Practicing English Through Digital Devices: Practices and Perceptions of the EFL Undergraduate Students Majoring in English Language

Abstract

This research paper briefly considers the significance of practicing English through digital devices for EFL Saudi undergraduate university students majoring in English language. As the Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) acronym is no longer suitable for investigating and describing EFL practices to improve the English language learners' macro skills, namely, listening, speaking, reading and writing .This is because we are now in a ‘post-CALL era’ of Mobile Assisted Language Use (MALU) with digital literacy skills as a defining characteristic for the 21st century English language learners.The current study highlighted the practices and perceptions of Languages and Translation Department students majoring in English Language at Tayma University College in Saudi Arabia. In order to collect the necessary data, the study used a four- point options Lekert scale questionnaire. The study used a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The participants of the study were 40 students (20 males and 20 females). The study was conducted in the first semester of the academic year 2018/2019. The findings of the study proved that the students were highly motivated to use the digital devices to improve their English language proficiency macro skills. Based on these results, the study recommends implementing the digital devices in the EFL curricular to improve the EFL learners’ macro skills.

Fostering Low English Proficiency Learners’ Reading in a Freshman EFL Reading Class: Effect of Using Electronic and Print Textbooks on Taiwanese University Students’ Reading Comprehension

“…Even though our respondents praised the digital textbook for its portability, for English learning, not many participants strongly felt e-textbooks have a positive effect, the similarities can be found in Elshahawy's (2020) study. It can be concluded that the respondents preferred print textbooks on several counts.…”

“…The interview questions were derived from the study objectives, which were to probe how the students perceive the effects of reading in the two mediums (Elshahawy, 2020). The structure of the interview questions was based on the questionnaire in Table 3 presented in the Results section.…”

Mobile-Assisted Language Learning for EFL: A Conceptual Framework based on the Meta-UTAUT Model

“…In theory, the use of MALL offers various advantages such as access to experienced language teachers from any part of the world that can be connected to students in remote parts of any country [5]. Nevertheless, there is insufficient empirical evidence on whether the targeted users of MALL are comfortable with using mobile phone applications to learn a foreign language [6].…”