(Skkn 2023) some effective ways to help students study english better with smartphones

Using mobile gargets like smartphones for learning languages is now very common in students to so to investigate whether smartphone really helps students in learning English or not, this

I INTRODUCTION

1 Reason for choosing the topic:

Language enables us to interact with people The importance of English language cannot be ignored, due to its role in social, political economic and environmental development English language functions as a vehicle of interaction and an instrument of communication As we know, English is lingua franca for most parts of the world The need to communicate effectively in the modern world is inarguable and in this context the demand of learning English

as an international language among the non-native speakers of English is growing daily Britishers and Amercans sponsor English language teaching and programs for promoting English language learning Many English language programs are currently running in Viet Nam, too

Use of mobile technology started in 21st century and it gave birth to Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) which refers to learning languages via mobile devices/phones Mobile Learning makes learning more private and individual matter as well as it makes learning possible in formal and informal situations Students are found using Smartphone for learning translation and retranslation, reading online books, and practicing their communication skills via smartphones As smartphone offers private learning opportunities in the same way it offers collaborative learning opportunities too Students are now more able to engage in online discussions on social media like facebook, discussion forums and they are able to practice and learnt better pronunciation through English language learning Youtube channels These social aspects help promote collaborative learning among ESL learners (Baruah, 2012)

Vietnamese learners learn English as a foreign language due to which they lack proficiency as well as teaching time is also not sufficient to practice English consequently, it becomes difficult for them to learn English Due to the use of technology being common these days researchers and teachers are using it for language teaching/learning effectively Using mobile gargets like smartphones for learning languages is now very common in students to so to investigate whether smartphone really helps students in learning English or not, this study is conducted Students of today are technology addicted and use several learning Apps on their smartphones these days (Shamim, 2017) English language learning Apps available on smartphone connected with internet has made learning easy for students so researchers are also taking interest in knowing the potential of smartphone for learning English

Smartphones are now not only used for the basic purpose of communication but also as an effective learning tool as they have all the features

of computers inbuilt in them This study explores students’ perspective about learning English via Smartphone at university level as perception reflect people’s attitude and acceptability towards something and it effects their

favorable attitude towards something So it is necessary to investigate students’ perspective about learning through Smartphone

From the above given reasons, I think very much of the question “How can we help our students use their smartphones to improve their English?”.

After a long time for this research, do some experiences, I decide to choose the

theme: “some effective ways to help students study English better with smartphones” for my research

2 Aim of the research:

This study explores students’ perspective about how Smartphones are playing an important part in learning English It also investigates how learners are using smartphones for developing proficiency in English, their interest in useing learning apps, their learning activities and patterns I think there will be some teachers who argue that learners can be engaged in learning activities and they can be guided in a better way after exploring their current practices of learning English via Smartphones

This study is significant as its results would contribute to m-learning research, which is the latest field of investigation and inquiry in this era and studies are required to be conducted in this field Research conducted about it in Viet Nam is very rare so current study would work as a basis for future researchers This study is innovative in the sense that it analyzes the role of Smartphones in learning English in Viet Nam This study would be helpful for ELT students, teachers to get clear picture of the situation that how smartphone helps in learning English Students will get advantage of this study by learning how others are using smartphones for learning English inside classroom as well

as outside and would get to know and explore new learning Apps on their smartphone This study will also increase acceptance among students and teachers about learning via smartphones and it will result in effective teaching and learning

3 The subject of study:

My subjects of study focuss on teachers of English and students who learn English as a second language in Viet Nam Particularly, I conducted a study on students of 10-12 grade in a school where I am working - Thuong Xuan 2 high school I conduct this study to investigate my students’ perspective about how using social media on mobile devices can enhance learners’ engagement in learning; how integration of Smartphones in learning facilitates learners in learning English as a foreign language in my school and I also explore my students’ attitude towards using mobile phones for learning purposes

4 Research methodology:

- Observing

- Sharing

- Analysis.

- The investigative answer sheets

II CONTENT

1 Theoretical Background:

Today, the rapid development of technology has led to the mechanization of modern society, which is to empower people, involves changes in the system of social values Nowadays, we cannot imagine a modern lesson without the using innovative technologies These technologies have become an essential tool in raising students' interest to study the problems and develop visual- creative thinking All this leads to a new system of knowledge, change of consciousness, a rethinking of the whole picture of the world: there is automation of the man who, in dealing with people manifests itself in different ways The using innovative technologies in the school provide the opportunity to enhance cognitive, mental and independent activity of students, to intensify the educational process These technologies make it possible not only to change the forms and methods of teaching, but also significantly transform and enrich the educational paradigm The experiences show that the English language allows for the formation and development of the child

