Özet:

Language education is a critical issue for every society, and particularly effective teaching and learning of the native language significantly impact individuals' communication skills and intellectual development. Game is an activity that significantly contributes to a child's physical, cognitive, social, emotional, linguistic, and self-care skill development. In the context of child-centered programs, play should be considered one of the fundamental principles. Educational games should be thought of as one of the basic principles within child-centered programs. Educational games should have sufficient levels of fun and qualities to provide children with an enjoyable environment and to achieve the goals of the learning program. Meta-analysis is a statistical technique used to combine the results of various scientific studies that focus on similar topics. This method allows not only for more reliable but also more comprehensive results to be obtained. The process involves stages such as data collection, coding, effect size calculation, weighting, and synthesis of results. This meta-analytical investigation was undertaken to assess the impact of educational gaming on academic performance within the context of Turkish language instruction. Totally 68 studies were initially screened, from which 31 thesis were deemed suitable for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The amalgamation of these 31 studies yielded a comprehensive sample size of 1741 participants. Utilizing a random-effects model for analysis, the findings distinctly affirm a statistically significant positive effect of educational games on the academic achievement of students. Within the scope of moderator variables considered in this study, solely the publication year and research typology were identified as moderators. The outcomes gleaned from this analysis underscore the pivotal role of educational games in enhancing student success in Turkish language education. This scientific research has the potential to contribute to the development of pedagogical paradigms prevalent in Turkish language education and the creation of more effective strategies to nurture linguistic competence among students. Gaining deeper insights into the outcomes of educational games in language teaching can offer educators and program developers a different perspective, thus facilitating the establishment of an effective language learning environment

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