Social Science and Human Research Bulletin

Gamification has been effective in foreign language education. Existing reviews have explored from students and in-service teachers’ perceptions, while pre-service teachers’ view remains underexplored. Pre-service teachers are in the process of transitioning from being learners to practitioners, which offers a novel lens for the field. The purpose of the present study was to identify the research trend, hotspots, gamified elements in instructional types, and affective dimensions concerning the influence of gamification on foreign language teaching (FLT) from pre-service teachers’ viewpoints. This review adopted 99 studies for bibliometric analysis and 10 studies for systematic review between 2015 and 2025 in five databases. The results showed that there was a rapid growth in the publication. In addition, pre-service foreign language teachers expressed a positive attitude (i.e., high motivation, strong confidence, and clear intention) towards the use of gamification in both online and offline FLT. This study provides a comprehensive overview and insight for foreign language teachers, educators, and school administrators.  

Gamification, foreign language teaching, pre-service teachers, rapid annual growth, positive attitude

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