Amarawadee Tappoon
Abstract
Mobile learning is a new type of learning that allows learners to access any knowledge, skills, and numerous learning resources independently. It has become a helpful tool for language learners to develop their language skills since there are many kinds of free applications which learners can download and use anywhere and anytime. However, the language learners might be unwilling to use mobile applications if there is poor network connectivity, and the applications are not user-friendly and varied. The purposes of this study were to examine the students’ selection of mobile applications in learning English and to compare the differences between high and low proficient English learners in their application usage and their progress after using the applications. The participants were 105 second-year Business Japanese students at Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology. They consisted of 48 high proficient English learners and 57 low proficient English learners. A 38-item self-report questionnaire was used to collect the data. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics and independent-samples T-Test were used. The results revealed that the mobile applications the students preferred to use in order to learn English were Google Translate, Dictionaries, and YouTube. They used the applications for translating words and sentences from English into Thai the most (M = 4.18). Moreover, there was a significant difference between two groups of the students in acquiring new vocabulary at .05 significant level (p = .035).
Keywords: EFL Learners, High and Low Learners, MALL, Mobile Applications, Students’ Perceptions
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