The terms gamification and ludification in the field of education. A differentiation proposal

Abstract

The chief purpose of the present paper is to deal with the terminological problems engendered by the use of the Anglicism gamificación in Spanish research on education. Special attention has been paid to the rising trend towards its replacement by the Latinism ludificación, more akin to the roots of the Spanish language, but not exempt from some issues. This paper is, therefore, mostly concerned with the creation and application of a piece of specialised vocabulary in the field of education. Information has been gathered mainly through two channels (cfr. § 2). On the one hand, by means of a bibliographical revision whose scope has been wide enough to let us trace the lineage and meaning of the aforementioned terms. On the other hand, by means of targeted searches in Google Scholar, whose results have enabled us to have a general view of the uses and vitality of the aforementioned terms. The data thus amassed will be carefully presented (cfr. § 3), which will give way to a discussion around the current meaning of gamificación and ludification (cfr. § 4). A call will be made to establish a clear difference between them, in a clear break with the advice of the main regulatory agencies for the Spanish language.