Will mobile learning change language learning? by Louise

Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes (31/05/2009). "Will mobile learning change language learning?". ReCALL (Cambridge, England) , 21 (2), p. 157

With the widespread use of mobile devices combined with an increasing availability of wi-fi networks and 3G capable devices, learning, across many fields, is being transformed. This article focus primarily on language learning and how, especially, the mobility aspect, is changing and affecting language education. The article argues that mobile devices blur the boundary between or link formal and informal education. When students are in a classroom or in front of a computer, they are “stuck” in a fixed location, this limits their focus, but individuals can use mobile devices while walking down the street, while simultaneously chatting with their friends at a cafe. For language learners especially this flexibility can be very useful indeed. As language is need primarily to interact with the world around us being able to quickly access a learning tool in your pocket can help learners to engage with their surroundings. This has the potential to create dramatic change in the way in which people learning languages and also for the way in which they are taught. The article claims that focusing on the portability of the devices can lead to a new view of learning as one which is truly mobile; fluid and omnipresent. The paper asks the question as to degree of change that may occur.
Learning through the use of mobile devices is found by many to be enjoyable and as such their use has been shown to help to increase student achievement and also keep student's interested in their study. The wide variety of applications and uses of these devices means that differing learning styles and interests can be better catered for (Kukulska-Hulme et al., 2005). Many people are interested in how these devices can best be integrated into traditional classroom environments. Although there has been some resistance to this from some teachers as well as the broader community due to fears surrounding their usage. Although studies have shown that students feel are more likely to participate in classes when mobile devices are used (Corcoran, 2010) In addition to being used as a complement to formal education, mobile devices are also being used by other individuals as a means of self-education. In terms of language education, this might mean having a simple “phrase book” app on your phone to accompany you on your international holiday, or it could be used as an element in a broader goal of language acquisition, learning vocabulary on your way to work, or reading online news in a foreign language.
The article states that “mobile learning” is not a term with a broadly accepted definition, primarily due to the fact that it is a rapidly changing and diverse field. Mobile can define phones or more generally portable devices or it can even be taken to understood to mean the movement of learning through different spatial environments and possibly this is what is of importance, not the devices themselves.
There are several factors which influence mobile learning. Firstly, whether the device is owned or borrowed impacts the way that a device is used. Although many schools are implementing borrowing systems of mobile devices, studies have shown that they are more beneficial to learning when the students own them and as such can customise and feel familiar with them. Although, of course by allowing students to borrow these devices means that they are available to more students, not only those who can afford them. Secondly, if students have many devices they are likely to use them in different ways and finally what the primary purpose of the device is for, is it for work, study or play?
Whereas these concepts we once more separate, a laptop for study, a gameboy for play, the lines between work, play and study are becoming more blurred and many devices and applications now exist which are used for both entertainment and learning purposes. (Sharples, 2005) The article notes that students will use mobile devices regardless of whether or not teachers choose to utilise them in their classrooms. We are at an interesting crossroads in education as students often have more expertise in the use of mobile media, while teachers still hold the pedagogical expertise and as such it becomes a collaborative effort between teachers and students to incorporate them into classroom learning and also see how they can be used across formal and informal situations.
Shield and Kukulska-Hulme (2008) state that mobile devices are useful for language learning as they assist the person at the point of need. Alongside the use of apps, text messaging is another way that students can be helped with their language acquisition. Teachers and students may send and receive text messages to give and receive assistance. In my only language learning I have found the use of text messaging to be really helpful in my language acquisition. They also add the mobile learning is primarily student-centred and it is the learners who have control over what they are learning. In my own experience of language learning I use mobile devices all the time. I am learning Spanish and I have some Spanish-speaking friends who are learning English, so we exchange text messages, sometimes in English and other times in Spanish, and this has been really beneficial to me, it is using language in a real-life context, for real communication purposes and it is something I can do anywhere, everyday. Another way in which I use, in this case, my iPod to learn language is to search online for the lyrics to Spanish songs, save them in my “notes” and then follow them as I listen to the music. When I am having (or trying to have) conversations in the language I am learning, I can pause and quickly use a dictionary to find the definition for the word I need. In interactions where myself and the person I am talking with do not share the same first language, we can use dictionary apps, we can access the Internet to find images to represent what we want to communicate.
The article examines various methods of “rewards” for improvement in language ability and what motivates different students. One example they give is www.freerice.com which is connected to the World Food Program, the concept here is improve your vocabulary and feed the world's hungry.



References

Corcoran, Olivia (01/04/2010). "Using Mobile Phones to Increase Classroom Interaction". Journal of educational multimedia and hypermedia , 19 (2), p. 147

Kukulska-Hulme, A. and Traxler, J. (eds.) (2005) Mobile Learning: A Handbook for Educators

and Trainers. London: Routledge.

Kukulska-Hulme, A. and Shield, L. (2008) An Overview of Mobile Assisted Language Learning: from content delivery to supported collaboration and interaction. ReCALL, 20(3): 249–252.

Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes (31/05/2009). "Will mobile learning change language learning?". ReCALL (Cambridge, England) , 21 (2), p. 157

Sharples, M. (2005). Learning As Conversation: Transforming Education in the Mobile Age.

In Proceedings of Conference on Seeing, Understanding, Learning in the Mobile Age

(pp. 147-152). Budapest, Hungary.