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AsiaCALL Online Journal Received: 03/01/2021 

ISSN 1936-9859; https://asiacall.info/acoj Revision: 30/01/2021  

Vol. 12, No. 2, 2021  Accepted: 5/02/2021 

pp. 24-40  Online: 06/02/2021 

 

24 
 

 

The Effectiveness of Using Technology in Learning English 

Van Lam Kieu1, Dang Truc Anh1, Pham D. Bao Tran1, Vo T. Thanh Nga1, Pham V. Phi Ho1 

1 Van Lang University, Vietnam 

Correspondence: Van Lam Kieu, Van Lang University, Vietnam. Email: vanlamkieu0907@gmail.com 

 

ABSTRACT 

This study found out about the effectiveness of using technology in learning English. However, few studies have been 

shown the effectiveness of technology in all English skills: Speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Third-year 

students of the Foreign Language Department at Van Lang University participated in this study for two weeks. The 

questions revolved around learning English and using technology in learning English. The researchers collected all the 

responses. The goal of using technology in learning English brings a strong potential to enhance learners' language skills 

and promote the process of learning English quickly. After using technology in learning English, we examined the 

impacts of the teaching on the four skills, and this effect is expressed as a percentage (30%, 50%, 80%) based on the 

results obtained from the questionnaires. 

Keywords: Technology, learning English, the effectiveness of using technology, English skills. 

1. INTRODUCTION 

1.1. Background of the study 

There has been a lot of research on using technology in 

learning English. Himmelsbach (2019) stated that when 

the Internet is connected, we can access and collect 

information 24 hours a day. Moreover, we can find almost 

everything on the Internet, and it has regularly updated 

versions. For students, this access helps them find study 

materials and learning software to interact and open 

resources from famous universities in the world. Using 

technology in learning is an online world where learners 

use their image as their profile picture to immerse 

themselves in one place with various contexts. Second 

Life offers students chances to connect and to cooperate 

with other learners while away from classes. Moreover, 

the learners can discover and communicate with the other 

and immerse themselves in the language they are learning 

(Zazulak, 2016). One of the benefits of using technology 

in learning English is engaging students in new ways. 

According to Arifah (2014), accessing  

the Internet will help motivate readers to learn. We can 

use pictures, films, and music to combine with the lessons 

to increase their intellectual awareness and develop their 

thinking ability. Another benefit is that students can use 

English-related apps on their phones. According to Speck 

(2019), English language learners will benefit if they 

approach technology. Nowadays, we are using technology 

in many different ways, especially in education. Hopkins 

(2017) said that people just knew something close to them 

in the past. However, technology has changed all their 

minds. Now students can communicate with their friends, 

family, and teachers immediately via smartphones. 

Furthermore, Motteram (2014) claimed that the users such 

as teachers and students could access the Internet to seek 

various information and debate with their classmates 

about what they have just found out in the world. Thank 

you for technology, especially the Internet, learners can 

access to studying easily. Learners can broaden their 

study extent when they have classes supported by 

technology (Larsen- Freeman and Anderson, 2011). 

According to Ahmadi (2018), technology makes learners 

study smoothly, but we should be considered using it as a 

support tool in learning. There are several methods in 

teaching vocabularies, such as using mobile phones or 

mobile applications. Furthermore, these things also accept 

learners to learn beyond the classroom. On the other hand, 

teaching activities will not restrict the places everywhere 

that students can take part with their lecturers and other 

students (Hashemifardnia, 2018). Computer technology 

and the Internet will use the benefits of studying, 

enhancing, rehearsing, and developing speaking skills. 

EFL students can use some technology such as computers, 

tablets, and Smartphones to access the Internet to 

communicate with foreigners and improve the language 

(Alsied and Pathan, 2013). 

mailto:vanlamkieu0907@gmail.com


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1.2. Statement of the problems 

Using technology has become popular with everybody in 

every area. Especially in the Covis-19 pandemic is 

spreading worldwide, so many countries have been 

applying technology to learning, specifically in learning 

English. For example, in Vietnam, there are a lot of 

schools, colleges, and universities that use technology in 

learning. However, many students and teachers have some 

difficulties using technology to learn English. For 

instance, students and teachers hardly connect together, or 

teachers cannot motivate students as traditional learning. 

Therefore, they do not want to use technology in learning. 

On the other hand, using technology still has become 

more general, including learning English. The reason for 

using technology in learning English more widely is that 

it has many advantages. For instance, pronunciation will 

be improved by using pronunciation test apps. 

Communication skills also will be more proficient. 

Furthermore, technology helps education be expanded, 

and modern technology supports people to achieve many 

outstanding achievements in future learning, particularly 

in learning English. 

1.3. The purpose of the study 

The main purpose of this research is to clarify the benefits 

that technology brings to students and teachers. 

1.4. Significance of the study 

Large numbers of research papers have provided 

advantages from the use of technology in language 

learning. Technology helps educators and learners have 

more options for English learning. This below is how 

technology brings benefits for students and teachers: 

• Students can use educational apps such as Elsa, 

Duolingo, etc., to improve their vocabulary and 

pronunciation. 

•  In the Covid-19 pandemic, technology allows 

students to connect to teachers while away from 

class. 

• Technology gives teachers a lot of software to create 

more life-like lessons for students. 

