Edutainment and gamification in teaching a foreign language: similarities and differences

The article considers such modern approaches to teaching a foreign language to students of a technical university as edutainment and gamification. The features of these approaches, their similarities, differences and the appropriateness of their application in specific conditions, for solving specific problems have been studied. Fundamental differences between gamification and edutainment have been revealed, delimiting their range of use. A review of the literature on the use of gamification and edutainment in education is carried out and presented. The need to distinguish between the concepts of «game», "gamification" and "edutainment" is shown. The problems of insufficient knowledge of the use of game elements in teaching a foreign language, their effectiveness, as well as systematization of the groups of game elements used are revealed. On the basis of the studied literature, an analysis of the similarities and differences between gamification and edutainment was carried out, the tools of both methods were analyzed. Recommendations for the use of gamification or edutainment in the specific conditions of student learning are formulated. It is concluded that edutainment, having a wider set of tools, can be used to teach a common foreign language, mainly at the initial level. With an increase in the complexity and volume of the studied material, especially when studying a foreign language for specialists, edutainment loses its effectiveness and it is advisable to use gamification. However, unlike the edutainment, gamification system is quite difficult to develop and apply, its tools require further study and systematization.