scholarly journals Use of Smartphone Applications in English Language Learning—A Challenge for Foreign Language Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Kacetl ◽  
Blanka Klímová

At present, hardly any younger person can imagine life without mobile technologies. They use them on a daily basis, including in language learning. Such learning supported with mobile devices is called mobile learning, which seems beneficial especially thanks to the unique features of mobile applications (e.g., interactivity, ubiquity, and portability) and teachers’ encouragement and feedback. The purpose of this review study is to explore original, peer-reviewed English studies from 2015 to April 2019 and to determine whether mobile applications used in the learning of English as a foreign language are beneficial and/or effective. The methods are based on a literature review of available sources found on the research topic in two acknowledged databases: Web of Science and Scopus. Altogether, 16 original journal studies on the research topic were detected. The results reveal that mobile learning is becoming a salient feature of education as it is a great opportunity for foreign language learning. Its key benefits are as follows: the enhancement of the learner’s cognitive capacity, the learner’s motivation to study in both formal and informal settings, the learner’s autonomy and confidence, as well as the promotion of personalized learning, helping low-achieving students to reach their study goals. Although mobile learning seems to be effective overall, it is desirable to design, plan and implement it with caution, according to students’ needs, and to deliver multiple language skills in authentic learning environments.

Author(s):  
Nataliia Skrypnyk

The article is devoted to the analysis of the methods of mobile learning in relation to foreign language learning in institutions of higher education and systematization of their practical use. Despite the fact that mobile devices with internet access are becoming more and more widespread among students and teachers, mobile learning, in foreign language learning in particular, is not common in non-linguistic institutions of higher education nowadays. The concepts of «mobile learning», «mobile technologies» have been described. Mobile learning of a foreign language should be understood as a form of learning process organization and control based on the use of mobile communication devices, where students can develop and improve their language skills, form socio-cultural and intercultural competences in order to use a foreign language as a means of communication in the social and professional sphere anywhere and at any time. Mobile technologies involve the use of mobile devices, access to training aids, forms of educational interaction and forms of training materials and tasks. The didactic possibilities of mobile technologies have been considered. They include accessibility by means of mobile devices; the possibility of storing and transmitting information of various formats; the possibility to post comments or make changes to the content; possibility of using them as information resources; the possibility of organizing a network discussion; the possibility to perform group and individual projects. The didactic and methodical functions of mobile technologies when learning foreign language have been presented. The requirements to mobile learning programs and advantages of their using have been covered. The disadvantages and problems of using mobile learning in foreign language learning have been given. Division of practical using methods of mobile learning in relation to foreign language learning in non-linguistic institutions of higher education into five groups has been presented. Each group has been grounded and illustrated with examples.


InterConf ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 58-66
Author(s):  
Lesia Konoplianyk ◽  
Yuliia Pryshupa

The article analyses the methodological potential of applying mobile technologies for optimizing foreign language teaching at a technical university. The authors specify the term “mobile learning”, analyze various mobile technologies used in foreign language teaching, indicate their advantages, and identify the language skills (reading, listening, speaking, or writing) of the undergraduates, which can be developed by using mobile technologies in foreign language learning. The study reveals the opportunities for applying these technologies for creating a personalized learning environment for students that will help transform them into active and engaged learners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 114-122
Author(s):  
Yu.V. Agranat ◽  
◽  
O.G. Zlobina ◽  

The article considers the issues of using modern technologies (CALL, MALL methods) in foreign language learning. The advantages of using mobile technologies in teaching modern students are considered. Classification of some mobile applications and programs for the development of various types of speech activity is given. The example of «Lesson Writer» application shows how to create a complex lesson in English.


2021 ◽  
Vol X (2) ◽  
pp. 71-83
Author(s):  
Nataliia Safonova ◽  
◽  
Alla Anisimova

The article deals with the issues where linguistic consciousness as a sociolinguistic phenomenon is successfully revealed in FLT, namely, in problematic questions of language learning. It covers the description of linguistic consciousness and some aspects of its influence on the process of development of students’ communicative competence. It is emphasized that the philosophy of lifelong learning has become a widespread phenomenon in modern society. Learning a foreign language can be considered an important means of forming linguistic consciousness and the ability to conduct intercultural dialogues. The correlation of two languages and cultures (Ukrainian and foreign ones) helps to outline their national specific features, which contribute to a deeper understanding of both the foreign and the native language and culture. Any education system is open and fairly stable. As for the methods and learning tools, they can vary depending on the applicable learning concept. The article gives a detailed description of the development of linguistic consciousness of Ukrainian students from different social groups while learning English. So linguistic consciousness is a reflection of the actual language sphere contributes to the development of both communicative and multilingual competences. The main aim of the use of modern educational technologies is to increase the level of the communicative competence and linguistic consciousness in students, their educational achievements, and to improve the quality of language education.


