ISSN 2953-6367  
http://revistainvestigo.com  
Octubre 2026  
Vol. 7 No. 21, PP. 407-420  
https://doi.org/10.56519/cv80zj93  
MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO  
DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE DEL  
INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN  
SUPERIOR  
MOTIVATION AND STUDENT PERCEPTIONS TOWARD THE USE  
OF VIDEO GAMES AS A TOOL FOR ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN  
LANGUAGE LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION  
Jorge Luis Encarnacion Lalangui1, Tania Lisbeth Chicaiza Zambrano2, Solange Pamela Cruz  
Ayala3, Luis David Conejo Tandioy4  
{jorgel.encarnacion@espoch.edu.ec¹, lisbeth.chicaiza@espoch.edu.ec², solange.cruz@udla.edu.ec³, luis.conejo@unesum.edu.ec⁴}  
Fecha de recepción: 12/09/2026  
/ Fecha de aceptación: 08/10/2026 / Fecha de publicación: 14/10/2026  
RESUMEN: Jugar videojuegos pone a buena parte del estudiantado en contacto cotidiano  
con el inglés fuera del aula. Ese potencial se ha estudiado sobre todo en Europa y Asia, y apenas  
se ha documentado en la educación superior latinoamericana. El presente trabajo analizó qué  
motivación y qué percepciones manifiesta el alumnado universitario respecto del uso de  
videojuegos para aprender inglés como lengua extranjera. Se adoptó un enfoque cuantitativo,  
descriptivo y de corte transversal. El cuestionario, de tipo Likert y 20 ítems, fue respondido por  
150 estudiantes de tres carreras de la Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo, Sede Morona  
Santiago: Ingeniería Ambiental (n=54), Zootecnia (n=51) y Contabilidad y Auditoría (n=45). Las  
cinco dimensiones evaluadas fueron motivación hacia el inglés a través de videojuegos, utilidad  
percibida, habilidades lingüísticas percibidas, actitudes hacia la integración curricular y  
patrones de exposición, con una fiabilidad global de α=0,87. Las medias se ubicaron entre 3,42  
y 4,01 sobre 5, dentro del rango favorable. La motivación encabezó la valoración (M=4,01;  
DE=0,85) y los patrones de exposición quedaron al final (M=3,42; DE=1,11). Entre carreras  
aparecieron diferencias significativas en motivación (F=4,12; p=0,018) y en patrones de  
exposición (F=5,38; p=0,006). Los estudiantes, en suma, ven en los videojuegos un estímulo para  
acercarse al inglés; llevarlos al currículo formal exigiría, en cambio, una planificación  
pedagógica expresa.  
1Docente Investigador, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Ecuador, ORCID: http://orcid.org/0009-0007-2420-  
9334  
2Docente Investigador, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Ecuador, ORCID: http://orcid.org/0009-0004-6278-  
7563  
3Docente Investigador, Universidad de Las Américas (UDLA), Ecuador, ORCID: http://orcid.org/0009-0002-3343-3016  
4Docente Investigador, Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabí (UNESUM), Ecuador, ORCID: http://orcid.org/0009-0006-8850-0107  
407  
Revista Científica Multidisciplinaria InvestiGo  
Riobamba – Ecuador  
Cel: +593 97 911 9620  
revisinvestigo@gmail.com  
MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE  
DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR  
Palabras clave: Videojuegos, motivación del estudiante, actitud del estudiante, inglés (segunda  
lengua), enseñanza superior, aprendizaje de lenguas  
ABSTRACT: Playing video games brings a good share of the student body into daily contact  
with English outside the classroom. That potential has been studied mainly in Europe and Asia  
and has hardly been documented in Latin American higher education. The present work  
analyzed the motivation and the perceptions that university students express regarding the use  
of video games for learning English as a foreign language. A quantitative, descriptive, cross-  
sectional approach was adopted. A 20-item Likert-type questionnaire was answered by 150  
students from three programs at Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo, Sede Morona  
Santiago: Environmental Engineering (n=54), Animal Science (n=51), and Accounting and  
Auditing (n=45). The five dimensions assessed were motivation toward English through video  
games, perceived usefulness, perceived linguistic skills, attitudes toward curricular integration,  
and exposure patterns, with an overall reliability of α=0.87. Means fell between 3.42 and 4.01  
out of 5, within the favorable range. Motivation headed the ranking (M=4.01; SD=0.85) and  
exposure patterns came last (M=3.42; SD=1.11). Significant differences between programs  
appeared in motivation (F=4.12; p=0.018) and in exposure patterns (F=5.38; p=0.006). Students,  
in short, see video games as an incentive to engage with English; bringing them into the formal  
curriculum, by contrast, would call for explicit pedagogical planning.  
