Introduction

It’s not a secret anymore that English is an important language to learn due to its role as an international language. It serves as a link or communication tool for people from various countries. But the focus on language education in the 21st century is no longer on grammar, memorization, and learning from rote, but rather utilizing language and cultural understanding as a means to interact and connect to others around the world [1]. researchers suggest that games may be the most appropriate approach for acquiring the grammar of a second language [2]. The importance of enhancing student engagement in education is especially critical in language learning environments. As English continues to be the lingua franca of globalization, ensuring proficiency in English from an early age has become a priority for educational institutions around the world [3]. Gamification can be a powerful solution to address motivational problems within learning or working contexts, as long as they are well designed and are built upon well-established implementation models [4]. In more detail gamification is a concept which uses game based mechanics, aesthetics and thinking game to engage people, motivate actions, promote learning and solve problems [5]. Gamification involves incorporating game elements and mechanics into non-game activities, creating a more interactive and enjoyable learning experience [6]. From several studies above, it can be concluded that gamification can be a media to help the learning process become more interactive

Result and Discussion

The main focus in creating this board game is to improve students' understanding of Simple Present, Present Continuous Tense, Simple Past, Past Continuous, and Simple Future. These 5 tenses were chosen because they are the basis of English grammar structures that are not only often used in daily conversation, but are also clearly used for learning in Merdeka Curriculum English textbook for high school level. From a language and teaching view, the five tenses are the first grammar groups taught when learning English as a foreign language, because they are important for showing the meaning of time in sentences. Understanding Basic English Grammar is a basic foundation that will help someone compose sentences correctly and make it easier for someone to improve their writing and speaking skills [7]. This board is designed to make learning the five basic tenses more interesting, not only by focusing on the grammar itself, but by incorporating strategic thinking into every decision made during the game, all accompanied by the consequences that follow each move. This makes the learning process more enjoyable. As what Adipati said in his journal that Game-based learning is a method of obtaining new concepts and skills through the use of digital and non-digital games [8]. Specific game elements such as points, leaderboards, and interactive challenges were identified as particularly effective in enhancing motivation [9]. Gamification is a powerful tool for motivating learner engagement within educational environments [10]. Gamification techniques are being adopted to support learning in a variety of educational contexts and subject areas, but also to address transversal attitudes and behaviours such as collaboration, creativity, and self‐guided study [11]. Beyond engagement, gamification significantly enhances knowledge retention. Immediate feedback and rewards reinforce what students have learned, making it easier for them to remember and apply new information [12].

Lingua Leap Board Game is designed with bright and engaging visuals, consists of 16 squares in total where the first square serving as both the starting and finishing point which is continued with 4 Easy-level squares, followed by 4 Medium-level squares, and then 4 Hard-level squares, then there are 3 special challenge squares labeled “The Brave Leap” which are located in each corner of the board. The game board also comes with question cards categorized by difficulty level, playing piece, and toy money used as rewards for players. This instructional medium is particularly appropriate for upper secondary education within the Indonesian context, as it features question types that are culturally and pedagogically aligned with the national English language curriculum at that level.

A review of the literature shows that gamification is argued as an enjoyable, engaging, motivating, and successful way to learn a new language as a second/foreign language [13]. The increased engagement, game elements such as missions, levels and achievements can increase the interaction with users [14]. The usage of distinctions and rewards is a form of external motivator used to shape behavior and can be beneficial in education if utilized appropriately and in sufficient quantities [15]. Of all the research related to game elements, these following are the elements of the lingua leap game board:

Figure 1.

