Learning ESL Vocabulary with Smartphones

This study investigated the effectiveness of smartphones on helping ESL college students learn English vocabulary. A JAVA application (Word Learning) software program containing 852 English words, of each word in a graphic diagram with seven features which are spelling, pronunciation, meaning in the Chinese language, synonym, antonym, part of speech and using it in example sentences, was designed by the researcher. 50 students were equally divided into experimental group and control group. A pre-test and post-test were administered to assess the impacts. The results of the study revealed that the students receiving treatment in the experimental group outperformed those in the control group significantly. This article is also to introduce a research design and/or set up a pedagogical example, which might be followed.