2. PREVIOUS REVIEW 

2.1. Theory review 

What is technology? Technology is the invention, change, 

use, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, 

professional skills, systems, and organizational methods, 

to solve a problem, improve an existing solution, achieve 

a goal, or perform a specific function. Using technology 

in learning English uses software or applications on 

phones or computers that can assist in learning. 

Application software is used, such as Duolingo, Elsa 

Speaking, Oxford's Dictionary, etc. 

2.2. Literature review 

There are several surveys and researches for using 

technology in language learning. In 2016, Alsulami 

researched intending to find the impact of technology on 

learning English for female EFL students in Effatt 

College. He used questionnaires with Likert scale 

questions for this research. The Statistical Package 

analyzed this study's data for Social Sciences (SPSS) to 

obtain results. The findings clearly indicate that social 

media, software, audio tools (Youtube, Skype, MP3 

player), and educational apps on smartphones positively 

affect. However, the useful impact of using Technology in 

English learning depends on how students or learners use 

it. 

In 2012, one research was done by Shyamlee and Phil 

with the topic "Use of Technology in English Language 

Teaching and Learning". Two authors used qualitative 

analysis to find out the pros and cons of applying 

multimedia technology to English language teaching and 

learning, such as e-mail, the Internet, Electronic 

Dictionary, PowerPoint, etc. The results obviously show 

that using multimedia technology can enhance teachers' 

and students' teaching effect and interaction. Moreover, 

technology also makes the course content flexible. 

Everything has two slides, however, technology also 

keeps students' thinking potential restricted. All in all, the 

authors claimed that technology should not be overused 

because it is just a support tool for teaching and learning 

English. 

This article was written by Parvin and Salam (2015). This 

commentary is related to the value when using technology 

methods in the English language and improving English 

skills. Afterward, this writing aims to recommend more 



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technology devices such as audiovisual materials in the 

primary schools to develop children's capability in 

English because the education wants to concentrate on 

grammar and obliges children to learn by heart the new 

words in the past. This research's methods were surveyed 

to analyze the unbelievable changes when applying a new 

way like audiovisual materials into the primary schools. 

The following data collection was observed by the team 

members (2013) that divided into three parts: comparing 

the different results of examination between ICT and non-

ICT, paying attention to the debated team between 

students and teachers, and the last one is monitoring 

devices at school that includes the number of observation 

type such as Classes is over 50, Classes have a recorded 

video that is 13, Observed Classes without ICT are 33. 

The main results make people know about ICT and non-

ICT schools, the debating team, and class observation. 

Furthermore, these findings want the other people to 

understand more about the changes when comparing use 

or do not use technology and also create innovation when 

applying it to education in successful ways. 

Another research was done by Patel (2015) with the topic 

Significance of Technology Enhanced Language Learning 

(TELL) in Language Classes. He used a questionnaire and 

analysis method for this research. The findings indicate 

that many opportunities that English teachers created to 

help students meet their language goals in technology 

improved language learning in a language environment. 

All in all, this research makes an effort to outline some of 

the trends growing in technology-enhanced language 

learning. 

Technology is popular with everyone in every area, 

including education. An article was written by Costley 

(2014) with the topic The Positive Effects of Technology  

on Teaching and Student Learning. The author used 

analysis for this paper. This paper showed that technology 

has a positive effect on language learning. Moreover, 

technology is effective in all age groups and helps 

students with special learning needs. In summary, using 

technology in learning English has many following 

benefits: increased student motivation, engagement, 

collaboration, and technology skills. 

This article was written by Rahami and Katal (2012) to 

show the innovation of using podcasting technology in 

studying a language. This writing illustrates the 

estimation of students when using a metacognitive 

listening skill. Besides that, the purposes of this 

observation are to reveal the position of methods 

awareness about metacognitive listening skills and ready 

to use technology in podcasting for studying English. This 

survey analyzes how using podcasting technology affects 

university students. Afterward, students introduce using 

podcasting technology and making it more helpful. Those 

students are also participants of this research, with 141 

people from four universities. This study accounts for 

almost 41% masculine and 60% feminine students. Then, 

the sample (about 90%) argues digital devices that can be 

used to electronic devices. The main results want to teach 

university students to have more knowledge about 

metacognitive listening skills, and through using 

podcasting technology in studying English, the necessary 

things of students are attitude, understanding, or 

experience. 

The authors of this research are Yang and Chen (2007) to 

reveals the influence of using Internet devices in learning 

English as a foreign language. This commentary lets 

students have more opportunities to use technology in the 

foundation course. This study's main purpose lets students 

know if students study English through multimedia 

technology, it will require new studying methods and self-

directed studying. The participants have 44 people to 

complete this research paper, and all of the participants 

are masculine students in the grade tenth. Besides that, 

12% never uses the Internet before, 88% left has 

experience of using technology devices (Internet, e-mail, 

and so on). Data collection divides into many parts such 

as discussion, questionnaires, document analysis, and e-

mail. This research wants to show technology devices that 

can be useful for enhancing students' English skills, even 

for teaching methods, and improving communication 

skills. 

Fithriani (2019) study to investigate the popular media in 

Indonesia - Facebook - is indeed a useful learning tool 

that EFL university students use in their classroom learn 

to write advanced. The researcher used questionnaires, 

discussions, and interviews on Facebook with 53 students, 

including 40 female students and 13 male students. The 

results show that using Facebook in the writing classroom 

has helped students boost their confidence, 

communication skills and improve their English, 

especially writing skills. The study's conclusion has 



ACOJ- ISSN 1936-9859 AsiaCALL Online Journal  Vol. 12, No. 2, 2021 

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confirmed that Facebook is an effective learning tool for 

students in their classes. 

