Educational smartphone apps for language learning in higher education: Students’ choices and perceptions

Abstract

The popularity and use of smartphone apps for language learning have significantly grown in Iran over the past years. Despite this growth, empirical data on students’ choice of such apps, their perception towards them, and the impact of external factors on their attitude remains scant. In an attempt to contribute to this research base, a descriptive survey study was carried out to explore the type of language learning apps commonly used by 381 university students at Amirkabir University of Technology and their perception towards the effectiveness of these apps for developing learning language skills. Dictionary and lexical apps appeared to be the most popular application types amongst participants. While students were generally positive about the use of apps for language learning, they had different viewpoints regarding the potential of apps for developing different language skills.  The results of ANOVA indicate that gender did not play a significant role in participants’ perception. On the contrary, the type of apps used significantly shaped students’ attitudes towards app-based language learning. The findings contribute to research on mobile assisted language learning and educational app design, by shedding more light on students’ choice of apps for learning different language skills.