%0 Journal Article
%T Check This Word Out! Exploring the Factors That Affect Students¡¯ Vocabulary Learning Using Smartphones via Partial Least Squares
%A Mohammad Madallh Alhabahba
%A Omer Hassan Ali Mahfoodh
%A Ambigapathy Pandian
%A Yazan Mdala Mohammad
%A Enas Waleed Ahmed
%A Ali Albdour
%A Hussein Al Bazar
%J Education Research International
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/672031
%X A rigorous understanding of the use of Smartphones for foreign language vocabulary acquisition is crucial. Employing the technology acceptance model, this study aims to investigate students¡¯ behavioural factors affecting Saudi students¡¯ attitudes towards employing Smartphones for foreign vocabulary acquisition. Two hundred and seventy-three students studying in a preparatory year programme were surveyed. SmartPLS was employed to analyse the data obtained from the study¡¯s sample. The results revealed that perceived usefulness and attitude proved to be significantly and positively related to vocabulary development. In addition, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use proved to be significant predictors of students¡¯ attitudes towards the use of Smartphone for vocabulary learning. However, the study showed that the relationship between perceived ease of use and vocabulary development is not significant. Thus, publishers of dictionaries may find it necessary to take into account the important role played by the design of dictionaries interfaces in facilitating the use of dictionaries in Smartphones. Furthermore, teachers and educators are encouraged to employ creative activities (e.g., word guessing games) that invest students¡¯ use of Smartphones to learn vocabularies. Using Smartphones in learning improves interaction among students and teachers. Discussion and conclusions are also provided. 1. Introduction In this technological advanced era, our daily life activities have been influenced by the rapid development of technology around us. This development may give, in this case a repository for learning and knowledge sharing, effective foreign language learning, and it may also help individuals in different fields such as education, marketing, and social interaction. The role of information and communication technology (ICT) in education has some resonance in the current field of vocabulary learning [1]. Technology in education, in the perspective of Arab educators, is either a great tool for motivating students or a disconnection from real classroom learning. Therefore, technology is akin to transform the learning paradigms and, like other attempts influencing students learning process, should evolve around simple and true presentation to the students. Many attempts have been carried out to implement effective technology to facilitate vocabulary learning [2]. For example, mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), which refers to the use of mobiles in a learning situation such as learning new vocabularies [3], has been considered as a growing subarea
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2014/672031/