Keywords: Video games, student motivation, student attitudes, English (second language),  
higher education, second language learning  
INTRODUCCIÓN  
Video games have evolved from an exclusively entertainment-oriented phenomenon to a focus  
of growing interest in educational research (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.,  
¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia., ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la  
referencia., ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.). In the specific domain of foreign  
language teaching, video games offer an informal linguistic immersion environment where  
players are exposed to vocabulary, grammatical structures, and communicative patterns in  
English in a contextualized manner, motivated by the game narrative rather than academic  
obligation (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia., ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen  
de la referencia.). The argument goes back to Gee (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la  
referencia.), for whom games embody learning principles formal education would do well to  
borrow: identity, interaction, production, a willingness to take risks, and problem-solving that  
means something to the player.  
Several theoretical traditions have been brought to bear on the link between gaming and English  
learning. Self-Determination Theory (SDT), developed by Deci and Ryan (¡Error! No se encuentra  
el origen de la referencia.), offers an explanatory framework for the enjoyment-driven  
motivation associated with video games, and it occupies a central place in current accounts of L2  
408  
MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE  
DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR  
motivation (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.). Games satisfy the needs for  
autonomy (the player chooses what to do, when, and how), competence (level progression and  
immediate feedback reinforce a sense of achievement), and relatedness (multiplayer games  
foster interaction and belonging) (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.). From the  
perspective of language acquisition, Krashen's Input Hypothesis (¡Error! No se encuentra el  
origen de la referencia.) suggests that comprehensible exposure to the language in low-anxiety  
contexts facilitates acquisition, conditions that video games provide by offering linguistic input in  
English within a ludic and non-evaluative environment (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la  
referencia.).  
Empirical evidence has grown steadily. Reinhardt (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la  
referencia.) and Hung et al. (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) conducted  
comprehensive reviews of digital game-based language learning (DGBLL) and concluded that  
exposure to video games in English is associated with positive effects on receptive vocabulary and  
listening comprehension. In Sweden, Sundqvist and Wikström (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen  
de la referencia.) found that the adolescents who played in English most often scored better on  
vocabulary than classmates who did not play. York (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la  
referencia.) and Chen and Yang (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.), studying  
Japanese and Taiwanese university students respectively, found positive perceptions toward  
video games as English learning tools measured through Likert scales. More recently,  
Ebrahimzadeh and Alavi (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) observed that  
students who interacted with commercial video games in English reported greater motivation and  
higher perceived vocabulary retention than those who only read the game texts.  
A further strand of research has examined the moderating role of game type. Peterson (¡Error!  
No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) documented that massively multiplayer online role-  
playing games (MMORPGs) generate sustained opportunities for synchronous written and oral  
interaction in the target language, whereas single-player titles provide predominantly receptive  
input. Rama et al. (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) similarly observed that  
collaborative gameplay environments afford conditions associated with second language  
development, including goal-oriented communication and negotiation of meaning among  
players. These findings indicate that the linguistic affordances of video games vary considerably  
across genres and platforms, a distinction frequently overlooked in studies that treat video games  
as a homogeneous category (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia., ¡Error! No se  
encuentra el origen de la referencia.).  
