The effect of the use of educational computer games in learning english on achievement, retention and motivation

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of using educational computer games in English learning on achievement, retention and motivation. The study was applied on sixth grade students studying in Vali Lütfullah Bilgin Primary School in the province of Elazığ. Two different groups of sixth grade students were assigned to be study and control groups. During the application period in which quantitative research approach was applied, the computer game on the unit ?Mathematical Problems? as designed by the researcher was presented to the students.Students included in the study were assigned impartially and constituted the study and control groups of the study. Total number of students from both the study and control group participated in the study was 69. While 33 students formed the study group of the research, 36 students formed the control group. While the courses were made with students from the study group both Ministry of Education 6th English Lessons Program and educational computer game, Ministry of Education 6th English Lessons Program was used for students from control group. The tools used for data collection in the study, the achievement test was prepared and its pilot scheme was performed by the researcher. In addition, CIS (Course Interest Survey), developed by Keller was used to determine students' motivation. The said tools were applied as pre-test and post-test on the Study and Control Groups. Also, the success test was applied on both groups for a second time to measure retention 14 weeks after the end of application.Based on the results of the analysis made on the data obtained, it was ascertained that learning environments enriched with educational computer games had a positive effect on students' achievement levels and contributed a lot to the retention of learning. It was also determined that the application that was performed had a positive effect on students? motivation, if only to a limited extent. The activity that was performed is important in that it demonstrates that education computer games can be used as elements enriching the learning on primary education level. This study has also revealed the necessity of the use of educational computer games in English learning.Key Words: Educational computer game, Learning English, Game design.