Now almost all the schools have computers, multimedia installations, and interactive whiteboard, with free Internet access Therefore the use of innovative technologies in the teaching of English has become not only necessary but also feasible And also one of the innovative technologies includes Mobile learning Mobile learning involves the use of a mobile phone, which has each student for providing mobility for learning

Teachers of English as a foreign language who want to develop successful lessons face numerous challenges, including large class sizes and inadequate instructional materials and technological support The purpose of this article is to describe the methods and activities of using mobile phones

as an effective method of teaching FL

These days it seems mobile phones are used everywhere by everyone, which leads to the obvious question: How can mobile phone technology support learning in the foreign language classroom? The answer is ―in a number of ways because mobile phones come with ever-increasing functions that most students are adept at using In this article some teachers describe some practical ways to use mobile phones to support foreign language learning, both inside and outside the classroom Most of the activities will work with most mobile phones and do not require special knowledge or additional software or hardware Recent interest in the potential for mobile phones and other portable devices to

support learning and teaching has been driven by the fact that mobile phones are relatively cheap and increasingly powerful Another benefit is that learners are used to working with them, often more so than with computers The famous scientists in this field Thornton and Houser report that young Japanese learners prefer to use mobile phones for many activities, from emailing to reading books Research on the use of mobile phones for the delivery of vocabulary materials to English learners in many Asian countries also in our country show that students enjoy using their phones because of easy access to materials and the ability to practice anytime and anywhere, in addition, some students like the screen size limitations, which make the amount of content more manageable than that of other teaching materials According to foreign English teachers, there are several pedagogical reasons to consider using mobile phones in the second language classroom Most importantly, phones are social tools that facilitate authentic and relevant communication and collaboration among learners

In many schools in our country are available wireless networks for students Wireless communication technology are applied to many fields such as GPS navigation, wireless monitoring system as well as learning various materials including learning language skills Mobile learning can take place either within the classroom or outside it In the former case, mobile phones possessing appropriate software are very effective in collaborative learning among small groups Although this type of learning has nothing to do with the mobility property of such devices, it provides the learners with the opportunity of close interaction, conversation, and decision-making among the members of their group due to the specific design of the learning activity on mobile phones These types of interaction among learners and their physical movement can hardly be achieved when desktop or laptop computers are to be used Mobile learning technology is more useful for doing activities outside the classroom Such activities enable learning to be more directly connected with the real world experiments Moreover, learning through mobile phones outside the classroom has the advantage of better exploiting the learner's free time; even the students on the move can improve their learning skills

SMS-based learning is another development in the use of wireless technologies in education in which receiving wanted text messages supports learning outside of classroom and helps learners benefit from their teacher's experimentation with mobile technology

Game-based learning is another theme for mobile learning in which learning materials are so designed to be integrated with aspects of physical environment In such environments, learning activities are facilitated using the mobile technology which serves as a link between the real world of knowledge and the visual world of the game

One of the easiest ways to use a mobile phone for learning is to record samples of the target language by taking pictures Students can take pictures

of English text by using the Camera feature on their mobile phones They can then make a collage of the images or upload the pictures If students do not have a data connection, they can transfer the pictures to a computer and upload them from there

These activities for using mobile phones for foreign language learning generally focus on developing the four skills and in many cases integrate speaking with listening and reading with writing The material and activities can be modified to conform to different syllabi and are easily adaptable for different ages, learning levels, and interests It is important to note that the names of the features used here may not be the same for all mobile phones

Many researchers were so interested in mobile assisted language learning approaches that they attempt to provide some strong supports to conduct further studies on this discipline Today, mobile learning is easily possible by delivery of various learning materials or content to learners through the mobile devices Various activities related to language learning are supported by mobile devices among which we can name SMS, internet access, camera, audio/video recording, and video messaging (MMS)

One of the advantages of mobile learning is that collaborative learning

is very encourages in this kind of learning That is, different learners are able exchange their knowledge, skills and attitudes through interaction Collaborative learning helps the learners to support, motivate and evaluate each other to achieve substantial amounts of learning, the property which is almost absent in other kinds of learning One can attain a good collaborative approach simply by using a mobile device as an environment for learning, which is, of course, highly dependent of the users than the devices Devices,

in fact, act as pencils and calculators which are the basic equipment in a learning process of a student What is important, here, is the communication between the learners, as an important factor in language learning is the interaction in the target language

There are different mobile devices in the market compatible to the needs of different users The basic activities can be performed by many mobile phones However, for language learning, the cost and technologies related to the mobile devices should be taken into consideration Such learners can use their customized mobile devices for language learning based on their own abilities

In the past, the mobile devices were invented for the first time, no one ever thought some day they would become an important part of routine life

