Thai undergraduates' business vocabulary test scores rose from pre-test to post-test after four weeks of out-of-class role-playing gamification with Mangomon, in a single-group study with no control group¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q2 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2026 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i3 After four weeks of autonomous out-of-class play, participants' business vocabulary post-test scores were significantly higher than pre-test scores, with a large effect size (Cohen's d = 1.80). → Tangkiengsirisin 2025

Evidence¶

Tangkiengsirisin 2025¶

Tangkiengsirisin, S., Taylor, P., & Thansirichaisree, P. (2026). The effects of role-playing gamification on business vocabulary learning and motivation: A study of CEFR-based language learning mobile application for Thai undergraduate students. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 19(1), 464-486. https://doi.org/10.70730/UFRC4620

q2 · i3 · causal · r1

Quasi-experimental pre-post study of 21 Thai undergraduates practising business English who played Mangomon outside class for four weeks. Paired t-test on 30-item gap-filling vocabulary test showed the post-test mean exceeded the pre-test mean, "statistically significant, t(20) = 6.99, p < .0001"; the article reports Cohen's d = 1.80 as large. The prose gives the post-test mean as 26.18, but Tables 8 and 9 report 26.81 (26.8095), the figure consistent with the reported d; the quotation below keeps the prose as printed.

"The pre -test mean score (M = 17.14, SD = 7.17) was lower than the post-test mean score (M = 26.18, SD = 2.50), and this difference was statistically significant, t(20) = 6.99, p < .0001"

Discussion¶

The design is a single group of 21 students tested before and after, with no comparison group, so the gain (d = 1.80, computed on pre- and post-test scores) cannot be separated from test practice, ordinary course learning or other exposure over the four weeks; a pre–post d is also not comparable with a between-group effect size.

Related Claims¶

• Gamification has small positive effects on cognitive, motivational and behavioral learning outcomes — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Vocabulary performance shifted from B1–B2 CEFR levels at pre-test to B2–C1 at post-test after four weeks of Mangomon play — related
• IMI motivation ratings after four weeks of Mangomon play were moderate (all sub-scale means below 4.00), highest for effort/importance and lowest for perceived choice — related
• Interest/enjoyment and perceived choice were the weakest motivation dimensions, suggesting Mangomon's RPG mechanics did not yet fully serve learner autonomy — related
• ITS are effective across instructional roles, whether used as principal means of instruction, integrated class instruction, separate in-class activities, supplementary after-class instruction, or homework — related
• Diagram-comprehension scores were already high before the treatment and showed no significant pre-to-post increase — related
• Students' explanation (argument, presentation) levels improved after the intervention, though gains were smaller than in vocabulary — related
• Students' Domain interest increased largely across a short introductory teaching course (Cohen's d = 2.07). — related