20101002 - Amer, ...Learners' usage of Mobile Learning applications...idioms..

Idiomobile for learners of English: A study of learners' usage of a mobile learning application for learning idioms and collocations by Amer, Mahmoud Atiah, Ph.D., Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2010 , 188 pages; AAT 3413155 My Interest: 1) Mobile learning. 2) Context. 3) Descriptive statistics. 4) Inferential statistics. 5) ANOVA. 6) Independent and Dependent Variables. Action: To read specific parts of Dissertation in future. Research Goal This study explored how four groups of English learners used a mobile software application developed by the researcher for learning idiomatic expressions and collocations. Methodology A total of 45 learners in the study used the application for a period of one week. Data for this study was collected from a questionnaire, the application, and follow-up interviews. Findings Findings in the study show that idiomatic expressions and collocations are particularly difficult for English language learners. All learners in this study averaged less than 70 percent on the quizzes they took during the study, which echoes reported findings in the field regarding the difficulty of idiomatic expressions and collocations for English language learners. In addition, findings show that learners' usage of the application correlated with their average scores on the quizzes. The more learners used the application, the higher they scored on the quizzes in the application. Learners' usage focused mainly on the quiz and game sections of the application. In a week, learners in all groups answered 8,654 quiz questions with an average of 60 questions for each learner. In addition, findings show that usage of mobile devices in general can predict how English learners used the application. Findings also underscore the importance of providing language learners with resources to help them learn idiomatic expressions and collocation. Learners strongly indicated that even within a short period of time, they felt they knew more idioms and collocations since they started using the application. Data from the application show that learners had difficulty understanding idiomatic expressions relating to feelings, such as a chip on your shoulder, or hot under the collar. Findings also show that learners in this study seem to recognize longer idiomatic expressions than shorter idiomatic expressions. Findings also show that learners' have strong positive opinions toward the use of mobile technology in language learning. THREE – METHODOLOGY Research Design Variables in the Study Independent Variables Dependent Variables Participants ALI Participants Participants from the Composition and TESOL Program EFL Learners of English ESL Students not Majoring in English Participants' Confidentiality Procedure Data Elicitation Methods Questionnaire Design Preliminary Questionnaire Experimental Material: Mobile Data Collected Time Spent Sections Used Games and Quizzes Follow-up Interviews Pilot Study Initial Results Preliminary Questionnaire Data Data from Idiomobile Data from the Interviews Data Analysis Descriptive Statistics Measures of Frequency Measures of Dispersion Probability Inferential Statistics Parametric Tests Multiple Regression Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)