Attitude towards Mobile Learning in English Language Education

Cemil Yurdagül,Saba Öz

doi:10.3390/educsci8030142

Cemil Yurdagül, Saba Öz

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8030142

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Abstract

Mobile devices, especially smart phones, are the most frequently used technological devices for daily routines. Mobile devices can be used for various purposes to meet different needs. Since education is a core requirement for human beings, smart phones are being integrated into education. However, it remains to be seen whether they have an impact on learning or not. Consequently, integration of these technologies, or “mobile learning”, has become a popular research study in the field of instructional technology. It is important to investigate the impact of smart phones in language education since students today use them frequently. This attitudinal study aims to investigate the attitude of students in higher education towards smart phone use in the context of foreign language learning. In particular, it gathers information about how smart phones are used for language learning. Participants of the study were 294 prep school students from a well-known university in Turkey. Descriptive study was selected as a research method and mixed-method was the research design for the study. The findings of the study showed that participants care about instant and easy access to information in language learning. In addition to drawing attention to the ease of information access, participants provided suggestions about future applications of smartphones in language learning.

Highlights

Mobile devices, especially smartphones, are the most frequently used technological devices in daily routines
Quantitative data were obtained from a questionnaire called the mobile learning attitude scale (MLAS) [23] and qualitative data were obtained from taking written responses of students by providing a demographic information form
Quantitative data obtained from the mobile learning attitude scale were used to answer the first research question, which tries to discover whether there is a significant difference among the students’

Summary

Introduction

Especially smartphones, are the most frequently used technological devices in daily routines. They have been used for more than three decades since their invention. The first generation of mobile devices are mobile phones, invented in 1990s, through which people could only make a call and send short messages (SMS). As technology improved so fast, mobile phones took smaller and more intelligent forms started to be named smartphones. They did so because these mobile and functional devices are “ . Handheld telecommunication devices that combine miniaturized hardware of a personal computer and a mobile phone with relatively large touch screen” [3] They did so because these mobile and functional devices are “ . . . handheld telecommunication devices that combine miniaturized hardware of a personal computer and a mobile phone with relatively large touch screen” [3] (p. 427)

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