Nowadays, foreign language teachers may choose from a wide range of possibilities to motivate their students, one if which is also the use of games and playful elements that have numerous positive effects, including a significant influence on learner motivation. The main purpose of the thesis is to find out if games affect learner motivation in a foreign language classroom and to ascertain whether the viewpoints of teachers, learners and different learner age groups differ from each other. In the thesis, we seek to determine what kinds of activities teachers understand as games or didactic games, to explore how often particular types of games are used in a foreign language classroom as well as which game characteristics teachers find most motivating. We have also analysed different game contexts, their effects on learner motivation as well as potential difficulties teachers may encounter when adding games to their lessons. The research described in the empirical part was carried out by means of two questionnaires which were distributed among foreign language teachers and learners of Slovene primary, secondary and language schools. The results highlight the discrepancy in the understanding of games and didactic games in the educational context, as the findings show that they are often subject to individual interpretation. Nonetheless, we have established that teachers are generally well informed about the advantages of games in a foreign language classroom and that both, teachers and students, acknowledge their benefits for language learning. We have ascertained that games are not popular solely among younger students, as the findings show that they are very popular among adults as well. We have also confirmed that the use of games in a foreign language classroom is more frequent in primary rather than in secondary schools. Despite certain minor differences in opinion, we have confirmed that games increase learner motivation in a foreign language classroom.
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