GAMIFIED TRAINING SESSIONS AS MEANS OF ENHANCING STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH

Motivation is one of the vital factors in learning a language, the feelings and excitement offered by extra enthusiasm for students to learn a second language in a better way. For the past twenty years, teaching methods have been developed to enhance the students’ motivation with the purpose of improving their language skills. Using games in ESL classroom is one of such methods supplementing the teachinglearning process. In this article, we examined how gamified method of teaching ESL may affect the attitude of university students towards the language and their level of motivation. The study was conducted to 112 freshmen of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. The design of this study was quantitative in nature that employed two questionnaires as a measuring instrument. The participants were required to answer all the items of the questionnaires, giving their own perceptions about 1) their experience of learning English and 2) their attitudes toward using games in learning English to boost their learning motivation. The obtained data revealed that using gamified training sessions was mostly successful in enhancing students’ motivation in learning English and the majority of students revealed positive attitudes to using games in language learning. Only 6% of students wrote in the descriptive questions that they did not build confidence and their level of interest in English learning remained low during the training sessions. It is very important that students mentioned that their level of motivation and confidence increased and they felt much more secure and safe. The total percentage of students who revealed increased motivation and confidence after Kahoot-based training sessions was 66%; 28% of students remained neutral and 6% of students wrote in the descriptive questions that they did not build confidence and their level of interest in English learning remained low during the training sessions. The fact that a vast majority of students revealed positive attitudes to using games in language learning suggests that this method could be of use when utilized systematically over the academic year. However, university teachers should try GAMIFIED TRAINING SESSIONS AS MEANS OF ENHANCING STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH PhD (Psychology), Associate Professor of the Department of English for Technical and Agrobiological Specialities, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv (Ukraine) ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0652-369X UDC: 37.013


INTRODUCTION
The problem setting. The English language plays an important role in today's communication society which is continuously increasing as the world rapidly moves towards globalization. Learning a second language assists students in gaining achievements in academic areas. It has been proved that learners with higher motivation do better in English, and learners with self-confidence tend to be more successful in learning. For the past twenty years, teaching methods have been developed to enhance the students' motivation and selfconfidence with the purpose of improving their language skills. The contemporary society is constantly changing and developing new technologies. Using games in ESL classroom is one of such methods supplementing the teachinglearning process. Games are fun activities that promote learning motivation, critical thinking, interaction, and problem solving. According to Martinson and Chu, "games are effective tools for learning because they offer students a hypothetical environment in which they can explore alternative decisions without the risk of failure. Thought and action are combined into purposeful behaviour to accomplish a goal.
Playing games teaches us how to strategize, to consider alternatives, and to think flexibly" [9,478]. Games stimulate interactivity and allow the students to work collaboratively as a team "Adult Education ESL Teachers Guide" suggest that three ways to keep students motivated enough to come to class are 1) to assure that students feel they are making progress toward their goals, 2) to make sure there is the opportunity for enjoyment in the classroom, and 3) to offer lessons that are relevant to them [5].
Wright, Betteridge and Buckby explore the benefits of using games in the ESL classroom and how they might be used to motivate students [1]. Games are not activities mainly aimed to break the ice between students or diverse from routine activities, but a way of getting the learner to use the language in the natural context. Games provide a constructivist classroom environment where students learn through performance, active each other which involves extensive cognitive processing. Games can provide intense and meaningful practice of language, then they must be regarded as central to a teacher's repertoire. Aydan Ersoz claims, that "games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging. Furthermore, they employ meaningful and useful language in real contexts.
They also encourage and increase cooperation" [3]. can connect to a variety of intelligences [8].
The purpose of this study is to discover whether using gamified training sessions will: -change ESL students' feelings and attitudes toward learning English, and -enhance their learning motivation.

RESEARCH METHODS
In our study we used both theoretical  According to the goals of this study, the researcher aims to investigate how games affect students' motivation -a powerful factor in ESL learning.

THE RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Motivation is known as a stimulant for achieving a specific target. According to Gardner's theory [4], motivation is a kind of central mental engine or energy-center that includes effort, want or will (cognition) and task-enjoyment According to Hussin, Maarof and D'Cruz, "teachers need to find creative ways to teach the language and increase the student's motivation to learn the language and to eventually appreciate the language" [7]. Learning motivation is considered to be a key factor to success in second language acquisition which can develop students' curiosity about learning English. Motivation works as the starting point for learning and supporting the process of foreign language acquisition. In fact, we can say that if there is lack of motivation, no student will be able to continue with the process of achieving language proficiency; on the other hand, high motivation will be useful for learners to attain proper proficiency in the second language, even if their aptitude or learning conditions are not appropriate [2]. Harmer states that motivation is a type of initiative that encourages someone to do things to reach a goal. Furthermore, this is fundamental to succeed in most fields of learning; without such motivation, we will not be able to make the effort to learn. For this reason, it is necessary to understand the role it has when learning a language [6]. In order to change students' attitudes They are based on a learning objective.
They give the player control over his own destiny.
They include doable challenges.
They are fun and interesting, thus motivating.
They are based on reality in order to intrinsically motivate the players to continue to play the game.
They require interaction.
Based on these criteria, we developed a series of gamified training sessions (8 in total) to boost students' motivation and confidence in ESL.
The stages were as follows: At the end of the semester, students were given another questionnaire consisting of 12 optional questions and 2 items of descriptive questions, in order to find out the students' attitudes toward using games in ESL learning and changes it made to their level of motivation and confidence. The results of the questionnaire are presented in Table 2. Types of energy.
The history of electricity.
Electricity and magnetism.
The nature of magnetism.
Electric current.
Alternating current.
Direct current.
New elements of the Periodic Table.  Stage 2: Class Preparation Students were asked to bring their smart phones or laptops to the classroom and explained the procedure of the game and the scoring rules. Stage 3: Kahoot training sessions The games and quizzes designed by the researcher were used to review the material learned during the practical lessons. Giving feedback to students.
The data from Table 3   it gave them challenge to compete with other students and made them relaxed. Also, students mentioned that their level of motivation and confidence increased and they felt much more secure and safe. The total percentage of students who revealed increased motivation and confidence after Kahoot-based training sessions was 66%; 28% of students remained neutral and 6% of students wrote in the descriptive questions that they did not build confidence and their level of interest in English learning remained low during the training sessions (see Chart 2).

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
Effective ESL teaching/learning has always been one of the most important interest areas for researchers, educators-practitioners.
This paper contributes to the discussion on how the game-based method of teaching ESL may affect the attitude of university students towards the language and their level of motivation.
The obtained data revealed that using