Educational mobile applications and their incidence on the development of receptive listening and reading skills in the English language in high school students.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine the incidence on the development of educational mobile applications on the development of receptive English language skills, specifically listening comprehension and reading comprehension, among General Unified High School students at Unidad Educativa Libertad during the 2025–2026 academic year. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach with a predominance of quantitative analysis through a non experimental, documentary, and field research design with exploratory, descriptive, and correlational scope. The population consisted of 101 students, and a sample of 80 participants was selected. Data were collected through a diagnostic test based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education standards, an observation checklist to examine the pedagogical context and available educational resources, and a structured survey focused on the use of educational mobile applications. All research instruments were validated through expert judgment, and the collected data were analyzed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The findings revealed that Voscreen and LingoClip significantly enhanced students' listening comprehension, whereas DuoCards and eKidz contributed to the improvement of reading comprehension. Furthermore, the diagnostic assessment identified students' English proficiency levels, the observation checklist highlighted the need to strengthen the integration of technological resources into classroom instruction, and the survey indicated a positive attitude toward the use of educational mobile applications for English language learning. Pearson's correlation analysis demonstrated a strong positive and statistically significant relationship between the study variables (r = 0.82; p = 0.000). Consequently, the null hypothesis was rejected, and the alternative hypothesis was accepted with a 95% confidence level. The study concludes that integrating educational mobile applications represents an effective instructional strategy for strengthening receptive language skills, increasing students' motivation, and promoting autonomous English language learning.