USE OF MOBILE DEVICE LANGUAGE LEARNING APPLICATIONS BY TURKISH SPEAKING ADULTS: A SURVEY STUDY

Abstract

Foreign language education is going under constant change. Mobile technologies have gained significant momentum in foreign language education in recent years with their unique features and affordances. A large number of mobile apps have been specifically designed, created, and used for teaching foreign languages. Although these apps seem to be ubiquitous, much remains unknown with regard to their actual usage as self-directed materials. This paper reports and discusses the results of a survey study that aimed to investigate adult Turkish speaking mobile device owners’ experiences with and reasons for foreign language teaching app use/nonuse, perceived effectiveness, strengths and weaknesses of apps, and suggestions for improving language teaching apps. The survey included close-ended and open-ended questions and are analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis methods. Results showed that mobile language learning applications are perceived to have a strong potential to overcome the constraints in front of language learning such as time, space, linguistic input. Apps can personalize instruction by taking into account the needs of different students and increase the motivation of learning with features such as gamification. However, it was also observed that learners rarely used mobile technologies used to enable a more communication-based and collaborative language learning experience.

Keywords

• Mobile language learning
• mobile apps
• independent learning
• self-directed learning
• adult learners

TÜRKÇE KONUŞAN YETİŞKİNLERİN MOBİL CİHAZ DİL ÖĞRENME UYGULAMALARI KULLANIMI: ANKET ÇALIŞMASI

Abstract

Yabancı dil eğitimi sürekli değişiyor ve kendini yeniliyor. Mobil teknolojiler benzersiz özellikleri ve sağlarlıkları ile yabancı dil eğitiminde son yıllarda önemli bir ivme kazanmıştır. Yabancı dilleri öğretmek için çok sayıda mobil uygulama özel olarak tasarlanmış, yaratılmış ve kullanılmıştır. Her ne kadar bu uygulamalar her yerde görülse de, öz-yönelimli bir öğrenme materyali olarak fiili kullanımları konusunda pek az bilgi vardır. Bu makale, yetişkin Türkçe konuşan mobil cihaz sahiplerinin yabancı dil öğretimi uygulamalarını kullanımı, uygulamaların algılanan etkinliği, güçlü ve zayıf yönleri ile dil öğretiminin iyileştirilmesi konusundaki deneyimlerini ve nedenlerini araştırmayı amaçlayan bir anket çalışmasının sonuçlarını raporlar ve tartışır. Anket, kapalı uçlu ve açık uçlu sorular içermekte olup, tanımlayıcı istatistikler ve içerik analizi yöntemleri kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Sonuçlar, mobil dil öğrenme uygulamalarının zaman, mekân, dilbilimsel girdi gibi dil öğrenimi önündeki kısıtlamaları aşma konusunda güçlü bir potansiyele sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Uygulamalar öğrencilerin farklı ihtiyaçlarını dikkate alarak öğretimi kişiselleştirebilir ve oyunlaştırma gibi özelliklerle öğrenme motivasyonlarını artırabilmektedir. Bununla birlikte, öğrencilerin daha iletişim tabanlı ve işbirlikçi bir dil öğrenme deneyimi sağlamak için sağlanan mobil teknolojileri nadiren kullandıkları da gözlemlenmiştir.

Keywords

• Mobil dil öğrenme
• mobil cihaz uygulamaları
• bağımsız öğrenme
• öz-yönelimli öğrenme
• yetişkin öğrenenler

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