ZooQuest: A mobile game-based learning application for fifth graders

Abstract

This study examined ZooQuest, a mobile game that supported fifth graders in the process of learning English as a second language. ZooQuest embedded the Mobile English Learning (MEL) application and was compared to MEL as a stand-alone application. Two groups were compared in a quasi-experimental pre- and posttest design. Fifth graders that used the ZooQuest application spent more time on learning at home than fifth graders that used the MEL application and obtained significant better learning results on the posttest than they did on the pretest. The ZooQuest application demonstrated its benefits in the practice of language learning outside school. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.