GAMIFICATION AND STORYTELLING AS TOOLS FOR DEVELOPING READING COMPETENCE IN FOREIGN LITERATURE LESSONS

Abstract

This article demonstrates the value of integrating gaming technologies and digital storytelling methods into the teaching of foreign literature in secondary schools. It examines the theoretical aspects of using gamification not only as a tool for assessment but also as a means of interpreting literary texts. Practical applications (case studies) have been developed and tested through the analysis of existential themes using game mechanics – gamification as a way to decipher the “code” of a complex modernist text (Franz Kafka’s novella “The Metamorphosis”) and the development of emotional intelligence through digital storytelling (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince”).
The importance of the selected technologies in the learning process is demonstrated, as gamification allows the educational journey to be transformed into an engaging “mission”, where each stage of text analysis yields bonuses, levels or new opportunities, whilst storytelling helps structure chaotic information into a coherent narrative, which fosters the development of coherent speech and empathy; the use of these tools is not merely a methodological “decoration”, but a strategic necessity for achieving the goals of the New Ukrainian School and bridging the gap between literary theory and the student’s life experience.
The author proposes a classification of students’ “digital products”, where there is a transformation in the student’s role: they no longer simply analyse the text, but acts as a “narrative designer” or “game scriptwriter”, shifting the approach to classics from a reproductive one (read – retold) to a constructive one (read – reinterpreted – created something new).
New tools have been introduced: the adaptation of specific digital services (such as Twine for creating non-linear stories based on literary works or AI tools for visualising images), which were not previously considered in foreign literature methodology as a systematic tool. The approach to assessment has been revised, as it is now necessary to assess not only knowledge of the plot but also the depth of immersion in the character’s inner world through game mechanics.
The methodology for using gaming technologies has been refined by integrating them with digital storytelling, in the synergy of the game (as a framework) and storytelling (as a method of interpretation), which stimulates empathy and critical thinking, transforming the student into a “co-author” of the text; justifying the effectiveness of “non-linear analysis” of literary texts in foreign literature lessons; identifying the psychological and pedagogical conditions under which pupils’ digital creativity helps to overcome “reader alienation”.
A set of methodological digital tools for implementing gaming technologies and storytelling has been developed, along with “instructions for action”, which describe specific programmes and services (Canva, Twine, Genially) for teachers. Methodological recommendations are proposed for selecting tools and technologies, which should depend on the work’s genre.