Includes references (79-82 p.)

Includes appendixes.(83-96 p.)

'ABSTRACT The main aim of this study is to examine students' attitudes towards the effectiveness of mobile learning in North Cyprus universities. Data for this study was obtained through administering an attitude questionnaire and an interview prepared by the researcher. Totally 100 participants took part in this research, 42 (N=42) of them were female and 58 of them (N=58) were male. The study was conducted in the spring term of the 2010-2011 academic year. The participants were randomly selected from five universities. The participants were from not only prep school of universities but also other department of the universities. Quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire and qualitative data obtained from open ended questions in the questionnaire and the interviews were analyzed to investigate participants' attitudes. İn other words, a deeper analysis of the data was provided by means of open-ended questions in the questionnaire and the interview. This study includes the results of the survey conducted to male and female students at North Cyprus Universities about their attitudes and perceptions concerning the use of mobile technology in education. The finding of the study revealed that according to a questionnaire prepared by the research, there is a highly positive tendency towards learning English via mobile devices. There is no significant difference between the use of mobile phones and gender, the use of mobile phones and age. In addition to this, the open-ended questions in the last section of the questionnaire and the interview prepare by the researcher supported the findings gathered from the questionnaire. Keywords: Mobile learning, mobile devices, mobile phones, technology, attitude Özet Bu çalışmanın temel amacı Kuzey Kıbrıs Üniversitelerindeki öğrencilerin mobil öğrenme ile ilgili tutumlarını incelemektir. Bu çalışma ya dönük veriler, araştırmacı tarafından hazırlanan bir tutum anketi ve görüşme formu ile elde edilmiştir. Bu araştırmaya 42 bayan, 58 erkek toplam 100 kişi katılmıştır. Çalışma 2010-2011 akademık yılı bahar döneminde beş farklı üniversitede uygulanmıştır. Katılımcılar beş üniversiteden seçkisiz yolla seçildi. Katılımcılar sadece hazırlık öğrencisi değil aynı zamanda diğer bölümlerden de seçildiler. Anketten elde edildilen nicel veri ve anketteki açık uçlu sorular ile görüşme sonucu elde edilen nitel veriler katılımcıların tutumlarını incelemek için analiz edildi. Diğer bir anlatımla, anketteki açlı uçlu sorular ve görüşme yolu ile daha derinlemesine bir bilgiye ulaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Bu çalışma Kuzey Kıbrıs Üniversitelerindeki bay ve bayan öğrencilere uygulanan eğitimde mobil teknoloji kullanımı ile ilgili tutum ve algılarını inceleyen anket sonuçlarını içermektedir. Araştırmacı tarafından hazırlanan anket sonuçlarına göre, bu çalışma mobil araçlarla ingilizce öğrenmeye karşı yüksek bir pozitif eğilim olduğunu göstermiştir. Cep telefonu kullanımı ile cinsiyet ve yaş bakımıdan önemli bir farkın olmadığı ortaya çıkmıştır. Buna ek olarak, anketin son bölümünde yer alan açık uçlu sorular görüşme sonucu anketten elde edilen bulguları desteklemiştir Anahtar kelimeler: Mobil öğrenme, mobil araçlar, cep telefonu, teknoloji, tutum. '

1 CHAPTER

1 Background of the Study

5 Purpose of the Study

6 Significanace of the Study

6 Definition of Terms

9 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

9 Language Learning and Technology

10 Mobile Learning

12 Mobile Learning for Language Learning

13 From e-learning to M-learning

14 Types of Mobile Learning Devices

15 Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs)

17 Laptop

17 Mobile Phone

19 MP3/MP4 Player

19 iPod

20 Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Learning

23 What is the Future of Mobile Technology in Education?

24 Mobile Learning Research

24 Mobile Lanaguage Class: Language Learning through Mobile Gaming

24 Using SMSs to Engage Students in Language Learning

25 An overview of Mobile assisted language learning : From content delivery to supported collaboration and Interaction

25 Adopting Cell Phones in EFL Teaching and Learning

26 Mobile Devices for Language Learning. Multimedia Approaches

26 Exploring the use of Mobile Phones for Supporting English Language Learner's Vocabulary Acquisition

27 Learning tourism English on Mobile phones: How does it works?

27 The Use of Mobile Pones in Learning English Language by Sultan Qaboos Unıversity Students: Practices, Attitudes and Challenges

28 Mobile Phone: Just a Phone or a Language Learning Device?

29 METHDOLOGY

29 Overall Design of the Study

31 Research Questions

31 Context

33 Participants

35 Data Collection Procedures

35 Data Collections Instruments

36 Questionnaire

36 Interview

37 Procedure of the Study

38 Data Analysis

38 Limitations of the Study

39 RESULTS

39 Overview of Chapter

41 The Findings of the Questionnaire

41 Personnal Characteristics of the participants

42 Usage of Mobile phones

42 Attitudes Towards learning English through mobile phones

45 The Frequency of Mobile devices usage in language learning

46 Average distribution of mobile devices in Language learning

50 Gneral tendencies towards M-Learning

57 The Relationship between motivation and M-Learning

60 Language Skill and Mobile Learning

65 Self-Learning and Self- comfidences through mobile learning

66 Purposes of Using mobile phones

70 Interview analysis

74 CONCLUSION

74 Conclusion and Discussion

74 Research Question 1: Is there any relationship between the use of mobile phone for mobile learning of Unıversity students?

75 Reasearch Question 2: Is there any Relationship between the Use of mobile phone for mobile learning and age in Language learning of Unıversity students?

76 Reasearch Question 3:What are the Unıversity student's attitudes to the use of the Mobile Phones for mobile learning in language learning?

77 Implications

77 Suggestions for Further Research

79 REFERENCES

83 APPENDICES