Using Online Learning Applications as a Tool to Improve Oral English among College Students

Due to globalization, having a good command of English has become essential in academic and professional areas. However, the current situation where China is listed among countries of low English proficiency seems not to be promising, which calls for the need to take measures in order to enhance Chinese people’s English capacity, especially in the field of speaking. Fortunately, the development of digital technology has provided us with more opportunities and methods. In terms of this, this study aims to take mixed methods including both a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview to analyze how smartphone applications affect college students’ oral English proficiency as well as several online language learning applications’ advantages and disadvantages in terms of their design. Results show that the positive effect on users’ oral language proficiency is not certain and some amelioration can be made to further improve the functions of these applications.