An investigation into vietnamese generation z undergraduates' perceptions towards using mobile assisted language learning (mall) devices

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

----------------------------------------------

Nguyen Thi Kim Thao

AN INVESTIGATION INTO VIETNAMESE GENERATION

Z UNDERGRADUATES’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS

USING MOBILE ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING

(MALL) DEVICES

MASTER THESIS (MTESOL)

Ho Chi Minh City, 2021

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

----------------------------------------------

Nguyen Thi Kim Thao

AN INVESTIGATION INTO VIETNAMESE GENERATION Z

UNDERGRADUATES’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS USING

MOBILE ASSISTED LANGUAGE LEARNING (MALL)

DEVICES

Major: MTESOL

Major ID: 8140111

MASTER THESIS (MTESOL)

Supervisor:

Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang, PhD

Ho Chi Minh City, 2021

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RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Nguyen Thi Kim Thao, being a candidate for the degree of

Master of Arts (TESOL) accept the requirements of the University relating to the

retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited

in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance

with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and

reproduction for thesis.

Ho Chi Minh City, October, 2021

NGUYEN THI KIM THAO

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my

research supervisor: Dr. Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang who encouraged me during master’s

thesis accomplishment. Without her invaluable support and guidance, I could not

complete the research. Thank you for your suggestions that were very useful for me to

improvise my thesis as well as your patience to respond all of my questions.

Furthermore, I would like to seize the opportunity here and record my gratitude

to my proposal committee members: Dr. Le Thi Thanh Thu, Dr. Bui Thi Thuc Quyen

and Dr. Le Thi Thuy Nhung who reviewed my proposal and provided valuable

comments to improve the quality of my project. Their advice before conducting the

research really helped me to go into precise directions.

My completion of this project could not have been accomplished without the

support of my classmate: Mr. Dang Duc Tue who helped me dramatically in sending

my survey to his students at HUFI. Without his assistance, I might face a lot of

difficulties to find expected participants to collect quantitative and qualitative data for

my research.

Many thanks also to Mr. Bui Nhat Huy who helped me to conduct the pilot test

at HCMC Open University. I have never been supported by such a considerate teacher

like him before. His assistance did make me increase a great deal of confidence before

conducting the project.

Finally, I would like to express my warmest thanks and deepest gratitude to one

of my classmates: Mrs. Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong. She was the one easing my stress

whenever I encountered problems in doing research. Without her encouragements, I

might not have enough the initiative to complete my thesis promptly.

Doing this research is a good chance for me to have such a precious experience

and valuable memory. Now, I am looking forward to the next chapter in my life.

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ABSTRACT

Mobile technology has been influencing our daily life activities, especially

education. Employing Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) devices becomes

a growing trend in English teaching and learning. Along with the growing trend of

MALL devices, Generation Z students gradually enter university years after years;

therefore, future studies about Generation Z students are extremely significant in

MALL field. This study investigated the use of mobile devices by the Generation Z

students in their English learning practices so that MALL lecturers can consider

suitable approaches in their teaching process. Moreover, it also investigated Generation

Z undergraduates’ perceptions towards MALL devices in learning English as well

discover their perceptions of the lecturers’ roles in supporting their use of mobile

devices for English learning. The study was constructed as a mixed-method, embedded

design with 108 non-English major tertiary students (N = 108) at HCMC University of

Food Industry (HUFI) taking part in the survey, and six of them were approached to

conduct the interview. The survey revealed that smartphones were the device having

the highest number users among Generation Z undergraduates, applications related to

vocabulary and meanings of words were the most popular English apps students at

HUFI were using. Moreover, the frequency of practicing English activities on handheld

devices of tertiary students at HUFI was just at nearly sometimes. In general,

Generation Z students had slightly positive perceptions towards the use of mobile

devices in learning English, in which students’ perceptions towards MALL outside

classrooms were more positive than those of inside classes. In terms of lecturers’ roles,

a half of participants demonstrated that MALL lecturers at HUFI set up homework

which required the use of apps or online resources. For informal learning, nearly 40%

participants believed that MALL lecturers should play a role as a guide in informal

learning, which included recommending resources and monitoring learning efficacy. In

addition, most of the interviewees agreed that lecturers’ roles as a person who helped

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students to be familiar with MALL devices, as the one who guided students’ learning

process, the one who integrated learning materials with proper mobile devices

creatively, and the one who were able to fix technological problems were all important.

