Mobile assisted language learning (mall) in learning english practices and attitudes of students at dak nong community college

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - DUONG THI MINH HOI MOBILE-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (MALL) IN LEARNING ENGLISH: PRACTICES AND ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS AT DAK NONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE Major: English Language Course code: 8220201 HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY MOBILE-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (MALL) IN LEARNING ENGLISH: PRACTICES AND ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS AT DAK NONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE Submitted to the Faculty of English Language in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English Language (17.735 words) Course code: 8220201 By DUONG THI MINH HOI Supervised by LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, DECEMBER 2022 The thesis entitled MOBILE-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (MALL) IN LEARNING ENGLISH: PRACTICES AND ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS AT DAK NONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE was successfully defended and approved on March 2nd 2023 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) Academic supervisor: Examination Committee Chair Reader Reader .Member .Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE -HCM City, December 2022 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: DUONG THI MINH HOI Sex: Female Date of birth: 20th July 1983 Place of birth: Nam Dinh Major: English Language Student code: 2041900035 I- Thesis title: MOBILE-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (MALL) IN LEARNING ENGLISH: PRACTICES AND ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS AT DAK NONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE II- Objectives and contents: The objectives of this study is to discover how students at Dak Nong Community College (DNCC) are using MALL in learning English as well as to explore their attitudes towards MALL in learning English This study was conducted at Dak Nong Community College in Gia Nghia city, Dak Nong province The participants were 105 second-year non-English majored students who had finished the General English course in their curriculum In order to obtain the results, mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) was employed with two instruments: questionnaire and semi-structured interview III- Starting date: 7th June 2022 IV- Completing date: 31st December 2022 V- Academic supervisor: LE VAN TUYEN, Ph.D ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR FACULTY DEAN (full name, signature) (full name, signature) i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: MOBILE-ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (MALL) IN LEARNING ENGLISH: PRACTICES AND ATTITUDES OF STUDENTS AT DAK NONG COMMUNITY COLLEGE In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022 DUONG THI MINH HOI ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, DUONG THI MINH HOI, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses Ho Chi Minh City, December 2022 DUONG THI MINH HOI iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Le Van Tuyen for his invaluable guidance, informative feedback, continuous support, and never-ending patience throughout the preparation of my thesis He has been more than a supervisor for me from the beginning to the last day of the preparation of my thesis Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed Secondly, my sincere thanks also go to Dr Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, the Dean of English Language Faculty as well as Dr Tran Quoc Thao, who also have helped me not only in the completion of my study, but also in my learning process In addition, I also thank all students who are learning at DNCC for their participations in my survey so it could help me gather the significant information and complete my study Last but not least, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the continuous encouragement of my family members because of their supporting me spiritually throughout my researching and writing process of this study iv ABSTRACT Applying Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) to facilitate the English learning process has become very popular among students all over the world in general, and in Vietnam in particular However, there have been few studies on the application of MALL in learning English among vocational college students in Vietnam This study aimed to discover how vocational students are practicing MALL to learn English as well as to explore their attitudes towards MALL in learning English The study was conducted at Dak Nong Community College (DNCC), Dak Nong province, Vietnam The participants of the study were 105 second-year non-English majored students from Engineering-Technology and Agriculture-Forestry faculties, who completed at least one English course (General English) in their curriculum Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the employment of questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews For data analysis, descriptive statistics and content analysis were employed The findings of the study revealed that almost all of the students applied MALL to learn English and had positive attitudes towards MALL, because they found the mobile devices useful for them to learn English (177 words) Keywords: attitudes, learning English, MALL, mobile devices, practice v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Problem statement 1.3 Aims and objectives of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study .5 1.7 Definition of key terms 1.8 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Technology in education .8 2.3 Mobile technology in education 2.4 Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) 2.4.1 Definition 2.4.2 Characteristics of MALL 10 2.4.3 Advantages and disadvantages of MALL 10 2.4.4 MALL in learning English .12 2.4.4.1 MALL in learning English listening skills 12 2.4.4.2 MALL in learning English speaking skills 12 XVII writing tasks S9: I don’t use smartphone to learn writing skill because I prefer writing on papers It’s better for my eyes S10: I just look for reference writings on my smartphone so that I know how to write my own as requested by the teacher Q6 To learn S1: I listen and practice the pronunciation of words on Pronunciation, online dictionaries or apps I also look up the meaning Vocabulary, Grammar, and usage of vocabulary as well as grammar points I what you use often look them up on online dictionary or Google mobile devices for? S2: I often use smartphone to look up the meaning of vocabulary as well as grammar points on Google S3: I listen and practice the pronunciation of words on online dictionaries I also look up the meaning and usage of vocabulary on those dictionaries Besides, I sometimes look up grammar points on Google S4: I listen and practice the pronunciation of words on online