Mobile English Learning: An Empirical Study on an APP, English Fun Dubbing

Abstract

Abstract-The availability of smart phones connected to mobile network and the occurrence of APPs developed for the educational purposes provide us with the possibility and feasibility of mobile teaching and learning. English Fun Dubbing, an APP designed for its users to practice oral English, was employed in this one-academic-year empirical study to evaluate the benefits of mobile APPs in the field of pedagogy. When the study ended, an anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to the 123 participants to survey the effects of English Fun Dubbing on their English language learning. The results showed that the majority of the respondents were satisfied with it in many aspects including its conveniences, flexibility, user-friendliness, rich materials, authentic language context, etc. and also its functions to inspire learning interests, foster learner autonomy, help realize personalized learning, and so on. We concluded that a reasonable and wise choice of APPs would not only be useful for students' English learning, but also help lead them to use mobile phones in a positive way.Index Terms-mobile English learning; APP; empirical study; anonymous online questionnaire I. INTRODUCTIONThe popularity of mobile devices such as iPods, iPads and smart phones has made mobile teaching and learning both possible and feasible. The employment of mobile devices for pedagogical purposes has long been a focus in the academic circles, starting in the 20 th century in the West and currently also prevailing in this century in China and other developing countries [1]- [3]. Mobile devices are in essence devices for ICTs (information and communication technologies). If teachers have a deepened understanding of information technology and if they can change their philosophy of teaching, the ICT-based teaching mode can be ensured [4]. Compared with traditional ICT devices like laptops and computers, mobile devices have transparent advantages due to their lighter weight, orientation flexibility, instant-on capacity, fast switching, mobility, long battery life and touch interface [5]- [6]. These features provide possibilities to implement ubiquitous, interactive, collaborative, informal, individualized, situated and self-regulated teaching and learning [7]-[8]. However, although some empirical studies on mobile teaching and learning have recently occurred, this kind of pedagogical mode is still rare, especially in the setting of higher education [9]- [11]. Consequently, we need more studies on mobile pedagogical strategies and how these strategies can contribute to student's learning process.The present study is based on "English Fun Dubbing" (EFD), an APP applicable to both iPhone and Android operating systems (see http://www.qupeiyin.com/ for more information). It was developed by a Chinese SciTech company to assist its users' oral English practices free of charge. As shown in Fig. 1 below, it provides abundant learning materials including movies, animations, short videos, classical textbooks and songs, all with native English speaker...

Use of Smartphone Applications in English Language Learning—A Challenge for Foreign Language Education

“…Zhang [31] studied the effect of an app called English Fun Dubbing (EFD). The author claims that EFD supports the student's language learning autonomy by providing them with an opportunity to practice by themselves at their own pace.…”

“…The author claims that EFD supports the student's language learning autonomy by providing them with an opportunity to practice by themselves at their own pace. Zhang [31] concluded that a reasonable choice of a suitable application not only enhances learning but also makes students use mobile devices in more reasonable ways than they usually do.…”

Students’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Using Smartphone Applications in Enhancing Vocabulary Acquisition

“…The results showed that students considered these useful tools for learning vocabulary and perceived the platform to be easy to use. Zhang (2016) investigated the effect of the English Fun Dubbing (EFD) app on language learning. It was found that the app supported the students' language learning autonomy by providing them with an opportunity to practice the language anywhere.…”

Conducting Online Surveys in China

“…These platforms include Sojump (e.g, Lien, Cao, & Zhou, 2017; Yang, Chen, Zhang, Wang, & Ding, 2016), Diaoyanbao (e.g., Liu, Shi, Liu, & Zhang, 2014; S. Wang, Wu, & Zhou, 2016), and Wenjuan (e.g., S. Zhang, 2016; Zhao et al, 2016).…”