Despite the growing evidence, research on video games and English learning in the Latin American  
higher education context remains scarce (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.,  
¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia., ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la  
referencia.). Most studies have been conducted in Asia and Europe (¡Error! No se encuentra el  
origen de la referencia., ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.), with student  
populations whose conditions of technology access, English exposure, and language motivation  
differ substantially from those characterizing Ecuadorian university contexts (¡Error! No se  
409  
MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE  
DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR  
encuentra el origen de la referencia., ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.). In  
Ecuador, the Academic Regime Regulation (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.)  
establishes English proficiency as a graduation requirement in higher education. Students at  
universities in the Ecuadorian Amazon, such as the Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo  
(ESPOCH), Sede Morona Santiago, come from diverse linguistic backgrounds, and their  
relationship with video games as a site of extramural English exposure has not been investigated.  
Sylvén and Sundqvist (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) noted that gaming  
frequency and game type are key moderating variables that determine learning potential, but  
these usage patterns have not been documented in Ecuadorian university populations.  
The gap identified in the literature justifies the need to generate empirical evidence from  
underrepresented contexts (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.). The objective of  
this study was to analyze student motivation and perceptions toward the use of video games as  
a tool for English as a foreign language learning in higher education. The specific objectives were:  
(a) to identify perceptions across five dimensions: motivation, perceived usefulness, perceived  
linguistic skills, attitudes toward curricular integration, and exposure patterns; (b) to compare  
perceptions among students from three non-linguistic university programs; and (c) to explore the  
association between self-reported exposure to English through video games and perceptions of  
usefulness and motivation.  
MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS  
A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional design was employed (¡Error! No se encuentra el  
origen de la referencia.). This approach is suitable for characterizing attitudes and perceptions in  
specific populations without variable manipulation or longitudinal follow-up, as a preliminary step  
toward the eventual design of pedagogical interventions integrating video games into English  
language teaching.  
The study was carried out at ESPOCH Sede Morona Santiago, in the city of Macas, Morona  
Santiago Province, Ecuador. The students enrolled in the regular academic period who were  
taking English I, English II, English III, or English IV made up the accessible population. Sampling  
was non-probabilistic and by convenience: the 150 participants were all those who agreed to take  
part. The distribution by program was: Environmental Engineering (n=54; 36.0%), Animal Science  
(n=51; 34.0%), and Accounting and Auditing (n=45; 30.0%). Of all participants, 82 (54.7%) were  
male and 68 (45.3%) were female. Ages ranged from 18 to 26 years, with a mean of 20.8 years  
(SD=1.74).  
A 20-item Likert-type questionnaire was designed, distributed across five dimensions: motivation  
toward English through video games (5 items), perceived usefulness of video games for learning  
English (4 items), perceived linguistic skills developed through video games (4 items), attitudes  
toward curricular integration of video games (4 items), and patterns of English exposure through  
video games (3 items). Response options were: 1=Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Neither agree  
nor disagree, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly agree. The instrument underwent content validation through  
410  
MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE  
DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR  
expert judgment by three specialists in foreign language didactics and educational technology.  
Following the incorporation of their observations, a pilot test was conducted with 30 students not  
included in the final sample. The overall reliability was high, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient  
of 0.87, and individual dimensions obtained values between 0.79 and 0.90. Two caveats attach to  
the instrument, namely the absence of factor analysis and the limits of an agreement format for  
capturing how often something is done; both are taken up in the limitations.  
No pedagogical intervention with video games took place. What the study gathered were  
perceptions grounded in the experience students already had with games in English. An  
informational session preceded the questionnaire: the purpose of the research was explained  
there, confidentiality was guaranteed, and informed consent was obtained. The questionnaire  
itself was completed in person during class hours. Authorization came from the academic  
authorities of ESPOCH Sede Morona Santiago. Because this was not clinical research and no  
sensitive health data were handled, approval by an institutional ethics committee was not  
required; even so, the usual principles for research with human participants, namely informed  
consent, voluntary participation, and confidentiality of the data, were respected throughout.  
All processing was carried out in SPSS version 27. Each dimension and each item was summarized  
through means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages. One-way ANOVA served to  
compare the three programs, once normality (Shapiro-Wilk) and homogeneity of variance  
(Levene) had been verified. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to explore how exposure  
patterns related to the remaining dimensions. The significance threshold was set at p<0.05.  
