The first part of the survey collected personal data to establish the profile of users who are answering the questionnaire. Once the participants answered the personal data, questions about their level of English were queried.
As can be inferred from Figure 1 below, half of the users claim to have an advanced level of English, whereas 34% of them believe to have an intermediate level, and only 16% of the participants acknowledged having a basic level. Their perception of having a high level of English could be due to their position in the educational system since, due to the introduction of the Bologna System, all university graduates must have a B2 level of English before completing their degree. The University of the Balearic Islands offers students two different ways to recognise this obligatory B2 level of English: a) with an official certificate by certain institutions; or, b) by passing an optional course within their university degree, commonly an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) subject. Despite the fact that the vast majority of our participants affirmed they have a high level of English, only half of them stated that they possess an official certificate to prove their level of English (Figure 2). More specifically, most of the participants with an official certificate possess a B2 or a C1 level which has been achieved through the Spanish national official school of languages, the British Council or the set of Cambridge exams (Figure 3).
Figure 1. Participant's level of English 16%
34%
50%
LEVEL OF ENGLISH
Basic Intermediate Advanced
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Figure 2. Percentage of participants that possess a certificate proving their level of English.
Figure 3. Type of certificate users possess.
Not only have they been asked to state their level of English but the place where they learnt the foreign language. Consequently, Figure 4 below shows that most of them have learnt most of their English in primary school and high school; 54 users also learnt English in the university, and 56 have autonomously learnt certain aspects of the language. It must be emphasised that not many participants have attended an academy or the Spanish national official school of languages; therefore, it could be claimed that they have learn most of their English during their years of obligatory education: in Spain, the majority of children have an obligatory English course every year from primary school to high school. As can be seen in Figure 5, most of the participants are in constant contact with English, which is not unusual
51% 49%
DO YOU POSSESS A CERTIFICATE?
Yes No
8%
46%
38%
8%
TYPE OF CERTIFICATE
B1 B2 C1 C2
8
since English is perceived as a lingua franca in such a globalised world. Learners are constantly exposed to English in social media, i.e., this phenomenon could explain why even if most of them have a great deal of input, they are not currently studying an English course (Figure 6).
Figure 4. The place where the participants learnt English.
Figure 5. Student’s exposure to the foreign language.
0 20 40 60 80 100
School High School University Academy On my own
WHERE DID YOU LEARN ENGLISH?
Number of Participants
14% 60%
26%
EXPOSURE TO ENGLISH
Frequent Seldom I would like to dedicate more time
9
Figure 6. Percentage of participants who are currently studying English.
After having collected general data related to their level of English, the survey’s last part presented questions about the use of apps to learn English. In fact, participants were asked to give specific and personalised answers in some of the questions. The open-ended questions related to the apps’ advantages and disadvantages will be seen at the end of this section;
however, the open-ended question regarding the idyllic app will be commented in section 5 of the paper.
As can be seen in Figure 7 below, only 4% of the respondents believe that one cannot learn English by using apps whilst 65% of them claim the opposite but believe there are limitations to this type of learning− these limitations will be furthered explained and analysed at the end of this section. As a matter of fact, 42% of the users admitted they have used or are currently using an app to learn English (Figure 8). As explained above, they were asked to mention which particular smartphone applications they have used with the aim of learning English; surprisingly, the app most of our participants have used has been Duolingo; apps such as Babbel, HelloTalk, Youtube or Twitter were also mentioned (Figure 9). Similarly, Figure 10 shows that those who did not use an app to learn English knew about the existence of Duolingo and Babbel; both of these apps have a great deal of learners, and Babbel is advertised in many platforms.
53%
47%
ARE YOU CURRENTLY STUDYING ENGLISH?
Yes No
10
Figure 7. Participant's answers whether one can learn English by using an app or not.
Figure 8. Representation of the number of participants who have or have not used an app to learn English.
Figure 9. Different apps used by the participants to learn English.
31%
65% 4%
CAN SOMEONE LEARN ENGLISH BY USING AN APP?
Yes No Yes, but there are limitations
42%
58%
HAVE YOU USED AN APP TO LEARN ENGLISH?
Yes No
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Duolingo Babbel HelloTalk Others: Tandem, Youtube…
APPS USED
Apps Used
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Figure 10. Apps known by the participants who have not used an app to learn English.
