The Use of NFC and Mobile Technology in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning

Eda Üstünel, Mehmet Abi, Gurbet Sarıman, Güncel Sarıman, Onur Karasoy, Mugla, Turkey

ABSTRACT

Together with the latest technological developments in computer, mobile devices, sensors and smart applications and software it is now possible to find innovative solutions to the problems that traditional education bears. Among recent innovative developments, Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology which enables contactless practices comes forward.

This study which was carried out with fifteen participants from twelve different countries was designed as a piloting stage of the main project, which was funded by “Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University (MSKU) Scientific Research Projects (BAP) Office” and aimed at discovering the applicability of NFC technology to Turkish as a Foreign Language teaching environments by means of mobile devices. The study also investigated students’ perceptions about using NFC technology in learning a foreign language.

In the scope of this study, NFC-capable posters which linked the devices to the online system when activated were prepared. Then a database consisting of the images related to the topic ‘breakfast’ was formed and uploaded to the online system. To collect data Mobile Device Use Survey and semi-structured interview were used. The findings from these sources were analyzed and it was found out that although the system which utilized NFC technology for language learning looks promising in terms of vocabulary learning and may put forward some solutions, web based online system may be time consuming and may not be appropriate to use in daily life. Therefore, for the main study it was thought that developing mobile application for the activities may be more convenient in terms of usability and efficiency.

Key Words: NFC, Near Field Communication, Vocabulary Learning, Smart Posters, NFC Posters, mLearning and language learning, context-aware systems.