Another study did by Trasierra in 2018 with the main 

purpose is to analyze the disadvantages and advantages of 

using Information and Communication Technologies 

(ICTs) in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The 

research paper participant is Primary Education English 

teachers in Catalonia, and the data collection has collected 

in questionnaires by Google form. Through surveys, he 

has analyzed teacher vision problems in using technology 

in the classroom. This research's limitation is the results 

are based on limited data collection. And the author 

considers having more studies in terms of the 

disadvantages of ICTs in English learning. 

The article is observed by Mofareh (2019) to demonstrate 

the positive outcomes of technology after using 

technology in education. For our research, the study wants 

to change the old teaching methods into modern methods 

such as using technology. This is because the old teaching 

research has some problems that are not as expected. 

Students and teachers are the participants in our research. 

Besides that, the research paper reveals between 75% and 

85% that students accept these traditional teaching 

methods, from 60% to 80% that students do not pleased 

with these methods to study. The final results want 

students to have more confidence to achieve with flying 

colors in English and show more traditional teaching 

methods. 

2.3. Research question 

The paper will provide us the answer to the following 

questions: 

What technologies (social media, computer software, 

audio tools, and educational apps) do learners use in 

learning English? 

What have been the positive results of using technology in 

learning English? 

3. METHODOLOGY 

3.1. Research context 

Van Lang University was established in 1995.  The 

president of this university is a professional Tran Thi My 

Dieu. Nowadays, Van Lang has three campuses. The head 

office is located in district 1, the second campus located in 

Binh Thanh district, and the last campus is located in Go 

Vap district. Van Lang is a private university that has 30 

faculties. Each year, about 17.000 new students enroll in 

this school. Van Lang University not only has the slogan 

of Van Lang, which is Morality-Will-Creativity but also 

has a song called "Van Lang Dai Hoc Duong". 

3.2. Population and sampling method 

Our research's goals focus on the faculty of a foreign 

language, and the participants are the junior students. We 

feel these students are a suitable object to complete our 

research topic because of the same major. 

We choose a convenient method to make completely 

sampling methods. Our group will divide into three steps: 

• The first step: we listed each subject's class that we 

studied to know the population in every single class. 

• The second step: we printed the research paper in 

every class's exact population and checked the 

questions again. 

• The third step: we gave the paper to the students, 

and we asked them to fill in to finish research 

questions. 

3.3. Research design 

We choose Questionnaire and Interview to survey this 

study. 

We make 19 questions for questionnaires and ten 

questions for interviews. 

In questionnaires, number 1 to number 4 questions answer 

for the first research question. The rest of the questions 

answers for the second research question. 

In the interview, we have number 1 answers for the first 

research question and number 2 to number 10 answers for 

the second research question. 

3.4. Data collection 

We collected data by Questionnaire and Interview at Van 

Lang University during a week. We surveyed by giving 

288 questionnaires to third-year students in the Faculty of 

Foreign Languages, and we have obtained 288 responses 

for this. We also interviewed 10 students for this research. 



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3.5. Procedure 

We wrote questionnaires and interview based on two 

research question: 

• What technology (social media, computer software, 

audio tools, and educational apps) learners use to 

learn English? 

• What have been the positive results of using 

technology in learning English? 

We have discussed how to create questions that satisfy 

two research questions. After that, we printed 300 

questionnaires and ten interview questions to give third-

year undergraduates in the Faculty of Foreign Languages. 

We started giving them from Nov 9-14, 2020, and on Nov 

15, 2020, we analyzed the data. 

We went to each class that third-year students were 

studying and asked for the teacher's permission. Each 

survey students take about two to three minutes, only 

about 10 minutes for interviews. 

3.6. Data analyze 

After collecting evaluation data on the study:  

• Summary and categorization of data. 

• Then present the data regarding the number of 

examples, questions percent… by the graph. 

• Firstly, ‘Descriptive Statistics’ is used to describe 

data. 

• After that, ‘Inference statistics’ helps to compare 

data. 

4. RESULTS 

4.1. The demographic data of participants 

Relating to survey participants, 288 students were 

surveyed for the effectiveness of using technology in 

learning English. All of them are third-year students in the 

foreign language departments of Van Lang University. 

The participants were studying in the first semester of the 

academy year. We have decided to select junior students 

for the survey because we are also junior students of the 

university, which helps us have more advantages in 

getting opinions such as arranging time easily. 

4.2. Research question 1 

What technologies (social media, computer software, 

audio tools, and educational apps) do learners use in 

learning English? 

Question number 1 to number 4 in questionnaires answers 

the research question 1, which was created to explore 

what kind of technologies students often use in their 

English learning (question 3). Questions 2 and 4 have 

explored participants' feelings when using technology to 

study English. And number 1 has discovered the way that 

students often learn English. 

 

Chart 1. The way of student practice English. 

