A playful, gamified teaching approach for teaching English in rural primary schools [Propuesta pedagógica lúdica-gamificada para la enseñanza del inglés en educación básica primaria rural]
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62574/rmpi.v6i1.496Keywords:
language teaching, social pedagogy, rural educationAbstract
The aim of the research was to develop and validate a pedagogical proposal based on playful and gamification strategies to strengthen the English communication skills of primary school students in multigrade rural institutions in the municipalities of Jordán and Villanueva, Santander department, Colombia. A qualitative approach was adopted through participatory action research, with a sample of 96 students and five teachers, using semi-structured interviews, participant observation and collaborative workshops with triangulation of techniques and informants. The implementation of playful-gamified activities increased students' motivation, participation, and communicative confidence, with verifiable progress in vocabulary, pronunciation, and comprehension of basic instructions, both in schools with and without technological access. It is concluded that play and gamification are viable and adaptable pedagogical strategies in rural contexts with limited resources, provided that the design explicitly links the challenges to the linguistic objectives.
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