Factors Determining Students’ Low Usage of Mobile Tools in their English Vocabulary Learning

Abstract

The article is based on the results of a large scale mixed methods study which took place in Romania in 2014. The study explored high school students’ use of digital vocabulary English learning strategies and the attitudes of Romanian students towards learning vocabulary in second language acquisition with digital tools. The results of the main study indicated that the participants had a low usage of digital tools and strategies in their vocabulary learning and that the majority of the participants showed neutral attitudes towards the use of mobile assisted learning (MALL) tools in their vocabulary learning. The data also revealed that certain factors determine students’ low usage of digital tools in second language acquisition in their vocabulary learning. These factors were: the lack of a ‘culture’ associated with the use of digital tools in the language classroom, personal learning style, some pedagogical issues associated with digital tools, lack of teacher guidance, the view of digital tools as simply entertaining tools, students’ multitasking behavior in association with the use of their device, a preference for unconscious learning of vocabulary and the level of motivation to use technology for second language acquisition.