THE EFFECT OF VOCABULARY LEARNING USING A MOBILE APP IN THE CONTEXT OF CHINESE COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract

This research examines how Chinese university students use mobile apps to acquire vocabulary, focusing on their problems and learning needs. Mobile learning is becoming more popular; therefore, understanding its pros and cons is crucial to improving language acquisition. The goal is to evaluate Chinese university students' language acquisition challenges with mobile apps. The study seeks to improve these apps to better meet student needs. This qualitative study collects data from 12 people—8 students and 4 teachers—using semi-structured interviews. The interviews explored three main questions: challenges in mobile vocabulary acquisition, student educational needs, and improvements in mobile learning applications. NVivo 14 accurately transcribes the material and evaluates it thematically. The research examines students' technological, cultural, and pedagogical challenges, learning styles, and the value of personalised material and adaptive learning. It also provides strategies for improving mobile app features to enhance vocabulary acquisition. The study suggests improving mobile app vocabulary learning; these methods include adding features to boost user engagement and motivation, creating apps for different learning speeds and levels of competence, integrating peer collaboration and social features, aligning app content with academic standards, and using analytics to improve it. For Chinese college students' changing demands, the study's findings can help educators and app developers create more efficient and user-friendly vocabulary learning tools.