T1__Full text Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: Students’ Perception Towards the Use of Mobile Phones in Learning English as a Foreign Language T1 Full text

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE USE OF
MOBILE PHONES IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan

Gregorius Tricella Marikhi
112012161

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ART
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2017

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE USE OF
MOBILE PHONES IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
A Thesis
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Gregorius Tricella Marikhi
112012161

Approved by

Supervisor,
Dian Toar Y.G. Sumakul, M.A.

Examiner,
Yustina Priska Kisnanto, S.Pd, M.Hum

ii

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such materials as has been submitted for examination in
any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any
university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material
previously published or written by any other person except where due references

is made in the text.
Copyright@ 2017. Gregorius Tricella Marikhi and Dian Toar Y. G. Sumakul, M.
A.
All right reserved. No part of this thesis may be produced by any means without
the permission of a least on of the copyright owners or the English Languege
Education Program, Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Kristen Satya
Wacana, Salatiga.
Gregorius Tricella Marikhi

iii

Table of Contents
Abstract ...................................................................................................................1
Introduction ............................................................................................................1
Review of Literature ..............................................................................................3
Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) ........................................................3
Theories in M-Learning ...........................................................................................5
Impacts of M-Learning in Language Learning ........................................................6
Learners‟ Perception in MALL ................................................................................7
The Study ................................................................................................................9

Context .....................................................................................................................9
Participants ...............................................................................................................9
The Instruments of Data Collection .......................................................................10
Data Collection Procedure ....................................................................................10
Data Analysis Procedure .......................................................................................11
Discussion ..............................................................................................................11
Willingness to adopt the mobile technology for Learning .....................................11
The Improvement of Knowledge ...........................................................................13
Casual Usage of Mobile Device .............................................................................15
Technical Problem experienced by the Learners ...................................................18
Network ..............................................................................................................18
Power ..................................................................................................................19
The Performance of the Mobile Phone ...............................................................20
Inverse Opinion on Mobility in Learning ..............................................................21
Conclusion.............................................................................................................22
Acknowledgement ................................................................................................24
References .............................................................................................................25

iv

Appendix ...............................................................................................................28

v

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION TOWARDS THE USE OF MOBILE PHONES
IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Gregorius Tricella Marikhi

Abstract
Nowadays, mobile phones start to take part in the process of EFL learning. With
the development of technology, EFL learners are able to learn through their
mobile phones. However, the incorporation of technology in teaching and learning
should take into account the learners‟ perception on it. Correspondingly, this
study looked at how EFL learners perceive the use of mobile phones in their
learning. To get the data, this qualitative descriptive study used interview
questions adapted from Suki & Suki (2011). There were eight students
participated in this study. The results showed that the learners‟ perceptions could
be categorized into 5 different themes, namely their willingness to adopt the
technology, the improvement of their knowledge, the casual usage of mobile
phones, technical problems, and the performance of the mobile phones. However,

all of the participants agreed that despite their positive perceptions toward the use
of mobile phones in their learning, mobile phones could not change face-to-face
meetings in the classrooms.
Keywords: EFL Learning, Perception, Language Learners, Features.

INTRODUCTION
Since learning English is very popular in non-English speaking countries,
developing modern assisted-learning tools that support effective English learning
is considered to be a critical issue in the English-language education field.
Nowadays, Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) is currently attracting a
great deal of attention (Stockwell & Sotillo, 2011). However, students‟

1

exploitation of technological developments needs to be guided by more than just
enthusiasm. The students from all levels tend to use mobile phones especially in
their English language learning. They prefer to use the applications in their mobile
phones to help them in language learning such as finding the difficult words and
to search some information on the internet.
Mobile devices provide the opportunities for the learners to collaborate,

discuss the content with their classmates and instructors, and to engage new
meaning and understanding. Hoffman and Pang (2009) stated that mobile social
media applications provide collaborative and engaging opportunities for students.
Furthermore, Cochrane and Bateman (2010) identify how the use of
mobilecomputing devices in one project-based course created a sense of
connectivity with students, instructors and their clients by giving the opportunity
to access the Internet to blog about work progress, to share photos and to
communicate using instant or text messaging.
Since students of FLA UKSW are also familiar with the use of mobile
phones in their learning, this research aimed to find out the perceptions of FLA
UKSW students toward learning English using mobile phones. The research
question for this study was “what are the students‟ perspectives of learning
English through mobile phones? Through this study, the researcher wanted to
contribute in this area of study. The significance of this study is to know the
learners‟ progress of their study by using mobile phone. Moreover, the teachers
could be the facilitator to facilitate the learners in learning English as a foreign

