The Theory of Gamification in Teaching English to Economic Students

ABSTRACT:

This article examines the theoretical foundations of gamification as an innovative pedagogical approach in teaching English to economic students. Gamification — defined as the strategic use of game-design elements in non-game educational contexts — offers solutions to the most persistent challenges in Business English instruction: motivation deficits, low engagement, and weak retention of specialized terminology. The study integrates Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Flow Theory to explain why game mechanics enhance language acquisition. An empirical experiment involving 120 second-year economics students at Tashkent State University of Economics revealed a 34% increase in vocabulary retention and a 41% improvement in classroom engagement in the experimental group compared with the control group. The findings confirm that integrating points, badges, leaderboards, and narrative-based mechanics into ESP courses significantly improves learning outcomes. The scientific novelty of the work lies in adapting gamification mechanics specifically for the ESP needs of economics majors within the Uzbek higher-education context.

Keywords: Gamification, English Language Teaching, ESP, Economic Students, Motivation, Self-Determination Theory, Educational Technology, Vocabulary Acquisition, Business English.