As soon as the mobile phones became a crucial part of our lives, there felt a need for using them in language learning tasks These days mobile devices such as PDAs, phones, and other handheld devices, are used everywhere for doing everything ranging from voice calling to making short message, video chat, listening to audio, web surfing, shopping, and the like Apart from these benefits, mobile devices have increasingly grown toward becoming tools for education and language learning, and all its users from teachers or

students are getting used to this environment to make education as ubiquitous as possible Moreover, the emerging of internet made open and distance learning a means of receiving education from all parts of the world

In a short period, the attractiveness of distance learning led to the realization that various mobile devices provide a very effective resource for education This way, many researchers tried to make mobile devices a rich resource for teaching and learning It was, in fact, a challenging affair to cover learning tasks by a mobile phone

MALL deals with the use of mobile technology in language learning Students do not always have to study a foreign language in a classroom They may have the opportunity to learn it using mobile devices when they desire and where they are As learning English is considered a main factor for professional success and a criterion for being educated in many communities, providing more convenient environment for people to learn English is one of the strategic educational goals towards improving the students' achievement and supporting differentiation of learning needs

There are many researches and developments towards the use of wireless technology for different aspects of language learning In the following lines it has been tried to demonstrate the benefits of using mobile phones in learning English as a second language Areas of mobile-based language learning are diverse among which the most common ones are vocabulary, listening, grammar, phonetics, reading comprehension, etc

The rising speed of mobile technology is increasing and penetrating all aspects of the lives so that this technology plays a vital role in learning different dimensions of knowledge Today, a clear shift from teacher-led learning to students, that m-learning allowed causes the students feel using the technology more effective and interesting than before In fact, we can provide a richer learning environment through mobile phones for our language learners Though many researchers have been carried out towards MALL technology as a growing field of study in language learning, there are still so many works left to be done and a large amount of information to be uncovered Moreover, the methods with the help of which mobile device technology can be used to provide a more robust learning environment have

to be further improved The ways through which the barriers of CALL have been removed can help the MALL technology to grow with less effort and cost Some language skills such as speaking and listening as mobile-based activities need some further improvements due to the hardware weaknesses Mobile-based learning or m-learning faces many challenges, but it has grown in exponentially in spite of all its problems to provide a better environment for language learning

Mobile learning technology, however, has a rapid pace of development from a teacher-learner text-based approach to a forthcoming multimedia supporting technology In addition, podcast lectures and digitized audio comments made the online interaction between teachers and

learners possible in a more convenient way without any time and space limitations

Although going through language activities on mobile phones may take longer time compared to computers, the learners feel a greater sense of freedom of time and place, so that they can take the advantage of spare time

to learn a second language when and where they are

Mobile technology gets learning away from the classroom environment with little or no access to the teacher, though the learning process can hardly be accomplished without a teacher's direction or guidance As the demand for acquiring a foreign language increases and the people time for more formal, classroom-based, traditional language learning courses decreases, the need felt by busy users for learning a foreign language through MALL will inevitably increases In other word, MALL can be considered an ideal solution to language learning barriers in terms of time and place

2 The reality of learning English before applying this initiative:

English teaching is not a piece of easy work Especially, many students are losing their interest and showing negative attitude towards english learning Teachers are always complaining that it’s hard to improve students’ scores and the students are too lazy to learn the words, recite the dialogues and finish exercises While technology is transforming how we communicate, socialise, play, shop and conduct business These profound changes place pressure on the traditional models of language learning, such as teaching in a formal classroom setting They also present us with amazing opportunities to re-design the way we teach and learn English Smartphones are here to stay For the teachers of English, that means we need to either ban iPhones, Androids, Blackberries and whatever next flavor arrives - or - we have to learn how to incorporate the use of smartphones into our routine I've discovered that just ignoring their use in class doesn't help After all, I am - a teacher of English - trying to encourage my students to communicate in the English language

I have been teaching English at Thuong Xuan 2 high school for many years This school is in a mountainous area so I know clearly what my students’ purpose is So far, I have been able to confirm one thing: Most of my students learn English for the GCSE, only a few study for the University entrance examination

Generally, the quality of students’ input is not high so it is very difficult for both teachers and students in teaching and acquiring English In fact, we don’t only teach the very basic knowledge in the textbook but we have to teach students all the knowledge that they learned before also

Besides, there are about 40 students in each class in my school I think it

is a large class So, it is very difficult for me to control my class while speaking and students have no more chances to practice English skills, too Especially in oral skill because they have few words My students cannot communicate in English, even though they spent 7 years learning English at their schools Actually, in English curricula, there are lessons that use tapes and CDs to practise listening and speaking skills, but my school resources and the habits of individual teachers mean they are rarely used, especially in rural areas Students mostly copy the way their teachers speak, but many teachers mispronounce the words themselves

