Multifactor Network Analysis: Exploring the Cross-Educational Impacts on the Effectiveness of Gamification in English Teaching

Abstract

In the modern English education landscape, gamification has become a key transformative medium. However, research on gamified English teaching's impacts, particularly concerning school support and personal factors, remains limited. Existing studies primarily assess gamification's effectiveness through total scores, lacking insights into teachers' perceptions at different educational levels on an item-level basis. This study aimed to explore how teacher-related factors and school support affect English teachers’ satisfaction and perceptions of gamification's effectiveness on learners’ motivation and language learning outcomes across educational levels. A nationwide sample of 615 English teachers (M = 42.5, SD = 9.37; 84.2% females) was analyzed using network analyses to examine individual factors' effects on total scores and item-level network relations. Comparing estimated networks revealed no relationship between gamification language learning outcomes and end-of-term grades, even after accounting for other factors. Moderate differences were found between educational levels regarding how frequency of use influences teachers’ perceptions of gamification, with significant differences when considering teachers’ age and teaching practice. However, school support and other teacher-related factors had no significant impact in both lower secondary and secondary education. These findings underscore the importance of contextual factors when implementing gamified approaches and evaluating their effectiveness in educational settings.