This study also confirmed that MALL lecturers could not be replaced by MALL

devices in the future.

Key words: MALL, Generation Z, higher education, Vietnamese undergraduates,

EFL teaching and learning, perceptions.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 11

1.1 Background Information.............................................................................................................................. 11

1.2 English Learning Practice with MALL........................................................................................................ 33

1.3 Gap and Rationale of the Research .............................................................................................................. 55

Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................................................................. 88

2.1 Trends in Mobile Learning .......................................................................................................................... 88

2.2 Definitions of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) ...................................................................... 99

2.2.1 MALL as a Tool/ Device .................................................................................................................................... 99

2.2.2 MALL Involves the Use of Portable Devices for Language Learning ........................................................... 1010

2.2.3 Other Definitions of MALL ............................................................................................................................ 1111

2.2.4 Features of Learning and Teaching with MALL ............................................................................................ 1111

2.3 The Development of MALL ......................................................................................................................1414

2.4 Generation Z .............................................................................................................................................1717

2.5 Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) ..........................................................................................1818

2.5.1 Affordances of MALL ..................................................................................................................................... 1818

2.5.1.1 Flexibility in Time and Places.. ................................................................................................. 1919

2.5.1.2 High-Cognitive Development.. .................................................................................................. 2121

2.5.1.3 Language Skills.. ....................................................................................................................... 2323

2.5.1.4 Learning Achievements.. ........................................................................................................... 2424

2.5.2 Perceptions of Students towards MALL ......................................................................................................... 2525

2.5.2.1 Positive Perceptions.. ................................................................................................................. 2525

2.5.2.2 Negative Perceptions.. ............................................................................................................... 3131

2.5.3 Lecturers’ Roles in MALL .............................................................................................................................. 3535

2.5.3.1 A Tailor.. .................................................................................................................................... 3535

2.5.3.2 A Facilitator in Familiarization.. ................................................................................................ 3636

2.5.3.3 A Guide or a Director. ............................................................................................................... 3737

2.5.3.4 Other Roles. ............................................................................................................................... 3737

2.6 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................................................3838

Chapter 3: Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 4141

3.1 Research Design ........................................................................................................................................4141

3.2 Participants ...............................................................................................................................................4141

3.3 Sampling method .......................................................................................................................................4242

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3.4 Instruments ...............................................................................................................................................4242

3.5 Procedures .................................................................................................................................................4545

3.6 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................................................4545

3.7 Scope of The Study ....................................................................................................................................4646

Chapter 4: Results ............................................................................................................................................... 4747

4.1 Current Practices of Generation Z Undergraduates towards Using Mobile Assisted Language Learning

(MALL) Devices in Learning English .............................................................................................................4747

4.2 Perceptions of Generation Z Undergraduates About Using MALL Devices in Learning English ..........5151

4.3 Lecturers’ Roles in Supporting the Students’ Use of MALL Devices ......................................................5656

4.3.1 General Findings of Lecturer’s Roles ............................................................................................................ 5656

4.3.2 Interviews ....................................................................................................................................................... 5959

Chapter 5: Discussions on Findings .................................................................................................................... 6767

5.1 Discussions on Current Practices of Using MALL Devices in Learning English of Generation Z

Undergraduates ...............................................................................................................................................6767

5.2 Discussions on Undergraduates’ Perceptions towards Using MALL Devices ..........................................7070

5.3 Discussions on Lecturers’ Roles in MALL .................................................................................................7676

5.3.1 Lecturers’ Roles in General ........................................................................................................................... 7676

5.3.2 Lecturers’ Roles in Interviews ....................................................................................................................... 7878

