Students' perceptions of the use of mobile applications technology in learning Arabic as a second language
[Thesis]
Razak W. Abedalla
Pinchot, Jamie L.
Robert Morris University
2015
237
Committee members: Cellante, Donna; Draus, Peter
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-72852-1
D.Sc.
Information Systems and Communications
Robert Morris University
2015
As of 2015, Arabic is one of the strategic languages today. Due to the current state of the Arab homeland politics and recent events of instability in that region, it has become crucial for Americans to learn more about Arab culture and to learn the Arabic language. Arabic is not an easy language to learn for non-native speakers because of its syntactic complexity, lexical sophistication, and variety of scripts and dialects. There is also a lack of literature on the use of mobile applications (apps) technology in learning Arabic; therefore, the researcher chose to focus on the Arabic language in the current study. Mobile technologies have inspired people and educators to use them not only in communications, but also in teaching. Therefore, this study examined students' use of mobile assisted language learning (MALL) apps technology as a supplemental tool to improve their Arabic learning. This study also identified students' perceptions toward the use of MALL apps in the learning of Arabic as a second language. A mixed-method research approach was used to examine the research problem. A questionnaire was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The participants were male and female college students who were recruited from different majors of study from three universities in the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Some of the participants were studying Arabic online and the others were studying Arabic in the classroom. The findings were positive as the majority of the participants liked to use MALL apps in learning Arabic. MALL apps were very helpful and convenient for the participants. The participants reported that MALL apps helped them to improve their speaking proficiency and to improve their Arabic learning skills. The participants were also able to connect with other participants in the class and others beyond the classroom. MALL apps also assisted the participants in comparing their own language and culture with the Arabic language and culture.
Linguistics; Communication; Higher education; Arabic language; Arabic as a second language; Language culture relationship; College students; Computer assisted language learning; Student attitudes; Politics; Questionnaires; Regional dialects; Language teaching methods; Middle Eastern studies; Syntactic complexity; Information technology
Language, literature and linguistics;Social sciences;Communication and the arts;Applied sciences;Education;Arabic as a second language;Mobile applications;Mobile assisted language learning;Mobile computing;Mobile learning