A Review of Research on Mobile-Assisted Vocabulary Learning

Abstract

More academics are concentrating on the topic of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) on account of the advancement of mobile technology and the widespread use of mobile electronics in modern culture, and mobile-assisted vocabulary learning (MAVL) as a hot topic in MALL has attracted a large number of scholars. The study reviews some representative literatures during 2010-2023, including the impact of using mobile Short Message Service (SMS)/Multimedia Message Service (MMS) on Second Language (L2) word learning and the effectiveness of using mobile learning applications. Moreover, this study analyses the research methods used by previous researchers and summarises the results of the studies, finding that most of the experiments focused on vocabulary enhancement and retention, the effect on motivation, and learners perceptions and satisfaction. The results of many studies show that MAVL as a learning approach is better than the traditional vocabulary learning approach. Also, researches on MAVL has many pedagogical impacts on teaching of second and foreign languages in the future. However, researches have also shown that MAVL has some drawbacks that will hopefully be addressed in the future.