2

language. This present study examined students‟ perspective toward mobile

learning in learning English.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL)
Quinn (2000) defines m-learning (mobile learning) as the “intersection of
mobile computing and e-learning (electronic learning): accessible resources
wherever you are, strong search capabilities, rich interaction, powerful support for
effective learning, and performance-based assessment. E-learning is independent
of location in time or space” (p. 8). Meanwhile, Sharples, Taylor, and Vavoula
(2007) define it as the process of conversations across multiple contexts amongst
people and personal interactive technologies. Wood (2003) indicates that mlearning is location-based, situation-dependent and based on the interaction
between mobile devices and learners. A wide definition of m-learning is the
ability to learn independently in the context of place and time, facilitated by a
range of mobile devices (Learn direct & Kineo, 2007). To construct a fixed
meaning toward mobile learning is untenable, as mobile learning is the summation
of multiple and evolving concepts (El-Hussein & Cronje, 2010). Moreover,
mobile computing devices have included compact technologies such as cell
phones and smart phones, and these may include tablet computers, laptop
computers, and net books (Valk et al., 2010). Based on the definitions above,
MALL is the process of learning independently among the learners where they

3

can learn by using the electronic devices such as: mobile phones, computers,
laptop, netbooks, etc.
Regarding the use of mobile devices in education, Dong and Agogino
(2004) conclude that Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), or mlearning, is most useful when it links with the real-world situation to the relevant
information resources. For example, when the learners find it difficult to know the
meaning of certain information, they can use mobile phones to make them
understand about of the particular information. Therefore, it would motivate them
in using mobile phone as their media in studying English.
Furthermore, Winters (2007), Sharples et al. (2007), Traxler (2007, 2010),
Cook, Pachler, and Bradley (2008), and Pachler, Bachmeir, and Cook (2010)
identify mobile learning as both formal and informal. Formal learning, by design,
is where learners are engaging with the materials developed by a teacher to be
used during a program of instruction in a highly structured, institutionally
sponsored, and generally recognized in terms of a certificate or a credit upon
completion educational environment (Colley, Hodkinson, & Malcom, 2003). For
example, the learners do the formal learning in class with the teacher as a
facilitator in their learning. The learners learn the materials given by the teacher in

the class. Furthermore, informal learning is often defined as learning that results
from “daily work-related, family or leisure activities” (Halliday-Wynes & Beddie,
2009, p. 3). As an example, when the learners want to learn about certain topics,
but they do not do it in the class or even the school, but they do it wherever they
are, exclude school or the others educational institution.

4

Theories in m-learning
According to Stockwell (2016), the main theories in mobile learning are
divided into two parts. The first one is called Second Language Acquisition (SLA)
theory. This theory talks about the way how the learners could achieve through
mobile phone learning. For example, Glenn Stockwell used an approach from
Lan, Sung and Chang (2009) that is called constructive approach. It means that
the learners make their own foundation for their study in using mobile phone.
However, de la Fuente (2014) tried to use noticing hypothesis to listening task in
learning the other language to the English native speakers. The learners using
their mobile phone were compared with the learners using computer. It showed
that the learners using mobile phone got a higher score than the learners using
computer because of the learners had more control in using mobile phone instead

of computers, which were controlled by the teacher.
The second theory from Stockwell (2016) is called Cognitive Psychology.
It is divided into two theories: dual coding and cognitive load theory. Dual coding
theory was originally written by Paivio in 1970s, but then it was updated so many
times because of findings from related psychological research (Paivio, 2007). The
point of this theory is learning through verbal and non-verbal code combination.
Verbal here is text, while non-verbal is visual. Furthermore, according to Glenn
Stockwell, cognitive load theory talked about the quantity and quality of the
information that is required to be processed. However, there is an extension and
the most appropriate way to these theories related to technology is multimedia
learning (Mayer, 2001&2009). Moreover, Mayer also added that the more the
5

channels (combination of auditory and visual input) that the learners have, the
more effective the learners could learn.
Impacts of m-learning in language learning
Mobile phone is the most outstanding thing that is being used by many
people around the world. Among the types of technologies, GSM (Global System
for Mobile Communications) is still the most popular mobile technology
(MarketResearch.com, 2009). In the researcher‟s opinion, the challenges for the

learners about mobile learning (m-learning) is about the addiction to playing
games or chatting through the social media which is on the gadget. It can be
stopped if there is no Internet connection in that gadget, so that they could learn
and doing their homework by using that kind of technology that has some
applications which do not require Internet connection such as offline dictionary.
By using mobile devices, actually there are some theories which are
potential for students to access references materials to support doing their
homework/assignment. According to Stockwell (2016), there are three roles of
mobile devices despite the sizes and input limitation. The first theory is ubiquitous
learning. It is more practical because the learners could bring their mobile phone
anytime and everywhere including to non-learning time or place. Accordingly,
learners would be able to use that easily because it retrenches their time if they
want to do their homework. The second theory is called distributed cognition. The
learners could use their mobile phone to set everything in it without forgetting
their schedule, because it was set on their phone that they have. Therefore, they
feel enjoy using mobile phone without losing any schedule that they have. The
6

