The impact of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) on ESL learners’ language skills: a study of tertiary level students

Abstract

Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) has entered in our lives prominently with the advancement of mobile technology. It has made the students’ learning way more easier and flexible for its high portability. Most importantly, Mobile Assisted Language Learning has succeeded in terms of developing language skills preferably writing and reading skills. The goal of this research is to find out how MALL can have an impact on developing learners’ language skills in various ways. For that, the researcher has conducted a survey through which students put their opinions based on their perception both in a quantitative and qualitative way. The survey results has presented a positive scale where it shows that learners are getting benefitted from this small device as their learning tool. On contrast to this, there are found some drawbacks through which learners are lagging behind in advancing their skills more proficiently. Therefore, MALL should be fruitful in terms of enhancing one’s both listening and speaking skills so that the learners do not have to rely on a specific place and time to learn. Moreover, this study also suggests that mobile learning should get introduced on a broader aspect in the classroom and hence, further research is needed to carry with an aim to understand and implement mobile technology in language learning in a better way.