In this study, a research model comprising four variables (loneliness, smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and students' attention in English as a foreign language class) was proposed and statistically examined. Previous literature has appeared to neglect these variables, which are considered to be essential to understanding students' attention in EFL (English as a foreign language) class among college students. A total of 587 undergraduate students were recruited from a university in Taiwan to participate in the present study. The technique of structural equation modeling was adopted to test the hypotheses in the conceptual model. The findings of this study are: (1) smartphone addiction has a significant negative impact on students' attention in EFL class; (2) smartphone addiction has a significant negative impact on sleep quality; (3) sleep quality has a significant positive impact on students' attention in EFL class; (4) sleep quality partially mediates the relationship between smartphone addiction and students' attention in EFL class; (5) loneliness has a significant positive effect on smartphone addiction. The results can enrich the present literature in the psychology of attention and mobile technology by providing an insight into the dynamics of these four variables.
Keywords: attention in EFL class; loneliness; sleep quality; smartphone addiction.