last theory about the roles of mobile device is called situated learning. Mobile
device is a probable media for students to interact with their surroundings,
famously it is well-known as GPS (Global Positioning Systems). By using GPS,
the mobile devices „know‟ where it is or receives input that is applicable to a
particular event or action. As the impact of mobile technology on the learning
process is to contemplate about how the mobility on the devices could adjust the
learning environment. Despite of that, mobile devices can also advance students
to another type of learning process where the students interact with or
communicate to their surroundings in order to assist a meaningful learning.
Stockwell (2016) also added by knowing how potential the roles of mobile
devices of the learning approaches could achieve teaching and learning goals
which are relevant. It is also important to consider the learning outcome from the
potential impact of using mobile devices which adjust to when the devices are
used. Hence, students are expected to be thoughtful in using mobile device as the
media for them to support their learning process to be better as the impact of
technology.

Learners’ perceptions in MALL
It is important that teachers explore their learners' perceptions on factors
believed to enhance the learning of a new language and make effort to deal with
potential conflicts between learners‟ beliefs and instructional practices. Since
learners are supposed to learn language, it is essential to identify the perceptions

7

to anticipate the behavior to a large extent. Hence, the learners‟ perceptions can be
aligned to the use of mobile phones as a tool/media to language learning. The
learners‟ interests in using mobile phone may enhance a meaningful result in
language learning achievement.
There have been studies that look at the students‟ perceptions on the use of
technology in their learning. One example is Attewell (2005) about m-Learning
project in three partner countries, UK, Italy and Sweden. She looked at learners‟
motivation to learn a foreign language with an SMS-based course. She found out
that 82% of respondents claimed that their reading comprehension and spelling
skills improved with the help of mobile learning games, while 62% of them were
enthusiastic about m-Learning and, thus, willing to learn this way in the future.
She further pointed out some significant cognitive and psychological advantages
of m-Learning – e.g. collaborative learning among learners – noting that their selfesteem and self-confidence can be boosted.
Another example is from Suki & Suki (2011) who found that the students
did not like m-learning since the majority of the students did not rely greatly on
mobile phones in accessing their learning materials, such as lectures and lab
sessions. They were more familiar with studio-based and face-to-face learning
approaches instead of m-learning. Therefore, they were not receptive to this new
idea of learning using mobile technology, even though they always used the
mobile device features such as the SMS and other chatting applications and also
infotainment and entertainment applications. The limitations in the mobile device
feature, costs and its usage become the prominent factors that hinder the students
8

from fully accomplishing their m-learning exercises. This setback causes various
challenges for the lecturer on how the best learning method should be designed
and delivered to the students because the students were skeptical to this new
learning approach and they could not see any relevance in using the technology.

The Study
Context
The research was a descriptive qualitative study on students‟ perception in
using mobile phones in EFL learning at Faculty of Language and Arts in
Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana. Descriptive method was chosen because it has
the derive acceptance as a valid form of research in education. Borg and Gall
(1989) state that descriptive research describes natural or man-made educational
phenomena those are of interest to policy makers and educators. It observed the
students‟ perception in learning English as a foreign language using mobile
phones.
Participants
There were eight students (five females and three males) in Faculty of
Language and Arts at Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana who belong to English
Language Education (ELE) Program that were selected as the participants of this
study. The respondents are from BATCH 2012 because they are the students with
the most learning experience in the department. They have taken most of the
courses offered and thus experienced in different types of teaching and learning

9

approaches, techniques, including m-learning. Thus, the researcher wanted to get
a perfect reason in answering the researcher‟s questions which were asked. They
were selected randomly based on the target age that had been said before.
Moreover, the researcher used pseudonyms from Participant 1 until Participant 8.
The Instruments of data collection
This study used interview questions that were adapted from Suki & Suki
(2011) as the tool for data collecting. Interview method is suitable for this
research since it requires several types of information (Wray & Bloomer, 2006).
As stated by Creswell (2008), the interview allows the researcher to discover and
to identify some pertinent points that are relevant to the study and would not
have been obtained through the other methods discussed. Furthermore, by
conducting the interview, the researchers would get richer data, opinions, patterns,
and various thoughts toward the topic (Carlson, 2008). In order to make the
researcher gather maximum qualitative data and to communicate easily with the
participants, the researcher considered using Bahasa Indonesia in the interview.
When it is presented in this manuscript, the results of the interview have been
translated into English.
Data Collection Procedure
This study was started by making appointments with the participants to be
interviewed. After the permission was granted, the participants were interviewed
about their perception of using mobile phone in learning English as a foreign
language. The interview sessions were recorded using an audio recorder to collect

10

the data without losing any moments. The recording was then transcribed for data
analysis.
Data analysis procedure
Based on the participants‟ answer, the analysis could be done. After the
data collection was completed, the transcribed interview results were analyzed
based on the approach used by Suki & Suki (2011). During the analysis, the data
were grouped into different categories based on the emerged themes and being
discussed to see their pedagogical implications in language learning.

