Introduction

Studies show the important effects of learning motivation and enjoyment on school success (e.g. Geis-Thöne, 2020) and how integrating gamification into the classroom can strengthen motivation and willingness to perform (Dahl, 2021) because intrinsic motivation is self-determined through joy or interest in the respective activity (Brandstätter, 2018).

There are several types of integration of gamification and one is role-playing (Kroker, 2021). Role-play games can provide an environment in which students can imitate social situations that are characterized by interactions with other people (Löffler, 1979) by imitation of real and everyday social situations (Grießhaber, 1987). The use of role-playing in language teaching improves the flexibility and creativity of the students, due to the free improvisation in the preparation. Not only the interaction with the partner expands the language activity of the learners but also performing the piece in front of other students increases and strengthens self-confidence and consequently motivation and interest towards the course (Reich, 2008).

Motivation can be divided into two: extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is described as bringing about positive consequences and avoiding negative consequences. Extrinsic motivation can be external or self-determined (Brandstätter, Schüler, Puca, Lozo, 2018). As soon as the extrinsic factors are gone, the motivation is gone. Intrinsic motivation is the opposite of extrinsic motivation; however, it is also self-determined through joy and interest in things or activities. Humans have the desire to learn certain skills or feel content, but this is not influenced by rewards or punishments from the external environment (Fruhwirth, 2020). Learning is thus controlled consciously and purposefully by an internally controlled learning drive, such as curiosity (Krapp, 1999).

This study aims to show whether the use of role-playing games in language teaching has a positive impact on intrinsic learning motivation in German high schools. With this aim, the following research question will be examined:

-To what extent integration of role-playing games in language classes of German high schools affect the intrinsic learning motivation of students in grades 11 to 13?

To answer the research question Self-Determination Theory developed by Deci and Ryan (1993) will be integrated since its focus is on experiences, competence, autonomy, and social integration which were defined by Howes (1992)as issues that can be explored through gameplay.

 The theory deal with the connection between human motivation and learning by framing motivation with autonomous and controlled factors. Based on the theory, three innate psychological needs play an important role: the experience of competence, autonomy, and social integration (Deci & Ryan, 1993). A person's experience of competence is reflected in their need to use and expand their skills. The solvability of the challenge or the task must not be too easy or too difficult. However, it must be feasible for the parties involved. People can then test and expand their skills. There is also autonomy, which is a need that allows people to act in a self-determined manner. This means that he is not pushed into his actions by external influences (Schüler, 2020). Humans can decide for themselves which actions to initiate and which to maintain (Krombaß & Harms, 2006). The last basic need is social integration. This is primarily reflected in the quality of social ties to other people and not in the frequency of this. Thus, the existence of a trusting basis plays an important role in that people can show themselves as they are and are accepted and valued by others (Frühwirth, 2020).

Method This is a Quantitative Survey Research. Deci and Ryan (2003) also developed an English-language scale "Intrinsic Motivation Inventory" in the frame of their theory to examine motivation more closely in the respective context. In this study, the German version of this scale will be used to examine the research question. Therefore, the instrument will be a standardized validated 5-point Likert scale “die Kurzskala Intrinsischer Motivation” modified from “The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory” of Deci and Ryan (2003) by Krombass and Harms (2006) in German. The scale consists of three parts, the first of which contains the demographics of the respective participants. The second part deals with intrinsic motivation in language teaching in general. The third part focuses on the intrinsic motivation of role-playing in language teaching. Each of the last two parts has 4 categories with 3 items each. Participants rated each statement based on their agreement as 0 “strongly disagree”, 4 “strongly agree” Filling out was done through SoSciSuryey and took about 10 minutes. Data were obtained in Germany through snowball sampling since the participants have to meet certain criteria. This means that the test subjects who take part in this survey should be 18 years or older, are currently being taught at a high school in grades 11 to 13, and have experience with role-playing games in language classes. In addition, the participants must have a good knowledge of German. Participants who do not meet these criteria will be excluded from the study while analyzing data. The link to the scale was sent to individuals and the participants were asked to recruit other people from their circle of acquaintances by forwarding this link (Döring & Bortz, 2014). A pilot study was conducted to avoid comprehension problems in the questionnaire for the participants. An oral survey of 5 students in Jena took place. They had the task of reading through the newly designed items and, if necessary, asking questions about the content if there were problems understanding them. The content was formulated for all students, which is why no questions were asked. Ethical approval was obtained.

Results This study is still in the data collection step. The evaluation of the results of the Likert scale will be carried out with SPSS, a statistical and analysis software. First, the cases with too many missing values as well as participants who always gave the same answer options will be removed since there exist reverse items. Then indices will be created for the individual subscales “interest/enjoyment”, “perceived competencies”, “perceived freedom of choice” and “pressure/tension” from the two short scales of intrinsic motivation. These serve to combine several individual indicators, the items, into one characteristic, the subscale. The next step will be to check the internal consistency of the questionnaire using Cronbach's alpha. The demographic data will also be evaluated descriptively. Frequency tables will be created to get a more precise overview of the sample in terms of age, gender, and experience with role-playing games. To examine the influence of role-playing on intrinsic motivation in language teaching, a one-sample t-test will be used. It is expected to indicate parallel results to determine a significant effect of role-play games on learning motivation in the context of German high schools. Additionally, the study will provide insight to language teachers about the effects of role-play on the competence, autonomy, and social integration skills of students and help them to arrange their course curriculum based on the anticipated results. Limitations and Future Studies Due to snowball sampling the sample is not representative of a larger population because the first participants recruit people who have similar characteristics to them (Döring & Börtz, 2014). Since the survey took place online, there was no guarantee that subjects would take part in the study more than once (Hussy, Schreier & Echterhoff, 2013). Therefore, this study may need to be repeated in the future based on the results.

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