Several comparisons were run on the same data, so the familywise error rate may be inflated,  
and these results warrant a cautious reading.  
RESULTADOS  
Table 1 presents the sociodemographic characteristics and gaming habits of participants. Of the  
150 students, 127 (84.7%) reported playing video games with some frequency. Of these 127  
gamers, 98 (77.2% of gamers; 65.3% of the total) indicated that they played video games wholly  
or partly in English. The most frequent game genres among gamers were action/adventure  
(42.5%), followed by role-playing games or RPGs (28.3%), sports (18.1%), and strategy (11.0%).  
The 23 students who reported not playing video games (15.3% of the total) were included in the  
overall analysis, since the questionnaire permitted responses based on general perceptions  
rather than direct experience alone.  
Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics and gaming habits.  
Variable  
Environmental Engineering  
Animal Science  
Accounting and Auditing  
Male  
n
54  
51  
45  
82  
68  
127  
%
36.0  
34.0  
30.0  
54.7  
45.3  
84.7  
Female  
Play video games  
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MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE  
DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR  
Play in English  
Action/Adventure  
RPG  
98  
54  
36  
23  
14  
65.3  
42.5  
28.3  
18.1  
11.0  
Sports  
Strategy  
Note. N=150. Game genre percentages calculated on n=127 gamers.  
The 98 students who reported playing in English were additionally asked about the specific titles  
they used (Table 2). The most frequently mentioned games were Free Fire (42.9%), Fortnite  
(38.8%), and Call of Duty in its Mobile and Warzone versions (35.7%). All three belong to the  
action/adventure genre and share a feature relevant to language exposure: their interfaces, voice  
commands, and player communication systems operate predominantly in English. Sports games  
such as FIFA/EA FC (31.6%) were also frequently reported, although their linguistic content is  
primarily limited to sports terminology. League of Legends (24.5%) and Valorant (19.4%) are  
notable in that they require real-time strategic communication among players. Minecraft (22.4%)  
and Genshin Impact (12.2%) offer extensive narratives and descriptive texts. This diversity of titles  
indicates that English exposure through video games is not homogeneous: each game offers a  
distinct linguistic profile.  
Table 2. Most played video games in English.  
Video game  
Free Fire  
Fortnite  
n
%
42  
38  
35  
31  
24  
22  
19  
18  
12  
15  
42.9  
38.8  
35.7  
31.6  
24.5  
22.4  
19.4  
18.4  
12.2  
15.3  
Call of Duty (Mobile/Warzone)  
FIFA/EA FC  
League of Legends  
Minecraft  
Valorant  
GTA V / GTA Online  
Genshin Impact  
Others  
Note. Percentages calculated on n=98 English-language gamers. Multiple response.  
Table 3 presents the descriptive results by dimension. All five dimensions obtained means  
between 3.42 and 4.01 out of 5. Motivation toward English through video games obtained the  
highest mean (M=4.01; SD=0.85), followed by attitudes toward curricular integration (M=3.89;  
SD=0.88) and perceived usefulness (M=3.76; SD=0.93). Perceived linguistic skills obtained a mean  
of 3.58 (SD=1.02) and exposure patterns registered the lowest mean (M=3.42; SD=1.11).  
Table 3. Student perceptions by dimensión.  
Dimension  
Motivation  
Perceived usefulness  
Perceived linguistic skills  
M
SD  
α
4.01  
3.76  
3.58  
0.85  
0.93  
1.02  
0.90  
0.86  
0.84  
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MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE  
DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR  
Curricular integration attitudes  
Exposure patterns  
Overall  
3.89  
3.42  
3.73  
0.88  
1.11  
0.94  
0.85  
0.79  
0.87  
Note. M=mean; SD=standard deviation; α=Cronbach's alpha. Scale 1-5. N=150. Dimension means were computed  
from raw item responses; minor differences with respect to the average of the rounded item means reported in  
Tables 4-8 are therefore expected.  
