FOSTERING 21ST-CENTURY LEARNING SKILLS IN TERTIARY ESL: AN ASSESSMENT OF GAMIFICATION'S ROLE IN ENHANCING CRITICAL READING AND COLLABORATION

Abstract

The tertiary English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction context is often challenged by the need to harmonize traditional teaching approaches to meet the competency requirements of the 21^st century, especially when it comes to teaching critical reading skills and promoting genuine collaboration. Although gamification is believed to have great potential in promoting motivation and collaboration in learning, the way in which it is applied is often rather superficial without proper alignment with higher order reading skills development. In view of this challenge, exploratory qualitative research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of the "Reading Blockbuster", a group gamification strategy intended to help develop reading and 21^st century collaboration simultaneously. The results show that the activity proved highly motivating, leading to observable improvements in the development of reading skills, namely, scanning, systematic notetaking, and time management. Peer interdependence, interaction, and emerging critical thinking skills were effectively promoted through collaboration and mutual correction of mistakes. Nevertheless, these advantages were limited by strict time limits, heterogeneity of text difficulty, distracting noise in the classroom, and sometimes even competition, with the preference for immediate reactions rather than careful analysis. This research is valuable both theoretically, integrating Self-Determination Theory with approaches to cooperative learning, and practically, providing an effective and low-resource teaching strategy for ESL courses that emphasizes the need for flexible pacing, appropriately levelled texts, and collaborative dynamics within games.