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Procedia Computer Science 00 (2021) 000–000
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Procedia Computer Science 00 (2021) 000–000
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ScienceDirect
Procedia Computer Science 184 (2021) 859–864

The 11th International Symposium on Frontiers in Ambient and Mobile Systems (FAMS-2021)
March 23-26, 2021, Warsaw, Poland
The 11th International Symposium on Frontiers in Ambient and Mobile Systems (FAMS-2021)
March 23-26, 2021, Warsaw, Poland
Evaluating Impact of Mobile Applications on EFL University
Learners’
Evaluating Vocabulary
Impact of MobileLearning – A Review
Applications on EFLStudy
University
Learners’ Vocabulary Learning
Blanka Klimova* – A Review Study
Blanka Klimova*
University of Hradec Kralove, Rokitanskeho 62, Hradec Kralove, 500 03, Czech Republic

University of Hradec Kralove, Rokitanskeho 62, Hradec Kralove, 500 03, Czech Republic

Abstract

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they were used independently. The findings also reveal that only guided and controlled implementation of these apps can
lead to an effective learning process. Future research should employ rigorously designed empirical studies, especially as far as
© 2021
their The Authors.
methodology Published by Elsevier B.V.
is concerned.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
© 2021
2021 The
The under
Peer-review
© Authors.
Authors. Published by
responsibility
Published by Elsevier
of Elsevier B.V. Program Chairs.
the Conference
B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs.

* Corresponding author. Tel. +420-604-737-645.

E-mail address: blanka.klimova@uhk.cz
* Corresponding author. Tel. +420-604-737-645.
1877-0509 © 2021 The
E-mail address: Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
blanka.klimova@uhk.cz
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review
1877-0509 ©under
2021responsibility
The Authors. of the Conference
Published Program
by Elsevier B.V. Chairs.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs.

1877-0509 © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Program Chairs.
10.1016/j.procs.2021.03.108
860 Blanka Klimova / Procedia Computer Science 184 (2021) 859–864
2 Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2018) 000–000

Keywords: mobile apps; EFL vocabulary; effectiveness; university students; review

1. Introduction

In the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0, marked by ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and industrial
practices and using modern smart technology, smartphones and their applications (apps) are an inseparable part of
our lives. As statistical data [1] show, 90% of mobile time is spent on apps. The most active group of people are
usually young people at the age between 18 and 24 years. On average, they spend around 3.2 hours daily on their
mobile apps [1]. Therefore, it is not surprising at all that mobile apps are now commonly used in higher education,
especially thanks to the ubiquity of smartphones, i.e. their use anywhere and at any time, their interactivity and
multimodal character of mobile apps [2]. In addition, these mobile devices are small and easy to carry [3]. They are
usually exploited as a supportive tool to traditional, face-to-face classes, in accessing to information and services, as
well as in enhancing interaction and communication [4]. In comparison with traditional learning in classroom
settings, the approach to learning via smartphones/mobile apps is, on the one hand, very learner-centered in the sense
of autonomous and personalized learning. On the other hand, it requires responsible and initiative students who want
to improve their academic achievements [5].
Mobile apps are widely used in learning English as a foreign language for the development of all four language
skills (i.e., reading, listening, speaking, and writing). Nevertheless, as research [6-7] indicates, they are particularly
deployed in the development of learners’ vocabulary. The reason is simple. Smartphones have a small display and
therefore the content of an app must be designed in small segments, which is suitable for learning new words,
possibly phrases [8]. Nowadays, there are about 200 mobile apps on Google Play for learning English as a foreign
language (EFL) vocabulary, both contextually and literally [9]. However, most of these apps usually lack sound
pedagogical bases since they are developed by non-expert in English language teaching (ELT). Therefore, it would
be desirable to include in their development not only apps developers, but also ELT experts and the end users, i.e.
students.
Learning new words and phrases is namely crucial for attaining language proficiency, as well as it is pivotal for
the development of all four language skills. As Nation [10] puts it, knowledge of vocabulary facilitates language use
and, conversely, language use leads to an improvement in vocabulary knowledge. Alzahrani [11] claims that
developing vocabulary makes language learners acquire the target language effectively because vocabulary
knowledge facilitates the learning process for language learners and help them understand the text they read or the
speech they heard. Furthermore, without having sound vocabulary knowledge, they are not able to express
themselves in writing and speaking. As Wilkins [12, p. 97] says, there is not much value in being able to produce
grammatical sentences if one has not got the vocabulary that is needed to convey what one wishes to say ... While
without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. Thus, learning the EFL
vocabulary is perceived as a critical tool for second language learners because a limited vocabulary disrupts
successful communication [13].
The purpose of this review article is to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile applications on EFL university
learners’ vocabulary learning in order to discover whether ELF mobile apps have a significant, moderate, or no
effect on the enhancement of learners’ vocabulary.

