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Lauren Lewis Northern Arizona University

STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARD THE USE OF MOBILE

DEVICES IN THE LANGUAGE

CLASSROOM

http://www.polleverywhere.com/app

http://www.polleverywhere.com/app/help

https://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/sG72IJ7KXGZHXvy?preview=true

WHY INVESTIGATE THIS TOPIC?

• The integration of mobile devices (smartphones/tablets) in the language classroom is becoming commonplace among language teaching professionals at all levels.

• When used appropriately, the use of these devices, as well as, the use of certain online programs/applications and social media sites can have a positive impact on language learning.

• Still, many students and teachers remain resistant to incorporating these tools in their language learning/language teaching experiences.

• This presentation will discuss the results of a study conducted in two lower-level Spanish courses at Northern Arizona University where students used mobile devices and different online programs/social media to complete various activities to practice different language skills.

TECHNOLOGY RULES!

http://talktechwithme.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/blooms-revised-technology-taxonomy/

So many ways to use it!

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY…

Technology rules! In general,• perceptions are

positive toward using mobile devices to learn & practice language

• for some it is the preferred way

• Positive claims indicate facility of access to resources, assignments, available anywhere at anytime Al-

fahad (2009); Chompu-Inwai & Doolen (2008)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What are students’ attitudes and perceptions toward:• using mobile devices to learn and practice language skills

in the classroom• using certain web tools and social media sites to learn and

practice language skills

How they perceive the use of such technology in helping them successfully learn and practice specific language skills.

THE STUDY

• 44 students• 18-30 years of age

• 2 lower-division Spanish classes (SPA102) at Northern Arizona

University• 93% use a smart phone

• 45% use a tablet• Technology use survey

• 4 activities—2 in class; 2 outside of class

• Technology task survey

TECHNOLOGY USE SURVEY

How do you most often use your computer/other mo-

bile device?

Communica-tionEntertainmentCoursework

57%20%

20%32%

Technology Pro-ficiency

Average Ad-vanced

Expert

18%45%34%

SOCIAL MEDIA

Which social media sites do you use?

FacebookTwitterInstagram

64% 93%

82%

77% do not use social media for any course

ACTIVITY 1

Collaborative story• Outside of class; homework assignment• Twitter; class hashtag #nauspa102• To practice grammar, vocabulary, and writing • Add a line to the story using appropriate

vocabulary and grammar

Twitter

ACTIVITY 2

Animated video• Outside of class; group project• GoAnimate • To practice speaking, pronunciation, and vocabulary • Create a short animated video that incorporates at least 5

new vocabulary words from the chapter

GoAnimate

ACTIVITY 3

Informal evaluation/warm-up• In class; done in the beginning as a warm-up/review from

previous day’s lesson• Socrative.com• To review the grammar topic (the imperfect) learned

during the previous class• Students log in using a key and take the quiz (completion)

Socrative

ACTIVITY 4

Video dialogue• In class; partners• Video/recording function on mobile

device• To practice speaking and

pronunciation skills• Create a short video dialogue

between two characters in the story “Una carta a Dios” that presents an alternate perpspective of the story

Smart phone/tablet

RESULTS

Vocab

ular

io

Gram

ática

Lect

ura

Escr

itura

Compr

ensió

n au

ditiv

a

Habla

4035 35

40

0 04 4 4 4 1 10

5 50

43 43

Twitter

De acuerdo En desacuerdo No se aplica

Focus: Grammar, Vocabulary and Writing91% of students agreed that this activity/technology was effective in helping practice vocabulary and writing. 80% felt it helped with grammarWhy was it effective?—students are familiar with the technology, did not involve many steps, complicated directions, or learning new technology

RESULTS

Focus: Speaking and vocabularyMost unpopular; least effective59% disagree with its effectiveness in helping them practice vocabulary, and 57% disagree with its effectiveness in helping them practice their speaking and pronunciation skillsWhy was it ineffective? –students were not previously familiar with the technology, the website offers free & premium options for creating video causing frustration and confusion, involves many steps; some technical issues (sound, publishing); group work

Vocab

ular

io

Gram

ática

Lect

ura

Escr

itura

Compr

ensió

n au

ditiv

a

Habla

18 18 18 18 19 19

26

19

11 11 11

25

0

7

15 15 15

0

GoAnimate


RESULTS

Focus: Grammar75% perceived this to be an effective way to practice and review grammarWhy was it effective? Students were already somewhat familiar with the technology, and were familiar with the format of the quiz, not many steps, clear and easy directions, the skill (grammar) was isolated making the purpose of the activity more clear

Vocab

ular

io

Gram

ática

Lect

ura

Escr

itura

Compr

ensió

n au

ditiv

a

Habla

2

33

410

0 02

11

2 41 1

41

0

38

30

43 43

Socrative


RESULTS

Focus: Speaking and pronunciationMost effective; most popular91% believed it was effective in helping practice speaking skillsWhy was it effective? Students are very familiar with this technology, not new or complicated to learn/use, not many steps, clear and easy directions, no technical issues

Vocab

ular

io

Gram

ática

Lect

ura

Escr

itura

Compr

ensió

n au

ditiv

a

Habla

28 26 28 27

3640

4 4 2 26 4

12 14 14 15

2 0

Video diálogo


STUDENT COMMENTS

“I think it takes the stress off performing in front of the class, and allows for multiple attempts”“Socrative is fun and more interesting to use than a regular quiz”“Saves paper and is good practice”“I wouldn’t have been as careful in my grammar and spelling if we hadn’t published it”

“Using technology makes it confusing”“I would have rather done it in person”“There is no point in frustrating students when they can learn more comfortably otherwise”“I really do not like using technology for Spanish”

Positives

Negatives

RESULTS

GoAnimate Twitter Socrative Video diálogo

13

3840

44

31

6

1 00 03

0

The technology was easy to use?



13

4036

44

31

4 400 0

40

The technology was re-liable?

De acuerdo Endesacuerdo No se aplica

RESULTS


31

4

20

1013

32

23

33

0

8

1 1

I could have done this task better without the use of technology?

De acuerdo En desacuerdo No opinión

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of students perceived the use of technology to complete the activities as a positive and effective way to learn and practice Spanish. (in particular using mobile devices for class activities)

If the task was done during class time, or outside of class time was not a factor, but I believe the familiarity with the technology was a factor.

The nature of the technology (technical issues, many steps, new accounts, etc.) was also a factor

RECOMMENDATIONS

Eliminate anxiety, frustration, confusion with more practice and/or demonstrations of how to use the technology

Call students attention to the purpose of the task, and the purpose for using technology

Offer options and different opportunities to use technology to learn and practice Spanish

QUESTIONS

Thank you!