Mobile-Assisted Language Learning to Support English Language Communication among Higher Education Learners in Thailand

Abstract

The ability to use English has become essential for functioning in the 21st century; not only the basic skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) but broader skills in communication and collaboration will be necessary for future success in global environments. Digital transformation in learning via mobile devices helps create authenticity in English language education. They can interest and engage learners, both in and out of the classrooms, while promoting uninterrupted learning, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, advances in mobile applications and virtual learning environments have become important components of developing English language skills, allowing for asynchronous learning in convenient, flexible, and interactive environments on any of a learner’s devices. This paper reports the results of using a mobile-assisted language learning interactive environment (MALLIE), a chatbot-based application, to support the development of English language communication skills. Quantitative data were acquired from 546 higher education learners in Thailand. The information was used for the exploratory factor analysis which shall serve as a baseline for innovation development. The study briefly examined the students’ experiences with any type of mobile learning before focusing on the students’ and a group of experts’ ratings of the intervention in this study. Preliminary studies were conducted with 10 students and experts to identify factors they believed were most relevant for measuring the effectiveness of the MALLIE for English language learning in a virtual learning environment. Exploratory factor analysis of 70 variables extracted four factors with loadings that exceeded .30: MALL, VLE (virtual learning environment), 4Cs for the four basic components of language learning, and ELCS for English language communication skills; the factor loadings ranged between 0.55 and 0.81. Additionally, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data, and the results of preliminary studies were used to design and develop the MALLIE application and test its learning effectiveness. Next, an opinion survey was administered related to a group of 105 students and experts regarding their acceptance of the MALLIE and their intentions to use it or something similar in the future; the main topics of the survey related to the perceived usefulness of the MALLIE, its ease of use, respondents’ attitudes towards its use, peer influences on respondents’ use, and respondents’ use behaviour and intention to use. The aim of the study’s surveys and analyses was to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of learning the English language via mobile language learning applications available for use on any device.