Status and Trends of Mobile Learning in English Language Acquisition - A Systematic Review of Mobile Learning from Chinese Databases

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet

Mobile learning has emerged as an innovation engine and potential disruptor in the past decade. This systematic review evaluates Chinese scholarly publications on mobile learning and its role in teaching and learning English within China’s higher education. Using PRISMA principles, the study synthesizes evidence that shows progress in teaching strategies, pedagogical practices, and mobile-technology-aligned teaching models, while also highlighting challenges in appropriate technology integration. It calls for further research on teachers’ needs in China’s disruptive digital education.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Highlights

What is already known about this topic

What this paper contributes

Implications for theory, practice and/or policy

Introduction

Status and Trends of Mobile Learning in English Language Acquisition: A Systematic Review of Mobile Learning from Chinese Databases Zhang Jie, Helen Crompton Abstract: Mobile learning has become the potential for innovation and disruption in the last decade. This study reviewed Chinese scholarly publications related to mobile learning research and published related to teaching and learning English in China’s higher education. Its purpose is to enrich systematic reviews for digital education with the provision of mobile learning research in China’s context with academic findings inaccessible to those who do not speak Chinese. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses ( PRISMA) principles are used to provide a transparent synthesis of extant studies. Major findings include that English learning has made progress in teaching strategy, pedagogical practice, and teaching model related to mobile technology, but a concern emergesin how teachers integrate technology into pedagogy appropriately to achieve the outcome beyond traditional teaching. The findings suggest further studies to analyse teachers’ needs in disruptive education in China. Keywords: mobile learning , English as a Foreign Language, China, higher education, systematic review. Highlights What is already known about this topic: • Mobile learning has been used to investigate the eﬀectiveness of mobile devices for enhancing learning experience and pedagogies to support teaching in distance education. • A paucity of systematic reviews printed in English to provide scholars information on studies published in Chinese journals. • Mobile learning has become the most widely research issue in exploring English teaching and learning with mobile technology for school education in China. What this paper contributes: • This systematic review ameliorates the gap of the scholarly work published in Chinese on mobile learning and English language acquisition. This work is typically inaccessible to scholars who do cannot speak/read Chinese. Systematic reviews published in English often have a Western focus and does not include a wider view. • This study explicates how mobile learning is being used to enhance English language acquisition for those in Chinese higher education. • This study provides an aggregated synthesis of mobile learning research published in Chinese journals accompanied with an analytical summary of the data. Implications for theory, practice and/or policy: • Wider access to findings about research in English acquisition related to teaching strategy, pedagogical practice, and teaching models from non-English speaking countries. • Distance Education with mobile technologies has been mainly utilised and encouraged in practice. • Practitioners can benefit from pedagogical practice and research using mobile devices highlighted in this study to achieve English acquisition in non-English speaking countries. • Digital education needs further study to formulate aligned curriculum, assessment of mobile learning and evaluation system for formal and informal settings with a collaboration by educators from local, national, and international levels. • Future research should focus on the needs of teachers for teaching digital natives, especially teachers with liberal arts backgrounds in non-English speaking countries to prepare for mobile teaching. Introduction China is promoting innovation in education characterised by digitalisation, network connectivity and smart technology (Du, 2017) . The demographics of mobile learning users in China range from primary school children (ages 6-12 years) who use the technologies for extra curriculum study, to adults for professional learning. In 2010, China issued The Outline of the National Long-term Education Reform and Development Plan, which emphasised the role of mobile learning as the potential of innovation and disruption in digital education. Digital education has changed t

FAQs

What does the systematic review focus on?

The review synthesizes Chinese scholarly publications on mobile learning and how mobile learning supports English language acquisition in China’s higher education.

Which guideline is used to structure the synthesis?

The review applies the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) principles to provide a transparent synthesis of existing studies.

What key findings and concerns are reported?

The findings indicate advances in teaching strategy, pedagogical practice, and teaching models connected to mobile technology, but they raise a concern about teachers integrating technology into pedagogy appropriately to achieve outcomes beyond traditional teaching.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet