Feasibility Investigation and Development Exploration on Popularizing the Method of English Fragmented Mobile Learning of Undergraduates

TANG Jia-hui,LI Jing

This paper attempts to investigate the feasibility and learning effects of English fragmented learning via mobile devices. Questionnaires and interviews were employed to do the survey on 157 undergraduates from 24 universities in China. The research findings reveal that English fragmented learning via mobile devices has some positive effects on the improvement of learners knowledge and learning ability. In addition， there have been a certain number of useful learning resources and platforms with diversified features. The study has the implications that fragmented mobile learning is feasible and can be popularized in English learning.

Keywords： feasibility investigation， undergraduates， English learning， fragmented mobile learning

1 Introduction

Learners in different levels of English learning with various motivation， need to understand the importance of multifarious platforms， applications and methods of fragmented mobile learning. This study attempts to investigate the current needs and behavior of English learners， the application of fragmented mobile learning and its effect on learners English learning.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Fragmented Learning

Fragmented learning is a new way of learning， which combines fragmented content with micro-medium. It depends mainly on the ecological environment of new media （Hug et al.， 2005）. Fragmented content is the object of fragmented learning， which can be tiny text， images， graphs， videos， audios， a web link or an e-mail （Lindner & Bruck， 2007； Jia， 2020； Jiang & Zhao， 2014； Miu & Qin， 2018； Wang & Tao， 2015； Yang et al.， 2018）.

Foreign research on fragmented learning focuses on following perspectives. Firstly， the application methods of fragmented learning courses. The uppermost application method is the flipped classroom. Secondly， the exploration of learning platforms. In order to construct the functions of learning platforms， current platforms and learners behavior have been studied and analyzed. Then， functions have been increased or decreased by statistics of learners learning habits. Thirdly， exploring the various presentation forms of learning content to help learners learning independently.

Present research on fragmented learning in China mainly includes the connotation interpretation， analysis of advantages， disadvantages and strategies， research on teaching design and platform， micro-lecture source design（Miu & Qin， 2018）.

2.2 Mobile Learning

Mobile learning is a kind of study on mobile devices that can happen at any time and any place. Two primary motivations drive the increasing interest in mobile learning. The first is a desire to equip each student with a powerful individual device. Mobile learning could provide a customized and personalized learning experience that students can learn more effectively. The second is an increasing recognition that in the 21st Century， people must continue to learn throughout their lifetimes， as knowledge advances and technologies rapidly change（Sharples & Pea， 2014）.

In 2001， Chinese Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education issued the pilot project named“Theory and Practice of Mobile Education” with the goal of building a mobile learning platform. With the continuous development of “Internet + Education”， mobile learning has become an indispensable learning method for college students. Mobile learning not only has the characteristics of digital learning， but also has learning characteristics such as mobility， efficiency， autonomy， and contextuality. College students are also willing to accept this convenient learning method （Jia， 2020）.

3 Research Methodology

3.1 Research Questions

This paper was conducted with following questions. Firstly， why English fragmented learning on mobile devices is feasible？ Secondly， whats the current situation and effects of fragmented mobile learning in English？ Thirdly， what can be advanced and perfected in the field of English fragmented mobile learning？

3.2 Participants

The participants of the research were randomly selected from undergraduates in Chinese universities from different provinces. Among all the 148 participants， 68 are male students （46.0%）； 80 are female student （54.0%）； 67 are science and engineering students （45.3%）； 53 are literature and history students （35.8%）； 17 are economy and management students （11.5%）； 11 are other majors （7.4%）， such as education， arts， law， medicine and so on.

3.3 Instruments

3.3.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire comprises four parts. The first part is personal information， including gender， major， education background， name and locational province of universities， English grades in various texts， using status of mobile devices and networks， etc. In the second part， current situation of English fragmented learning on mobile devices is required. Such as the acceptability， popularity， preferential mobile devices， presentation of resources， learning objectives， frequency， duration and situation. In the third part， learners perception of English fragmented mobile learning resources and platforms is acquainted. Five-point Likert scale， ranging from 1 to 5， was used in this part to represent for the degree of agreement. （1= totally disagree， 2= dont really agree， 3= basically agree， 4= agree， 5= fully agree.） The fourth part is designed to know the effects of English fragmented learning on mobile devices， consisting of the extent， aspects， duration and interference factors of improvement.

3.3.2 Interview

In order to reflect more reliable information， 15 interviewees among the 157 from different majors were interviewed deeply. The questions are designed to know English learners cognition， current learning situation and effects of fragmented mobile learning in English， which cover four parts in 5 items. The interviews can get qualitative data to make up the disadvantages of quantitative research of questionnaire in some extent.

