Page 24 - LanGuide Project: Research and Professional Insights
P. 24
a Čebron and Emma Beatriz Villegas Cunja
interactive whiteboards, video chats, messaging, photography, while also
using integrated tools for translation, pronunciation, transliteration and
correction. A novel language-learning approach is advanced by the Flax
(Flexible Language Acquisition) web platform and app, which focuses on fre-
quent collocations and graded reading of a bank of authentic texts, thus de-
veloping exercises on the principles of data-driven language-learning sys-
tems and academic vocabulary lists. The learning materials provided cater
to the needs of higher education students who wish to discover and learn
the domain-specific language features of their interests in the English lan-
guage.
While offering useful insights into available options to organize and
structure language-learning materials for mobile devices, this brief exami-
nation of the popular mobile apps helped us identify the following guiding
principles that inform delivery of language learning content:
– The resources can be organized as a collection of exercises organized
in a systematic way, i. e., complete language courses accessible on the
mobile device or web platform.
– The exercises available on the mobile app can serve a teaser to engage
with comprehensive language courses delivered by experts on their
web platforms.
– To engage in individualized language acquisition language learners
and tutors can form a virtual language learning community, which
exploits affordances offered by the new technology.
– A narrow set of language skills can be developed by integrating learn-
ing resources based on language mining or bilingual text reading.
Research Analysing Language Learning Software Implementation
There is scant published research of actual use of language training soft-
ware applications for s l a. While these software packages are often mar-
keted as complete language learning solutions, a deeper evaluation points
to a few serious problems.
For example, in discussing approaches to learning grammar with Duolin-
go Nushi and Eqbali (2017, p. 89) observe a number of problematic issues.
They make a claim that ‘technology gives learners the chance to see gram-
mar as a skill, not merely as a set of abstract rules, and [they] use that
skill to choose the appropriate language form for particular contexts and
meanings.’ However, the authors also emphasize that lack of any gram-
mar notes, rules or explanations within the web platform can be problem-
24
interactive whiteboards, video chats, messaging, photography, while also
using integrated tools for translation, pronunciation, transliteration and
correction. A novel language-learning approach is advanced by the Flax
(Flexible Language Acquisition) web platform and app, which focuses on fre-
quent collocations and graded reading of a bank of authentic texts, thus de-
veloping exercises on the principles of data-driven language-learning sys-
tems and academic vocabulary lists. The learning materials provided cater
to the needs of higher education students who wish to discover and learn
the domain-specific language features of their interests in the English lan-
guage.
While offering useful insights into available options to organize and
structure language-learning materials for mobile devices, this brief exami-
nation of the popular mobile apps helped us identify the following guiding
principles that inform delivery of language learning content:
– The resources can be organized as a collection of exercises organized
in a systematic way, i. e., complete language courses accessible on the
mobile device or web platform.
– The exercises available on the mobile app can serve a teaser to engage
with comprehensive language courses delivered by experts on their
web platforms.
– To engage in individualized language acquisition language learners
and tutors can form a virtual language learning community, which
exploits affordances offered by the new technology.
– A narrow set of language skills can be developed by integrating learn-
ing resources based on language mining or bilingual text reading.
Research Analysing Language Learning Software Implementation
There is scant published research of actual use of language training soft-
ware applications for s l a. While these software packages are often mar-
keted as complete language learning solutions, a deeper evaluation points
to a few serious problems.
For example, in discussing approaches to learning grammar with Duolin-
go Nushi and Eqbali (2017, p. 89) observe a number of problematic issues.
They make a claim that ‘technology gives learners the chance to see gram-
mar as a skill, not merely as a set of abstract rules, and [they] use that
skill to choose the appropriate language form for particular contexts and
meanings.’ However, the authors also emphasize that lack of any gram-
mar notes, rules or explanations within the web platform can be problem-
24