5.3.2.1 The Role of Helping Students to Get Acquainted with MALL Devices. ................................... 7878

5.3.2.2 The Role of Guiding Students.................................................................................................... 7979

5.3.2.3 The Role of Being Creative. ...................................................................................................... 8080

5.3.2.4 The Role of Fixing Technological Problems. ............................................................................ 8383

5.3.2.5 Lecturers’ Roles in The Future and Students’ Expectations. ..................................................... 8484

Chapter 6: Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 8989

6.1 Interpretations of Findings .......................................................................................................................8989

6.1.1 Current Practices in English Learning .......................................................................................................... 8989

6.1.2 Students’ Perceptions Towards Use of MALL Devices .................................................................................. 8989

6.1.3 Lecturers’ Roles in MALL .............................................................................................................................. 9090

6.2 Recommendations .....................................................................................................................................9393

6.3 Limitations.................................................................................................................................................9595

6.4 Further Research Studies ..........................................................................................................................9696

References........................................................................................................................................................... 9898

Appendices ..................................................................................................................................................... 121121

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Graph of Identified Studies by Continents From 2010 To 2020 .............. 1616

Figure 2.2 Generation Z Students’ Perceptions Towards Using MALL Devices ..... 3939

Figure 4.1 The Most Popular Mobile Devices Generation Z Owning ....................... 4848

Figure 4.2 Common English Learning Applications used by Generation Z Students

.................................................................................................................................... 4949

Figure 4.3 How MALL Lecturers Monitor Students’ MALL Devices ..................... 5656

Figure 4.4 MALL Lecturers’ Roles in Out-Of-Class Learning ................................. 5757

Figure 4.5 Roles Students Have Received Most from Their Lecturers in MALL

Lessons ....................................................................................................................... 5858

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Distribution of Commonly Investigated Topics in The MALL Studies From

2004 to 2012 ............................................................................................................... 1414

Table 3.1 Instruments Employed for Data Collection ............................................... 4444

Table 4.1 The Frequency of Using MALL Devices to Practice English ................... 5050

Table 4.2 Perceptions of Generation Z Students Towards MALL Devices .............. 5353

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3G : Third Generation of Wireless Mobile Telecommunications

Technology

Apps : Applications

BBM : Blackberry Messenger

CALL : Computer Assisted Language Learning

CSE : Computer Science Engineering

EFL : English as a Foreign Language

HUFI : HCMC University of Food Industry

ICT : Information and Communications Technology

iOS : iPhone Operating System

IT : Information Technology

L2 : Second Language

LMS : Learning Management System

MALL : Mobile Assisted Language Learning

SAELL : Smartphone Apps for English Language Learning

SMS : Short Message Service

SNSs : Social-Networking Sites

SPSS : Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

PCs : Personal Computers

PDAs : Personal Digital Assistants

PDF : Portable Document Format

QDA : Qualitative Data Analysis

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Background Information

There are numerous changes in the 21st century, a majority of such changes is

resulted in technology advances. It is no doubt that the influence of technology upon

our lives has become gradually acute. In educational fields, technologies are considered

as tools “to help in the process of teaching and learning” (Taj et al., 2016, p. 82). In

EFL environment, technologies play roles as providers to meet learners’ needs and as

an assistant to support them in learning English as well (Chakir, 2018). Furthermore,

technology development also emerges novel learning methods which supplement

existing learning methods. These learning theories intend to focus on learner-centered

and personalized ways of learning (Çakmak, 2019).

It is a fact that mobile technology is one of the fastest technologies developing

in the age of information. Nicolas and El-Aly (2018) asserted that the development of

smartphones brings “information, communication, and creative productivity to our

fingertips” (p. 441). In the next few years, smartphones are believed to be soon

outnumber laptops, and wireless platforms can be browsed online without any

difficulties (Sun, 2019). Metruk (2019) reported that the number of smartphone users

was expected to increase from 2.1 to 2.5 billion in 2019 along with the rapid increase

in smartphone penetration rates, furthermore with 10% of the world’s population used

smartphones, it was forecasted to jump into 36% by 2018 (as cited in Lee & Kim,

2019).

