A Meta-Analysis of the Existing Studies on Effects of Mobile Learning on Vocabulary Acquisition

Abstract

This meta-analysis examines the effect of mobile learning (m-learning) on students’ vocabulary acquisition and explores the moderating effects of education level and intervention duration. By systematically synthesizing and evaluating data from 17 studies across four databases (IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, SAGE, and Emerald Insight), this study calculates effect sizes and conducts moderator analyses. The findings reveal that m-learning has a significant positive impact on vocabulary acquisition. While education level does not moderate this effect, intervention duration does (p = 0.036). Among the three subgroups analyzed, interventions lasting 4 to 12 weeks exhibit the strongest moderating effect, followed by those exceeding 12 weeks and those lasting less than 4 weeks. Based on these findings, this study recommends integrating m-learning into language education, particularly for vocabulary instruction, optimizing intervention duration, and selecting user-friendly, age-appropriate applications. However, limitations include the exclusive use of journal articles, restriction to four databases, and the absence of device type as a moderator, highlighting the need for broader data sources and further research on technological variations in mlearning.