Abstract
The development of the Internet information technology and the popularization of mobile devices have brought about a new paradigm of learning, Mobile Learning, which is becoming increasingly common in the college English learning. In addition, as a multifunctional messaging and social media application attached to mobile devices, WeChat has enjoyed great popularity among college students and teachers and has been considered as a useful mobile English learning tool, because of its convenient method of operation and its unique features of sending and sharing texts, voices, pictures, videos, web links and so forth. However, the numerous potential distractions have also turned WeChat platform into a double-edged sword for college students when it comes to self-regulated learning. This study investigates the situation of college students’ mobile English learning based on WeChat from the perspective of meta-cognitive strategies, which include self-planning, self-monitoring and self-evaluating through questionnaire. Figuring out the current situation of the mobile college students’ English learning based on WeChat, this study finds that the college teachers’ and students’ knowledge of this new paradigm of learning and their awareness of how to apply it are still insufficient. Besides, the levels of students’ using meta-cognitive strategies are generally not high enough, and students’ gender and major also have an influence on the levels of the three meta-cognitive strategies.
Highlights
Over the past several decades, the development of the Internet information technology and the convenient accessibility to mobile devices, especially the popularization of smart phones, have brought about a new paradigm of learning -- Mobile Learning
Through the investigation of mobile English learning based on WeChat, this paper aims to find out how college students in China apply the meta-cognitive strategies in this learning process
Conclusions In accordance with the data collected from the questions designed to investigate how the metacognitive strategies used inside and outside the English classrooms in the colleges of China, the study results have shown that in classroom most college English teachers have already been aware of the significance of integrating mobile English learning based on WeChat into teaching, while most of the college students still lack the awareness of applying this new style of learning in their daily life
Summary
Over the past several decades, the development of the Internet information technology and the convenient accessibility to mobile devices, especially the popularization of smart phones, have brought about a new paradigm of learning -- Mobile Learning. It is becoming increasingly common in China’s college English teaching and learning. Launched by Tencent in January 2011 to provide instant messaging services for smart terminals, WeChat is a multifunctional messaging and social media application attached to mobile devices. As a new kind of instant social messaging application, WeChat has been developing in an incredible speed: the number of WeChat’s subscribers has increased year by year. Owing to its simplicity of operation and its unique features of sending and sharing texts, voices, pictures, videos, web links and so forth, WeChat has enjoyed great popularity among college students and teachers and has been considered as a useful mobile English learning tool
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