Instructional design of a gamified immersive information-contextual learning environment for foreign language teacher training in tourism

Introduction The increasing digitalisation of education and the demands of the tourism industry require more practice-oriented and technology-enhanced approaches in foreign language teacher education. This study proposes an integrated, gamified, immersive, information-contextual instructional model aimed at enhancing professional competence and learner engagement. Methods A quasi-experimental design was conducted with 145 pre-service teachers divided into control ( n = 72) and experimental ( n = 73) groups. The experimental group participated in a six-week scenario-based, gamified intervention with role rotation, while the control group received traditional instruction. Data were collected through pre- and post-tests, rubric-based assessment, and a motivation questionnaire, and analysed using t-tests and ANCOVA. Results The experimental group showed significant improvements in linguistic competence, communicative effectiveness, and interaction skills. The intervention also positively affected motivation, engagement, and confidence. No significant improvement was observed in problem-solving ability. Conclusion The findings demonstrate that integrating gamification, immersive learning, and contextual approaches within a coherent instructional design framework effectively enhances both cognitive and affective outcomes in foreign language teacher education for tourism.