Janitor Jill Cleaning Quest: A New Approach to Language Learning Through Gamification

The article explains how Janitor Jill Cleaning Quest was developed and implemented. Janitor Jill Cleaning Quest is an educational game that was made to help the cleaning staff at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) improve their English language skills. The game is designed to help janitors who do not speak English as their first language strengthen their communication skills in the workplace. The project uses the Needs Analysis Framework to find out precisely what language help janitors need and how to present it to them in the form of a game. The game has nine interactive tasks. Each one is meant to help improve functional English skills that janitors need throughout the day, like being able to follow directions, talk to people, and follow through on orders. We conducted semi-structured interviews with two janitors who worked in IIUM: Kak Masni worked for over 19 years, and Kak Mas worked for over 15 years. The results of talks with IIUM janitors show that there are problems with vocabulary, pronunciation, and understanding. Often, these problems cause confusion, poor job performance, and social isolation. With the Janitor Jill game, we show how game-based learning can give janitors more power, help them do their jobs better, and make the workplace more welcoming and helpful for everyone. Also, to add to the reliability of the data, we conducted semi-structured interviews with three teachers, and they tried it in the classroom with their students and showed that it could be implemented in the school.