移动手机的使用对英语语言学习的影响：泰国玛希隆大学国际学院国际项目本科生问卷调查研究

吴为为

摘 要 本研究通過分析泰国玛希隆大学国际学院国际项目本科生的调查问卷，阐述了移动手机的使用对英语语言学习的影响。研究目标：一、调查国际项目本科学生如何通过移动手机辅助英语语言学习；二、国际项目本科学生对移动手机使用和英语语言学习之间的关系持有怎样的态度。本研究搜集了2015学年玛希隆大学国际项目100位本科学生的调查问卷；其中男生19名，女生81名；94位泰国籍，3位中国籍，1位韩国籍和2位美国籍。

调查结果显示，移动手机的使用能够在很多方面辅助英语语言学习，例如教学资源，巩固练习，还有学习动机等方面。同时，也存在一些负面影响。因此需要根据实际教学情况衡量移动手机的使用是否真正对英语语言学习有益，进而来决定是否在英语语言学习方面应该普及移动手机的使用。

关键字：移动手机/英语语言学习/国际项目本科生/泰国玛希隆大学

· 【中图分类号】H319

Abstract This study was to explore the effect of use of mobile phones in English language learning： A Survey among Undergraduate Students in International Program of Mahidol University International College （MUIC）. The objectives are： 1） to explore how international program undergraduate students use their mobile phones in English language learning （ELL）； 2） to investigate their opinions towards the use of mobile phones in ELL. This survey distributed questionnaires to 100 undergraduate students， 81 Female and 19 Male， 94 Thai， 3 Chinese， 1 Korean and 2 Americans from MUIC in 2015 academic year. The result found that the use of mobile phones can support English language learning in different ways such as resources， practices and interactions. In the meantime， there also exist some challenges. Therefore， it depends on different personal situations to decide whether mobile phones should be used popularly in ELL and measure whether the use of mobile phones in ELL is truly beneficial.

KEYWORDS： Mobile Phones/English Language Learning/Undergraduate Students/Mahidol University International College

Introduction

Mobile phones play important role in the young generations life. Students have grown up in a world of pervasive digital technology， relying on mobile phones to build extensive social communication networks （Reid， 2005）. This can be seen in the study of Lenhart （2010）， a survey about the use of mobile phones among 800 American young learners between ages 12 and 17. The result revealed that half of them had been sending an average of 100 messages daily. A similar study conducted by Smith （2011） on 2，277 American students by the Pew Research Center and found that the 18-24 year-old sent or received an average of 109.5 text messages per day， more than 3，200 text messages per month through mobile phones. The students reported the use of mobile phones maintained and improved their relationship with friends. Thus， for them， the mobile phone is not only an instrument to convey information， but also maintain their interactions with one another.endprint

Apart from their primary role in communication， mobile phones have also increased the roles in English Language Learning （ELL） because they can provide a combination of multimedia capacity， flexibility， portability and connectivity for the English as a Foreign Language （EFL） learner （Liu， 2012）. As for multimedia capacity， based on mobile phones multiple functions， besides the Electronic-books， they can also supply audio and video materials to support the ELL. As for flexibility， the use of mobile phones makes ELL more flexible， students can get access to English learning anytime and anywhere they want， rather than being limited to inside classroom and school time （Chen Hsieh & Kinshuk， 2008）. Regarding the portability， mobile phones are portable. People can carry them along anywhere and anytime， which enables the ELL to happen anywhere and anytime as well （Kukulska， 2008）. As for connectivity， the use of mobile phones connects users together， students， teachers and peers can exchange information with one another. The use of mobile phones has transformed the traditional way of interconnections and communications. They can provide multiple accesses， linguistic resources， and context affordances to learners with unlimited time and space （Hoven & Palalas， 2011）.

The beneficial aspects of the mobile phones to support ELL as stated above， allow students to make use of their basic appliances to increase their ELL experience. The ability to make use of information technology in learning English is also congruent with the significant skills for 21st century learning， the skills to use language for communication and to use information technology to learn （Partnership 21， 2009）. Using mobile phones to learn English can therefore be consonant with the requirement of 21st century learning.