In the motivation dimension (Table 4), the highest-rated item was "Video games make me want  
to learn more English to better understand the game" (M=4.22; SD=0.78). The lowest-rated item  
was "Video games have motivated me to seek additional English courses or resources" (M=3.62;  
SD=1.04). This pattern suggests that the motivation reported by students is linked to the  
enjoyment of the gaming experience and the desire to comprehend game content, with limited  
reported transfer to the active pursuit of formal language study.  
Table 4. Items of the motivation dimensión.  
Item  
M
SD  
Want to learn more English to understand the game  
Motivated to learn English through something I enjoy  
Video games make me want to improve my English  
More interested in English because of video games  
Motivated to seek additional English courses  
4.22  
4.15  
4.02  
3.98  
3.62  
0.78  
0.81  
0.86  
0.88  
1.04  
Note. Scale 1-5. N=150.  
In the perceived usefulness dimension (Table 5), students reported a favorable perception  
regarding informal vocabulary learning (M=4.05; SD=0.82) and listening comprehension  
improvement (M=3.92; SD=0.87). Perceived usefulness for written production was lower  
(M=3.65; SD=0.99), and grammar learning received the lowest rating in this dimension (M=3.41;  
SD=1.05). This contrast is consistent with the nature of language input in video games, where oral  
and lexical exposure predominates over explicit grammatical structures, as documented by  
Bytheway (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) in research on vocabulary  
acquisition in MMORPGs.  
Table 5. Items of the perceived usefulness dimensión.  
Item  
M
SD  
Informal vocabulary learning  
Listening comprehension improvement  
Written production improvement  
Grammar learning  
4.05  
3.92  
3.65  
3.41  
0.82  
0.87  
0.99  
1.05  
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MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE  
DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR  
Note. Scale 1-5. N=150.  
Within the perceived linguistic skills dimension (Table 6), students reported greater perceived  
development in vocabulary (M=3.95; SD=0.89) and listening comprehension (M=3.82; SD=0.94)  
than in oral production (M=3.32; SD=1.08) and writing (M=3.22; SD=1.14). The higher standard  
deviations in oral production and writing indicate considerable dispersion, probably associated  
with differences in game type: players of multiplayer titles may report a greater perceived  
development of productive skills than those who play single-player games, although this was not  
tested directly.  
Table 6. Items of the perceived linguistic skills dimensión.  
Item  
Vocabulary  
Listening comprehension  
Oral production  
Writing  
M
SD  
3.95  
3.82  
3.32  
3.22  
0.89  
0.94  
1.08  
1.14  
Note. Scale 1-5. N=150.  
In the curricular integration attitudes dimension (Table 7), the highest-rated item was "It would  
be interesting if English teachers used video game elements in their classes" (M=4.12; SD=0.80),  
while "Video games can be as useful as a textbook for learning English" registered the lowest  
mean (M=3.68; SD=1.02). The difference between the two items suggests that students perceive  
video games as a complement to, not a substitute for, formal instructional materials, a pattern  
consistent with technology acceptance models in which perceived usefulness shapes adoption  
intentions (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.).  
Table 7. Items of the curricular integration attitudes dimension  
Item  
M
SD  
Use video game elements in class  
Complement English class  
Play video games as English homework  
4.12  
3.98  
3.78  
3.68  
0.80  
0.85  
0.95  
1.02  
As useful as a textbook  
Note. Scale 1-5. N=150.  
The exposure patterns dimension (Table 8) obtained the lowest overall mean (M=3.42; SD=1.11).  
The highest-rated item was "I play video games with the language set to English" (M=3.65;  
SD=1.08). The lowest-rated item was "I intentionally seek video games in English to practice the  
language" (M=3.22; SD=1.18), indicating that most students who play in English do so out of  
preference or availability rather than as a deliberate learning strategy, so that whatever  
acquisition takes place in this context is largely incidental (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de  
la referencia.).  
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MOTIVACIÓN Y PERCEPCIONES ESTUDIANTILES HACIA EL USO DE VIDEOJUEGOS COMO HERRAMIENTA DE APRENDIZAJE  
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Table 8. Items of the exposure patterns dimensión.  
