Gamification methods in a university foreign language course and their impact on the sustainability of learning motivation and attendance

Abstract

The article is devoted to the theoretical conceptualization of gamification as a systemic method for designing a university foreign language course amid declining student engagement, rising absenteeism, and changes in learners' cognitive habits shaped by the digital environment. It is shown that the problem of irregular attendance and loss of interest is linked not only to the "secondary" status of the discipline in a non-linguistic university but also to psychological barriers in speech practice: language anxiety, fear of public error, and the effect of delayed gratification in traditional assessment formats. Gamification is interpreted not as an entertaining supplement but as a restructuring of the educational architecture capable of lowering the affective filter, legitimizing error, and creating conditions for experiencing flow states. The argumentation relies on distinguishing superficial "pointification" from structural gamification, which affects the semantic organization of the course: variability of mastery routes, visualization of progress, immediate feedback, narrativization of content, role-playing and team mechanics, skill trees, and dosed uncertainty as a means of sustaining interest. The shift in the teacher's role toward facilitator and "game master," managing the educational space and group social interactions, is explored. Risks are analyzed separately: substitution of cognitive motivation with reward hunting, toxicity of competitive modes, increase in cognitive noise due to rule complexity, and ethical issues of behavioral stimulation. The need for polyvalent design, accounting for diverse student motivational profiles and ensuring the internalization of knowledge value, is substantiated; it is emphasized that a sustainable effect is possible only through the evolution of the game system alongside learner progress and the integration of digital platforms into continuous language practice, where attendance becomes an indicator of engagement rather than mere disciplinary control.