Mobile-assisted language learning [Revised and updated version]

Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) is the use of smartphones and other mobile technologies in language learning, especially in situations where portability and situated learning offer specific advantages. A key attraction of mobile learning is the ubiquity of mobile phones. Typical applications can support learners in reading, listening, speaking and writing in the target language, either individually or in collaboration with one another. Increasingly, MALL applications relate language learning to a person’s physical context when mobile, primarily to provide access to location-specific language material or to enable learners to capture aspects of language use in situ and share it with others. Mobile learning can be formal or informal, and mobile devices may form a bridge connecting in-class and out-of-class learning. When learning takes place outside the classroom, it is often beyond the reach and control of the teacher. This can be perceived as a threat, but it is also an opportunity to revitalize and rethink current approaches to teaching and learning. Mobile learning appeals to a wide range of people for a variety of reasons. It may exclude some learners but it is often a mechanism for inclusion. It is likely that the next generation of mobile learning will be more ubiquitous, which means that there will be smart systems everywhere for digital learning. Mobile learning is proving its potential to address authentic learner needs at the point at which they arise, and to deliver more flexible models of language learning

When learning Italian as a Second Language, tourism and technology go hand in hand

[EN] This paper aims to describe the development of CALL-ER, an application for mobile devices, produced within the CALL-ER project (Context-Aware Language Learning in Emilia Romagna). An ever-increasing availability of applications for language learning that meet the different learning needs of users, as well as the ubiquitous wireless communication, led applications for mobile devices to become gradually more context-aware. This means that language is acquired by users through the direct experience with the local context where they are. An example in this regard is represented by the CALL-ER mobile application, that supports mobility students through the incidental learning of Italian language and culture in the city of Forlì. We will begin this contribution with an outline of the theoretical underpinnings that supported the project and a presentation of the project itself. We will then present the first stage of the project, during which the application was developed before its first testing. At this point, an overall description of the application will be given. A special attention will be paid throughout this paper both to how language learning has been conceived through experiential tourism and to the multimodality of the contents.Cervini, C.; Zingaro, A. (2021). When learning Italian as a Second Language, tourism and technology go hand in hand. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 341-349. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.12961OCS34134

Investigating the use of mobile applications in everyday language learning

The development of mobile phone applications has created a multiplicity of additional affordances and new ways of learning. In particular, mobile language learning applications such as online dictionaries and Google Translate combined with the technical affordances of smartphones and tablets are creating a new relationship between mobile learners and smart devices. In this exploratory study, a mixed method research design was used to understand how youth in Malaysia use their smart devices for learning languages and to uncover the extent of these learning experiences in their daily lives. 337 participants took part in a survey of their language learning experiences using mobile learning applications. Additionally, phenomenological interviews were conducted with 12 participants over a period of four months to uncover the lived experiences of their language learning. This paper presents the preliminary findings of the study which suggest learning is serendipitous, fragmentary and purposive; dependent on function and purpose. The findings may yield new understanding that may prove useful in its implications for formal and informal learning

A snapshot of the city: cultural transfer through a language learning app

This paper describes how a web app could be useful to promote cultural transfer and incidental learning of Italian as a Second Language (L2) on the university campus of Forlì (University of Bologna). The app, named Forliviamo, aims to present and promote the city of Forlì and the local culture to international students and tourists and, at the same time, to support them through the incidental learning of Italian. After giving an overall description of the app, it will be explained how cultural identity is transmitted in terms of both promoting local gastronomy, traditional events, iconic places of the city and fostering the incidental learning of Italian. Special attention will be paid to the strategies adopted to facilitate the users' approach to language and culture

Innovating Pedagogy 2015: Open University Innovation Report 4

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This fourth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International. We proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories, and practices. We then pared these down to ten that have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice, particularly in post-school education. Lastly, we drew on published and unpublished writings to compile the ten sketches of new pedagogies that might transform education. These are summarised below in an approximate order of immediacy and timescale to widespread implementation

Application of the mobile app Memrise as a vocabulary learning tool for 10th grade students

A great deal of studies have been conducted on vocabulary learning; however, there are still relatively few effective vocabulary learning materials available for upper secondary school students. Research has shown that in the aspect of language learning, mobile apps are quite helpful for memorization and vocabulary learning due to the fact that language learning apps are equipped with vocabulary-learning flashcards and games. The aim of this study is to determine whether mobile app Memrise helps improve the memorization of vocabulary and how Memrise can be integrated into 10th grade students’ regular class learning routine.https://www.ester.ee/record=b5237242*es

State of the art of language learning design using mobile technology: sample apps and some critical reflection

In this paper, experiences from different research groups illustrate the state-of-the-art of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (henceforth, MALL) in formal and non-formal education. These research samples represent recent and on-going progress made in the field of MALL at an international level and offer encouragement for practitioners who are trying to incorporate these approaches into mainline second language teaching. Furthermore, researchers interested in the field can see that the work presented here exemplifies how fertile it is, which should hopefully serve as motivation to undertake new studies to move the state-of-the-art further on