dictionaries or apps I often use the free app named duolingo I also look up the meaning and usage of vocabulary as well as grammar points on Google S5: I listen and practice the pronunciation of words on online dictionaries or apps Sometimes I also join English courses S6: I listen and practice pronouncing words on apps and sometimes I look up the meaning of vocabularies as well as grammar points on Google S7: I listen and practice the pronunciation of words on online dictionaries or apps The online dictionary I often use is dict.laban.vn I also look up the meaning and usage XVIII of vocabulary, as well as grammar points on Google S8: I listen and practice the pronunciation of words on online dictionaries or apps I also learn vocabulary by topics on apps or websites Besides, I look up the meaning of words and grammar points on Google S9: I listen and practice the pronunciation of words on the app Dict box, which is very useful I also learn vocabulary on this app For grammar, I watch videos by English teachers on youtube S10: I look up the pronunciation and the meaning of words on online dictionaries I sometimes look up grammar points on Google Q7 What you think S1: I think mobile devices are useful because they help are the benefits of me to complete my tasks faster Besides, using mobile mobile devices in devices is fun and comfortable, especially when teacher learning English? How lets us play games to review the lesson on apps like effective are they? Do Kahoot or Quizizz they bring you S2: I find mobile devices effective because they help me comfort, joy, delight? to remember vocabularies more easily I find it comfortable, joyful and delightful when using mobile devices But I think the level of effectiveness is moderate S3: I find mobile devices very effective because they help me find a lot of information that I may not know through books I find it comfortable and delightful when using mobile devices, because they are familiar and easy to use S4: I think mobile devices help me to learn more flexibly XIX and they help me improve my listening, speaking, reading and writing skills as compared to learning in a traditional way I find mobile devices very effective I also find it comfortable, joyful and delightful when using mobile devices, especially when talking with foreigners S5: I find mobile devices flexible and effective With a smartphone connected to the internet, we can learn English anytime and anywhere Besides, interacting with smartphone for learning English is pretty easy In general, I find it comfortable, joyful when using smartphone to learn English; and I am satisfied with my speaking performance when using smartphone to learn English S6: I find mobile devices effective in learning English, but the level of effectiveness is moderate I feel comfortable and delightful when using mobile devices, especially when the teacher creates online games that we can play on our smartphones S7: I think mobile devices are useful, because they help me to access quickly to the English learning materials that I need, especially the authentic videos by native speakers on the internet I find it joyful and delightful when using mobile devices to learn English S8: I find mobile devices very effective They help me to improve my listening and speaking skills I find it comfortable, joyful and delightful when using mobile devices to learn English S9: I think mobile devices are not very effective in learning English For me, I just use mobile devices to XX learn vocabularies and pronunciation Mobile devices not help me much in learning reading and writing S10: I find mobile devices effective in learning English because they help me to get a lot of information that I don’t know, but the level of effectiveness is moderate I find it comfortable and delightful when using mobile devices to learn English Q8 What you think S1: I find one disadvantage of mobile devices is that the are the difficulties, internet connection is sometimes weak, causing troubles challenges and for us Besides, some apps are not reliable and the disadvantages of meaning of vocabularies are not correct mobile in S2: The meaning of some words on Google is incorrect devices learning English? Sometimes it’s difficult to search for information on some topics S3: Some websites are not very reliable because the information provided is wrong Sometimes when there is no internet connection, I cannot access any information S4: Sometimes the internet connection is unstable and it’s difficult to hear from mobile phones because of the quality of the sound S5: Sometimes learning English through mobile devices is not as effective as face-to-face learning Besides, the internet connection sometimes is weak S6: Sometimes I cannot find the meaning of the words that I need Besides, learning English through mobile devices is not as effective as face-to-face learning, because it’s better for students to have teachers explain everything in detail when they not understand XXI S7: For some smartphone with low figuration, it’s slow in interaction And sometimes the internet speed is slow, too S8: Sometimes I cannot find the correct meaning of the words when I consult Google Besides, the screen size is small, and the internet is sometimes disconnected S9: I think mobile devices are not good for eyes and brain if we use them too often, and they make us more tired as compared to face-to-face learning Except listening to music, I feel worried when using smartphone to learn English because its radiation can affect my eyes, brain and mood S10: I think the disadvantage of mobile devices is that sometimes the internet connection is weak and unstable Q9 Do you think that S1: Yes, I will I think mobile devices bring more you will continue to effective communication than traditional methods use mobile devices to S2: Yes, I will I feel delightful when using mobile learn English in the devices to learn English future? not? Why/ Why S3: Yes, I will for sure I find mobile devices very effective, as well as easy to use S4: Yes, I will continue to use mobile devices to learn English I think English learning and teaching process should be supported with mobile devices S5: Of course, I will I am satisfied because my speaking performance improves thanks to smartphone S6: Yes, I will It’s joyful to learn English with the support of smartphone, especially when we play English games to revise the lessons, or we can discuss the lessons with our English teacher on zalo group XXII S7: Yes, I will keep using smartphone to learn English, because it helps me to find any kind of learning materials that I need S8: Yes, I will continue to use mobile devices to learn English, because they are very effective, especially in learning pronunciation S9: Honestly, I will use smartphone just to listen to English music, or when I need to learn vocabulary and pronunciation S10 Yes, I will, because they are helpful when I need to look for the meaning and pronunciation of new words I think some mobile applications should be used to support the traditional English teaching XXIII APPENDIX F PLAGIARISM REPORT