DISCUSSION
This section discusses the findings of this study. The data shows that
most participants showed positive perceptions towards the use of mobile phones
in learning. Based on Suki and Suki‟s (2011) approaches to mobile learning, the
findings were grouped into 5 themes: (1) the willingness to adopt mobile phone in
learning English, (2) the improvement of knowledge, (3) the casual usage of
mobile phone, (4) the technical problem that is experienced by the learners. It is
divided into three parts, such as: network, power, and the performance of the
mobile phone itself, (5) the mobile phone itself.

Willingness to adopt the mobile technology for learning
A new technology would be beneficial if the users show positive
acceptance to it. The same case applies to the use of mobile phones in language

11

learning. Mobile phones would be more effective if learners are willing to use
them in their learning.
In this study, the interview data indicated that all participants show
willingness to adopt the mobile technology for their learning. For example,
Participant 2 said that:
“In my opinion about using phone in learning English as a
foreign language is very helpful, because it is a medium to
search the information that we don‟t know about English
material.” (Participant 2 / my translation)
From that statement, she agreed that mobile phones can help her in learning
English, because from the Internet, she could find anything that she wanted to find
out. That was why she wanted to use mobile phone for her study. Another
example is from participant 4:
“We need technology usage, like handphone because it is
easier, faster, and able to be used everywhere.” (Participant 4 /
my translation)

It can be concluded that from her statement, she liked to use mobile phones in
learning English because the benefits of that kind of technology can help her to
learn English as a foreign language better.
Reflecting on the two representative examples above, students nowadays
are familiar with the use of technology, even in their learning, especially in
learning English as a foreign language. Therefore, as learners are already aware
with the potentials of mobile phones in learning, they could use their phones to
access learning materials outside the classroom. This could help them in their
12

learning. It is in line with Quinn (2000) who defines m-learning (mobile learning)
as the “intersection of mobile computing and e-learning (electronic learning):
accessible resources wherever you are, strong search capabilities, rich interaction,
powerful support for effective learning, and performance-based assessment. Elearning is independent of location in time or space” (p. 8). Therefore, the learners
could learn effectively about the materials wherever and whenever they want by
using mobile phones.

The Improvement of Knowledge
By making a good use of mobile phone in this internet-era, students can
easily enhance their knowledge of difficult subjects. They can definitely broaden
their knowledge to the next level with the help of Internet. The use of mobile
device plays a part as a practical assistant to help the students understand the
particular of difficult subjects. For instance, if they encounter some problems in
their traditional face-to-face learning section with their teachers or if they have the
difficulty in understanding the printed materials or even textbooks, they can
simply look up in the internet through their personal mobile phones. A mobile
phone could help the learners in their learning.
From the interviews, it was indicated that all of the participants showed that
mobile phones could help them learning, especially in learning English as a
foreign language. For example, Participant 4 said that:
“A dictionary that is in the smartphone is very helpful, because
I don‟t need to bring such a heavy dictionary. Just bring a
smartphone, I can use it everywhere. Besides that, Brainly.com
can help me when I want to make a material for lesson plan.

13

There are also Schoology, Edmodo, and F-Learn as a media
between lecturer and students. There is also google translate
which make it easier to translate sentences and a reading text.”
(Participant 4 / my translation)

From her statement, it can be concluded that she thought mobile phone can help
for her learning, especially in learning English as a foreign language. It could help
her because some applications were useful for her better learning, especially in her
faculty, she needed to improve her language. That is why she was helped by this
kind of technology to do so. As an addition, the use of mobile phone enables some
software or even the websites to be accessed easily and flexibly. It could also help
the relation between her and the teacher where the teacher shared the materials,
and she could see it in her mobile phone. Moreover, she could also send or post
the assignment by using the mobile phone easily. Another example is from
participant 6. He said that:
“There are many applications that is in my mobile phone, such
as online dictionary which can help me to understand some
vocabularies that I haven‟t understood. Moreover, there is a
mp3 player which the song is in English. It motivates me to
learn pronunciation correctly.” (Participant 6 / my translation)

As what he had said, he agreed that using mobile phone could help his learning,
because there are some applications that could help his learning, especially online
dictionary. He could use it for translate some vocabularies that he finds it difficult
to translate. Furthermore, there is mp3 player that could help him for listening and
pronunciation well in English. Therefore, he can improve his listening and
pronunciation competence.

