The Game-Based Speaking Practice for A1 Primary Learners: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Game-based speaking tasks can provide beginning language learners with repeated, purposeful opportunities to use English in a supportive classroom environment. This mixed-methods classroom study examined a six-week program for sixth-grade learners working around CEFR A1 in an Ecuadorian public-school context. Forty students completed a baseline survey; the instructional program comprised 12 meetings of 40 minutes organized into six thematic units. Activities included Simon Says, Guess Who, rapid picture description, direction-giving, role-play, and controlled oral repetition. Aggregate speaking scores increased from M = 6.77 (SD = 1.03; range = 5.67-7.95) before instruction to M = 8.96 (SD = 1.76; range = 7.98-9.94) afterward, a descriptive mean gain of 2.19 points. Criterion summaries indicated gains in pronunciation (+0.51), vocabulary (+0.75), and fluency (+0.20), while grammar changed minimally (-0.06). Baseline responses showed that 28 of 40 learners had not previously used interactive activities to practise spoken English. The findings are promising but must remain descriptive because participant counts differed across study records, individual scores and group-specific outcomes were unavailable, one criterion summary was mathematically inconsistent, and no reliable between-group analysis could be reconstructed. The program therefore provides feasibility evidence rather than proof of effectiveness. More rigorous evaluation should use a clearly defined analytic sample, parallel speaking tasks, blinded double rating, and complete participant-level data.