Item  
M
SD  
Play with language set to English  
At least 3 hours weekly in English  
Intentionally seek video games in English  
3.65  
3.38  
3.22  
1.08  
1.15  
1.18  
Note. Scale 1-5. N=150.  
Table 9 presents the comparison by program. The ANOVA revealed statistically significant  
differences in motivation (F(2,147)=4.12; p=0.018; η²=0.05) and exposure patterns  
(F(2,147)=5.38; p=0.006; η²=0.07). Tukey's post hoc test indicated that in motivation, the  
difference occurred between Environmental Engineering (M=4.22; SD=0.79) and Accounting and  
Auditing (M=3.75; SD=0.91) (p=0.014). In exposure patterns, both Environmental Engineering  
(M=3.68; SD=1.02) and Animal Science (M=3.52; SD=1.08) differed significantly from Accounting  
and Auditing (M=3.01; SD=1.15) (p=0.004 and p=0.031 respectively). Effect sizes were small  
according to Cohen's criteria (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.): η²=0.05 for  
motivation and η²=0.07 for exposure patterns.  
Table 9. Comparison of means by program (ANOVA).  
Dimension  
Motivation  
Perceived usefulness  
Perceived ling. skills  
Curricular  
Env.Eng.(M)  
4.22  
Anim.Sc.(M)  
4.01  
Acc.Aud.(M)  
3.75  
F
p
4.12  
1.98  
1.65  
1.72  
0.018*  
0.141  
0.195  
0.183  
3.89  
3.72  
4.01  
3.78  
3.55  
3.88  
3.58  
3.42  
3.74  
integration  
Exposure patterns  
3.68  
3.52  
3.01  
5.38  
0.006*  
Note. *p<0.05. Tukey: motivation Env.Eng. vs Acc.Aud. (p=0.014); exposure Env.Eng. and Anim.Sc. vs Acc.Aud.  
(p=0.004, p=0.031). N=150.  
Perceptions were also analyzed by sex (Table 10). Males scored significantly higher than females  
in motivation (M=4.18; SD=0.78 vs. M=3.80; SD=0.89; t(148)=2.82; p=0.005) and exposure  
patterns (M=3.68; SD=1.02 vs. M=3.11; SD=1.12; t(148)=3.28; p=0.001). No significant differences  
were found in the remaining dimensions. This result is consistent with evidence from Sundqvist  
and Wikström (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) and Sylvén and Sundqvist  
(¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.), who documented that males tend to play  
video games more frequently than females.  
Table 10. Comparison of means by sex (t-test)  
Dimension  
Male(M)  
Female(M)  
t
p
Motivation  
4.18  
3.80  
2.82  
0.005*  
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Perceived usefulness  
Perceived ling. skills  
Curricular integration  
Exposure patterns  
3.82  
3.65  
3.95  
3.68  
3.68  
3.49  
3.82  
3.11  
0.92  
0.98  
0.88  
3.28  
0.359  
0.329  
0.380  
0.001*  
Note. *p<0.05. Male n=82; Female n=68. df=148.  
Correlational analysis (Table 11) revealed positive and significant associations between exposure  
patterns and the remaining dimensions. The strongest association was observed with motivation  
(r=0.52; p<0.001), followed by perceived usefulness (r=0.45; p<0.001), perceived linguistic skills  
(r=0.41; p<0.001), and curricular integration attitudes (r=0.38; p<0.001). These results suggest  
that students who report greater exposure to English through video games also tend to report  
greater motivation and perceived usefulness. However, given the cross-sectional design, these  
associations do not allow causal inference.  
Table 11. Pearson correlations among dimensions.  
MOT  
PU  
PLS  
CIA  
EP  
Motivation  
(MOT)  
—
0.49**  
0.43**  
0.58**  
0.52**  
Perceived  
usefulness (PU)  
Perc. ling. skills  
(PLS)  
—
0.56**  
0.47**  
0.40**  
—
0.45**  
0.41**  
0.38**  
—
Curric.  
integration  
(CIA)  
Exposure  
patterns (EP)  
—
Note. **p<0.01. N=150.  
