Improving L2 Vocabulary Acquisition through Drawing Games: Insights into Student Engagement among Thai EFL Learners

Student engagement is essential for L2 vocabulary learning in EFL contexts. Engaged students are more prone to focus, retain new words, and use them accurately. Engaged students are also motivated to learn vocabulary outside classes, which promotes vocabulary development and overall language improvement. This study explores EFL students’ perceptions of drawing games as a vocabulary learning tool through focus group interviews. The qualitative data offer deeper insights into how drawing games influence vocabulary knowledge and retention. Twenty participants were purposively selected through an intact class sampling method and divided into High-Performing (HP) and Low-Performing (LP) groups based on their vocabulary size. Each of the five focus groups included two HP and two LP students. The thematic analysis examined cognitive, behavioral, and affective engagement with inter-coder reliability and member checking to ensure the trustworthiness of the findings. The results revealed that students demonstrated all types of engagement, with cognitive engagement showing through planning, simplification, and guessing, while behavioral engagement emerged in discussions, collaboration, and play behaviors. Moreover, affective engagement was reflected in students’ enjoyment and confusion toward vocabulary learning. HP students reported assistance from their peers and strategic thinking, while LP students highlighted the fun and interactive nature of the games. Some students faced challenges in interpreting drawings, suggesting a need for scaffolding and guided discussions. Overall, the study provides qualitative evidence that drawing games enhance engagement, reinforcing their value as an interactive and effective EFL teaching tool.