Due to the requirement of 21st century skills and the efficiency of mobile phones in education， current research has begun to focus on the use of mobile phones in English language teaching and learning. Nevertheless， several studies have presented possible drawbacks of use of mobile phones in ELL. For example， mobile phones can offer too many entertainments causing a serious problematic waste of time to students. The degradation in language use as a result of the informal text habits， which generally occurs in mobile phone texting， can be transferred into the formal writing and impede their justification towards what can be called an effective writing（Zhang， 2013）. Tse （2012） did a survey by distributing questionnaires to English teachers and students at the University Malaysia Pahang. Questions concerned the use of mobile phones： text/talk preferences， English language usage and the impacts on association skills. The participants reported that the use of mobile phones didnt help them to enhance their English skills but a negative effect on grammar and vocabulary spelling as a result of informal text habit in SMS. The finding of the study also revealed that the teachers in the research agreed that its difficult to keep both interest and accuracy through the use of mobile technology in ELL.endprint

The advantages of using mobile phones in ELL

In recent years， the technical advancements of mobile phones have garnered educators attention for the unique affordances they can offer in education setting. They provide a combination of 4 characters as multimedia capability， flexibility， portability， and connectivity with online resources （Hwang & Chen， 2012）. Due to the benefits of 4 distinguished characters of mobile phone， they are used to support English language learning both in and outside the classroom.

First of all， mobile phones supply resources for ELL as a result of their multiple media capacity function. The use of mobile phones supplies oral and visual resources and contribute to improve English comprehensive proficiency of EFL learners （Liu， Navarrete， & Wivagg， 2013）. They can be used to download required e-books， audio or video materials related to teaching topics， to use the on line dictionaries for looking through word meaning， to capture class notes by the means of mobile camera， to develop reading and speaking skill through the recorded short stories， and to practice pronunciation by recording audio materials （Begum， 2011）.

Moreover， in EFL classroom， students can use mobile phones to record samples of the target language by photographing and recording. They take pictures of English text by using the camera feature on their mobile phones. They can also collect language samples from TV or radio and make the voice memo， then make a language data base， upload the pictures or audios and share with classmates while practicing the language in groups （Zhang， 2013）.

Besides the traditional textual practice， students can use words match games as the means of spelling practice， use sound effects as stimulus for writing， learn key vocabularies or sentences through enjoyable songs or videos. They can also use mobile games to develop problem solving and critical thinking skill， rather than being limited inner textbooks only （Thornton and Houser， 2004）. Wu （2015） designed a mobile phone application to help college students to learn English （L2） vocabulary. The app contained 3，402 English words that were compiled into an alphabetic word-list with each word displayed on three features； namely： spelling， pronunciation and Chinese definitions. To test the effectiveness of the use of mobile phone app， an experimental group （with mobile phone app） was compared with a control group （without mobile phone app） and knowledge of words was tested before and after the research. The study revealed that the students using the mobile phone app significantly outperformed those in the control group in vocabulary acquisition.endprint

The issues of using wrong grammar in texting are concerned by many language instructors. There is a research focusing on how to improve writing skill in mobile use. Okoth P.A. （2014） studied the influence of mobile phones technology on learners grammar which aims to indicate the learners interaction with mobile phones in writing， identify features of the gadget that may enhance learners grammar and examine teachers perception on learners use of mobile phones in English language teaching and learning. The finding shows that learners use mobile phones in so wide range of purposes focusing on language learning that they can learn new vocabularies and the use of language. Teachers expressed that use of mobile phones can improve learners performance in grammar.

In addition， mobile phones not only support ELL in class， but also outside the classroom. The use of mobile phones makes English language teaching and learning more flexible in anytime and anywhere needed， breaking through the restrains of traditional time-space learning. After English class， students can use mobile phones to practice， discuss or hand in their assignment at home， in the coffee shop， library， even supermarket and anywhere they want. EFL learners can use their mobile phones to call， to send text or voice messages to communicate with classmates and teachers， and get individual feedback in time. Whats more， they can also use snapping pictures through cell phone camera for assignment， field trips and reports （Cui and Wang， 2008）.

Fazeena J.F. et al. （2012） administered a survey research of mobile learning focusing on how to enhance language learning among University of Colombo School of Computing students. Their study aimed to find out the suitability of mobile learning to enhance English language proficiency. The study depicted the positive attitudes toward mobile language learning （MLL）. There were further suggestions on implication of MLL which should include game based learning to help improve four aspects of language learning， voice recording function promoting oral skill and SMS based learning for writing potential regarding outmoded mobile features.

