PE‌ 92

The relationship between age and using mobile technology and services for learning english as a foreign language

كارشناسي ارشد

آموزش زبان انگليسي

رشت

۹۶/۴/۱۴

۸۵ص.

فريدون وحداني

محمد آقاجان زاده

technology , age , teenager , adult , EFL , Mobile assisted language learning

وحداني،فريدون،راهنما , آقاجان زاده،محمد،مشاور

The impact of new technologies on teaching and learning foreign languages has long been discussed in the literature. Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) is one area which has recently emerged as a new line of research in that regard. This study investigated the relationship between learners’ age and their use of mobile technologies and services in foreign language learning. One hundred Iranian EFL students including 50 teenaged and 50 adult students participated in this study. They responded to two questionnaires one of which explored different ways of using mobile phones for learning and the other one investigated students’ attitudes towards using mobile phones in foreign language learning. An interview was also conducted with 10 Iranian foreign language teachers in which they were asked to comment on different features of mobile phones used by their students for learning purposes. The results indicated that the relationship between age and mobile assisted language learning was significant and teenage learners outperformed adult ones in terms of using their mobile phones for learning English as a foreign language. In addition, teenagers expressed more positive attitudes towards using their mobile phones as a learning tool compared to their adult counterparts. The teachers who participated in this study also indicated that younger language learners are more eager to use mobile phones for learning purposes. They also stated that mobile facilities such as network access; social networking apps such as ‘Telegram’ and ‘Facebook’; Email and SMS services, and voice and video recording facilities are the most beneficial mobile phone features as far as language learning is concerned. One of the implications of these findings is increased awareness of EFL learners regarding how mobile phones can contribute to their language learning experience.

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