Open AccessMobile-Assisted Language Learning
Author(s) -
Dana Lindaman,
Daniel Nolan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the iall journal of language learning technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1050-0049
DOI - 10.17161/iallt.v45i1.8547
Subject(s) - computer science , set (abstract data type) , mobile apps , language acquisition , foreign language , multimedia , mobile device , order (exchange) , mathematics education , psychology , world wide web , programming language , finance , economics
To many, developing language-learning tools for mobile platformsseems out of reach. Mobile app development projects require a widearray of specialized skills that many language teachers do not possess.This article reports on a set of mobile language learning applicationdevelopment projects initiated by language teachers. By settingattainable goals and focusing on collaboration, faculty in theseprojects have been able to take advantage of the new possibilitiesmobile devices offer for language instruction. Faculty adopted Design-Based Research methodologies in an Ecological Constructivistframework in order to design, implement, and test their apps incollaboration with students and faculty from across the campus. Theresults suggest that app development projects are feasible for languageteachers, and that pedagogically sound apps can reduce some of theanxiety associated with learning a foreign language.