In the past, the teachers of English in my school used to teach English in traditional teaching method which students stayed passive in learning and did not have a communication environment and we didn’t care almost ways to attract students’ attention I think it is the main reason behind the ineffective teaching and learning of English in our school because this makes our students become afraid of speaking English

We focused on teaching grammar much, and our students also focused on grammar lessons in order to pass tests and examinations This traditional way of

teaching I think we put our students in the "passive voice" when learning English,

and they cannot have good communication skills, even though students can be good at grammar I think that our students had to try to approach English in the hard way and they seemed to be tired of this subject I felt their tiredness though their actions of learning this subject

Since many recent years, I have been trying to perfect the questions: What should teachers do to make students love learning English more ? and How do the teachers do to make English more attractive and easier? At last, I can find

the answers for my questions ( I will show that in the next part )

The other problem is that they learn English just to pass regular tests or examinations, while they cannot use English in reality Especially, many students got high scores from exams and tests, but they can only write grammatical sentences, while they are very bad at listening and communicating Many students tell me that they like learning English, and some of them always have good learning results at school However, when they meet foreigners or go

to an English club, they find out that they are afraid of speaking English in crowded places because they was afraid of making mistakes

Beside that, there is no place of tourism or some factory which foreigners work or live in here so my students have no chance for communication That's why their listening and speaking skills are poor and my students become frustrated by this

I think that bad English skills have become a hot topic on education forums Educators have pointed out that it is the nature of Vietnamese people that they can easily get embarrassed when making mistakes, therefore, they would rather not to speak English to make mistakes My students do, too

But now, the industry of technology is growing rapidly, and smartphones are taking an important place in our daily lives My students who sit in class and use their iPhone or Android are missing out That's a simple fact However, it's also true that students are going

to use their smart phones if they haven't been taken away At least that's the way it is that I teach English Therefore, in this research, I try

my best to solve problems which relate to Smartphones are used in teaching and learning language in secondary schools

3 The initiative is being applied to teach English in my school

As what I said above, the smartphone is an useful tool for teaching and learning English language My main question always in my mind is how to use smartphones in teaching and learning to improve students’ English Here are ten tips on how to constructively allow the use of smartphones in class Admittedly, some of the exercises are just variations on traditional classroom activities However encouraging students to use smart phones to complete these activities will help them learn to use these power-packed, hand-held computers

to actively improve their English skills Finally, it's important to insist that smart phone or tablet use is OK, but only as a tool during a specific activity In this way, students can continue with their obsessive, addictive behavior However, they won't be tempted to use their smartphones for other, non-English learning tasks during class

These are some ways I have been using to improve the learning English problem in my school:

3.1 Use smartphones for (vocabulary/ grammar) with Google image search.

A picture is worth a thousand words I like to use my smartphone, or have students use their smartphone to look up specific nouns on Google images or another search engine You've all seen how a visual dictionary can greatly improve vocabulary retention With smartphones, we have visual dictionaries on steroids

3.2 Use smartphones for translation, but only at a specific time.

I try to encourage students to read using three phases 1) Read for gist - no stopping! 2) Read for context - How can the words surrounding unknown words help with understanding? 3) Read for precision - explore new vocabulary using a smart phone or dictionary Only in the third phase do I allow smartphone use Students are pleased because they can look up words However, they're developing good reading skills by not immediately translating every word they

do not understand

3.3 Use smartphones for communicative activities using apps

We all communicate with our smartphones in different ways depending

on different apps In other words, texting with a messaging app is bound to be different than writing an email on your computer Take advantage of this and promote activities that are specific to a given context One example might be to have students text each other to complete a given task

3.4 Use smartphones for help with pronunciation.

This is one of my favorite uses of smart phones in class Model pronunciation for them For example, focus on suggestions Ask students to open a recording app Read five different ways to make a suggestion aloud Pause between each suggestion Have students go home and practice mimicking your pronunciation in the pause between each suggestion There are many, many variations on this theme

Another great use for pronunciation is to have students change the language to English and try to dictate an email They'll have to work really hard

at word level pronunciation in order to get the desired results

3.5 Use smartphones instead of a thesaurus

Have students search on the phrase "words like " and a host of online offerings will appear Encourage students to use their smart phones during writing class in this manner while focusing on developing a wider range of vocabulary For example, take a simple sentence such as "The people spoke about politics." Ask students to come up with a number of versions using their smartphones to find substitutes for the verb "speak."

3.6 Use smartphones to play games.

Yes, yes, I know This is something we shouldn't encourage in class However, you might encourage students to write down phrases they experience while playing games to bring into class to discuss in more detail There are also

a number of word games such as Scrabble or word search puzzles that are