Abstract
Digital games have become an integral part of adolescents’ daily lives, offering engaging and self-directed opportunities for English vocabulary development beyond the classroom. This study examined how voluntary engagement with commercial digital games, primarily played outside formal instruction, affects English vocabulary skills among Thai upper secondary students. Specifically, it investigated the relationships between the cognitive, behavioral, motivational, and social dimensions of digital game engagement and students’ vocabulary skills in semantic knowledge, morphological awareness, use of context clues, and idiomatic expressions. A predictive–correlational research design was employed, with 150 Thai upper secondary students selected through criterion-based purposive sampling. Data were collected using a Digital Game Engagement Questionnaire and an English Vocabulary Skills Test. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize students’ levels of digital game engagement and English vocabulary proficiency. Pearson’s product–moment correlation analysis examined the relationships between engagement dimensions and vocabulary skills, while multiple linear regression analysis determined which engagement dimensions significantly predicted vocabulary outcomes. The findings revealed that students exhibited high cognitive and motivational engagement, moderate behavioral and social engagement, and advanced overall English vocabulary proficiency. Correlation analyses indicated significant positive relationships between cognitive and social engagement and vocabulary skills. Regression results further showed that cognitive engagement emerged as the sole significant predictor of vocabulary outcomes, highlighting the importance of deep mental involvement during gameplay for enhancing language learning. These results underscore the potential of integrating students’ gaming experiences into English language instruction. Educators can leverage students’ engagement in digital games to reinforce vocabulary acquisition, while game developers are encouraged to design games that balance entertainment with meaningful language-learning opportunities. Overall, the study highlights that cognitive involvement and social interaction during voluntary digital gameplay play a crucial role in fostering English vocabulary development among upper secondary students.
