The Use of the WordBit Application to Increase English Vocabulary

Abstract

In this era, mobile devices are considered a potential support in education, including language learning. It has been proved that students feel more motivated when their tasks include the use of technological gadgets. Moreover, cellphones have increasingly become an essential every day tool in schools presenting a diversity of options to be applied in the learning process. This paper describes how the WordBit cellphone application was implemented in San Gerardo Town high school, in Riobamba city and explains the results found after the intervention. This pedagogical intervention based on the MALL (Mobile-Assisted Language Learning) approach had the objective to increase the students’ knowledge of words and their meaning. Three experimental groups were involved in this research with 69 students who presented the same academic and socio-cultural characteristics i.e. they used the same textbook, their English level corresponded to A1, their English teacher was the same, they belonged to the same community, and their family income was similar. The data was analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistics. The design was quasi-experimental since the groups were already assigned and chosen by availability. This was an explanatory study because the problem was identified by analyzing the effect, which was the dependent variable (Mobile Devices), and the cause, the independent variable (Lexical Improvement). For data collection and results analysis, the researcher used an initial survey to verify the problem and project feasibility; a pre-test to find out the students’ level of English according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages; and a post-test to confirm the effectiveness of the intervention. The results demonstrated that students went from level A1 to A1+ and that the use of the WordBit (lockscreen) application promoted student’s self-confidence and self-learning.