A qualitative study on factors for freshmen’s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learning

Abstract Students’ excessive reliance on mobile phones during English classes diminishes their learning engagement and understanding, which in turn affects their academic performance. Teachers’ prior observations at our selected university indicated that smartphone usage among English learners varie...

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Main Authors: Antony Fute, Yifan Feng, Feifei Huang, Xiangdan Zhao, Daniel Kangwa, Mohamed Oubibi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-06-01
Series:Discover Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00644-x
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author Antony Fute
Yifan Feng
Feifei Huang
Xiangdan Zhao
Daniel Kangwa
Mohamed Oubibi
author_facet Antony Fute
Yifan Feng
Feifei Huang
Xiangdan Zhao
Daniel Kangwa
Mohamed Oubibi
author_sort Antony Fute
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Students’ excessive reliance on mobile phones during English classes diminishes their learning engagement and understanding, which in turn affects their academic performance. Teachers’ prior observations at our selected university indicated that smartphone usage among English learners varied significantly across class groups and among individual students within groups. This study employed a mixed-tactics approach (i.e., interviews, classroom observations, and group discussions) to uncover influential factors (both environmental and psychological) shaping students’ behaviour of smartphone overuse during English learning hours. The key findings have underscored the impact of environmental variables, such as class size es that are un that are unmanageable) and examination policies (i.e., not having final exams at the end of the semester), alongside psychological factors like self-discipline (self-control) and motivation. Generally, this study highlights the need for targeted interventions (within the university) and enhanced classroom management strategies (by teachers) to alleviate or lessen digital distractions and bolster learning engagement. The study advocates for promoting digital wellness initiatives and collaborative efforts to support students’ English learning engagement while prioritizing well-being in educational contexts.
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series Discover Education
spelling doaj-art-b7911b6f9c7c4fefadff4e9c8526cb522025-08-20T02:10:32ZengSpringerDiscover Education2731-55252025-06-014111610.1007/s44217-025-00644-xA qualitative study on factors for freshmen’s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learningAntony Fute0Yifan Feng1Feifei Huang2Xiangdan Zhao3Daniel Kangwa4Mohamed Oubibi5School of Foreign Languages, Yulin UniversitySchool of Foreign Languages, Yulin UniversitySchool of Foreign Languages, Yulin UniversitySchool of Foreign Languages, Yulin UniversityCollege of Education, Zhejiang Normal UniversitySmart Learning Institute, Beijing Normal UniversityAbstract Students’ excessive reliance on mobile phones during English classes diminishes their learning engagement and understanding, which in turn affects their academic performance. Teachers’ prior observations at our selected university indicated that smartphone usage among English learners varied significantly across class groups and among individual students within groups. This study employed a mixed-tactics approach (i.e., interviews, classroom observations, and group discussions) to uncover influential factors (both environmental and psychological) shaping students’ behaviour of smartphone overuse during English learning hours. The key findings have underscored the impact of environmental variables, such as class size es that are un that are unmanageable) and examination policies (i.e., not having final exams at the end of the semester), alongside psychological factors like self-discipline (self-control) and motivation. Generally, this study highlights the need for targeted interventions (within the university) and enhanced classroom management strategies (by teachers) to alleviate or lessen digital distractions and bolster learning engagement. The study advocates for promoting digital wellness initiatives and collaborative efforts to support students’ English learning engagement while prioritizing well-being in educational contexts.https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00644-xMobile phone addictionNomophobiaLearning engagementEnglish learningTeaching
spellingShingle Antony Fute
Yifan Feng
Feifei Huang
Xiangdan Zhao
Daniel Kangwa
Mohamed Oubibi
A qualitative study on factors for freshmen’s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learning
Discover Education
Mobile phone addiction
Nomophobia
Learning engagement
English learning
Teaching
title A qualitative study on factors for freshmen’s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learning
title_full A qualitative study on factors for freshmen’s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learning
title_fullStr A qualitative study on factors for freshmen’s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learning
title_full_unstemmed A qualitative study on factors for freshmen’s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learning
title_short A qualitative study on factors for freshmen’s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learning
title_sort qualitative study on factors for freshmen s mobile phone addiction and its influence on their classroom learning
topic Mobile phone addiction
Nomophobia
Learning engagement
English learning
Teaching
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00644-x
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