Exploring the Effectiveness of LINE for EFL Vocabulary and Reading

Pei-Hsun Emma Liu, Wen-Chi Vivian Wu

Abstract


The development of mobile technology is rapidly changing the environment and the way of learning in school. In addition to facilitating communication, mobile devices (e.g., smart phones and tablets) have made ubiquitous E-learning more accessible and mobile learning more popular. Multimedia messaging service (MMS), such as WhatsApp and LINE, can deliver richer information, including images, audio and video files, to enhance the interest of English learners. However, whether MMS can help students learn English is of interest. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of MMS, LINE in particular, in helping English as a foreign language (EFL) students learn English. The participants were 40 college students enrolled in Freshman English Reading course. Data collection consists of pre- and post-test, MMS messages, student writing, and interviews. Based on the comparison of students’ pre- and post-test, the findings indicate that the LINE-based learning activities helped students familiarize with English vocabulary and improve English reading comprehension. In addition, students who were more engaged in the LINE-based activities tended to have better improvement than those who were less active. In general, most students made improvement and had positive perceptions of the designed activities.

Keywords


mobile-assisted language learning; English as a foreign language; English reading; English vocabulary; multimedia messaging service; LINE

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References


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