An Evaluation of m-Learning Effectiveness : English Vocabulary Apps in China

Recently, with the rapid development of mobile technology, English vocabulary learning has entered a new stage. English vocabulary learning might become effective when a mobile app as a MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) tool provides a new platform for learners of English as a foreign language. The purpose of this study is to find out whether the social sharing function and the image function have a positive effect on learning English vocabulary. This study consists of two steps: The first step has surveyed apps for learning English as a foreign language and found twenty-eight apps from app stores. Among them, sixteen apps have features for learning vocabulary. Main design principles of these apps are reward, social comparison sharing, image, self-monitoring, personalization, and reminder. At the second step, this study employs a quasi-experimental method to compare two apps, one with the social sharing function and the other with the image function. A pre-test of 233 middle school students in China was conducted in order to find out their usage of English vocabulary apps. About half of the students have some experiences in apps for English vocabulary learning. Two apps, ZhiMi and LeCi, were selected for a quasi-experiment. Total 134 students participated and were assigned into three groups for the two-month experiment. We are analyzing the learning effectiveness of the social comparison sharing function and the image function of English vocabulary app.