Trapped in the English classroom: an escape room to foster language skills

Resumen

Escape rooms have become very popular in the last few years. They are thematic games where participants should solve out a series of clues or problems to ‘escape from the room’ in a given time limit. The use of escape rooms as a pedagogical tool has been used in different areas of knowledge (Kinio et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2018; Clarke et al, 2017). The aim of this study is to use an escape room as a tool to teach and learn English as a foreign language at university. Ninety-five male and female university students (aged 18-20) participated in the experiment. They belonged to two intact groups from a big pre-service teachers’ faculty, and were enrolled in English for Teachers subjects. Their English proficiency level ranged from B2 to A2, according to the CEFRL (Council of Europe, 2001). Group 1 designed an escape room and Group 2 participated solving out the clues to escape from the classroom. Eight clues were designed around a story, which was about the murder of a doctor. The aim was to find out who had murdered the doctor by solving out the clues. Clues worked several language skills (speaking, listening, writing and reading) and other important competences, such as problem solving and teamwork. After the experiment, students filled in an open questionnaire about their experience learning and teaching English through an escape room. Results showed that students considered the escape room as a good tool for learning and teaching English, since it fostered motivation, group work and all language skills were practised in an integrated and contextualized way. Moreover, other important abilities could be worked, such as problem solving, coordination, time management, working towards a common goal, organization of people and resources, and giving and following instructions. Therefore, designing and performing an escape room proved to be an excellent and innovative way for learning and teaching English at university.