2. Methods

The author made a literature search of available studies on the research topic, i.e. on the effectiveness of mobile
applications on EFL university learners’ vocabulary learning, in the world’s databases Web of Science, Scopus, and
Google Scholar. The search covered the period from 1 January 2017 till 31 July 2020. The search period started with
the year 2017 because review studies by Mahdi [6] and Song and Chen [7] had summarized the findings on this
research topic for the previous periods. The author analyzed and evaluated the results of the identified studies in
order to perform a comparison of the findings of the research studies detected on the basis of the following
keywords: mobile apps AND vocabulary learning AND university students, mobile apps AND EFL students’
vocabulary AND effectiveness.
 Blanka Klimova / Procedia Computer Science 184 (2021) 859–864 861
Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2018) 000–000 3

Altogether 19 articles were generated from both databases. Since this number was considerably small, the author
did another search in Google Scholar, where she found another 22 articles. After a thorough review of the titles and
abstracts (12) and their duplication (8) of the selected studies, 27 studies were screened and after that, 19 studies
remained for the full-text analysis.
These full-text articles were then analyzed and evaluated on the basis of the following inclusion and exclusion
criteria. The inclusion criteria were as follows:
• The articles had to be published between January 1, 2017 and July 31, 2020.
• Only peer-reviewed journal articles written in English were included.
• The articles, which included only university students, were considered.
• Only original studies, i.e. experimental studies and quasi-experimental studies with an experimental and a
control group, were involved.
• The primary outcome concentrated on the effectiveness of mobile applications on EFL university learners’
vocabulary learning.
The exclusion criteria were as follows:
• The studies, which focused on a different age target group, i.e. [14-16], and slightly different research
topic, e.g. [17-18], were excluded.
• The studies without the experimental and control group were excluded [19].
• The conference papers, e.g. [3, 8, 20], were excluded.
• The review studies, e.g. [6-7], were excluded.
In addition, a backward search was also performed, i.e., references of the detected studies were evaluated for
relevant research studies that authors might have missed during their search. Thus, only five studies were eventually
analyzed and evaluated.

3. Results

Altogether five research studies were detected. Two originated in Saudi Arabia [21, 23], two in Turkey [9, 22]
and one in China [24]. The number of participants ranged from 40 to 84. In all studies, participants were divided
into an experimental and a control group. The intervention period lasted from four weeks to 14 weeks, within which
students were supposed to learn a set number of vocabulary.
There were three types of mobile apps: WhatsApp, CollocatApp, and Baicizham. WhatsApp was mainly used for
receiving word lists and learning these new words every work by submitting back an assignment. CollocatApp was
learning 40 new collocations (verb + noun, adjective + noun, noun+ noun), which were carefully chosen from the
book English Collocations in Use Advanced. Baicizham app is a kind of Chinese software, which is specially
designed for learning EFL vocabulary. It provides each English word with pronunciation, meaning, both in English
and Chinese, an example of sentence, a picture, a video relevant to the words, and a hieroglyphic.
The main outcome measures usually included pre- and post- tests and their statistical analyses. In addition, in
some cases the authors also used questionnaires or interviews to find more information on students’ attitudes
towards such learning.
Overall, the findings indicate that students in the experimental groups significantly outperformed their peers in
the control groups, which means that the use of mobile apps deployed in these selected studies had a positive effect
on retaining new words and phrases.
The main limitations of the described studies consist in their small numbers of participants and different
methodologies of the study design and checking the learned words, as well as a lack of follow-up period in order to
discover whether the retention of the new words and phrases prevailed.

Table 1. An overview of the findings from the selected studies.

Study Participants’ Length and Type of a Main Findings
characteristics scope of the mobile app outcome
intervention measures
period
862 Blanka Klimova / Procedia Computer Science 184 (2021) 859–864
4 Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2018) 000–000

