Durian Quest and ESL Spelling: A Quantitative Investigation Journey on Indigenous Primary Pupils’ Views

Abstract

English is the world's most-studied foreign language. Indigenous Malaysian primary school students, especially low-proficient ones, find learning challenging. They have trouble spelling English words after class. They forget words easily. Due to irregular English spelling, students don't participate in English lessons and make spelling mistakes. Gamified learning with instructional components can help students to learn. The researcher merged Snakes and Ladders with English Spelling Bee to create 'The Durian Quest Game'. This quantitative study aimed to investigate indigenous primary pupils' views on using the Durian Quest game (modified Snakes and Ladders game) in learning English spelling, as there was little research done on using Snakes and Ladders game-based learning as gamified learning in the Malaysian context, let alone its implementation among indigenous primary school learners and to tackle their interest in English language acquisition. 70 indigenous students from Tapah, Perak, answered a 20-item Likert scale survey. Students' perspectives on playing board games to learn English spelling were analysed using descriptive statistics (frequency analysis). The findings revealed that the Durian Quest board game increased students' interest in learning English spelling. It also implied that children loved playing games, like Durian Quest, to learn English spelling.  Based on the results, further research is recommended; The Durian Quest can be modified for lessons and levels. Future researchers can use this to design culture and background-based language games. A similar study could provide interesting comparison results.