Rethinking gamification according to contributions made by studies in videogame literacy and game studies: the example of the activity "Oral English — Games"

This paper aims to discuss a gamified activitied that was developed to teach listeniing skills in English, which is called “Oral English — Games”. This activity was developed and hosted in the site ELO. In specific terms, our objective was to discuss to what extent the contributions of studies made according to Videogame Literacy Studies and Game Studies would help to contribute the gamification mechanics of this activity. The choice for this activity is justified by the reason that is a gamified activity that presents some content related to digital games. This characteristic makes possible the link to the areas will be discussed in the paper. As the theoretical background, authors from the fields of Game Literacy and Game Studies were discussed in order to problematize the complex processes that occur in the language learning mediated through games. As results, it was possible to conclude that the games presented in the activity directed to listening learning could have been discussed according to Literacy Studies lenses, in order to integrate the semantic dimension of games in the process of listening skills discussed on the activity.