Gamification in education is about transforming learning into a game. It’s been a quite hot topic this last few years. It sometimes happens you instictively do things and after some time you discover they have actually got a name. I think most things are already invented but many get improved time after time.
Speaking is usually the most difficult skill about learning a new language. When I was young a teacher used to give me and my classmates some colour cards with her signature on the back. Each colour had a unique scoring. Three years ago I decided to pick up that idea. I started rewarding children who made the effort to speak in English. We created these point cards which can be won by students depending on the difficulty of the language produced, the children’s skills and the teacher criteria. (Not all students are the same, of course). This became a year league where the three groups compete between them and where the students who obtain most points get to choose first from a bundle of given prizes: arts supplies, toys, books, sweets…
They know from the start there will be no big prizes at the end, but most of them get really engaged with this game.