Assigned Topic: Technology and English Language Learning

Self-Determined Subtopic: Mobile Distance Learning

Mobile learning offers individuals the effective opportunity to learn anytime and
anywhere. As a lecturer at University at Sulaimani, Muhammed states that mobiles have a great
impact on English language learning with university students. Mobile phones, tablets, e-readers,
and media playback devices are widely employed in english studies. As Rodriguez-Arancons
article quoted, learners take primary responsibility and control of their learning process,
including setting goals and evaluating outcomes. In a study, all participants used smartphone
applications that were linked to English language skills. Afterwards, 99 percent of the
participants considered it effective which concluded that mobile devices are a positive effect in
the process of English language learning. Within another article, K. Shraim, a researcher at
Palestine Technical University, presents the study of an initiative designed to investigate the use
of e-readers effect on the comprehension of the English language in Palestine. The study places
major focus on the growth of their attitudes, reading comprehension, vocabulary development
and pronunciation performance. Shraim explains that the study of both teaching and learning is
evolving, as the study shows that the use of a tablet in the classroom was favorable. This
technology creates an interactive and engaging environment that uses innovative approaches to
progress learning within the e-generation. The increase in technology throughout the years has
also played a part in how accessible information has become. According to articles found by
Shaunah Fuegen of East Carolina University, 15 percent of the homes in America owned a
computer in 1990 (Shelton & Saltsman, 2005). Compared to 78.7 percent in 2008 (United
Nations Development Programme, 2010). He goes on to state that 46 percent of adults in the
United States own a smartphone as of February 2012 (Pew Research Center, 2012). These
numbers have jumped 63.7 percent in only 18 years, thus proving that the technology of the
mobile distance learning industry is able to expand more each passing day.
References
Shraim, K. (2014). A Case Study of Mobile Technology-enabled English Language Learning:
The Amazon Kindle e-Reader Initiative in Palestine. International Journal Of Interactive
Mobile Technologies, 8(3), 25-31. doi:10.3991/ijim.v8i3.3770
Pilar, R., Jorge, A., & Cristina, C. (2013). The Use of Current Mobile Learning Applications in
EFL. Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences, 103(13th International Educational
Technology Conference), 1189-1196. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.10.446
Muhammed, A. A. (2014). The Impact of Mobiles on Language Learning on the Part of English
Foreign Language (EFL) University Students. Procedia - Social And Behavioral
Sciences, 136(GLOBAL CONFERENCE on LINGUISTICS and FOREIGN
LANGUAGE TEACHING (LINELT-2013), 104-108. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.05.297
Shelton, K., & Saltsman, G. (2005). An Administrators Guide to Online Education. Greenwich,
CT: Information Age Publishing.
Fuegen, S. (2012). The Impact of Mobile Technologies on Distance Education. Techtrends:
Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 56(6), 49-53. doi:10.1007/s11528012-0614-0
United Nations Development Programme. (2010). Human Development Report 2010; The Real
Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development. New York, NY: Palgrave

Macmillan. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_

Complete_reprint.pdf
Pew Research Center, Internet & American Life Project. (2012). Nearly half of American adults
are smartphone owners. Retrieved from http://pewinternet. org/Reports/2012/SmartphoneUpdate-2012.aspx