Chinese postgraduate EFL learners’ self-directed use of mobile English learning resources

Abstract

Despite the increasing ownership of mobile devices among Chinese postgraduate EFL learners, relevant studies regarding mobile English learning resources (MELR) use by postgraduate learners are still lacking. This study tries to understand the uses and the motivation behind language learners´ selection of MALL resources. In this research, 95 Chinese postgraduate students from four university levels took part in a questionnaire, and eight of them in an interview. The results show that “passing exams” was the top reason for using MELR and expanding one’s English vocabulary was the aspect learners aimed to improve. The portability of mobile devices enabled learners to use MELR during short time intervals¹, which suggests that MALL applications should target this behaviour. However, as a type of supplementary material, few students used MELR for more than one hour per day, and they were not regularly and actively involved in using MELR. Few learners were able to select suitable MELR to meet their current English learning needs, and they relied on recommendations from social media and authoritative education experts. Due to the importance of vocabulary, mobile dictionaries and vocabulary learning applications were the learners’ favourite type of MELR. As the participants suggested, enjoyment and interactivity were the two driving factors behind MELR selection and use. On the basis of Framework for the Rational Analysis of Mobile Education (FRAME, Koole, M. (2009). A model for framing mobile learning. In M. Ally (Ed.), Mobile learning: Transforming the delivery of education and training. Athabasca: Athabasca University Press, 25–47) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM [Davis, F. D., (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. Management Information Systems, 13, 319–339]; TAM 2 [Venkatesh, V., & Davis, F. D. (2000). A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: Four longitudinal field studies. Management Science, 46(2), 186–204]), a new theoretical model for better understanding the complex nature of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) and the importance of learners in the self-directed, non-formal English language learning setting is proposed in this study.

Keywords:

• MALL
• MELR
• English language learning
• Chinese postgraduate EFL learners
• learners’ self-directed use

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the anonymous journal reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments on this paper. Special thanks to Lindsay Duffy for her support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In this study, “short time intervals” is the opposite of “a long period”, usually referring to a small window of time in people’s daily lives (e.g., waiting for a bus and queueing).

2 “College English IV” is an online platform that offers many EFL learning resources.

3 College English Test – Band 4

4 College English Test – Band 6

5 ⁴Test for English Majors – Band 4

6 Test for English Majors – Band 8

7 This question is a multiple-choice question which invites participants to select more than one applicable option.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Danyang Zhang

Danyang Zhang is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include second language acquisition and technology-enhanced language learning. Danyang has published her work in Applied Linguistics and presented her project in many international conferences including BERA Annual Conference 2018, CALL 2019 and EUROCALL 2018, 2019. Danyang currently serves as a journal reviewer of Virtual Reality (SCI) and Interactive Learning Environments (SSCI). She is the winner of the BJET Best EdTech Paper Award and the doctoral scholarship recipient of GLoCALL 2019 and mLearn 2019.

Pascual Pérez-Paredes

Pascual Pérez-Paredes is a lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. His research interests include CALL, learner language variation, corpora in language education and corpus-assisted discourse analysis. He is currently an editorial board member of ReCALL and Register Studies. Pascual has published in international peer-reviewed journals such as ReCALL, CALL, Language, Learning & Technology, System, Journal of Pragmatics and English for Specific Purposes. For more information: http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/perez-paredes/.