Motivational impact of gamification for mobile learning of Kanji

Gamification is a growing field in education, e.g. for e-learning software on mobile devices. Gamification uses game elements in a non-game context to engage users. But it is necessary to know how this can influence learners. In a study the impact on motivation by gamification for language learning in conjunction with mobile learning was investigated. For this purpose a mobile app to learn the writing of the Japanese characters (kanji) was developed. Additionally, a second version of this app was created including gamification elements. The working prototypes were tested in two groups. Over a period of two weeks the usage was automatically logged to gain objective data. Additionally, the participants received a questionnaire after this test period, asking for the subjective emotion, with focus on the instinct motivation. The results show an improvement of motivation by gamification elements.