The following figure (Figure 11) shows the reasons why users decided to use an app to learn English; they could choose more than one option. Most of them used the smartphone application to improve their English in general, and some to focus on vocabulary. However, it must be noted that a great deal of the participants used it to learn English on their own, which is one of the main assets that apps offer. It has been demonstrated that smartphone applications are a good alternative to learn vocabulary and grammar; conversely, only 7 participants used the app to improve their pronunciation, which illustrates that most participants are acquainted with the idea that apps have limited resources to become proficient in speaking. Despite the fact that they used apps because they had a clear goal, only a small percentage of users have used the app daily, i.e, most of them have used it weekly or even monthly (Figure 12). Eventually, Figure 12 below shows that 62% of the learners have had a successful experience with the apps;
and, 59% of the respondents who have never used an app to learn English contemplate the idea of using them. The rest of the learners are still reluctant to use this type of methodology to learn a language.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Duolingo HelloTalk Tandem Babbel Bussu None
DO YOU KNOW ANY OF THESE APPS?
DO YOU KNOW ANY OF THESE APPS?
12
Figure 11. Reasons why participants started using an app.
Figure 12. Frequency of app usage.
Figure 13. Percentage of participants who have considered apps helpful to learn English.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Improve Vocabulary Improve Grammar Improve Pronunciation Improve my English
To learn on my own Others
WHY DID YOU USE AN APP TO LEARN ENGLISH?
WHY DID YOU USE AN APP TO LEARN ENGLISH?
7%
37%
54%
2%
FREQUENCY OF APP USAGE
Daily Weekly Monthly Hardy Ever
62%
38%
WAS THE APP HELPFUL?
Yes No
13
Figure 14. Depiction of students who do not use apps but consider using one to learn English.
Both of the groups have provided different insights which answer one of the research questions concerning the benefits and downsides that apps offer. This section will not make any distinctions between the two groups since all the participants have contributed with their own arguments. The paper will, indeed, concentrate on the most repeated answers, and on those which arouse more interest for the study.
One of the main advantages of learning through apps for our participants is the fact that they are able to create their own schedule; that is, they can choose when and where they want to practise the foreign language. A number of subjects also highlighted the idea that apps are an easy and comfortable way of learning because they always have their mobile phones with them, and as a result, they simply need to open the app to learn English. Apart from these advantages, a great deal of the participants agreed on how they are cheaper than other alternative materials such as having a private teacher, and sometimes they are even completely free of charge. It should be considered that most of the respondents are young adults, and their incomes and schedules might be limited; hence, they tend to use apps because they are an affordable alternative to learn the foreign language. Participants consider that apps are useful to learn specific vocabulary because they can put into practise the vocabulary by using different strategies such as games, tests, quizzes, and even, chats to interact with other learners. However, they also realise that apps have limitations such as the lack exposure to real language. Therefore, apps might be an alternative to traditional learning methods since they provide students with a great variety of strategies; nevertheless, the students do not receive real input.
Despite these great advantages, most of them have agreed that it is troublesome to learn a language by only using an app. Even if they offer different strategies to learn the foreign
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language, users have admitted not being able to be consistent with a schedule; that is, they do not have the responsibility to attend the lessons. This lack of consistency could be also due to one of the limitations that apps have since the majority of participants agreed that the activities are usually repetitive and robotic. This type of activities may make the students enter a process of fossilization since they are not provided with new sentence-structures to use with the vocabulary or grammar learnt; consequently, it is complex to achieve a high level of English uniquely by using these platforms. Despite the aforementioned disadvantages, they acknowledge that apps are useful for beginner levels, or to complement with traditional learning methodologies.
It is remarkable that the majority of the respondents have commented on the lack of human factor; that is, the lack of a teacher to give them feedback, and also the lack of interaction with learners. The learners considered necessary having a teacher explaining the lessons, also someone who helps them throughout the whole process; hence, they miss the presence of a person who can monitor their learning habits. Not only do they complain about the lack of a teacher but the absence of interchange with other students. The lack of human factor forces them to focus on vocabulary and grammar, but not in speaking since they do not have partners with whom they can practise what they have learnt. These apps do not offer the possibility to practise equally the different skills: speaking, listening, reading writing and use of English. It is necessary to progress in the different aspects of the language in order to obtain a real experience with learning a foreign language; however, it is nearly impossible to practise all the skills, and mostly speaking, by using the aforementioned apps.
It could be concluded that apps provide learners with new methodologies to learn a foreign language, and even to revise the level they already had before using the app; however, the majority agreed that the main disadvantage is the lack of human factor since they are not able to practise all the skills, and therefore, they will not be able to have an advanced level of English by using an app exclusively. Apps could supplement other English lessons, or they could help learners expand their vocabulary on particular fields.