Author(s):  
Liudmila Vladimirovna Guseva ◽  
Evgenii Vladimirovich Plisov

The article defnes the role of digital means in foreign language learning, establishes the reasons for the effective use of digital means and digital technologies, identifes challenges in mastering a foreign language in an electronic environment, as well as the prospects for the digitalization of foreign language education. When studying the issues of emergency off-campus learning organization, the results of surveys of teachers and students conducted in April 2020 at Minin University were used. image/svg+xml


Author(s):  
Elena Dolzhich ◽  
Svetlana Dmitrichenkova ◽  
Mona Kamal Ibrahim

<p class="0abstract">The higher education system around the world is being rapidly developed towards digitalization – from computers to laptops, from laptops to tablets and smartphones. Accordingly, traditional delivery of instruction is being shifted towards blended learning that is being gradually replaced with distance learning, i.e. higher education is moving forward with mobile learning (m-learning) technologies. The introduction of mobile learning became the most topical event in 2020 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to which many countries had to completely move to distance learning in higher education. The purpose of the study is to analyze the prospects for the widespread use of mobile applications in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Russia to Russian and Arab learners. In the course of the study, an online survey based on a questionnaire consisting of four open and closed questions was conducted. An empirical method was applied to collect the research data.  The survey was conducted at the Department of Foreign Languages of the Engineering Academy of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (EA PFUR). The total research sample included 200 participants and consisted of: 50 potential employers, 50 Russian and Arab students of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia studying Linguistics (training program code 035700), 50 faculty members, namely teachers of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, the Institute of Foreign Languages of the Moscow State Pedagogical University and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, as well as 50 administrative staff of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. The purpose of the survey was to collect information about the use of mobile applications (Smartphone Apps) and the introduction of mobile learning technology (m-learning) in the process of teaching EFL to students. According to the results of the survey, instructors are actively using mobile technologies in their professional activities and all participants in the learning process are receptive to their introduction in education. At the same time, respondents believe that technical challenges are the major obstacle to the adoption of mobile applications; these problems must be overcome in order to enable more productive use of mobile applications. In this regard, the study of mobile applications that are suitable for specific aspects of learning a foreign language, such as spoken language, reading comprehension, listening or writing, can be considered a promising research area.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Lys ◽  
Alison May ◽  
Jeanne Ravid

Abstract In order to enhance mobility, competitiveness, and opportunities for work, the European Union lists the ability to communicate in a foreign language and to understand another culture as an important objective in their language education policy. Knowledge of a foreign language is also an important objective for many American universities, which require students to study a foreign language as a prerequisite to graduate. Students with documented disabilities affecting the learning of a foreign language or students with poor foreign language learning skills, therefore, pose a significant challenge, since a foreign language requirement may prevent such students from graduating unless universities are willing to make special arrangements such as having students graduate without fulfilling the requirement or letting them take substitution classes. The question of what to do with such students is at the heart of this article. It describes how one mid-sized private university with a two-year language proficiency requirement has approached the problem to ensure that policies are implemented fairly. Rather than pulling students out of the foreign language classroom, the university succeeded in keeping students engaged with foreign language study through advising and mentoring across departments


Author(s):  
Barbara Schmenk

Book reviews reflect the views and opinions of the respective reviewers and do not necessarily represent the position of SCENARIO. Helga Tschurtschenthaler’s study is one of the most important scholarly contributions in recent years to the field of drama-based foreign language teaching. She conducted her research in an EFL class in an upper secondary school in multilingual South Tyrol and presents a plethora of data that demonstrates the impact of drama in foreign language education on students’ sense of self as emerging multilingual subjects (Kramsch 2009). What stands out about this study, besides its detailed presentation and analysis of student data, is the fact that Tschurtschenthaler succeeds in connecting recent theoretical contributions to the fields of language education and identity to more practical considerations. Overcoming the gap between theory and practice in this domain is one of her signal achievements. “You are not you when you speak Italian. It’s as if you become someone else when you change into Italian. You don’t only sound different, but you even behave differently. Then, you’re not the person I know.” (11) These are the opening lines of the book, leading the reader directly to its main subject. Tschurtschenthaler explains that it was a ...


Author(s):  
N. Zaichenko

The article deals with modern views on the concept of “nationally oriented foreign language teaching”, presented in the linguo-didactic discourse of domestic and foreign scholars of the last decades. The author reveals and characterizes its evolution as one of the basic concepts of Russian and Ukrainian language education as foreign languages. It is found that they relate to the subject matter, content, and operational components of this phenomenon. There are significant changes in the views of scholars on taking into account students’ native language in teaching these languages by speakers of languages with different systems. There is a growing interest in didactic and linguistic data processing of the analysis of Chinese and Russian (Ukrainian) languages and their practical implementation. In terms of content, priority is given to culturally oriented and ethno-psychological aspects of mastering foreign language in a monocultural and multicultural educational environment. The innovative approach to this issue is also manifested in the increasing attention of researchers to the peculiarities of cognitive, mental and educational activities of Chinese-speaking students, formed by the national linguistic and methodological tradition, which is radically different from the national communicative and active lingvodidactic paradigm and needs appropriate methodological correction. Prospects for further study of the issues raised in our investigation are related to the research of a number of “new” terms in the terminological field of the basic concept of “nationally oriented foreign language learning”, as well as from the normative and codification side.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 493-497
Author(s):  
Branko Medic

During the coronavirus pandemic research on video conferencing effects on young language learners is more than ever relevant. During the sharp transition, educators need to fully understand the benefits and possible pitfalls of video conferencing, but also overcome resistance to change through knowledge. As author Philip Pullman rightly points out, “You cannot change what you are, only what you do.” This article summarised key research and provided evidence for and against the use of video conferencing in foreign language education. Thus, it gives food for thought and reflection, as well as directions for possible interventions.  However, the research was limited in terms of time and available literature, and the topic certainly requires more attention. In future, it is recommended to further research the use of multimodal interactions (sound, audio, text) in video conferencing, as well as coping strategies for dealing with the lack of interaction in the video conferencing-enabled classroom.


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