With the strong development and influence of mobile devices, educators must

follow the trend of using portable devices into teaching and learning. Teachers in

general and lecturers in particular are those must engage with technology in their

teaching process (Taj et al., 2016). EFL teachers/lecturers should be trained on using

mobile devices for their students in a wide range of educational stages because

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language learning technologies has gradually become “mobilized, portable, and

personalized” (Helwa, 2017, p. 138). In the view of Sufi and Shalmani (2018), EFL

teachers need to not only be aware of employing mobile tools in education but also

show their learners their interests in teaching with mobile technologies. Teachers and

lecturers themselves have to be aware of related forms of Mobile Assisted Language

Learning (MALL), especially MALL applications since they are considered as

supplementary tools in education along with the conventional teaching tools (Ghorbani

& Ebadi, 2020). The current English teaching design form is believed to be diversified

and combine multi-functions viz. video, audio, pictures, and text, which relatively

enough to meet EFL students’ needs (Li & Tu, 2021).

In the next few years, people who were born from 1995 to 2010 (Generation Z)

will be the main labor. According to Mohr and Mohr (2017), Generation Z owns

attributes making them distinctive from previous generations. By way of illustration,

they intend to work collaboratively with open-mindedness. They view their future

workplace as a spot to solve problems and the most special feature is they “live” with

technology. With mentioned characteristics of Generation Z, Poláková and Klímová

(2019) suggested that “the nature of education should be innovated, i.e., in order to

meet the needs of current students and to help raise the level of learning” (p. 3). Along

with the distinctive attributes compared to previous generations, Generation Z also

shows their unique preferences in learning, especially English learning. Typically, a

study of Chiang (2020) revealed that college students enjoyed the game-like learning

environment like Kahoot application. The researcher pointed out a reason for his

finding was because “students in the digital age are able to access a variety of online

content and communication methods, such as social media, videos, games, email and

text” (p. 41). With the strong coming of Generation Z, it is clearly that education in the

future needs changing dramatically, or else it will lag behind them.

According to Ngo and Eichelberger (2019), there is a growing trend in number

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of Internet users in Vietnam: from 36% of Vietnam’s population in 2013, then 45% in

2015 (as cited in Vietnam E-Commerce and Information Technology Agency, 2015).

In a study of Pham et al. (2019), this number jumped to 50% in 2018 (as cited in

CIEM, 2018). Along with the Internet users, Pham et al. (2019) also revealed that

mobile devices were also increasing dramatically in Vietnam with the number of 129

million mobile phone subscribers (as cited in CIEM, 2018). It can be seen that mobile

technology has been developing widely in Vietnam so it will bring overwhelming

advantages towards Vietnamese education. Internet and mobile phone users are two

fundamental elements for Vietnam education to successfully implement Mobile

learning, especially Mobile Assisted Language Learning. Although studies about

mobile learning in Vietnam have not been undertaken appreciably, there are several

highlighted achievements acknowledged. According to Pham et al. (2019), there are 20

universities offering online education programs in Vietnam (as cited in Vietnam’s

Ministry of Education and Training, 2015). In addition, Nguyen (2019) claimed that E￾learning programs in Vietnam has great potential with sales growth rate up to 40% year

by year. E-learning attracts not only domestic businesses, but also Asian investors such

as Japan, Korea, or Singapore. Ngo and Hoang (2020) stated that Vietnam stood fourth

all over the world about E-learning development rate during 2013-2018. With such

achievements, it is strongly believed that mobile learning will spread throughout

Vietnam in the coming years.

1.2 English Learning Practice with MALL

As defined by DeKeyser (2010), practice is “specific activities in the second

language engaged in systematically, deliberately, with the goal of developing

knowledge of and skills in the second language” (as cited in DeKeyser, 2007a, p. 8).

The author agree that practice is not a mere element to make perfect but when it is

considered as “opportunities for meaningful language use (both receptive and