Chart 1 shows how students practice English. As 

indicated in the questionnaires, students have chosen 

technology to learn English by 68.8%. This number 

shows that the application of technology to learn 

English is no longer unfamiliar to students. And it is 

really beneficial, so the percentage of students who 

chose to study with technology is so much. 43.3% of 

students have chosen to practice individually. This is 

36.50%

41.30%

68.80%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00%

Practice with other people

Practice individually

Practice with technologies



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also a pretty large percentage. It means that students 

are hesitant about learning with others even though 

they practice English very effectively. Studying alone 

can also bring great results, but it is very difficult to 

help you spot mistakes as easily as studying with 

fellow students. 

Chart 2: Technology is useful for students in 

learning English 

 

 

 

Chart 3. The feeling of participants when using 

technology in learning English 

 

Chart 2 and chart 3 reveal that the number of students 

choosing technology useful for learning English and 

easily using is a lot, the rate is 96% and 91%, 

respectively. It means that technology really works 

for them and they like applying it, and it hard for any 

disadvantages to the learners. They can be easily 

accessed anytime and anywhere. 4% of students think 

that technology is not beneficial. That is a very small 

percentage, but it is shown that they maybe have not 

applied technology in the right way, so it has not 

worked for them yet. In addition, 9% of participants 

said that using technology to learn is difficult. This 

number suggests that there are still some limitations. 

For instance, students must have an internet 

connection to use English learning apps, or students 

are bothered by advertisements while studying on 

software or computer. 

Chart 4. The kind of technology that participants apply to learn English 

This chart shows the most common technology that 

learners regularly use to learn English. As can be seen, 

the highest percentage of all cases is educational apps 

(75.30%). It means that the learning apps are very 

popular among students, and those are easy to 

download and easy to use. Nevertheless, smartphones 

and tablets were also selected by many students 

(60.80%). As you know, Smartphones are a kind of 

technology that almost everyone has today. Students 

choose smartphones and tablets to learn English 

because they are so compact and have many features 

to aid in learning. And learners can carry them easily.  

96%

4%

Yes No

91%

9%

Easy Dificult

75.30%

60.80%

19.40%

19.10%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00%

Educational apps

Smartphone, tablets

Audio tools

Computer and computer software



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To sum, the data from question 1 to question 4 

indicated that the use of technology in learning 

English is increasingly popular and effective for 

students. Furthermore, the data also shows that it is 

easier for learners to study technology. Some kinds of 

technologies like educational apps, smartphones, 

tablets are used the most by learners for their 

convenience. However, technology in learning English 

also has a few limitations, such as having a lot of 

advertising while studying and having to have an 

internet connection to learn. 

In this study, we have 10 questions for interviews, and 

questions number 1 and 2 will show us the answer to 

research question 1. We interview face-to-face with 10 

junior students to have in-depth information for the 

research question. The participants in the interview are 

coded S1, S2, to S10. We create question 1 to want to 

know which technologies students use the most in 

learning English. S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, and 

S10 said that smartphones are used the most. 

However, S9 has used computers the most. This result 

shows that smartphones are really good tools for 

English. It is very small but contains a lot of 

information and data. Moreover, students can 

download learning software or information to their 

smartphones to study anywhere and anytime. Those 

are the reason smartphones are so popular in English 

learning. Furthermore, question 2 helps us explore the 

purpose of students when using technology in learning 

English.  

The main purpose when I using technology is 

looking up a dictionary, consulting friends, 

improving listening skills, and learning new 

words. 

Student 1 

The purpose is to use a dictionary online to search 

for new words and translating. 

Student 2 

My purpose is to use the Internet to search for 

information for a research paper, using an online 

dictionary to find out the meaning of new words, 

discussing with my fellow student through 

Messenger when we are at home. 

Student 3 

The purposes are enhancing vocabulary and 4 

English skills: reading, listening, writing, and 

speaking. 

Student 4, 5, and 6 

My aim is to seek many vocabularies and 

checking pronunciation. 

Student 7 

I think my purpose is to communicate with 

foreigners. 

Student 8 

I want to take part in the English clubs on 

Facebook. 

Student 9 

The purposes: accessing information and finding 

new words in the dictionary online. 

Student 10 

In general, the main purpose has given the most of the 

responses is using an online dictionary and improve 

their 4 English skills. It means that in learning a 

foreign language, it is necessary to understand the 

meaning of the words, so students use the dictionary 

online. However, in some cases, the students depend 

too much on the dictionary. In addition, 4 English 

skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing is also 

mentioned. As can be seen, students are also 

increasingly focusing on all skills rather than just 

focusing on listening or speaking.  

To summarize the interview, the answer to research 

question 1 was clearly that smartphones are applied 

the most by students while learning English because 

they give us a flexible ability to download and access 

information. Besides, using online dictionaries and 

enhancing their English skills is the main purpose of 

using technology. An online dictionary helps students 

have the opportunity to an in-depth understanding of 

the meaning of new words. And focusing on 4 English 

skills will help them become more fluent in English. 

4.3. Research question 2 

What have been the positive results of using 

technology in learning English? 

Question number 5 to number 12 of the 

questionnaire, which was designed to explore how 

four English skills of third-year students in Van Lang 



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University applied technology in learning English. 

And question number 5 has explored the first skill. 

Chart 5. Speaking skills have been enhanced after 

using technology in learning English 

 

 
As can be seen in chart 5, about 96% of students in 

Van Lang University said "Yes" to this question. This 

explains that speaking skills have improved the most 

after using technology in learning English. And the 

rest of 4% is that students still cannot improve their 

speaking skills through study with technological 

devices. 

 

Chart 6. The percentage of speaking skills have been 

enhanced after using technology 

 
Chart 6 reveals that students' speaking skills have 

improved at an average level is 57%. This implicated 

that speaking skills are enhanced significantly when 

students apply technology to learning English. 

Moreover, this percentage also showed that students 

apply the right technology to learning English, so it 

brings students amazing results. For example, they can 

use smartphones to call foreigners to practice 

speaking. Next, about 23% is the percentage of the 

level of the improvement more than 80% of students 

after using technology in learning English. It shows 

that their speaking skill is likely to improve a lot after 

using technological devices in learning English. 

Although the percentage of the improvement level is 

more than 80%, which is still low, this number shows 

that students know how to use technology in learning 

English. The remainder of this question's percentage is 

20% presented that using technology in learning 

English is not as helpful as they expected. 

 

Chart 7. Listening skills have been developed after 

using technology in learning English 

 
As can be seen from data in chart 7, it showed that 

96% of students at Van Lang University said “Yes” to 

this question. This explains that listening skill has 

been improved a lot after using technology in learning 

English. And the rest of the 4% is that students still 

cannot improve their listening skills through study 

with technology. 

 

Chart 8. The percentage of listening skills have been 

developed after using technology 

 
Chart 8 showed that students' listening skills have 

improved at an average level of 40%. This implicated 

that listening skills increased not very much when 

students apply technology to learning English. 

Furthermore, this number also shows that students 

apply technology correctly to studying English. Next, 

about 36% showed that their listening skills had been 

enhanced the most (more than 80% of listening skills) 

after using technological devices to learn English. This 

percent is extremely high. This explains that students 

96%

4%

Yes No

20%

57%

23%
30%

50%

80%

96%

4%

Yes No

24%

40%

36% 30%

50%

80%



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know exactly how to use technological devices in 

learning English, and technology helps them practice 

listening skills. They improve their listening skills by 

more than 80% because they always listen to English 

songs and stories or news in English on Youtube like 

VOA Learning English or learning apps supporting 

students to practice listening. The rest of the 

percentage of this question is 24% presented that using 

technology in learning English is useful for them to 

study English. 

 

Chart 9. Reading skills have been improved after 

using technology in learning English 

 

Our research paper stated that 95% of students at Van 

Lang University said "Yes" to this question. This 

explains that reading skills have been enhanced 

significantly after using technology to learn English. 

And the rest of the 5% is that students still cannot 

improve their reading skills by studying technology. 

 

Chart 10. The percentage of reading skills have been 

improved after using technology 

 

This chart presented that students' reading skills have 

improved at an average level is 58%. This implicated 

that listening skills increased rather well when 

students apply technology to learning English. In 

addition, this explains that almost all students usually 

apply technological devices to learning English, 

especially in reading skills. Thanks to technology and 

the Internet, students can read more and more online 

newspapers and English stories to be experts at 

reading skills. Next, about 14% showed that their 

reading skill is likely to improve not much after 

applying technology to learning English. The rest of 

this question's percentage is 28% (level of 

improvement at 30%). It shows that the improvement 

of reading skills is very low. This number presented 

that using technology in learning English is not as 

useful as they wanted. 

Chart 11. Writing skills have been improved after 

using technology in learning English 

 

As can be seen in this chart, about 94% of students at 

Van Lang University said “Yes” to this question. This 

explains that writing skill has been improved the most 

after using technology in learning English. And the 

rest of the 6% is that students still cannot improve 

their writing skills through study with technological 

devices. 

 

Chart 12. The percentage of writing skills have been 

improved after using technology 

 

This chart showed that 51% of reading skills had been 

improved at a weak level. This number indicated that 

using technological devices in learning English is not 

95%

5%

Yes No

28%

58%

14%
30%

50%

80%

94%

6%

Yes No

51%
31%

18%
30%

50%

80%



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helpful. Students cannot know exactly how to use 

technology to improve their writing skills, so they feel 

that their writing skills have been improved when they 

study with their face-to-face instructors. However, 

writing skill has improved at an average level is 31%. 

This implicated that listening skills enhanced but not 

much when students apply technology to learning 

English. This percent also shows that many students 

still apply technology to learning English. For 

example, they can enhance their writing skills through 

Grammarly apps or check plagiarism apps to prevent 

them from having some plagiarism and grammar 

mistakes when they practice writing in English. Next, 

about 18% showed that their writing skill is likely to 

improve not much after applying technology to 

learning English. 

In sum, question 5 to question 12 indicates that 

listening skill has been improved the most in four 

English skills surveyed by third-year students at Van 

Lang University. On the other hand, writing skills 

increased not as much as listening skills. Finally, the 

rest of the two skills (speaking and reading skills) 

were enhanced sufficiently. All four English skills 

have been improved significantly by studying with 

technological devices. 

In the interview, question number 6 to question 

number 9 will show us the answers to research 

question 2. We interviewed person-in-person 10 

students to have in-depth information for this research 

question. The participants in this interview will be 

coded S1, S2 to S10. We create question 6 in order to 

know how effective technology in speaking skills. 

According to S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, and 

S10, they said that: 

 

My speaking skill has been improved a lot. 

                            Student 1, 5, 7, 8, and 9 

Speaking skill has been enhanced averagely. 

