Allow Mobile Phones in the Classroom to Enhance Students’ Confidence and Communication Skill Ho Minh Thang, MA Abstract In order to enhance EFL learning, the development of updated technological suppo[.]
Allow Mobile Phones in the Classroom to Enhance Students’ Confidence and Communication Skill Ho Minh Thang, MA Abstract In order to enhance EFL learning, the development of updated technological support has been a critical issue over the past decade With a booming mobile market in Vietnam, mobile and other portable devices are beginning to influence language teaching and learning Besides, enhancing students’ confidence in using English to communicate with others has become one of the main objectives in English teaching and learning at universities over the last few years As a suggestion, this study has explored the effectiveness of using mobile phones as video recorders to help students gain more confidence and improve their communication skills The study involved designing communicative tasks which required students to use their cell phones to create some short clips in which they had to speak English During the process, an observation sheet was applied to get students’ responses so that teachers could provide instant support Following was a questionnaire to get students’ feedback about the effectiveness of these activities Finally, interviews with students were conducted to find out their attitude towards the use of mobile phones as a tool for learning, especially for language learning The results showed that using mobile phones for language learning seemed to create an inspiring learning environment for the students in which they tended to be more confident to express their opinions Even though there were some issues related to technical problems or Internet access, student participants showed their great interest in the activities as well as improved their communicative skills Keywords: Mobile phones, video clips, recordings, confidence, communication skill Introduction: In a developing country like Vietnam, learning English is very important because it is the only medium that helps to make access to the modern developed world possible So, to enhance EFL learning effectiveness, the development of updated technological support has been a critical issue over the past decade Among various technological advances, with a booming mobile market in my country, the use of mobile and other portable devices is now beginning to have an influence on language teaching and learning Most students in both urban and rural areas are regular users of mobile phones and are accustomed to mobile devices Accordingly, it will be plausible to use mobile phones as a tool for learning, especially for language learning However, mobile phones have not been widely used in Vietnamese educational settings as many teachers believe students’ using mobile phones in class may cause irritation, delinquency and even crime The fact is that many tertiary EFL teachers are calling out to ban mobile technologies in the classroom However, from our teaching experience and observations, Vietnamese EFL learners have been really keen on the application of mobile phones for learning purposes Unfortunately, the support of such a device in Vietnamese EFL classrooms seems to be restricted if not banned For that reason, I would like to conduct a further study to explore the benefits of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) to promote Vietnamese EFL learners’ learning In this study, mobile phones are used as video recorders to help students gain more confidence in performing their communicative skills as well as improve them This study aims at investigating learners’ attitudes towards the use of mobile phones for learning purposes in the classroom and examining the effectiveness of using mobile phones as video recorders in students’ confidence and communication skills Research questions: - What are Vietnamese learners’ attitudes towards the use of mobile phones for learning purposes in the classroom? - What is the effectiveness of using mobile phones as a video recorder in helping students become more confident and improve communicative skills? Method 2.1 Literature review: 2.1.1 What is Mobile Assisted Language Learning? Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) is described as an approach to language learning that is enhanced through the use of a mobile device MALL is a subarea of both Mobile Learning (m-learning) and Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) MALL is involved with the use of mobile technologies, such as mobiles phones, MP3 /MP4 players, PDAs and palmtop computers, to support students’ language learning Kukulska-Hulme (2006) supposed that students were able to access language learning materials and to communicate with their teachers and peers, at any time, anywhere with MALL This approach currently encourages the utilization and retention of newly acquired language skills as well as a primary source of language education for EFL students to acquire one or more new languages According to Klopfer et al (2002), mobile devices have five properties, including portability, social interactivity, context sensibility, connectivity and individuality, all of which can produce educational benefits 2.1.2 Applications of cell phones in the EFL classroom Even though the number of mobile subscribers in the world has been increasing every day, it is a little bit neglected in the pedagogical sector As a matter of fact, cell phones are so advanced and smart that they actually perform almost the same functions and features as personal computers (Cui and Wang, 2008) and like all communication and computing devices, cell phones can be used to learn (Prensky, 2004) As a result, the support of cell phones in language learning activities is also internationally developed More and more educationists now realize the instructional potential of cell phones in EFL classrooms due to the great development of their functions and features Nevertheless, the problem is that they don’t know how to implement classroom activities by using cell phone devices for language teaching Roksana Begum (2011) suggested some possible strategies use the cell phone in the EFL classroom are presented for the teachers and students - Downloading required e-books, software and dictionaries from mobile