Mobile-Assisted Language Learning and Vocabulary Development: A Study of Gender Differences among Undergraduate ESL Learners in Punjab

Abstract

This quantitative research explores gender variations in perceptions, preferred mobileassisted language learning (MALL)-based techniques, and lexical competence learning of undergraduate ESL students in Pakistan’s province of Punjab using MALL. The set of 140 (70 male, 70 female) undergraduate ESL learners was purposively selected from universities in Punjab. The study used a 40-item, validated Likert-scale questionnaire asking about perceptions of MALL, preferences for MALL-based techniques, and lexical competence development via MALL. The questionnaire had good internal reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha of .968 for males and .943 for females. We analysed gender differences between male and female learners using the Mann-Whitney U test since the data collected through a Likert scale are ordinal. There was no difference in the attitudes of male and female learners to using MALL for vocabulary learning (U = 2578.000, p = .594), which suggests they both deem MALL a useful educational tool. Both males and females expressed positive dispositions toward game-based apps, multimedia, online dictionaries and virtual co-collaborative lives. However, descriptive analysis highlighted differences in the techniques of learning, with females endorsing audiovisual material and wordlist-based learning relatively heavily but males engaging more with independent learning tasks. The reported findings are critically analysed with reference to Social Constructivism, Krashen’s Monitor Model, Connectivism and technology acceptance model (TAM).