14

From the statements above, it could be reflected that the use of the mobile phone
is not only for communication, but also for the learning. Suki & Suki (2011)
stated that the more useful the applications in the gadget, the more information
that the users can get. Therefore, the learners can earn more knowledge about the
information that they want to know. In addition, the learners also learn about how
to use the gadget itself instead of learning about some information. Besides using
gadget for communicating only, the user could use it for learning (Suki & Suki,
2011). The result of the interview can be indicated the participants can get more
knowledge, especially vocabulary, content-related, listening, and pronunciation by
using the gadget properly. Because of the applications in the gadget, the learners
felt thankful and were very happy to use them both for communicating and
learning.
Moreover, nowadays there are many varieties of mobile phones with
different specification of it. The participants liked the idea that mobile technology
could improve their knowledge. They could learn through mobile phones about
something that they do not know, and they feel curious, so they try to use it to
search about the certain material, and it works.
Casual Usage of Mobile Device
Many learners find some difficulties in learning English as a foreign
language. With some helps of mobile phone, they can enhance their knowledge of
English. They can learn wherever they want, even in class or outside of the class.

15

It was shown from the interview result, that the majority of all of the participants
agreed with the statement that “mobile technology could enhance their knowledge
of difficult subjects.” (Suki & Suki, 2011). It is proven by the quotation from
participant 4:
“I usually studied at home, because it made me more focus in a
quiet place. Moreover, I used mobile phone for offline
dictionary that is in my mobile phone.” (Participant 4 / my
translation)

It can be interpreted from her statement that she found it easier to accelerate or
improve her knowledge and to solve her problems that she encounters in learning
English by using mobile phone at home because she got more attention in learning
English in a quiet place. By using that, she also added that mobile phone is the
appropriate media to look up relevant theories from many reliable sources.
Moreover, she was helped in learning English by the applications in her mobile
phone such as offline dictionary.
Moreover, this finding is in line with Abilene Christian University (ACU)
Mobile Learning Reports (2010) stating that the use of the Internet is an example
of informal learning. Taking everything into account, informal learning is often
defined

as

learning

that

results

daily,

informal

activities

(Halliday-

Wynes & Beddie, 2009, p. 3). It is often intentional but unstructured and
contextualized (Marsick & Watkins, 2001). This type of learning is sometimes

“unanticipated, unorganized, and often unacknowledged, even by the learner”
(Jubas, 2010, p. 229).Despite the unstructured methods, learners are willing to

16

utilize their mobile phones in learning. Furthermore, this is in line with Mottiwalla
(2007) stated that mobile learning “combines individualized learning with
anytime and anywhere learning” (p. 2). Therefore, learners could learn by using
mobile phone wherever they wanted to learn, or even outside of the classroom.
Moreover, the informal learning could be concluded that it was a learning activity
outside of the classroom. So when the learners wanted to learn outside of the
classroom, it was called informal learning. This kind of learning has some benefits
for the learners. The learners could learn wherever and whenever they want by
using mobile phone. For the learners those like study in a quiet place, they feel so
happy to learn, and make them easy to understand the certain topics by using
mobile phone while learning.
However, there is an example from participant 1 who gave the opposite statement:
“I prefer to ask about something to my lecturer who mastering
about the certain material/topic, because I don‟t completely
believe in online learning.” (Participant 1 / my translation)

She did not say that mobile phone could enhance her knowledge of difficult
subjects. She tends to ask to the lecturer who is mastering about the certain
material than browsing it from the Internet. The casual usage of mobile phone is
not always could be applied by all people. Because of that, there are some people
who are not able using mobile phones as the learning media.
Reflecting on the example above, this is in line with Suki & Suki‟s (2011)
study, it showed that the learners tend to do face-to-face learning than m-learning.

17

They found some problems in using mobile phone, such as the network and the
specification of their mobile phone. That was why all of the participants prefer
face to face learning than using mobile phone in learning EFL. Moreover, in
online learning is not completely true about the certain topics. Due to these
limitations, the students-participants were skeptical toward the usage of mobile
phone for their learning English as a foreign language. In-class and face-to-face
meeting with the teacher is still dominant or preferable by the students.
Technical problems experienced by the learners
In learning English by using mobile phone, it is not as simple as what
people usually imagine or think. There must be some problems that learners
commonly face in learning English by using that kind of electronic thing.
Therefore, this part discusses about the kinds of problem that the learners find
when they use their mobile phone in learning English as a foreign language
(EFL). It is divided into three parts: network, power, and the performance of the
mobile phone itself.
Network
Some mobile phones have a weakness on network depend on the operator of
their SIM card, so the mobile phone cannot be used for learning or even to
search some information that they want to know from the internet. This part
will discuss about how the participants respond through the interview. Some
of the participants agreed that the problem in learning by using mobile phone
is on the network. One example is coming from Participant 2:

18

“In campus, there is a problem with the network connection.
Besides that, the wi-fi connection is just only in the certain
place.” (Participant 2 / my translation)