Internet for reading practice - Using the online dictionaries for looking through word meaning - Using translation dictionaries for the definition of a word - Capturing class notes by means of mobile camera - Developing reading and speaking skills through the recorded short stories - Practising pronunciation by recording audio materials - Receiving text messages from teachers with class content - Sending SMS in short and crispy sentences for grammar practice and the teacher can later correction by SMS reply Students can get feedback from teachers via SMS Homework and some tests can also be delivered in this way - Snapping pictures through cell phone camera for assignment, field trips and reports - Doing research through the use of text message and Internet browser - Recording student’s speech in cell phone voice recorder options and later use it for speaking and pronunciation tests (Thornton and Houser, 2005) - Listening to enjoyable songs on mobile iPod for learning key language or grammar - Using sound effects as a stimulus for writing - Voice threading; people can use their cell phones to call and record their voices to communicate with others or post their comments to their Voice Thread page (Cui and Wang, 2008) - Using mobile games to develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills - Using word match games as a means of spelling practice 2.1.3 Attitudes toward the application of mobile phones in education Some recent research shedding light on mobile phone use in language learning shows that more and more attention has been paid to mobile phones and their use in the classroom While Kiernan and Aizawa (2004) evaluated the use of mobile phones as tools for classroom learning, Thoronton and Houser (2005) stated that students highly-rated mobile phones’ educational effectiveness in the classroom However, there has also been an opposite view of mobile phone use in education, which calls for the restriction of mobile phones 2.1.3.1 Advocates of mobile phones in education It is believed that mobile phones may offer a motivating tool for language learning because they are widely used throughout the world and are more common among students for communication with each other According to Mcneal and Hooft (2006), “using real world resources for teaching and learning in the classroom can make education more meaningful and relevant to our students” Researchers see that mobile learning can offer some assets (Attewell, 2004) These are collaborative learning activities that use camera phones or multimedia messaging to add visual and audio material to a web-based multimedia map or picture In 2011, Al Aamri and Kamla Suleiman discussed the attitudes about the use of mobile phones in the language classroom and insisted on their benefits: “Mobile phones have positively contributed to the field of learning in many different ways First, mobile learning helps learners to improve their literacy and numeracy skills and to recognize their existing abilities Second, it can be used to encourage both independent and collaborative learning experiences Also, it helps learners to identify areas where they need assistance and support Moreover, it helps to remove some of the formality from the learning experience and engages reluctant learners Besides, it helps learners to remain more focused for longer periods.” Providing learners with a large number of practical applications in language learning, mobile phones have certainly been supported by many researchers despite the fact that there are some others holding their negative views on mobile phones’ use 2.1.3.2 Opposers of Mobile Phones in Education In spite of the increasing popularity of mobile phones around the world, they have not been used widely in educational settings as some people feel reluctant (Mcneal and Hooft, 2006) A lot of studies have outlined and described the disadvantages of using mobile phones in education Some opposers of mobile phones in education are always against the existence of mobile technologies in schools since they may hinder teachers and learners from real communication, distract them from concentration or reduce the level of learners’ independence in their studying Also, “using mobiles in the classroom would end up causing more distractions” and they just “interrupt teaching” (cited in Katz p.94) Thus, after a perusal of the literature, it seems that many of these studies have tended to pay attention to using mobile devices, particularly mobile phones, in language learning However, until very recently, students’ attitudes towards mobile phones in language learning and the challenges they face have been less researched 2.2 Research methodology 2.2.1 Participants: The study involved the participation of 60 students majoring in different subjects at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) No University Number UEH 30 UEH 30 Major Auditing Business English Module General Business English Speaking Year 1 2.2.2 Instruments: - Activity worksheets: In each lesson, the teacher conducted some communicative activities for his/ her students to take part in with worksheets designed to support their performance - Observation worksheet: In the lesson, the teacher used the observation worksheet to note down the responses as well as a performance of the students when they made their video clips - Questionnaire: A questionnaire including 12 questions was designed to find out the students’ responses to the use of mobile phones making clips in their language learning and assess the effectiveness of the suggested application of video recordings with mobile phones in order to help the students gain confidence and improve communicative skills 2.2.3 Data collection: The study was conducted in 10 weeks At first, the students were asked to spend 30 minutes left of each lesson conducting a communicative task in pairs, groups or individually In the activity, they had to use their mobile phones to make a short clip recording their oral performance of the task given During the above period, the students were observed so that they would be immediately supported or thoroughly guided so as to produce their best performance of the task The teacher used the observation worksheet to record all the students’ feedback and the challenges that they had to address At the end of the module, the students were supposed to answer a questionnaire to show their opinions about the activities given in the study, including using mobile phones to record a video of their communicative performance Findings and Discussion: 3.1 What are Vietnamese learners’ attitudes towards the use of mobile phones for learning purposes in the classroom? 