spotlight sessions --- Gavin Junjie WU
Abstract
Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) has been gaining momentum since the increasing popularity of smartphones (e.g. iPhone and Samsung). Many Asian regions have been exploring
MALL with Taiwan and Japan being the entrepreneurs (Burston, 2015). However, it is not uncommon to find that many teachers still hold a hostile attitude towards the application of mobile technology to support students’learning. Additionally, little has been revealed in terms of Asian students’ learning experience with mobile devices. This presentation aims to present a general pattern of Mainland Chinese learners’ previous experience with MALL in a Chinese university. 235 participants, consisting of three cohorts of two different undergraduate programs, came from the department of English in a teacher-education university. A questionnaire was adapted from Ma (2016) and translated into Chinese for the convenience of the respondents. A WeChat-based focus group discussion provided further insights into Chinese students’ former experience. Based on the data, results will be compared with Ma’s findings from Hong Kong and other similar Asian projects from South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and
Malaysia. The presentation will end with implications for various school stakeholders including students, teachers, and administrative teams.