Page 67 - LanGuide Project: Research and Professional Insights
P. 67
Mobile Learning of Language for Specific Purposes: From Course Design to User Testing
the members of all three groups of learners in order to amend the list com-
piled in the previous step, thus adding new items to the list or removing
them if deemed unnecessary. In the last step, the list was analysed and
shaped to its final form.
The analysis of learner needs (i.e., necessities) was structured follow-
ing Munby’s (1981) model of linguistic needs and realised in the form
of a profile of needs. The profile includes several key categories that the
course designers are required to describe, keeping in mind the learners
and their needs, the learning context, and the learning outcomes: (1) par-
ticipants, (2) learning domain, (3) setting, (4) interaction patterns, (5)
medium and channel of communication, (6) target level(s), and (7) com-
municative events. The profile may be considered the most important step
of the course development process as it sets a clear standard against which
all future decisions are compared. The LanGuide profile of learner needs is
given in the subsections below.
Participants. In the case of the LanGuide approach, language learners are
also users of the LanGuide guidance tool who, among other, participate
in the Erasmus mobility scheme (whether before, during, or after the mo-
bility period) and use the English language for communication in an aca-
demic context at the tertiary level or for interaction with other English lan-
guage speakers within the i t-related discourse. Given their position and
role within the academia, they may be divided into three distinct groups,
namely students, teachers, and administrative staff.
Domain. The domains within which participants operate using the English
language are e a p and e i t p. There is no need to subdivide further these
domains into specific fields or areas, as they are aimed at general linguistic
competences found in usual academic and i t contexts.
Setting. Language learning within the context of the LanGuide application
is carried out using the support of a piece of software intended for mobile
devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. As such, it represents
a case of mobile learning during which learners may use the application
any time and any place convenient to them (as long as they have access to
the communication network).
Interaction. All three categories of learners are expected to use the applica-
tion for independent learning, without direct interaction with other par-
ticipants in the communicative process, including the language teacher.
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the members of all three groups of learners in order to amend the list com-
piled in the previous step, thus adding new items to the list or removing
them if deemed unnecessary. In the last step, the list was analysed and
shaped to its final form.
The analysis of learner needs (i.e., necessities) was structured follow-
ing Munby’s (1981) model of linguistic needs and realised in the form
of a profile of needs. The profile includes several key categories that the
course designers are required to describe, keeping in mind the learners
and their needs, the learning context, and the learning outcomes: (1) par-
ticipants, (2) learning domain, (3) setting, (4) interaction patterns, (5)
medium and channel of communication, (6) target level(s), and (7) com-
municative events. The profile may be considered the most important step
of the course development process as it sets a clear standard against which
all future decisions are compared. The LanGuide profile of learner needs is
given in the subsections below.
Participants. In the case of the LanGuide approach, language learners are
also users of the LanGuide guidance tool who, among other, participate
in the Erasmus mobility scheme (whether before, during, or after the mo-
bility period) and use the English language for communication in an aca-
demic context at the tertiary level or for interaction with other English lan-
guage speakers within the i t-related discourse. Given their position and
role within the academia, they may be divided into three distinct groups,
namely students, teachers, and administrative staff.
Domain. The domains within which participants operate using the English
language are e a p and e i t p. There is no need to subdivide further these
domains into specific fields or areas, as they are aimed at general linguistic
competences found in usual academic and i t contexts.
Setting. Language learning within the context of the LanGuide application
is carried out using the support of a piece of software intended for mobile
devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. As such, it represents
a case of mobile learning during which learners may use the application
any time and any place convenient to them (as long as they have access to
the communication network).
Interaction. All three categories of learners are expected to use the applica-
tion for independent learning, without direct interaction with other par-
ticipants in the communicative process, including the language teacher.
67
