Application Of Mobile Phones Apps In College English Vocabulary Learning

Mobile assisted language learning is a rapidly developed learning mode that combines the mobile devices and technology with the theories of language learning.As is known to all,vocabulary is widely accepted to be the foundation of English learning.Increasingly various mobile learning Apps have made their appearances in mobile application market,especially in vocabulary learning.Bai Cizhan well-liked by large quantities of learners is an outstanding example.Therefore,the author tries to testify the effectiveness of mobile vocabulary learning in self-regulated learning which often happens outside the classroom and after school.An empirical study was conducted to verify the effects of Bai Cizhan,a mobile vocabulary learning App.In this study,the author aims to discuss the following two questions:(1)Can using Bai Cizhan improve college students' size and depth of English vocabulary?(2)What are the learners' perceptions of Bai Cizhan?The author carried out a 16-week experiment in which there were two intact classes from life science majors in a college in Lanzhou served as the experimental group(40 subjects)and the control group(30subjects).During the research,the subjects in EG were required to receive the training of the operation of Bai Cizhan,download the App,make a learning plan,and most importantly complete the plan under the supervision from the author.While subjects in CG needed to finish the vocabulary learning by paper-print materials.Then the author will verify learning effects based on tests both in vocabulary size and vocabulary depth,questionnaires and interview as well.After the experiment,all the collected data are analyzed by SPSS 22.0.The results of the study indicate that using Bai Cizhan can have affirmative effects especially on college students' vocabulary depth of English(t=-9.339,p=.000<.05),while effect on vocabulary size shows no significant difference(t=-1.823,p=.076>.05).Moreover,based on the results from the questionnaires and interview,it is obvious that using Bai Cizhan can arouse subjects' learning interest(Item1: mean=3.87)in vocabulary,and Bai Cizhan is considered as useful,effective and entertaining.This research provides the implications and suggestions for further research: in college English vocabulary learning,mobile Apps can effectively enlarge students' vocabulary depth and motivate their learning interest,which also make good use of students' spare time.This new-born vocabulary learning manner can be a vital supplement to college English learning.However,in the process of applying the approach,teachers should pay attention to the role of monitoring in self-regulated learning.