An Empirical Study on Improving Speaking Skills of Students in Vocational Colleges Under MALL Environments

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore the impact of mobile technology on speaking skills of students in vocational colleges when mobile learning was implemented in English teaching and learning. Two classes participated in the experiment, one of which as EG used mobile technology, while the other as CG did not. Both classes improved speaking skills after the experiment, but EG significantly outperformed CG, especially in their pronunciation and fluency. Furthermore, most students held positive perceptions of mobile learning. These results suggest that mobile technology can greatly improve students’ speaking skills as students are encouraged and motivated to practice English speaking more frequently, make interactive connection with people around in a MALL environment.