The challenges of using mobile phones in ELL

As above， use of mobile phones works well in ELL， but a coin has two sides， like applying any other new technological teaching tools， using mobile phones in EFL classes is associated with a series of challenges and problems.

Zhang （2008） advocated that mobile phones are the widespread， but it still cannot guarantee that all students in all classes will have access to mobile phone technology. Whats more， mobile phones are privately-owned and with much privacy involved， so when they are used as a common teaching and learning tool in class， it may cause some problems. Some students may be reluctant to share private information with others， some may refuse to share the phones in group activities， and some may use mobile phones to violate others privacy by taking photos， making video recordings， or even spread some private information through internet. Therefore， it is very important to consider issues of privacy before using mobile phones in class.endprint

There are some other drawbacks of the use mobile phones in ELL， Chinnery G. （2006） reported that mobile-assistant language learning had some challenges such as screen size， limited audiovisual quality， virtual keyboard with fingers data entry and limited power. From all lists of obstacles using MLL， teachers need concern to design appropriate learning activities accordingly the suitability of mobile use.

Significance of the study

For ELL， university level EFL learners require a lot of contents and references， especially the international program students who use English as their media language in daily life and learning. And the undergraduate students are allowed to have their own mobile phones with them in school. As found in several current study that mobile phones can be effective tool but also have some drawbacks in education. Therefore， this study explored the full potential of how international program undergraduate students employ their mobile phones to support their ELL. This study also investigated their opinions towards the use of mobile phones in ELL.

This study will be an endeavor in promoting mobile technology in English language learning. It is beneficial to EFL students， showing them the possibility of how to make use of their mobile phones in ELL. Its also beneficial to English language teachers to see how their students can make use of mobile phones in their ELL and might inspire the teachers to create teaching activities using the students reported corresponding information. In other words， reports of students use of mobile phones in ELL can allow the teachers to find possible ways to make use of mobile phones in the educational settings. Moreover， the research results can provide recommendations on how to create a forum of students autonomous learning using the technology to acquire learning contents in accordance to 21 century skills. It can also serve as a future reference for researchers on the related subjects.

As in Figure 1， this study investigated how the students use mobile phones in ELL and also explored their opinions towards doing that. To investigate into the use of mobile phones in ELL， the study inquired the students in 3 aspects： resources， practices and interactions. For the aspect of resources， the study explored how much the students make use of their mobile phones in consulting the dictionary and other possible search engine applications such as Google， internet websites， web pages and blogs. For the aspect of practices， the study explored how much the students use applications in mobile phones to increase their English language contents such as vocabulary， idioms， expressions， and grammar and to improve their English language skills， listening， speaking， reading， and writing. For the aspect of interactions， the study explored how much the students make use of mobile phones to interact to others in English to maintain their social relationship， to discuss， to give and get feedback and share information with others in English. The current study also explored the students opinions towards the use of mobile phones in ELL. The positive opinions reflected how they see the benefits of use of mobile phones in ELL， whereas the negative opinions reflected the challenges they found in using mobile phones in ELL.endprint

The 100 participants are generally homogeneous in English learning experience as shown in the Figure 2. Fifty percent of them have been learning English language for 10 to 15 years and come from different international programs of MUIC， Business Administration mainly for 68 percent， and Science for 23 percent. English is their main language in daily learning.

Research question1： How do the international program undergraduate students use their mobile phones in ELL？

The objective of this question is to find out the participants different prior experiences of using mobile phones in ELL， and the questionnaire items were in 5 Likert scales in frequency to measure the frequency of use of mobile phones in the students different activities， ranging from never to always. As can be seen， the Figure 4 indicates that the vast majority， about seventy eight percent of the students had used their mobile phones for ELL purposes in fourteen activities， such as dictionaries， learning material search engines， reading online books and note-taking. Only twenty two percent of the participants rarely use their mobile phones in ELL. Ninety nine percent of the participants use their mobile phones to interact with peers and teachers in English. When they were asked about English assignment handing in through mobile phones， most of their answers were negative， they thought its inconvenient to input because of the screen size. As for learning and practicing English expression， 88 percent of participants reported that they didnt use mobile phones to learn or practice expression directly， but it would be a byproduct of using mobile phones to communicate with peers or teachers in English. And it was more interesting and efficiency in their opinion.