                                                                                     

Student 4 and 10 

Technological devices are not helpful for me in 

practicing a speaking skill at all. 

                                                                             

Student 2, 3, and 6 

We design question number 7 to explore how listening 

skills developed after using technology to learn 

English. Also, we have an interview face-to-face with 

10 students at Van Lang University. 

Technology helps me improve my listening skills 

a lot because I usually practice listening skills 

through Youtube videos. 

                        Student 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 

    My listening skill has been improved but not 

much. 

              Student 2, 3, 4, 9, and 10 

Question number 8 was created to know how reading 

skills improved after using technology to learn 

English. 

I enhance my reading skill at an average level, 

learn some new words and read newspapers in 

English. 

        Student 2, 3, 4, 8, and 9 

My reading has been improved not much. 

        Student 5, 7, and 10 

   I do not improve my reading skill at all. 

                        Student 1 and 6 

Question number 9 was designed to get how writing 

skills improved after using technology in learning 

English. 

My writing skill has been improved a lot by 

using Grammarly and Check Plagiarism apps.  

Student 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, and 10 

    My writing has been enhanced averagely. 

  Student 4 and 6 

    I do not use technology to practice my writing 

skill. 

  Student 2 and 5 

To summarize the interview, we designed these 

questions in the interview to answer research question 

2. We find that there are different answers to each 

question. Generally, all four skills have been 

improved. However, there will be various levels for 

each skill. Firstly, speaking skill has been improved 

averagely. Next, reading and writing skills have not 

been enhanced much. Finally, listening skills are 

improved the most when using technology to support 

their learning English. 

Next, from question 13 to question 19 are the small 

questions of research question 2 to meet learners' 

necessities when they want to know more about the 

benefits of using technology in learning English. For 

questions 13 and question 14, they illustrate how using 

pronunciation test software corrects the fault when we 

speak English. Afterward, quizzes 15 and 16 explore 



ACOJ- ISSN 1936-9859 AsiaCALL Online Journal  Vol. 12, No. 2, 2021 

35 
 

some advantages of using an online dictionary to meet 

the study. Besides that, from question 17 to question 

19 want to seek learners' enjoyment when applying 

technology into education. Finally, question 13 to 

question 19 plays a significant role that finds out how 

many percentages learners improve after using 

technology in learning English. 

Chart 13. Pronunciation has been better after using 

pronunciation test software 

 

Chart 13 shows data about how many learners affect 

pronunciation after using the software. 64% is the 

highest rate in this chart, and it represents that 

students improve a lot after using the software and 

still limit to use technology a lot. Besides that, the 

learners account for 34% who develop English skills 

after using technology and know-how to use it 

efficiently. The lowest rate is 2%, which means that 

most learners also know to use technology to 

complete the study's task. It has very few people who 

do not know the advantages of using technology to 

learn English. 

 

 

 

Chart 14. How pronunciation test software helps students 

As can be seen in chart 14, it divides into three 

rates, which make learners know the significant role 

in pronunciation when speaking English. The 

highest rate (67%) expresses that learners use the 

software to find out the pronunciation's faults to 

know which words they pronounce false. Besides, 

the rate is 50.90% that the rate illustrates learners 

want the software to check pronunciation and fix it 

when learners pronounce false. The last rate 

accounts for 27.40%, which means that very few 

people know this utility and do not care about this 

one's benefits. 

Chart 15. How online dictionaries bring students benefits 

64%

34%

2%

Yes but not much Much improved No

67%

50.90%

27.40%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Identity mistakes

Correct the mistakes

Set up studying reminders

56.10%

48.10%

23.30%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

Easy to access

Easy to find

Easy to understand



ACOJ- ISSN 1936-9859 AsiaCALL Online Journal  Vol. 12, No. 2, 2021 

36 
 

This chart reveals that how online dictionaries easily 

to use. The highest rate is 56.10% that represents 

learners can access the dictionaries wherever, 

whenever, because it does not limit some aspects. 

48.10% is the second rate, which means the 

advantages of online dictionaries help learners easily 

find the words that learners want. Moreover, there are 

many online dictionaries on the Internet, so learners 

have many choices to decide. The part "easy to 

understand" accounts for 23.30%, which shows that 

there are still some restricted areas that online 

dictionaries cannot explain clearly to learners. 

Chart 16. The usage of the dictionary helps students 

more confident when you speak English with many 

new words 

 

Chart 16 illustrates how the influence of the 

dictionary affects speaking skills. It seems that most 

learners feel they improve a lot after using it, but 

there are still some areas that learners do not 

understand (65%). The average rate is 30% that 

describes some learners when using a dictionary, they 

feel more confident speaking with native speakers, 

and they easily use a dictionary. The lowest rate is 

5%, which means that very few people do not 

improve by using a dictionary. 

As can be seen from the data in chart 17, it shows the 

necessity when applying technology in learning 

English classroom. The highest rate accounts for 

81%, which illustrates the number of people who 

agree to use technology that provides many benefits 

to help learners understand lessons. The second rate 

is 15%, which represents that some students 

understand very little about using technology in the 

classroom because the technology still argues in 

learning English also teaching. The last rate accounts 

for 4%, which means some people do not like this 

type of study. It seems that they feel easily 

understand when studying in the traditional 

classroom. 