3.1.1 Students’ use of mobile phones for English Language Learning: Most of the students surveyed showed that they used mobile phones very often (at least times per day) in their daily life Apart from two main functions as calling and texting, which account for 100 percent, the majority of students used their cellphones for relaxing (93%) while the number of students studying with their mobile phones made up 65 percent In addition, regarding the use of cell phones for ELL, there were a lot of students who regularly used their phones to study in different ways, such as looking up words on dictionary (78%), searching information by surfing websites (95%), using studying applications (51%) In contrast, the number of students using mobile phones to record or video-record was much smaller (about 42% and 28% respectively) 3.1.2 Students’ feelings about mobile phones in ELL A large proportion of students in the survey agreed that using cell phones in ELL was really convenient for them (98%) because mobile phones were portable and could perform more and more modern functions Following was the group of students who thought that it was an initiative to apply mobile phones in language learning (87%) In contrast, the percentage of students who objected to using mobile phones in ELL due to a variety of reasons as it takes them a lot of time, it costs them money or it may cause some health problems was considerable (68%) 3.1.3 Students’ attitude towards the use of mobile phones in ELL In the survey, there were 36 students who agreed and strongly agreed that mobile phones had assisted their language learning Whereas 14 students showed their disagreement and 10 students had a neutral attitude Besides, the number of students agreeing that the use of the mobile phone in learning made them more productive accounted for 65%, while there were nearly 30% of those who did not think that they could be more productive with the use of the mobile phone in ELL When being asked if their motivation was enhanced by the use of mobile phones inside and outside the classroom, the majority of students agreed and strongly agreed (76%), followed by 16% and 8% of those who were neutral and disagreed, respectively Then, 69% of the students surveyed confirmed that the use of mobile phones enhanced their learning process Those who disagreed made up 20% and 11% of those who had neutral ideas about this In general, the percentage of students who believed in the positive effects of using mobile phones in learning English was high (81%) compared to 11% and 8% of students who did not believe in that 3.2 What is the effectiveness of using mobile phones as a video recorder in helping students become more confident and improve communicative skills? Answering the questions about their feelings with the video recording activity, 67 percent of the students agreed that it was interesting, 62 percent said it was motivating and 75 percent thought it was useful for their language learning Those who disagreed that the video recording activity was interesting, motivating and useful accounted for 12 percent, 15 percent and percent, respectively In terms of pronunciation improvement, a large proportion of the students concurred that video recording activity helped improve their pronunciation (84%) There was only 10 percent of the students said that their pronunciation was not improved even though they conducted the activity very often Regarding speaking skills, 62 percent of the students confirmed that they could make some certain improvement, while there was about 23 percent of those who stated that they did not improve their skill at all More importantly, all of the students participating in the survey insisted that they gain more confidence in their communicative skills (86% agreed and 24% strongly agreed) Most of them felt comfortable speaking their ideas and then became more confident when being asked to communicate with others in English 3.3 Students’ suggestions The responses of the participants in the survey brought some suggestions related to the use of mobile phones in ELL Many of the students are currently using their phones to study because they can get access to a wide range of applications available on the Internet These applications are not only friendly to users but also inexpensive However, the students stated that they were able to study with these applications at home because they were not allowed or encouraged to use mobile phones in classes In addition, the students said that they would like to apply some other features like the camera or programs such as Zalo, VOA learning English, Karaoke of their mobile phones in their learning On the other hand, the students might encounter some problems using their phones in learning at school Firstly, the issue of running out of battery always prevented them from learning with their phones, especially when they had all days at school Secondly, the studying environment often distracted their recording activities with noise Finally, some problems related to their language competence, such as the lack of vocabulary, the fear of making mistakes or their shyness, were also considered as the major causes of being unwilling to use mobile phones in language learning in the classroom Conclusion, Implications and Recommendations for future research 4.1 Implications and Recommendations The results of the study clearly indicate that there were motivational effects of using mobile phones in language learning in the classroom The students had opportunities to practice themselves to develop their speaking skill and their pronunciation Moreover, with the videos recorded from the classroom activities, the students could identify the mistakes themselves by watching them again and again, as well as look back at the process of their improvement and see their own differences before and after a period of time practicing the language After hearing comments from the teacher, they could see their “products” of their efforts again, which obviously contributed