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Mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablets, are rapidly gaining popularity as an effective means to enhance foreign language learning. However, does the incorporation of these mobile devices really benefit the learner or simply satisfy the instructor’s need to be innovative and ahead of the learning curve? The present study seeks to answer this question, in part, by targeting a survey to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners at a private university in Tokyo, Japan. The survey was administered to Japanese undergraduates studying academic English in two separate departments during a three academic year period (2012 to 2014). The main purpose of the survey was to determine students’ attitudes toward and patterns of usage of mobile learning technology, and how effective they felt it was compared with traditional methods of teaching English skills. The results revealed the students were satisfied with and motivated by their exposure to mobile learning, and that they had a preference for using mobile devices when learning English. At the same time, however, there were some students who did not feel comfortable using mobile devices for language learning. The results of the survey are discussed in light of emerging theories of autonomous learning and second language motivation.