Learners' Attitudes toward the Effectiveness of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) in L2 Listening Comprehension

Keegan (2003) believes that M (mobile)-learning will provide the future of learning. MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) has just started to move learners and teachers out of the classroom setting into the real world. Using mobile phones, teachers can provide a rich learning environment for learners, although there are still issues that must be considered before they can reach their full potential. Various researches suggest that collaborative speaking and listening skills can be successfully done by mobile phone capabilities. It can be argued that M-learning involves the use of any portable learning materials, including audiobooks, audio-cassettes, audio-CDs, and any portable radios and DVD players. Trifanova et al. (2004, p.3) define mobile devices as "... any device that is small, autonomous and unobtrusive enough to accompany us in every moment". This research aimed to investigate Iranian EFL learner's attitudes toward the effectiveness of Mobile Assisted Language Learning on their Listening comprehension. The first research question concerns a comparison of the effect of cell-phone based audiobooks versus its traditional counterpart that is CD ROM / audio cassette based audiobooks, and the second deals with the investigation of Iranian EFL learners' attitudes toward the technology, to that end MALL questionnaire was distributed to the experimental group, following up interviews with some participants. The results of this study indicated that the experimental group receiving instruction through cell-phone based audiobooks outperformed the control group on their listening comprehension. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Lid.