Page 50 - LanGuide Project: Research and Professional Insights
P. 50
reea Nechifor and Cristina Dimulescu
was in favour of the computer, as they complained about the small size of
the phone screens, about the necessity to overcharge the batteries, as well
as about the impracticality of switching from private use of the phone as
a phone to that of a learning device, in time, with the advancement of
the technological improvements brought to the mobile phone industry,
not only did the phone screens become bigger, the batteries start to last
longer and the switch among different functionalities become more prac-
tical, but the entire learning experience on such a device became fun and
easy to handle, letting alone the cost of such devices which has also greatly
contributed to the preference shift. And this happens to be an opinion also
shared by Kolb (2012) who considers that mobile phones can help students
learn more efficiently with pleasure and delight. She actually was the one
who stated, in 2008, that mobile phones are the modern toys that can be
converted into learning tools (Kolb, 2008).
The uk, the u s a, as well as Japanese universities were among the first
practitioners to have tuned into a m a l l teaching approach considering
the fact that a good proportion of their students were equipped with such
devices (Kondo et al., 2012). Therefore, professors can use this to their ad-
vantage in order to initiate a curriculum and syllabus adjustment so that
a digital era be introduced alongside the communicative one at an institu-
tional and systemic level. But as mobile phones have become omnipresent,
students turned into universal learners prepared, exposed to and, conse-
quently, ready to use special applications for language learning with no-
ticeable results anywhere around the globe, not only inside educational
establishments. (Baleghizadeh and Oladrostam, 2010).
Moreover, m all helps students be more autonomous. All four language
skills, as well as grammar and vocabulary are catered for within such mo-
bile applications, a variety of types of c a l l-based vocabulary learning
strategies having already been provided to the users to the benefit of their
vocabulary improvement: multimedia package with vocabulary, written
text with electronic glosses, and dedicated vocabulary programs (Stock-
well, 2007; Tai & Ting, 2011), pronunciation integrated software (Tai &
Ting, 2011), listening dedicated tasks (Tai & Ting, 2011), writing profi-
ciency drills (Tai & Ting, 2011), reading comprehension exercises (Tai &
Ting, 2011).
The LanGuide app is an example that illustrates the application of m all
for instruction centred on language for specific purposes. The fact that it
addresses different categories of learners i.e., university students, teach-
ers and administrative staff, as well as different fields i.e., administrative,
50
was in favour of the computer, as they complained about the small size of
the phone screens, about the necessity to overcharge the batteries, as well
as about the impracticality of switching from private use of the phone as
a phone to that of a learning device, in time, with the advancement of
the technological improvements brought to the mobile phone industry,
not only did the phone screens become bigger, the batteries start to last
longer and the switch among different functionalities become more prac-
tical, but the entire learning experience on such a device became fun and
easy to handle, letting alone the cost of such devices which has also greatly
contributed to the preference shift. And this happens to be an opinion also
shared by Kolb (2012) who considers that mobile phones can help students
learn more efficiently with pleasure and delight. She actually was the one
who stated, in 2008, that mobile phones are the modern toys that can be
converted into learning tools (Kolb, 2008).
The uk, the u s a, as well as Japanese universities were among the first
practitioners to have tuned into a m a l l teaching approach considering
the fact that a good proportion of their students were equipped with such
devices (Kondo et al., 2012). Therefore, professors can use this to their ad-
vantage in order to initiate a curriculum and syllabus adjustment so that
a digital era be introduced alongside the communicative one at an institu-
tional and systemic level. But as mobile phones have become omnipresent,
students turned into universal learners prepared, exposed to and, conse-
quently, ready to use special applications for language learning with no-
ticeable results anywhere around the globe, not only inside educational
establishments. (Baleghizadeh and Oladrostam, 2010).
Moreover, m all helps students be more autonomous. All four language
skills, as well as grammar and vocabulary are catered for within such mo-
bile applications, a variety of types of c a l l-based vocabulary learning
strategies having already been provided to the users to the benefit of their
vocabulary improvement: multimedia package with vocabulary, written
text with electronic glosses, and dedicated vocabulary programs (Stock-
well, 2007; Tai & Ting, 2011), pronunciation integrated software (Tai &
Ting, 2011), listening dedicated tasks (Tai & Ting, 2011), writing profi-
ciency drills (Tai & Ting, 2011), reading comprehension exercises (Tai &
Ting, 2011).
The LanGuide app is an example that illustrates the application of m all
for instruction centred on language for specific purposes. The fact that it
addresses different categories of learners i.e., university students, teach-
ers and administrative staff, as well as different fields i.e., administrative,
50