As what she had just said before, she found it difficult to study by using
mobile phone and it turned out to be not as easy as she thought. She tried hard
to use mobile phone when the network was so bad. Moreover, although there
was a Wi-Fi connection in campus, it was hard too because it is a public
network that every people in campus are able to use it, so it needs more effort
in learning English as a foreign language by using mobile phone than learning
from the teacher who is the master of certain topics.
Power
There are so many kinds of smartphones which have different power capacity
of its battery. Some learners must use their mobile phone in a long time to
learn about something that they want to know. Because of that, they often
make the power of their mobile phones runs low. When the battery is running
low, the learners cannot continue their study if they do not bring their charger
to recharge their mobile phone. In addition, if they feel shy to ask to the
teacher, how they can learn/study by using mobile phone if the power is
running out. That is why they should use their mobile phones as effective as
possible.
This part shows that some participants agree that the mobile phone‟s power
issue is one of many problems in learning English as a foreign language. Here
is the statement from Participant 5:

19

“The battery of the smartphone itself can run out in a short
time, so I find it difficult to earn some information that I want
to find out by using that kind of technology.” (Participant 5 /
my translation)

Based on his statement, he said that he tends to study from someone who
masters the certain topic, than to learn by using the mobile phone itself
because he found it hard to use it when the battery is running out. Moreover,
his battery in his smartphone is very lavish on her smartphone‟s battery
because it has a low power.
The performance of the mobile phone
Each mobile phone has different specifications. There are many phones that
have high specification and low specification. High specification is a
specification that is used clearly, more advanced technology, while low
specification is a specification when it is used to search some information, and
there are some problems, such as too long waiting, not responding, and so on.
This part will discuss about how the performance of the mobile phone affect
the learners in their learning English as a foreign language. Many participants
agreed that the performance of the mobile phone could affect their learning
process. Here is the example from Participant 2:
“When I use dictionary, there is a certain word that there is not
available in it.” (Participant 2 / my translation)

It can be interpreted that she found it hard to find the certain information
from her mobile phone. Moreover, she could not know about the certain

20

knowledge that she wants to find out, so she could not do more with her
mobile phone.
Inverse opinion on mobility in learning
Learning English as a foreign language is not an easy thing. It could be
done in so many ways, such as: reading, asking lecturer, or even searching it on
the internet using mobile phone. However, using mobile phone cannot change the
educational function of the university. Many people thought that m-learning is the
appropriate way in learning English, but it is not. The role of the teachers is to
facilitate the learners in learning English in the class. In this session, all of the
participants agreed about the ideas that mobile phone cannot change the
educational function of the teachers. In other words, technology including mobile
phones and the other devices are only a tool for the learners to learning.
Here is the example from participant 1:
“There must be so many weaknesses in using m-learning
method, because we do not study reading and writing only, but
we also need listening and speaking skill in learning English as
a foreign language.” (Participant 1 / my translation)

It can be interpreted that she still needs the teacher in learning, because mlearning is not good enough in learning English. It just focuses on reading and
writing, but in learning English as a foreign language, we need to have all of the
element skills, such as: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Another example is from Participant 2:
Dengan menggunakan mobile learning, dosen tidak mengetahui
perkembangannya kita itu gimana.

21

In using m-learning, the lecturers do not know how far our
progress in learning English is.

Although she wants to use mobile phone in learning English, she agreed that
mobile phone cannot change the teachers‟ role, because in m-learning, the
teachers do not know how far our progress is.

CONCLUSION

The main purpose in this study is to find out the students‟ perception
toward using mobile phone in learning English as a foreign language. Based on
the result of this study, there were 5 different aspects that were investigated:
(1)the willingness to adopt mobile phone in learning English, (2)the improvement
of knowledge, (3) the casual usage of mobile phone, (4) the technical problem that
is experienced by the learners, and (5) about the mobile phone itself.

Overall, from the interview that had been done with all of the participants,
it showed that mostly they accepted that mobile learning was good in learning
English as a foreign language (EFL). They could improve their knowledge in
learning English as a foreign language. Furthermore, all of the participants agreed
that However, some of participants said that they found some difficulties in using
mobile phone in learning English, such as: the network, the power, and the
performance of the mobile phone itself. Furthermore, in learning English, the
participants were willing to use mobile phone because they could find the material
that they did not know easily. Also, they also said that it was a good media for

22

learning English. Therefore, they could understand the certain topic by using that
kind of technology. They could enrich their knowledge by using mobile phone in
learning English. Although they agreed to use mobile phone in their language
learning, they did not agree that mobile phone could not change the role of the
teachers. Mobile phone is just as a tool or media that could help the learners in
learning English. The result showed that all of the participants felt that they still
need face-to-face learning than mobile learning in learning English as a foreign
language.
Despite the findings, I have to confess that this study needs improvement.
As this is a smallcase study, it awaits more studies in more various study areas,
i.e. the usage of mobile phone in learning English for young learner. I also call
into question whether the used of mobile phone should be used for young learners
for better improvements of English language learning. Moreover, I still need more
suggestions in doing this research, because I realize that the number of the
participants is very limit. Besides that, the method in this study is just rely on
interview only, that is why I need more suggestions in doing this study rely on the
questionnaire, observation, and the other method in order to enrich the data.

