Language acquisition has embarked on an unprecedented era, dominated by the advent of cutting-edge immersive technologies and smartphone applications, which have significantly revolutionised and reshaped the educational landscape. This mixed-methods study examines the contribution of a smartphone-based application to adult employees’ phrasal-verb knowledge in workplace contexts, as well as its alignment with professional development needs and career aspirations. The study employed the English Phrasal Verbs in Use application within a quasi-experimental design using snowball sampling. A total of 80 adult second-language learners from diverse professional sectors were recruited and evenly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group engaged in interactive, self-paced mobile learning through the application for six weeks, while the control group used non-interactive worksheets and static online resources, allowing interactivity to function as the primary distinguishing variable (Alhujaylan, 2025). Data were collected through pre- and post-intervention phrasal-verb tests, self-confidence and demographic questionnaires administered via Qualtrics, and semi-structured interviews with ten experimental-group participants. Quantitative data were analysed using inferential statistical procedures to compare learning gains across groups, indicating meaningful improvement in phrasal-verb knowledge among experimental participants. Qualitative thematic analysis revealed high levels of engagement, increased linguistic confidence, and improved workplace use of phrasal verbs, attributed to the application’s interactive design and accessibility. Participants nevertheless expressed a preference for a blended learning approach combining mobile applications with conventional resources. Limitations include sample size, reliance on self-reported measures, and the short intervention duration. Overall, the findings suggest that interactive smartphone applications offer significant pedagogical potential for workplace-oriented language learning.

Authors:
Andrea Kyprianou, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Andrea Kyprianou
PhD student at the University of Glasgow, School of Education
Assessing the Effectiveness of a Smartphone Application on Adult Learners’ Acquisition of Phrasal Verbs in English

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