Use of Mobile Applications in Developing Reading Comprehension in Second Language Acquisition—A Review Study

Abstract

Reading is a fundamental skill for academic success because university students need to comprehend an extensive amount of information in a short time to achieve their academic goals. However, the influx of new technologies into education has challenged the teaching of reading skills in a foreign language. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of emerging technologies, especially mobile applications, on second language reading comprehension in the period between 1 January and 30 September 2020. Therefore, the authors of this article conducted a search of available studies on the topic, i.e., the use of mobile applications in developing reading comprehension in second language acquisition, in two databases: Web of Science and Scopus. Despite the methodological differences, the findings of all of the identified studies showed that there was an improvement in reading comprehension after the treatment with mobile applications. In addition, a positive attitude and enhanced learner motivation when using mobile apps was found in several studies. Overall, there is potential for developing research on MALL and reading comprehension for randomized control studies with larger populations and longer intervention periods.

Use of Mobile Phones in Teaching English in Bangladesh: A Systematic Review (2010–2020)

“…Furthermore, several review studies, i.e., [16,29,[36][37][38] on the use of mobile phones in ELT, confirm the information above. The study exploring the characteristics and research trends of using mobile phones concludes that the most of the studies dealt with teaching and learning vocabulary in ELT.…”

“…The research trends of other studies explore teachers' and learners' attitudes and beliefs regarding using mobile phones [27], as well as teaching techniques implemented thanks to mobile phones [28]. The findings indicate that for developing learners' reading [29] and listening skills, the use of mobile phones is effective in EFL contexts such as Malaysia [30]. In addition, students can enrich their vocabulary through the use of mobile phones [31,32].…”

“…Furthermore, the most frequently studied subject domain was language instruction. The findings of the most recent review study [29], dating from 1 January to 30 September 2020, focused on the use of mobile phones for developing learners' reading skills. The findings of this study indicate that mobile learning is becoming a more prominent aspect of education, owing to the fact that it provides an excellent opportunity for foreign language learning.…”

“…The primary research trends that have emerged from the analysis are the use of the mobile phones for teachers' professional development (TPD) in English language teaching (ELT) [20,33,34], delivery of quality education [29,32], facilitating learning [21,29], increasing interactivity [28], learners' readiness [9], mobile-assisted e-learning framework [26], investigation of learners' concepts [13] and ways of using a mobile device for ELT [13], presented in Figure 2 below. The maximum number of studies dealt with English language teachers' professional development using mobile phones.…”

“…Students enjoyed the interactivity. In addition, they found the immediate feedback via a mobile device to be a great motivator [29].…”