As seen in Figure 4， 14 activities are most popular used， such as reading English books online， sharing information related to English language learning， note-taking in English class and so on. Especially English songs and videos are most welcomed by participants among all activities list above. They would like to practice English listening and pronunciation through enjoyable entertainments. To use mobile phone to look up English dictionary is also very convenient for them， they expressed that its portable and free， more important was mobile phones dictionary online supplied more exact examples to help them know how to use it in reality life. Moreover， students also employ mobile phone applications to interact with peers and teachers through text/voice messages to get feedback and assessment. Some participants reported that they use their mobile phones to capture video or audio records in English class as materials to review in the future learning or to prepare exams. They expressed it saved a lot of time and energy than the traditional written note-taking. Some of them talked with ‘SIRI， an audio assistant system， to practice and test their speaking and pronunciations.endprint

Research question 2： What are the opinions of the international program undergraduate students towards the use their mobile phones in ELL？

Respondents were asked to indicate their scale of agreements or disagreements around whether the use of mobile phones will support their ELL and improve 4 skills to measure their opinions towards the use of mobile phone in ELL. Five-point Likert scale was used to measure the scale of agreement and disagreement as follows：

As shown in Figure 5， 64.4 percent of the respondents agreed that mobile phone has assisted their overall ELL process， compared to 31.4 percent of them gave a neutral response and 4.2% disagreed that the use of mobile phones will support their ELL or improve their responding English skills. Most of approvers believe that Mobile phones are the most convenient tool to learn English and the use of mobile phones makes ELL easy and fun. Eighty percent of participants claimed they can learn and practice proper expression through interacting with peers and teachers by mobile phones， rather than being limited in contents of textbooks. Online materials were more interesting and supplied with audio or video attachments. Sixty five percent of them agreed the use of mobile phones enhanced their motivation and confidence to use English language in practical communication. They added that English was not so popular used out of school in Thailand， they felt shy and didnt have confidence to communicate in English sometimes. But they could practice more with classmates， teachers or other English native speakers through some applications of mobile phones. Compared with traditional teacher-centered teaching and learning in classroom， they preferred to learn and practice directly through online English materials or indirectly through multimedia entertainments to improve their English skills. It made English language learning more interesting， personalized， and they could learn English anytime out of class.

As for disadvantages and challenges of using mobile phones in ELL， some participants expressed they didnt use mobile phones in English class， otherwise couldnt focus on teachers teaching， because couldnt help doing other activities not related to English language learning. As a result， they might not catch up or be failed in English course. They also didnt like others use mobile phones to interrupt them in class. Four female participants reported that they felt nervous being video or audio recorded by classmates mobile phones while taking part in activities in English class. They thought it was impolite or even illegal to post others photo or video onto website without their permission. In English language learning aspect， some participants claimed that， slang or other informal used of English in mobile phones would mislead them to be confused to use vocabularies accurately， especially in grammar and spelling. In students economic aspect， some objectors said the popular use of mobile phones led to students craze to vie with each other， and then spent too much money buying latest mobile phones. Whats more， the small size of screen was not good for the health of eyes. Some participants reflected few of teachers allowed them to use mobile phone in English class.endprint

Recommendation for future research

The purposes of this study were to explore how international programs undergraduate students use their mobile phones in ELL， and their opinions towards the use of mobile phones in ELL at Mahidol University International College. The findings were discussed in the advantages and challenges of using mobile phones in ELL and their pinion towards the use of mobile phones in ELL based on the two research questions. According to the results discussed in this study， some suggestions are proposed for further study. First， use of mobile phones can support English language learning in different ways such as resources， practices and interactions. In the meantime， there also exist some challenges. It depends on different reality situations to decide whether popularize to use mobile phones in English language teaching and learning. Second， although this research was carefully prepared and reached its destinations， there are still some shortcomings and limitations， the sample is small and purposively chosen， only 100 international undergraduate students at MUIC， and the time is also limited. It would be better to select participants randomly and give them more time to fill in the questionnaire in the future research.endprint