Chart 17. Using technology in learning English 

classroom will make it easier to understand the 

lesson 

 

Chart 18. Using technology will increase students' 

enjoyment of learning English 

 

Chart 18 relates to students' feelings when applying 

technology in learning English. The highest number 

accounts for 93%, which represents that learners 

feel excited when using technology and help them 

boost their pleasure in studying English. 7% left that 

means very few people do not like this way of 

studying. 

 

Chart 19. How technologies increase students' enjoyment of learning English 

65%

30%

5%

Yes but not much More confident No

81%

4% 15%

Yes No A little bit

93%

7%

Yes No



AsiaCALL Online Journal Received: 03/01/2021 

ISSN 1936-9859; https://asiacall.info/acoj Revision: 30/01/2021  

Vol. 12, No. 2, 2021  Accepted: 5/02/2021 

pp. 24-40  Online: 06/02/2021 

 

0 
 

The last chart provides that technology affects 

students' feelings in which way, and there are many 

ways to make students feel interested in learning 

English. Reducing boredom in the classroom is 

60.10% that means students like applying some 

modern devices into education to make learners have 

more opportunities, which can decline the sadness in 

class. 49% stands for the number of learners who feel 

communication between students and teacher 

increase a lot based on using technology. The last 

rate is 35.80%, which describes the lessons as more 

interesting, lively, and easy to understand for learners 

after using technology to learn English. 

To sum up, questions 13 to question 19 want to know 

how many percentages of the participants feel that 

using technology in the classroom. Furthermore, we 

estimate how people's rate effects after using 

technology in studying English. Afterward, we 

emphasize some apps that can make learners improve 

a lot and pay attention to learners' emotions to seek 

the best way that is suitable for learners. 

Interview questions 3, 4, 5, and 10 create to 

investigate the influence of using technology in 

studying English. Our team members interview face-

to-face 10 participants and record their voices to 

collect the data for these four questions. To question 

3 relates to the benefits of using technology in 

learning English: 

I can access sources and information easily 

anywhere and anytime. 

Student 1 and 6                                                                                                                                               

The benefits of using technology in learning 

English: enhancing vocabulary. 

                                                                                                                                                   

Student 2 

The benefits: providing abilities to access 

sources, watching many videos in terms of how 

to improve English on Youtube. 

Student 3 

There is no limitation of information and 

document on the Internet. 

Student 4 

Technology helps me find out and correct some 

mistakes in pronunciation. 

Student 5 

I can improve pronunciation better, know more 

vocabularies, more structures 

Student 7 

I have a chance to earn money  

Student 8 

I feel more convenient when using technology 

in learning English 

Student 9 

Technology provides different opportunities to 

make learning more fun and enjoyable 

60.10%

49%

35.80%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%

Reduce boredom in classroom

Increase the interaction between students and

teachers

Help the lecture more vivid



ACOJ- ISSN 1936-9859 AsiaCALL Online Journal  Vol. 12, No. 2, 2021 

37 
 

Student 10 

Continue with question 4, it relates to using 

technology affects which skills in English: 

Speaking skills are improved a lot because I 

keen to learn British accents so I just search on 

Youtube about it and practice day by day. It 

helps me a lot. 

Student 1 

I think my listening and speaking skills have 

improved a lot because there are many sources to 

download and practice on the Internet. 

Student 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 

I think reading skills and writing skills have 

improved a lot because I usually read online 

newspapers and journal articles to have new 

words for my reading skills and use Grammarly 

for my writing skills. 

Student 3 

My writing skill is improved a lot after using 

technology in learning English. 

Student 4 

Moreover, question 5 illustrate the impact of 

technology in learning English 

Technology is one way to raise English skills, 

but it still bases on learning. If they learn hard, 

they will be better. And if they don't, then 

technology doesn't help. I have improved my 

speaking skills a lot through media and Youtube. 

Student 1 

Technology affects my listening skill a little bit. 

Student 2, 6, and 9 

Technology helps me reduce boredom when 

learning English. There are many educational 

apps that the very vivid interface. 

Student 3 

Technology affects me a little bit. Technology 

just helps me improve my vocabulary and 

writing skills. 

Student 4 

Instead of studying in books, learning with 

technology has made me more active, interested. 

Student 10 

The last question is number 10; it commends about 

the pronunciation part.  

I think I can be fluent in pronunciation through 

some foreigners on social media. 

Student 1, 4 

My pronunciation has enhanced, like clearer 

pronunciation. 

Student 2, 5, 8 

My pronunciation also has improved too much. I 

can pronounce correctly American accent 

through Elsa App. 

Student 3 

My pronunciation improved slightly after using 

technology to correct my pronunciation 

mistakes. 

Student 6 

I think technology helps me pronounce more 

correctly and clearly. 

Student 7 and 8 

Learn English through phone apps that support 

speech recognition. From there, I can correct the 

voice and practice to have a correct voice. 

Student 10 

To wrap up, those questions want to investigate some 

aspects that help learners have real experiences in 

learning English based on using technology and 

illustrate which skills after using technology will 

improve a lot. Besides that, our research emphasizes 

the influence of using test software or using online 



ACOJ- ISSN 1936-9859 AsiaCALL Online Journal  Vol. 12, No. 2, 2021 

38 
 

dictionaries in learning English classroom and 

attaches special importance to the learner's feelings 

when applying many ways to study English. 