Table 12 presents the percentage distribution of responses. Because the dimensions comprise  
different numbers of items (between three and five), the overall row should be read as a  
descriptive summary across dimensions rather than as an exact aggregate of individual responses.  
Overall, 65.8% of responses fell in the agreement category, 19.4% were neutral, and 14.8%  
expressed disagreement. The dimension with the highest agreement percentage was motivation  
(74.2%) and the highest disagreement percentage was exposure patterns (21.3%).  
Table 12. Percentage distribution of responses by dimensión.  
Dimension  
Motivation  
Disagree %  
9.8  
Neutral %  
16.0  
Agree %  
74.2  
Perceived usefulness  
Perceived ling. skills  
Curricular integration  
Exposure patterns  
Overall  
14.2  
18.5  
11.8  
21.3  
19.5  
21.2  
18.7  
20.8  
66.3  
60.3  
69.5  
57.9  
14.8  
19.4  
65.8  
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Note. Disagree=options 1-2; Neutral=option 3; Agree=options 4-5. N=150.  
Perceptions were compared between students who reported playing video games in English  
(n=98) and those who played only in Spanish or did not play at all (n=52). That second group is  
heterogeneous, since 29 students played exclusively in Spanish and 23 did not play at all, and the  
two profiles could differ from each other; the heterogeneity should be borne in mind when  
interpreting the comparison. English-language gamers scored significantly higher in motivation  
(M=4.28; SD=0.72 vs. M=3.51; SD=0.91; t(148)=5.82; p<0.001), perceived usefulness (M=4.02;  
SD=0.81 vs. M=3.27; SD=0.95; t(148)=5.28; p<0.001), and perceived linguistic skills (M=3.85;  
SD=0.88 vs. M=3.07; SD=1.05; t(148)=5.01; p<0.001). Differences in curricular integration  
attitudes, while also favoring English-language gamers (M=4.05 vs. M=3.59), were of smaller  
magnitude (t(148)=3.24; p=0.002). These results indicate that those who already have gaming  
experience in English report more favorable perceptions, suggesting that a video-game-based  
pedagogical strategy would require a familiarization phase for students without prior gaming  
habits.  
As an exploratory analysis, the relationship between predominant video game genre and  
perceived linguistic skills was examined. RPG players (n=36) reported higher means in perceived  
vocabulary (M=4.18; SD=0.75) than action/adventure players (n=54; M=3.82; SD=0.92), a  
difference that was statistically significant (t(88)=2.08; p=0.040). In perceived listening  
comprehension, action/adventure players reported slightly higher means (M=3.91; SD=0.88 vs.  
M=3.72; SD=0.95), although this difference was not significant (t(88)=1.02; p=0.311). These  
patterns are consistent with the linguistic nature of each genre: RPGs include extensive dialogues  
and descriptive texts, while action games prioritize rapid communication. Both comparisons were  
exploratory and were run on the same sample as the rest of the analyses, so they call for  
replication before much weight is placed on them.  
Regarding gaming platform, 61.4% of the 127 gamers (n=78) reported playing primarily on mobile  
devices, 25.2% (n=32) on computers, and 13.4% (n=17) on consoles. Computer gamers scored  
slightly higher in perceived linguistic skills (M=3.78; SD=0.92) compared to mobile gamers  
(M=3.52; SD=1.04), although the difference did not reach statistical significance (t(108)=1.32;  
p=0.189).  
DISCUSIÓN  
The results of this study indicate that university students at ESPOCH Sede Morona Santiago  
reported favorable perceptions toward video games as a resource for English language exposure,  
with motivation as the highest-rated dimension (M=4.01). This finding is consistent with results  
reported by York (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) in Japan, Ebrahimzadeh  
and Alavi (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) in Iran, and Sundqvist and Wikström  
(¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) in Sweden. Within Deci and Ryan's SDT  
framework (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.), the high reported motivation  
could be explained by the satisfaction of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness  
that video games offer (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.). However, it must be  
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noted that this study did not operationalize intrinsic motivation through a specific measurement  
scale (such as the motivational orientations scale by Noels et al. (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen  
de la referencia.)); therefore, the interpretation is limited to enjoyment-driven motivation as  
reported by participants.  