Bensalem 40 participants (age Six weeks, WhatsApp Pre- and post- The experimental
[21] between 18 and 23 lessons once a test, group outperformed
(Saudi years) – 21 in an week for 100 questionnaire, the control group by
Arabia) experimental group, minutes, statistical learning more words
using a mobile app learning 20 analysis. (EG – M=43.14, CG –
besides the traditional words per M=21.21).
teaching, and 19 in a week.
control group, having a
traditional instruction
only.
Celik and 84 freshmen students Six weeks, WhatsApp Pre- and post- The literal vocabulary
Yavuz [9] (age between 18 and 20 learning 10 test, statistical instruction group
(Turkey) years), 42 in a new words in analysis. (post-test score
contextual vocabulary weeks 2-5. average 84.5)
instruction group and 42 achieved better results
students in a literal than the contextual
vocabulary instruction vocabulary instruction
group. Both groups used group (post-test score
WhatsApp. average 31.4).
Okumus 73 freshmen students 14 weeks of CollocatApp Collocation The experimental
Dagdeler, (36 students in an self-study of Achievement group was better than
Konca, experimental group, 40 test, the control group, but
Demiroz using a mobile app, and collocations. Vocabulary only in learning
[22] 37 students in a control Knowledge vocabulary receptively
(Turkey) group, using worksheets Scale, (t(32)=3.154, p<0.05).
for learning statistical
collocations. analysis.
Shahbaz 40 male university Four weeks, WhatsApp Pre- and post- Although both groups
and Khan students (average age: 10 WhatsApp test, statistical improved in the post-
[23] 20 years). 20 students messages analysis. test, the students in the
(Saudi were using a mobile app weekly. experimental groups
Arabia) in addition to traditional achieved statistically
teaching and the control significant better
group (20 students) had results (EG – 0.0012,
a traditional instruction CG – 0.291).
only.
Yuan [24] 60 freshmen students, Learning 150 Baicizham Four The experimental
(China) 30 students in an new words in achievements group outperformed
experimental group, 70 lessons for tests on the control group in all
using a mobile app only, 14 weeks. pronunciation, four tests.
and 30 students in a spelling,
control group, having a meaning and
traditional instruction usage of the
only. words,
statistical
analysis.
Explanation: CG – control group, EG – experimental group
 Blanka Klimova / Procedia Computer Science 184 (2021) 859–864 863
Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2018) 000–000 5

4. Discussion and conclusion

As the results and the effect sizes in Table 1 show, all used mobile apps had a positive and quite significant
impact on the retention of students’ EFL vocabulary. However, in three studies [9, 21, 23], the mobile apps were
used as an additional support to the traditional instruction and only in two of them [22, 24], they were used
independently.
In most of the selected studies, WhatsApp application was used, which is not surprising since this app is one of
the most popular messaging applications nowadays [25] and it is available for all types of smartphones [26]. As
Jasrial explains [25], WhatsApp provides students with: a) opportunities for practicing English language skills
and components for free, b) more personal and comprehensive relationship between students and teachers, c)
the opportunity to socialize, and d) staying connected to their peers and support in their quest to learning
English. By using WhatsApp, students can text, call, and send video, audio, links, location, document, pictures. In
the selected studies [9, 21, 23], WhatsApp was used for distributing and practicing of new words and phrases.
Bensalem [21] also claims that the WhatsApp application is especially suitable for sending and receiving vocabulary
homework assignment because over 90% of his students in the experimental group using the app submitted it on a
regular basis, while those in the control group sometimes procrastinated. In addition, the authors of all three studies
[9, 21, 23] agreed that guidance and monitoring of students using mobile apps was needed since this could enhance
the effectivity and quality of language learning process. Another application deployed in the learning process was
Baicizham [24], through which students were successfully learning new words. Its positive effect was also
confirmed in another research study by Jing and Jing [27]. They conducted a study with 125 freshmen students
divided into an experimental group (62 students), using a mobile app in addition to traditional teaching, and a
control group (63 students), having a traditional instruction only. Once again, the experimental group outperformed
the control group (t=3.893, P=0.001<0.05). The third application used in the detected study [22] was the
CollocatApp application focused on the collocated words, a combination of words that often appear together and
make the language sound natural. Therefore, if one knows these collocation, s/he may speak like a native speaker.
Moreover, this collocation app was designed and tailored to a specific group of students with the same language
level, age and learning needs, which could also have a positive effect on students’ motivation to learn new
collocations via this app.
As the findings also revealed, by using the apps, students mainly retained the isolated words and/or phrases (cf.
[9]), which might train students’ short-term memory, but within a longer period, such as 14 weeks, it can also stir
their long-term memory by constant drilling and practicing.
Overall, the findings of this review indicate that mobile apps are effective, useful and suitable learning tools for
the retention and practicing of new vocabulary. In fact, they enable repetition of the traditional class instruction
based on the following presentation mode: input-interaction-feedback. Nevertheless, only guided and controlled
implementation of these apps can lead to an effective learning process.
In addition, future research should employ rigorously designed empirical studies, especially as far as their
methodology is concerned.

Acknowledgements

This article is supported by the SPEV project 2021, run at the Faculty of Informatics and Management,
University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. The author thanks Josef Toman for his help with the data collection.

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