The Effect of a Suggested In-service Teacher Training Program Based on MALL Applications on Developing EFL Students' Vocabulary Acquisition

Recently, Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) has received much attention as a means to improve the performance of students in all language aspects. Learning vocabulary is not an exception as many applications have been designed to foster students' vocabulary acquisition. However, little attention has been paid to the preparation of teachers who should be aware of and competent in using such applications in order to attain the intended educational objectives. Consequently, the present study sought to train ten EFL secondary school teachers on the use of some MALL vocabulary applications and to investigate the effect of the teachers' use of such applications on their students' vocabulary acquisition. The training program entailed the use of four outstanding vocabulary learning applications: Quizlet, Digital Vocabulary Notebook, Digital Video Games and Online Dictionaries. A pre-post vocabulary test and an observation checklist were designed and implemented to measure the effect of the suggested training program. Results of the study indicated (1) the effectiveness of the suggested in-service teacher training program as teachers successfully integrated these applications in their vocabulary instruction and (2) a significant improvement in the students' vocabulary acquisition as a result of using MALL applications. It was recommended to provide teachers with an adequate training on the use of MALL technology to enable them to exploit the potentialities of such new applications and, eventually, to improve the students' vocabulary acquisition.