The hierarchy of perceived linguistic skills, with vocabulary and listening comprehension above  
oral production and writing, coincides with evidence from Reinhardt (¡Error! No se encuentra el  
origen de la referencia.) and Sundqvist and Wikström (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la  
referencia.). What these figures record, it should be stressed, is how students see their own  
progress, not any measured command of the language. Hours spent playing in English can leave  
a convincing impression of improvement without that impression showing up in communicative  
competence that can actually be measured. A further qualification concerns genre: Peterson  
(¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.) argued that MMORPGs could offer greater  
opportunities for language production than single-player games, suggesting that game genre is a  
moderating variable that future research should control more rigorously.  
The significant differences between programs in motivation and exposure patterns, as well as sex  
differences in these same dimensions, suggest that student profile influences the reported  
relationship with video games as a learning tool. Mutlu and Çimen (¡Error! No se encuentra el  
origen de la referencia.) cautioned that the relationship between video games and L2 motivation  
is not automatic and depends on variables such as gaming frequency, game genre, and prior  
English proficiency. The positive association between self-reported exposure to English through  
video games and motivation (r=0.52) is among the most notable findings of this study; however,  
given the cross-sectional correlational design, it is not possible to establish the causal direction of  
this relationship (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia.).  
A number of caveats bound what can be claimed from these findings. The cross-sectional design  
rules out causal statements about the variables studied, and the convenience sample, taken from  
a single campus of a single institution, does not support generalization to other Ecuadorian or  
Latin American universities. All the data are self-reported: no objective test of proficiency was  
administered, so there is no way of telling whether the perceived development of skills matches  
real gains in communicative competence. Nor was any pedagogical intervention carried out,  
which means the study can say that students regard video games as useful, not that video games  
teach English effectively.  
The Likert agreement format, moreover, is a poor instrument for capturing how often something  
is done, and this weakens the exposure patterns dimension in particular. The analysis by genre  
was exploratory and covered only two categories, RPG and action/adventure, without controlling  
for cumulative exposure time in the target language or for the degree of interaction each title  
demands (¡Error! No se encuentra el origen de la referencia., ¡Error! No se encuentra el origen  
de la referencia.). Validation of the instrument went no further than expert judgment and  
Cronbach's alpha, leaving the proposed dimensional structure untested by factor analysis. Finally,  
several statistical tests were run without correction, which raises the probability of Type I error.  
Quasi-experimental designs with a controlled intervention, objective measures of competence,  
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confirmatory factor analysis, and larger, more varied samples drawn from institutions across  
different regions of Ecuador would all help to address these gaps.  
CONCLUSIONES  
Taken together, the responses of the 150 participants from three non-linguistic programs at  
ESPOCH Sede Morona Santiago warrant the conclusions set out below, bounded by the context  
and scope of this study. On the first specific objective, all five dimensions were rated favorably,  
with means between 3.42 and 4.01 out of 5. Motivation born of enjoyment headed the list, while  
exposure patterns closed it, with the deliberate search for games in English as its lowest-scoring  
item. Contact with the language through gaming, then, is for most of these students something  
that happens rather than something they plan.  
Regarding the second specific objective, significant differences between programs were found in  
motivation and exposure patterns, with small effect sizes (η²=0.05 and η²=0.07 respectively).  
Environmental Engineering students reported the highest means, and Accounting and Auditing  
students the lowest in both dimensions. Significant sex differences were also observed in these  
same dimensions, with higher means among males.  
On the third specific objective, exposure patterns correlated positively and significantly with  
every other dimension, and most strongly with motivation (r=0.52), though nothing in a  
correlation of this kind permits a causal reading. Students credit games with more value for  
vocabulary and listening comprehension than for oral production and writing, which is what one  
would expect given how receptive the linguistic exposure is in most genres. Taking games into the  
English curriculum would therefore mean planning deliberately: complementing that receptive  
exposure with tasks that call for production, and setting aside an initial familiarization phase so  
that students who do not normally play are not left behind.  
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