THE VOICES OF STUDENTS AND ENGLISH TEACHERS: SUPPORTING AND INHIBITING FACTORS OF A SMARTPHONE AS A MEDIA TO ACHIEVE OPTIMAL LANGUAGE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Abstract

The consistent increase in smartphone users every year has made many researchers interested in exploring its use in the field of language learning. There are many researches that showed positive and negative trends about it; therefore this study intended to identify supporting factors and their use in language learning so that student learning outcomes could be optimal. This study employed a qualitative approach. There were six informants who participated in this research. They were selected by using a purposive sampling technique. They consisted of two English teachers from the XI classes of MAN 1 and MAN 2 Parepare, as well as 4 students who also came from the two schools who represented the students with the best and vice versa performance. To gain data, the researchers used FGDs as a research instrument and the results were analyzed using thematic analysis. This research found six supporting and inhibiting factors respectively. Therefore, it is important for English teachers to pay attention to these factors when designing English learning in the classroom, particularly when they want to use smartphones as learning media so that student learning outcomes can be optimal.