Figure 2. Picture 1: The Board Game

1. Question card

The questions on this card are arranged into 3 levels, namely easy which consists of simple sentences, medium which consists of complex sentences, and the hard level which consists of compound complex sentences. Some of the questions on the game cards are adapted from Understanding and Using English Grammar [16], Fundamentals of English grammar [17], and Basic English grammar [18]

· Level : Easy

· Colour : Pink

Figure 3. Picture 2: Easy-level Card

· Level : Medium

· Colour : Green

Figure 4. Picture 3: Medium-level Card

• Level: Hard
• Colour: Blue

Figure 5. Picture 4: Hard-level Card

3. Playing piece

Figure 6. Picture 5: Playing piece

4. Toy Money

Rewards for easy level

Figure 7. Picture 6: Toy Money (10.000)

Rewards for medium level

Figure 8. Picture 7: Toy Money ( 20 .000)

Rewards for hard level

Figure 9. Picture 8: Toy Money (50.000)

1. Use Instructions Product

1. Rules of The Game

• This game is played in pairs with a minimum of 2 players
• If this game is used inside the class or in a larger forum, then groups must be formed first and the game will be run with discussions between groups in answering each question
• For each turn, the player who is not currently playing will draw a question card and read it aloud
• If a player cannot provide the correct answer, they may continue the game, but they will not earn any reward
• Each player will get 100.000 before the game starts
• Players who wish to take on a challenge in Brave Leap square, must have enough money to cover the penalty stated for that space.
• The winner is determined by the player who earns the most money, when both players have reached the finish line.

2. Steps of The Game

a. Players play “the rock-paper-scissors” to determine who will go first

Figure 10. Picture 9: The Rock-Paper-Scissors

b. The player who wins the rock-paper-scissors round moves to the first square. Then, the opposing player takes an Easy-level card and reads the question aloud for the winner. (This process is repeated alternately between players.)

If the player answers correctly, they will earn 10.000

Figure 11. Picture 10: The First Step After The Rock-Paper-Scissors

c. When landing on the first Brave Leap square, the player may choose to take either a Hard-level card or stick with an Easy-level card.

• If the player chooses the Hard-level card and answers correctly, they will earn 30. 000. If they fail, they must pay a penalty of 30.000.
• However, if the player chooses for the Easy-level card, they will earn 10.000 for answering correctly. If they don’t answer appropriately, they do not have to pay a penalty but won’t receive any reward

Figure 12. Picture 11: The Step for First Brave Leap Square

d. When landing on the square with the green code , the player must take the Medium-level card

If the player answers the question correctly, they will earn 20.000

Figure 13. Picture 12: The Medium-level’s Step (The Green Code)

e. When landing on the second Brave Leap square, the player may choose to take either a Hard-level card or stick with a Medium-level card.

• If the player chooses the Hard-level card and answers correctly, they will earn 40. 000. If they fail, they must pay a penalty of 40.000
• However, if the player chooses for the Medium-level card, they will earn 20.000 for answering correctly. If they don’t answer appropriately, they do not have to pay a penalty but won’t receive any reward

Figure 14. Picture 13: The Step for Second Brave Leap Square

f. a. When landing on the square with the blue code , the player must take the Hard-level card

If the player answers the question correctly, they will earn 50.000

Figure 15. Picture 14: The Hard-level’s Step (The Blue Code)

g. When landing on the third Brave Leap square, the player may choose to take either a Hard, Medium, and Easy-level card and answer all three questions consecutively, or choose to take only a Medium-level card instead

• If the player chooses three cards from all three levels and answers all of them correctly, they will earn 150.000. However, if they fail to answer any of the questions, they must pay a penalty of 150.000
• However, if the player chooses for the hard-level card only, they will earn 50.000 for answering correctly. If they don’t answer appropriately, they do not have to pay a penalty but won’t receive any reward

Figure 16. Picture 15: The Step for Third Brave Leap Square

Conclusion

Lingua Leap Board Game is a game created and designed to improve understanding of basic English grammar, particularly the five main tenses. By combining game elements such as challenges, rewards, and punishments, this medium is expected to motivate students to wctively participate in the English learning process. In addition to making the learning process more enjoyable, the gamification implemented also improves knowledge retention and develops students’ knowledge retention and develops students’collaboration and creativity skills

Acknowledgements

This article is submitted to the Department of English Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Sidoarjo, as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Education in English Language Teaching. In particular, the author wishes to express heartfelt gratitude to all validators for their dedication, constructive guidance, and invaluable insights that have greatly contributed to the completion of this research.