23

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This study becomes a reality with the kind support and help of many individuals. I
would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them. First and foremost, I want
to offer this endeavor to Jesus Christ for without His graces and blessings, this
study would not have been possible. My deep gratitude also goes to my
supervisor, Pak Dian Toar Y.G. Sumakul, M.A., whose expertise, understanding,
generous guidance, unwavering support and mentorship made it possible for me to
finish this study. Also, I would also like to thank my examiner, Yustina Priska
Kisnanto, S.Pd, M.Hum for the comments and constructive criticism for my thesis
improvisation. Nevertheless, I dedicate this study to my parents for supporting
me, both morally and financially. It is their unconditional love that motivates me
to set higher targets. I just want to say thank you to all of the participants for the
time to me to be interviewed. I place on record, my sense of gratitude to one and
all who, directly or indirectly, have lent their helping hand in this venture. Also, I
would like to give my thankful to Ranitia Apriliani Hartono, Putra Pamungkas,
and Kevin Henadi for your help in improving my draft as well. The last but not
least, I just want to say thank you to all of you that I cannot mention here one by
one for your motivation to me in doing my thesis.

24

REFERENCES

Abilene Christian University (ACU). (2010). Mobile Learning Report. Retrieved
January 6, 2012 from http://issuu.com/abilenechristian/docs/acu_200910_mobile_learning_ report

Attewell,J.(2005). Mobile Technologies and Learning. A technology update and
m-learning project summary. Published by the Learning and Skills

Development Agency. Retrieved April 12, 2016 from http://www.mlearning.org/docs/.

Borg, W. R. & Gall, M. D. (1989). Educational research: An introduction. New
York: Longman.
Carlsson, T. (2008). Homework for English from the students’ perspective.
Retrieved July 6, 2015, from
https://dspace.mah.se/bitstream/handle/2043/7664/dissertation%20tho
mas%20carlsson.pdf?sequence=1

Chapelle, C. A. (2001). Computer applications in second language acquisition:
Foundations for teaching, testing, and research. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Colley, H., Hodkinson, P., & Malcom, J. (2003). Informality and formality in
learning: A report for the learning and skills research centre. University of

Leeds, United Kingdom: Lifelong Learning Institute.
Cook, J., Pachler, N., & Bradley, C. (2008). Bridging the gap: Mobile phones at
the interface between informal and formal learning. Journal of the
Research Center for Educational Technology, 4(1).

25

de la Fuente, M. J. (2014) „Learners‟ attention to input during focus on form
listening tasks: The role of mobile technology in the second language
classroom‟, Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(3): 261–276.
Halliday-Wynes, S., & Beddie, F.(2009). Informal learning at a glance. Adelaide,
Australia: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.
Lan, Y.-J., Sung, Y.-T. and Chang, K.-E. (2009) „Let us read together:
Development and evaluation of a computer-assisted reciprocal early
English reading system‟, Computers & Education, 53: 1188–1198.
Levy, M. (1997). Computer-assisted language learning: Context and
conceptualization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

MarketResearch.com. (2009). Global mobile communications-statistics, trends
and forecasts [online] . Retrieved July 24, 2015,

fromhttp://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp? Productid
=2156557&g=1

Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. (1990). Informal and incidental learning in the
workplace. London and New York: Routledge.

Marsick, V. J., & Watkins, K. E. (2001). Informal and incidental learning. New
Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 89, 25 –34.

Motiwalla, L. F. (2007). Mobile learning: A framework and evaluation.
Computers & Education, 49(3), 581-596

Paivio, A. (2007) Mind and Its Evolution: A Dual Coding Theoretical Approach,
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

26

Pachler, N., Bachmeir, B., & Cook, J. (2010). Mobile learning: Structures,
agencies, practices. New York: Springer.

Quinn, C. (2000). M-learning: Mobile, wireless, in-your-pocket learning;
Linezine: Learning in the new economy [online]. Retrieved March 24,

2015, from http://www.linezine.com/2.1/features/cqmmwiyp.htm

Salaberry, M. R. (2001). The use of technology for second language learning and
teaching: A retrospective. The Modern Language Journal, 85 (1), 39-56.

Sharples, M., Taylor, J., & Vavoula, G. (2007). A theory of learning for the
mobile age. In R. Andrews, & C. Haythornthwaite (Eds.), The sage
handbook of e-learning research (pp. 221-47). London: Sage.

