A case study of college EFL learners’ mobile-assisted language learning with smart applications.

Abstract

This study explores college EFL learners’ usages of smart applications for mobile-assisted language learning (MALL). The current ‘smartphone fever’ increases explosively the number of users and applications for language learning. However, learners are not well-informed of the adequate applications. This study attempts to identify how college EFL learners use their smartphone applications for individual English learning. The research questions are 1) How did college EFL learners use their smatphones for language learning purposes? 2) How did they study English with smartphone applications for twelve weeks? 3) How did they perceive MALL as a medium for language learning after twelve weeks? The findings suggest that with the smartphone applications given by the researcher and the ones they searched by themselves, they conducted ubiquitous as well as autonomous learning with the high preference of applications for practicing receptive skills. Also, they built positive perceptions of MALL in general. This study concludes that smartphone applications enable college EFL learners to engage in successful autonomous language learning and learners routinize MALL with no significant changes in previous smartphone usage pattern. However, the participants did not seem to pursue in-depth learning through MALL.