Smartphone Assisted Language Learning (SALL): An investigation into the possibility of the use of smartphones for English language teaching and learning from pedagogical and attitudinal perspectives

Abstract

The fusion of mobility, computing, and ubiquity has turned smartphones into a powerful and affordable educational technology and has made them the selected technology in almost all mobile assisted language learning (MALL) studies in the current decade. There are still, however, important gaps in the research field in terms of theory and theory use from both pedagogical and attitudinal perspectives which need to be addressed. To this end, a theoretical review and three empirical studies on the use of smartphones for language learning were carried out and questionnaires, interviews, and observations were used to collect the related data. Activity theory (AT), with its semiotic and technological layers, was introduced as a theory which is able to frame smartphone assisted language learning (SALL) and was used to discuss the pedagogy underpinning the use of smartphone-assisted tasks and activities in the language educational settings of the project. Expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT), the theory of interpersonal behaviour (TIB), and user acceptance models were used to generate the pre- and post-use models of the project from the most significant determinants of attitude and intention to use technology – perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived playfulness, affect towards use, relative advantage, and facilitating conditions. The models were used to examine teachers’ and students’ attitudes and as a result, their intention to use SALL. This led to an investigation into the formal use of smartphones in English as an additional language or dialect (EALD) classroom settings of the studies. Study 1 was semi-experimental and examined the possibility of implementation of SALL in an intervention at an Australian university English language centre through studying teachers’ and students’ pre- and post-use attitudes towards the use of the Evernote note-taking app by the students for creating and using electronic vocabulary notebooks on their smartphones. Four teachers and 138 students completed the pre-use questionnaire, and three teachers and 49 students completed the post-use questionnaire. Study 2 investigated worldwide EALD teachers’ (N = 85) current smartphone usage and their attitudes toward the use of the device for teaching English. It also looked at the possible impact on such attitudes of the differences in teachers’ age, gender, type of mobile phone, qualification, teaching experience, and previous SALL experiences. Study 3 examined the possibility of incorporating the use of Evernote and its features into students' vocabulary and pronunciation learning in a communicative language teaching (CLT) classroom environment in a four-session course which was designed and implemented by the researcher in the same university as study 1. Students’ (N = 3) and CELTA/Delta experts’ (N = 2) attitudes towards SALL and their perspectives on the course were researched. The results indicated that although computers and computer rooms/language labs are now available in most of the participants’ language schools and institutions, there are still restrictions on their accessibility. However, 100% smartphone ownership by the students who participated in the studies, and more than 98% smartphone ownership by the teachers, plus their current uses of the device for educational purposes, revealed that smartphones are now playing their role as a tool, a tutor, a stimulus, a means of communication, and a source of information in the students’ language learning journey, although mostly in an informal and non-instructed way or, if instructed, in a non-theory-supported way. Therefore, the use of smartphones is still limited to the use of dictionaries, search engines, video/audio recorders, YouTube, and a few well-known games. In addition, results showed teachers’ and students’ agreement with most of the constructs of the attitude models of the project, reflecting their positive attitudes and their intention to use smartphones for English language teaching and learning both before and after the intervention. Age, gender, English language proficiency, qualification, experience, and amount of smartphone use did not have significant impacts on attitude and intention to use smartphones for English language educational purposes, whilst voluntariness, mindset, freedom of choice of technology, type of activity, and smartphone disadvantages were found to have strong moderating impacts on such attitudes and intention and acted as a barrier to the actual formal use of smartphones when the use of smartphones went beyond the teachers’ and students’ current uses of the device. Results also showed that despite teachers’ and especially students’ familiarity and high amount of smartphone use, they still need to be provided with the necessary training and be supported with the use of smartphone apps and features for language teaching and learning. Finally, within the limitations of the study, the results confirmed the possibility of the use of the device for creating a communicative learner-centred classroom setting. However, teachers need to be supported by stakeholders, curriculum designers and material developers to make the necessary modifications in their current curricula and available coursebooks and materials. Overall, the current PhD project shed light on some of the problems which exist in relation to the application of theories as well as the actual use of smartphones for English language teaching and learning in EALD classroom settings, especially when the use of smartphones goes beyond the use of the apps and features that teachers and students are currently using and familiar with. The results provide language institution stakeholders with an insight into ways they can increase the possibility of SALL and support its implementation within their institutions. The results can also inform English language teachers, course designers, and material developers regarding SALL theories and suggest how, and to what extent, they can integrate students’ smartphone use into their lessons, courses, and materials.