Suki & Suki (2011). Using Mobile Device for Learning From Students’
Perspective. (Journal Article).

Traxler, J. (2007). Defining, discussing and evaluating mobile learning: The
moving finger writes and having writes. The International Review of

Research in Open and Distance Learning, 8(2).

Traxler, J. (2010). Distance education and mobile learning: Catching up, taking
stock. Distance Education, 31(2), 129–138.

Wray & Bloomer, A. (2006). Projects in linguistics. 2nd edn .London: Hodder
Arnold.

Winters, N. (2007). What is mobile learning? In M. Sharples (Ed.), Big issues in
mobile learning (pp.7–11). Learning Sciences Research Institute: England:

University of Nottingham.

27

Appendix
Interview Questions (Suki & Suki, 2011)
1. bagaimana pendapat kamu tentang penggunaan handphone dalam pembelajaran
bahasa inggris?
2. apakah fasilitas yang terdapat di handphone kamu dapat membantu kamu dalam
mempelajari bahasa inggris?
3. bagaimana pendapat kamu tentang pembelajaran dengan menggunakan
handphone dapat meningkatkan pengetahuanmu pada mata pelajaran yang
menurut kamu itu sulit untuk dipahami?
4. apa ada masalah ketika kamu belajar dengan menggunakan jenis teknologi ini?
5. menurut kamu, apa yang dimaksud dengan konsep mobile-learning?
Apakah di masa depan mobile learning dapat menggantikan peran pendidikan
formal seperti universitas?

1. Willingness to adopt the mobile technology for learning. All of the
participants, S 01, S 02, S O3, S 04, S 05, S 06, S 07, S 08, S 09 and S 10
were willing to adopt mobile technology for learning.
2. Improvement of knowledge. All of the participants liked the idea that
mobile technology could improve their knowledge.
3. Casual usage of mobile device. Many students noted that mobile
technology could enhance their knowledge of difficult subjects.
4. Network problem. Some of the participants agree that the problem in
learning by using mobile phone is on the network.
- Power. Many participants agree that it takes too much time, so the
battery of the smartphone itself is sometimes running out.
- Technical. A little number of participants clarified that their mobile
phone have some features, so it affects on the performance of their
own mobile phone, or the data usage is running out.
5. Inverse opinion on mobility in learning. The participants agreed that
the function of the mobile phone could not change the function of the
university in learning English as a foreign language.
- Acceptance on mobility in learning. All of the participants were
reluctant to accept the new concept of mobility in learning. They
preferred the face-to-face lecture and tutorial as the best media for
learning instead of mobile phones.

28

Participants

Willingness to adopt mobile
phone

Nana

Menurut saya, penggunaan
handphone dalam
pembelajaran bahasa inggris
itu cukup baik.

Improvement of knowledge

- Mempermudah kita seumpama kita kesulitan
dalam memahami materi
- Kita pake kamus online atau apapun itu, kan
sangat membantu, terus selebihnya kayak buat
browsing, download materi, atau upload tugas,
atau cari informasi.

Casual usage of mobile device

Network

She did not say that mobile phone
could enhance her knowledge of
difficult subject. She tends to ask
to the lecturer than browsing from
the internet.

Kalo sinyalnya ga
ada kan kita juga
kesulitan untuk
menggunakan
handphone untuk
cari informasi
ataupun browsing

Aku lebih suka bertanya sama
guru yang lebih menguasai
tentang materi tersebut, karena
aku kurang percaya sama online
learning.

29

Rintan

Fitri

Wiwid

pendapat aku tentang
penggunaan handphone
dalam pembelajaran bahasa
inggris itu sangat membantu
ya, karena handphone itu
adalah sebuah media untuk
mencari hal-hal yang tidak
kita ketahui tentang suatu
materi bahasa inggris.

- kadang kita sendiri masih memiliki
pengetahuan yang limit dan kadang juga kita
malu untuk bertanya pada dosen, misalnya aku
ga tau tentang isu ini, misalnya LGBT, habis
itu kan kita malu mau nanya, jadi lebih baik
liat di internet sehingga aku ngerti dengan apa
yang dimaksud dengan LGBT
- Soal fasilitas itu sendiri atau aplikasi yang
terdapat di dalam handphone mungkin ada
etmodo, trus ada schoology juga, trus ada
kamus bilingual sama monolingual, sama
internet browser, sama WPS (dokumen
dokumen word, pdf, power point) yang
dengan mudah untuk membukanya di
handphone tanpa harus repot repot untuk
membuka laptop untuk membukanya

- pada era yang sangat modern - kita bsa memperoleh banyak informasi melalui
ini, handphone menjadi salah
handphone.
satu alat penting dalam
- disediain banyak fasilitas kayak internet, nah
kehidupan kita.
melalui internet kita b