difference in the skill of distinguishing Persian language signs between the groups with high and moderate levels of engagement and immersion (p > 0.05). Therefore, the effect of gamification-based teaching on improving the skill of distinguishing Persian language signs was consistent across different levels of engagement and immersion.
Conclusion
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of two educational methods—gamification-based teaching and traditional lecture-based teaching—on improving students' skills in distinguishing Persian language signs. The results can be divided into two main sections.
In the first part, data indicated that both teaching methods, whether gamification-based or traditional, effectively enhanced students' skills in distinguishing Persian language signs. This conclusion was supported by paired t-tests, which revealed a significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores in both the experimental and control groups. Therefore, both educational approaches positively impact language skills. However, when comparing the effectiveness of the two methods through ANCOVA, it was found that the gamification-based method was significantly more effective than the traditional method. Students who received gamification-based instruction achieved higher scores in distinguishing signs, demonstrating the superiority of this method over the traditional one.
In the second part of the study, the impact of gamification-based teaching on students' skills was examined across different levels of engagement and immersion. Independent t-tests revealed no significant differences in skill improvement between students with high and low levels of engagement and immersion. This finding suggests that the effectiveness of gamification-based teaching in enhancing Persian language sign skills is independent of students' levels of engagement and immersion, indicating that this method can be broadly effective for students with varying levels of engagement.
Overall, the research shows that the gamification-based teaching approach can be more effective than traditional methods in improving students' language skills. This effectiveness is not influenced by the levels of student engagement and immersion. Additionally, observations by researchers indicated that, despite identical content in both teaching methods, the control group required constant attention and encouragement from the teacher to maintain focus, and fatigue was noticeable after a short time. In contrast, the gamification group remained actively engaged with the game-based environment throughout the lesson, showing enthusiasm and interaction without the need for constant reminders. The role of the teacher in the gamification group was primarily as an observer and guide. Furthermore, gamification-based teaching is flexible, requiring neither the teacher's presence nor a specific classroom, and can be implemented offline, making it adaptable to various environments. Thus, modern educational approaches like gamification can open new avenues for knowledge and learning.
 
Acknowledgment
We sincerely appreciate all those who contributed to the successful completion of this study. Special thanks go to the students who participated in the research and ensured its success with their enthusiasm and cooperation. We also extend our gratitude to our colleagues for their expertise and advice throughout the research process.
Without the collective efforts and dedication of all these individuals, this study would not have been possible.