An Applied Research On English Vocabulary Learning In Vocational And Technical Colleges Based On Mobile Learning Theories

Vocabulary,as one of the most important elements in language learning,exerts a vital influence on daily communication and language learning.Nowadays,the memorization of English vocabulary is a major issue faced by the students in vocational and technical colleges.As a result,how to arouse the students' interest in vocabulary learning and keep warm is a real problem,and needs to be resolved quickly.Meanwhile,with the rapid development of science and technology,more and more mobile devices,such as smart phones,tablet computers,laptops and palmtops are gradually entering thousands of families.However,the popularity of a wide range of mobile devices has brought the corresponding negative effect at the same time.“Phubbing” can be seen everywhere in colleges and universities,especially in vocational and technical colleges.Mobile phones are frequently used in class.Accordingly,“phone-free class” activities have been carried out,but do not work well.As a result,it becomes a hot topic nowadays how to guide the students with poor self-control to use their mobile phones properly.A variety of English vocabulary learning applications emerge to the market,such as Shanbay,Baicizhan,Hujiang Cichang,ileci,and so on.It is one of the problems to be solved whether the new-born English vocabulary learning based on mobile phones is effective for the students in vocational and technical colleges.Based on mobile learning theories,this thesis discusses the phenomenon above and carries out a semester experimental research(10 weeks)in Guangxi Vocational College of Technology and Business with the help of mobile phones and the app BCZ(Baicizhan).The questionnaires are made in electronic version with the help of “Star of Questionnaire”,a kind of questionnaire-designing applications.About 193 students from different classes are required to finish online the following two questionnaires: Students' Usages of Mobile Devices;Students' Viewpoints about English Vocabulary Learning Based on Mobile Phones.Moreover,73 students from two classes of Guangxi Vocational College of Technology and Business take part in the 10-week experiment of BCZ(Baicizhan,a kind of English vocabulary learning app).This research focuses on the following four questions:(1)What are the usages of students' mobile devices in the case study?(2)What are the students' opinions about mobile learning of English vocabulary?(3)What is the influence of mobile learning on the effectiveness of students' English vocabulary learning?(4)What are the participants' viewpoints of English vocabulary learning based on mobile devices in the case study? The results show that most of the students hold positive and acceptable attitudes towards vocabulary learning based on mobile devices.In their spare time they are willing to use their mobile phones to learn English vocabulary with the help of English vocabulary learning applications.Meanwhile,they put forward some suggestions after the experiment,which are valuable for the application developers.Some implications are revealed in the research and they are helpful for the English vocabulary teaching and learning in vocational and technical colleges.Firstly,English teachers should transfer the traditional teaching concept,improve their professional qualities and make good use of new technology to improve their teaching.Then,teachers should stimulate students' learning enthusiasm by means of mobile learning and encourage them to learn anytime and anywhere by means of their mobile devices.Last but not the least,students should use their mobile phones properly,make good use of their spare time reasonably to learn vocabulary,and plan their study effectively in order to make learning easier...