to the enhancement of their language competence By doing this, they could deeply understand the language and use it more correctly; therefore, more selfconfidence, more accuracy and more fluency could be built The results have led to complete answers to the questions of the study Furthermore, the study also reveals the potential of more research on creating a typical classroom in which students are exposed to a variety of modern electronic devices, for example, laptops, tablets, etc and making a distinctive atmosphere of language learning in order to raise students’ motivation, attention, as well as creativity in finding a new way of learning the language The limitation of the study lies in increasing students’ motivation and confidence only without measuring the real results of their study to make sure they have influenced their language learning With considerable points mentioned above, some suggested solutions should be conducted so as to maximize the benefits that mobile phones can offer students in their language learning One of the most important changes that should be done is people’s views about and beliefs in the use of mobile phones in classrooms as distractions and disruptions Students should be allowed and encouraged to use their favorite technologies so that they can improve their own learning To make it more effective, teachers ought to know how to integrate applications of mobiles into suitable learning tasks or activities that are specifically designed for mobileassisted language learning In terms of battery charge, teachers should clearly inform students of the duration of in-class activities so that students can charge their mobiles prior to attending the class Most importantly, to integrate mobiles into educational institutions, there must be a well-planned and updated policy that is useful for both teachers and students to avoid problems arisen unexpectedly In addition, the leadership of schools should allocate financial resources to promote the integration of cell phones into language learning As a result, MALL should be quickly included in the school curriculum and syllabuses 4.2 Conclusion During the study, sixty students from two universities were put into the research without any awareness of that They conducted communicative activities and found themselves much better than they had been before The study concluded that using mobile phones can bring some benefits to students in their language learning It is obvious that using mobile phones in the classroom cannot be considered a bad behavior that needs prohibiting Moreover, in recent years, together with the development of human civilization, a lot of inventions have been created to make our life much easier in which mobile devices such as mobile phones are widely used Therefore, keeping them away from learning in the classroom is not a good idea; instead, finding a way to take advantage of their functions can be much more advisable, especially in order for students to keep up with modern life as well as develop their competence at the same time In this way, learning a language will not be just a struggling task for students to complete at school, but a period of time for them to enjoy the advance of society In general, to meet the needs of the new age, MALL and technological advances have to be encouraged and provided with great support from school leadership, teachers and parents Considering a large number of mobile phone users and the potentials of mobile devices for English learning, a proper policy should be enacted to integrate mobiles technologies into study units and lessons References Aamri, A., & Suleiman, K (2011) The Use of Mobile Phones in Learning English Language by Sultan Qaboos University Students: Practices, Attitudes and challenges Canadian Journal on Scientific & Industrial Research, 2(3) Attewell, J.(2004) Mobile Technologies and Learning A technology update and mlearning project summary Published by the Learning and Skills Development Agency Retreived from http://www.m-learning.org/docs/The mlearningprojecttechnologyupdateandprojectsummary.pdf Cui, G., & Wang, S (2008) Adopting Cell Phones in EFL Teaching and Learning Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange, 1(1), 68-80 KatZ,(2008) Mobile Phone in Educational Settings Retrieved from http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/ci/cmcs/publications/articles/mobilephonesineducationals ettings.pdf Klopfer, E., Squire, K., & Jenkins, H (2002) Environmental Detectives: PDAs as a window into a virtual simulated world Proceedings of IEEE International Workshop on Wireless and Mobile Technologies in Education Vaxjo, Sweden: IEEE Computer Society, 95-98 Kukulska-Hulme, A (2006) Mobile language learning now and in the future In: Svensson, Patrik ed Fr°a vision till praktik: Spr°akutbildning och Informationsteknik (From vision to practice: language learning and IT) Sweden: Swedish Net University (Năatuniversitetet), 295-310 Mcneal, T & van’t Hooft, M (2006) Anytime, Anywhere: Using Mobile Phones for Learning Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology, 2(2), 23-31 Patrick,J K., & Aizawa, K.(2004) Cell Phones in Task Based Learning Are cell phones useful language learning tools? ReCALL, 16(1), 71-84 Prensky, M (2004) What can you learn from a cell phone? Almost anything Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/PrenskythatCanYouLearnFromaCellPhoneFINAL.pdf Roksana Begum (2011) Prospect for Cell Phones as Instructional Tools in the EFL Classroom: A Case Study of Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh English Language Teaching, 4(1) Thornton, P & Houser, C (2005) Using mobile phones in English education in Japan Journal of computer assisted learning, 21(3), 217-228 ... language learning in the classroom The students had opportunities to practice themselves to develop their speaking skill and their pronunciation Moreover, with the videos recorded from the classroom. .. for communication with each other According to Mcneal and Hooft (2006), “using real world resources for teaching and learning in the classroom can make education more meaningful and relevant to. .. making clips in their language learning and assess the effectiveness of the suggested application of video recordings with mobile phones in order to help the students gain confidence and improve