5. DISCUSSION 

Most of the research papers in the literature review 

have studied a small part of the English language. On 

the other hand, our study focuses on English skills, 

including listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 

Comparative with Alsulami (2016) research paper, he 

found that the participants always use smartphones 

(52.8%). Besides, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and 

Blogs always are used a lot (50%). However, our 

study showed that the participants use educational 

apps the most (75.30%).  

There are several different methods between our 

research and the article “The Effectiveness of Using 

Technology in English Language Classrooms in 

Government Primary Schools in Bangladesh” wrote 

by Parvin and Salam (2015). The first thing, the 

participants of our topic will focus on students more. 

Nevertheless, the research paper on google scholar 

concentrated on teachers more. On the other hand, 

our methods aim at collecting the rate of developed 

skills after using technology in learning English. In 

contrast, the authors’ research investigates how some 

devices (audio-visual content) affect education. 

Another comparison that demonstrates our topic is 

the article "The role of metacognitive listening 

strategies awareness and podcast-use readiness in 

using podcasting for learning English as a foreign 

language" by Rahimi and Katal (2012). Our topic’s 

participants emphasize using technology (mobile 

phones or computers) to study English. However, the 

research paper’s participants choose the form of 

using podcasting technology to enhance English 

skills. 

The research paper “Technology-enhanced language 

learning: A case study” from Yang and Chen (2006) 

clearly shows the differences with our group's topic. 

Our research illustrates technology that will have 

more opportunities to develop our English skills. On 

the other hand, the authors' study reveals that video 

conferencing promotes English communication skills. 

In the study "Using Facebook in EFL Writing Class: 

Its Effectiveness from Students' Perspective" by 

Fithriani (2019), Facebook is social media that the 

participants of this study use the most, with a total of 

52 users. By contrast, we just focus on smartphones 

and computers because we think that Facebook is on 

smartphones and computers. 

Shyamlee and Phil (2012) showed that there are 

many kinds of technological devices used in teaching 

and learning English like Radio, Electronic 

Dictionary, computers, and so on. Specifically, our 

research indicates that students use Educational apps, 

smartphones, Audio tools, Computer, (75.30%, 

60.80%, 19.40%, and 19.10% respectively). 

In Costley's (2014) study, he claimed that technology 

is the best tool for students to learn. Comparing our 

research with his paper shows that using technology 

in learning differently. In his research, Wiki 

technology helps students a lot because students 

receive feedback immediately from the instructor to 

use this form of technology. On the other hand, our 

research shows that writing skill has been improved a 

little (30%). 

Patel's (2017) research, Computer-Mediated 

Communication (CMC) is very useful for students in 

speaking and writing in a foreign language. 

According to our research, technology helps the 

student improve their speaking skill a lot (57%) and 

writing skill at a low level (31%). 

“The Use of Technology in English Language 

Teaching” by Mofareh (2009) has different methods 

from ours. Our group's topic emphasizes technology, 

which is crucial in learning English. Nevertheless, the 

research paper showed that students achieved high-

level English skills by 75-95% when teachers used 

modern teaching techniques. 

In the literature review, Trasierra (2018) study has 

shown the advantages and disadvantages of using 

ICTs in the classroom. Comparative with our study, 

the participants of his study have just focused on 

teachers. However, the ICTs tools that help students 

improve listening, speaking, reading, and writing 

skills are computer, Youtube, dictionary online, 

Duolingo, etc. It is a similar result to our research 

paper. 



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39 
 

6. CONCLUSION 

Data from question 1 to question 4 in the study 

suggest that the use of technology in learning English 

is becoming increasingly widespread and productive 

for learners. Besides, knowledge also can learn from 

technology more easily. Due to its usability, certain 

kinds of technology such as educational apps, 

smartphones, and tablets are often used by learners. 

However, using technology in learning English still 

has some drawbacks, such as certain commercials 

and an internet connection to learn while using. Data 

from sentences 5 to 12 indicate that of the four 

English skills surveyed by 3rd-year students at Van 

Lang University, listening abilities are the most 

enhanced. On the other hand, writing skills have not 

increased as much. Finally, the remaining two skills 

have been strengthened (speaking and reading skills). 

By studying with technical devices, all 4 English 

skills are greatly improved. Furthermore, question 13 

to Question 19 would like to know how many 

percentages of respondents believe that they use 

technology in the classroom. Besides, we estimate 

how individuals' rate influences the study of English 

after using technology. Subsequently, we highlight 

some programs that can help learners change a lot 

and pay attention to learners' feelings to find the best 

approach that is acceptable for learners. 

A very important role is played by searching and 

analyzing data. It is not easy to acquire the data. 

Researchers have to ask questions and collect them 

afterward. Currently, this research has not reached all 

students at Van Lang University studying English. 

288 students collected the results of the 

questionnaire, and 10 students were interviewed (this 

result is too few). 3rd-year students conducted the 

research, so it had not connected students in other 

disciplines as well as in other years. 

The results showed that using technology in learning 

English is very important. so it is even more 

important to get data and collect opinions. 

Researchers need to pay more attention when 

choosing this research paper's participants, such as 

taking data from all students studying English and 

other disciplines to get diverse and objective details. 

Only focus on the questionnaire really associated 

with using technology to learn English and 

interviewing 15-20 questions directly with students at 

school. Can send these questionnaires to students of 

other schools if there are time and opportunity. This 

will help to enrich the database. 

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