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Title:
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THE USE OF MOBILE DEVICES OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM FOR SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING AMONG FEMALE EFL STUDENTS IN SAUDI ARABIA |
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Author(s):
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Fatimah Albedah and Chwee Beng Lee |
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ISBN:
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978-989-8533-71-5 |
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Editors:
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Piet Kommers, Tomayess Issa, Pedro Isaías and Ana Hol |
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Year:
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2017 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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Self-Directed Learning, Mobile Learning, Outside of the Classroom |
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Type:
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Short Paper |
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First Page:
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152 |
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Last Page:
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156 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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English language proficiency is an increasingly vital skill for employment in Saudi Arabia. However, compulsory English as a foreign language courses at all levels of education have only produced inadequate results. One of the issues consistently raised as a barrier to effective EFL learning is the use of passive learning pedagogies and the lack of self-directed or deep learning in the Saudi EFL curricula. Increasingly, educators globally are turning towards technology to engage their students in more effective learning and they acknowledge that, in order for technologically-enhanced pedagogies to be effective, it is important for them to be congruent with the ways in which learners actually use their devices. However, current research has failed to explore how students use technologies to learn outside of the classroom. Therefore, this research aims to identify how university students at Saudi University taking a compulsory preparatory EFL course use their mobile devices to practice and learn English outside of the classroom. To do this, three phases of data collection are used, one quantitative and two qualitative. Phase one is a quantitative online survey measuring what mobile devices students use for learning, and what English language learning activities they engage in with those devices. Phase two involves the collection of 25 multi-modal journals over a two-week period using the WhatsApp messaging platform to collect text and pictures of participants using their devices to learn in real time. Phase three uses both a focus group interview with the 25 journal participants and individual interviews with each in order to explore the recorded activities in more depth and relate them to models of self-directed learning. Thus, this research aims to collect rich data from multiple perspectives on how, where and why university students use mobile devices for learning outside the classroom in Saudi Arabia, in order to develop effective in-classroom pedagogies. |
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