3.4 Data Analysis

157 questionnaires were collected， with 94.3% recovery rate. 148 valid questionnaires were used in following data analysis. By using SPSS24.0， the statistics collected by questionnaires was classified and analyzed smoothly. For the purpose of answering the research questions， frequencies and correlation analysis were conducted successively. The frequencies were employed to present feasibility and general situation of fragmented mobile learning. The impact of English fragmented mobile learning was presented by correlation analysis.

4 Result and Discussion

4.1 Feasibility Analysis of English Fragmented Mobile Learning

（1） Supporting technologies and devices

From the result of the questionnaire， 100% participants have mobile devices. 42.3% participants use mobile devices for 7-9 hours per day. There are various kinds of mobile devices， such as mobile phone， tablet PC， laptop， E-book reader and so on， they are all smart and portable. Mobile phone is the top choice. As an interviewee said，“I go to every place with my mobile phone， its tiny and full-featured.”

Network provided by the communication carrier offers unlimited data in higher quality and lower price， Wi-Fi is everywhere， such as schools， dormitories， houses， shopping mall and even canteens. A seamless wireless network environment covering the whole society has been formed， which provides a strong network guarantee for mobile fragmented learning. Research shows that mobile learning will become the mainstream of extracurricular learning and the best way for learners to acquire extra knowledge （Jiang & Zhao， 2014）.

（2） Acceptability and usage intention

Fragmented mobile learning is accepted in English learning， especially in college English. With fragmented mobile learning， 54% participants think that they can expand their extra-curricular knowledge and improve their ability. 45.3% are preparing for certification exams by using specialized applications or platforms. Most participants think that fragmented mobile learning is generally popularized.

Most of the post-90s learners have a positive attitude towards mobile fragmented learning. If learning content is in the form of texts， pictures， animation or videos， its more welcomed by learners. If communication method of learning is bilateral interactive online， its more convenient and easier to promote the enthusiasm of learners. At present， fragmented mobile learning has become the best way for universities to learn independently（Xue， 2014）.

（3） Enrichment of Learning Resources

68.9% participants have fragmented mobile learning by English learning applications， 71% participants know 3-5 English learning platforms or applications. They also learn by learning websites， video platforms， WeChat and QQ platform， English learning forums， English databases and corpus and some other platforms.

The construction of corpus and database by big data， there are more various and abundant learning resources， intelligent computing and analysis of learners degree of learning， and personalized demand. In recent years， China has invested a large amount of funds for the resource construction of university elite courses， open courses， and micro-curricular courses. By technology of internet plus， the system of open online course and the platform of public service have been structured.

4.2 General Situation of English Fragmented Mobile Learning

91.2% have fragmented mobile learning on mobile phone， which has fullest functions and the highest cost performance. Texture is learners favorite resource presentation forms as its efficient in showing largest information. Pictures， audios and videos are also liked by more than half of the learners， multichannel learning can deepen learning impression and strengthen the understanding. 73.9% learners have fragmented learning on mobile devices within 30 minutes， which conforms to the characteristics of fragmented learning.

Although there are many methods for fragmented mobile learning， the most popular is mobile application. The reason of choosing the current application varies， such as breadth and depth of resources， convenient operation and clarifying interface， redesigned materials that fits for fragmented learning， good reputation， veracity and reliability of learning resources， etc.

4.3 The Effects of English Fragmented Mobile Learning

81.5% learners had slight improvement in English performance. 65.0% interviewees had improved in vocabulary， 61.8% had improved in English listening comprehension， 47.1% had improved in reading comprehension， 32.5% had improved in spoken English， 18.5% in English writing， 17.8% in translation and 11.5% in grammar. An interviewee said， “Translation， writing and grammar need longer time for practicing and correcting， they are better learned in fixed relatively long time.”

The Pearson Correlation analysis was implemented to examine the correlation of learners improvements in different aspects after English fragmented mobile learning.

As shown in the table. After a period of fragmented mobile learning， learners interest and motivation of English has been improved slightly， ability of self-learning and acquiring new information to broaden horizon has improved. Moreover， learners can master more learning methods and strategies to apply knowledge in contextual situation. Learners can get improved in fragmentary time which they used to have fun or do meaningless thing， so their self-efficacy can be enhanced. They also learn how to take use of tools and select learning materials to meet individual demands.

14% participants performance has no significant change， and it can be ignored that only 1.3% participantsperformance declined. If fragmented mobile learning is ineffective， here are some reasons. Firstly， learners themselves. Their poor self-control ability， resource integration ability， consciousness and habits of fragmented mobile learning or traditional classroom learning lead to their non-ideal behavior and performance. Secondly， interference of environment or some other things. Noisy environment or something interesting around， messages or pop-up windows will disturb learners learning.

Conclusion

Mobile fragmented learning is still in infancy， and it is necessary for educators or administers at all levels to make policy to support and guide the students mobile learning. Teachers and learners need to be guided to establish the students concept of mobile fragmented learning， keeping up with the development trend. Students need to be guided to form the habits， keep their interest and increase their trust in mobile fragmented learning.

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