Effects of Multimodal Game-Supported Instruction on Elementary Students’ Chinese Language Achievement, Speaking Performance, and Learning Motivation

Abstract

This study examined the effects of multimodal game-supported Chinese language instruction on elementary school students’ Chinese language achievement, speaking performance, and learning motivation. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent pretest-posttest control group design was employed. Seventy-two Grade 5 students from two intact classes participated; one class received an eight-week intervention integrating visual representations, pronunciation modeling, character-component puzzles, digital and non-digital games, pair dialogue missions, and immediate corrective feedback, while the comparison class received textbook-led instruction covering the same curriculum and instructional time. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to compare posttest outcomes while controlling for corresponding pretest scores. The intervention group achieved higher adjusted posttest scores across the combined outcomes, Wilks’ Lambda = 0.482, F(3, 65) = 23.28, p < 0.001, partial eta squared = 0.518. Follow-up analyses showed statistically significant advantages for Chinese language achievement, speaking performance, and motivation, with large standardized differences. Brief structured interviews conducted as an implementation check indicated that students valued repeated practice, immediate feedback, collaborative challenges, and opportunities to speak without fear of public error. The findings suggest that game-supported instruction is most educationally useful when game mechanics remain subordinate to explicit language goals, teacher scaffolding, and systematic integration of sound, meaning, written form, and interaction. The study offers an applicable instructional framework for elementary Chinese language programs and identifies priorities for longer-term, multi-school replication