Abstract

Mobile information and communication technologies (ICTs), with advanced capabilities,
have created new prospects and opportunities, for both students and faculty who are
learning and teaching English as a foreign language, in higher education in Saudi Arabia.
Technology acceptance theories and models have been widely developed, used and
extended to determine the factors related to the acceptance of such technologies in
specific national and subject contexts. However, there have been very few studies of the
acceptance of new ICTs in teaching and learning in the higher education context of Saudi
Arabia, in general; and none that relate to the teaching of English as a foreign language.
To examine the readiness for, and acceptance of, mobile learning and teaching among
students and faculty at Taibah University in Saudi Arabia, a theory of technology
acceptance, developed for a consumer context, was used as the framework for this study;
considering the participants as consumers of mobile technologies within an organization.
This study utilised the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology
(UTAUT2) model to identify the factors responsible for use behaviour and the behavioural
intention to use mobile technologies in learning and teaching English as a foreign
language. The research model hypothesized that Performance Expectancy, Effort
Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation, Price of Devices,
Price of Services, and Habit will predict Behavioural Intentions to use mobile technologies
in learning and teaching EFL and Use Behaviour. It was also hypothesized that Age,
Gender, and Experience will moderate the impact of the eight factors included in the
research model. This model was empirically tested using data collected from 878 students
and 65 faculty members by two cross-sectional surveys at Taibah University in Saudi
Arabia.
The results of regression analyses indicated that the research model was partially
confirmed, and highlighted key variables as the driving forces of use behaviour and
behavioural intention to use mobile technologies in learning and teaching English as a
foreign language.
The findings of this empirical research provide crucial information that can guide the
implementation of proactive interventions to widely improve the practices of learning
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and teaching; and greatly increase our understanding of the reasons for, and
effectiveness of, the adoption of mobile technologies in higher education in Saudi Arabia.
More importantly, as English continues to develop as the global language of business and
commerce, and the lingua franca of academic and social media networks, the increased
effectiveness of the use of mobile ICTs in teaching and learning English that results from
this research will enable Saudi students to operate as global citizens within the emerging
world knowledge economy, and increase significantly the human capital return on the
substantial investments in such mobile technologies by the government of Saudi Arabia
and its universities.