A Theoretical Approach to initiate Mobile Assisted Language Learning among school leavers and University Students of Sri Lanka
📝 Abstract
Mobile devices have proven to be an appropriate tool in the area of mobile language learning by expanding the horizons of learning beyond the classroom. The power of mobile devices and advanced technologies have created ease of access to educational resources and material to learners. This study is a part of an ongoing research focusing on enhancing English language among school leavers and undergraduates. The objective of this paper is to present the results of a study conducted to identify the prospects of m-learning among the target study community, who were school leavers and undergraduates of Sri Lanka. A design based research methodology will be used in this study along with activity theory as a framework in order to analyse the situation and find out the prospects in introducing m-learning among the target community.
💡 Analysis
Mobile devices have proven to be an appropriate tool in the area of mobile language learning by expanding the horizons of learning beyond the classroom. The power of mobile devices and advanced technologies have created ease of access to educational resources and material to learners. This study is a part of an ongoing research focusing on enhancing English language among school leavers and undergraduates. The objective of this paper is to present the results of a study conducted to identify the prospects of m-learning among the target study community, who were school leavers and undergraduates of Sri Lanka. A design based research methodology will be used in this study along with activity theory as a framework in order to analyse the situation and find out the prospects in introducing m-learning among the target community.
📄 Content
Australasian Conference on Information Systems
Fazeena et al 2015, Adelaide
Mobile assisted Language Learning
1
A Theoretical Approach to initiate Mobile Assisted
Language Learning among school leavers and University
Students of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Mobile devices have proven to be an appropriate tool in the area of mobile language learning, by
expanding the horizons of learning beyond the classroom education. Power of mobile devices and
advanced technologies have made ease of access to educational resources and materials to the learner.
This study is a part of an ongoing research focusing on enhancing English Language Learning among
school leavers and undergraduates. The objective of this paper is to present the results of a study
conducted to identify the prospects of m-learning among the target study community, who were school
leavers and undergraduates of Sri Lanka. A design based research methodology will be used in this
study along with activity theory as a framework in order to analyse the situation and find out the
prospects in introducing m-learning among the target community.
Keywords (Mobile language learning, Activity Theory, Questionnaire survey, m-learning in higher
education)
1 Introduction
Mobile learning has been found to be one of the major developing areas in recent years in educational
field. The advancement of mobile technologies has also paved way for new learning experience through
mobile based learning opportunities. The growing number of researches in the area of mobile language
learning indicates the acceptance of m-learning among the community (Aamri and Sulaiman 2011;
Corbail and Corbeil 2007; Gounder 2011; Kim, Mims and Holmes 2006).
In Sri Lanka the low proficiency of English Language has been a rising issue among the young
adults. Many programs have been carried out to enhance the English proficiency which have been
minimally successful comparing to the investments made on it (Karunaratne 2003). One of the
evidence that depicts the issue with English Proficiency is the very low and declining English Language
Proficiency Index which is rated by ‘Education First, English Language Proficiency Index (EF-EPI). Sri
Lanka has a declining index throughout last few years (EF - EPI 2015). Further, studies reveal that
many qualified youth in Sri Lanka tend to possess the ‘technical skills’ or academic qualification for a
job but lack the soft skills to convert knowledge into a profession (Ratwatte 2011). Following this
problem, the increased mobile penetration and the capabilities of mobile devices (Gounder 2011) are
evident as opportunities by the notion of mLearning.
This study is a part of an ongoing research which focuses on identifying the effectiveness of mobile
learning among school leavers in the area of English Language Leaning and this paper has been
written based on the initial stage of the research which is requirement elicitation and analysis phase.
Novelty of this work lies as such kind of study has not been conducted among the given target group in
the context of Sri Lanka, since in Sri Lanka m-learning is still in the phase of its inception. The results
of this study can be used to design and develop a mobile learning application suiting these learner
communities, which will ensure the sustainability of the application. The results of this study proves
that there is a strong need for English Language Learning among the respondents and they are having
a strong positive attitude towards m-learning. Hence it depicts that it is worth to continue this
research by providing suitable means of mobile learning lessons among the target community.
Section 1 provides an introduction to the study, the 2nd Section includes a brief literature review of
the research which have been carried out in the area of Mobile Learning, Activity theory and mobile
learning in Sri Lanka. The 3rd section presents the methodology used to conduct this study and
continued by findings and analysis in the 4th section. The 5th section presents the need of mobile
learning in the Sri Lankan context, based on the results found in the previous section.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Mobile Learning
Many authors have perceived m-learning in different way, and they have come up with various
definitions for the term mobile learning. Traxler has stated that there are number of studies in this
emerging field, but the concept of mobile learning is still unclear (Yang 2013). One of the obvious and
Australasian Conference on Information Systems
Fazeena et al 2015, Adelaide
Mobile assisted Language Learning
2
simplest definition of mLearning is, “learning delivered through the use of mobile technologies or devices”. This definition mainly focuses on technological aspect of mobile learning rather than the pedagogical aspect (Traxler 2007). Osman (2010) has defined mobile learning as “any type of learning that takes plac
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