Exploring the Impact of Mobile Learning (Mlearning) on Vocabulary Acquisition

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of an online mobile game Kahoot on English vocabulary acquisition of undergraduate students and establish how mobile game-based technology aids in improving the English vocabulary skills. An experimental design helped to determine the influence of the mobile game intervention on the learning process over the traditional paper-based English vocabulary acquisition method. Following a pre-test/post-test design, sixty undergraduate students from two classes randomly divided into a control and an experimental group participated in the present study. Each group contained 30 students who either used conventional paper-based methods or vocabulary learning mobile game over a period of six weeks. The findings of this study statistically analyzed via independent t-tests at the end of the experimental period indicated that students using the mobile game Kahoot had greater achievement in learning vocabulary than those using the traditional method in learning vocabulary. However, the results revealed no significant difference in vocabulary scores between male and female students who participated in traditional paper-based and mobile game-based learning methods. Thus, it would be essential to create awareness among the educators that the use of the new smart phone gaming technology is an effective tool for teaching and learning new vocabulary.