Mobile Phones Assisting Second Language Acquistion

Mobile phones are banned in the classrooms of the high school where I’m employed to teach English as a Second Language. It is unfortunate that this ban is in place, because I believe that mobiles can assist my students in becoming proficient users of the language across the four macro skills prescribed by the curriculum. Those skills are reading, writing, speaking and listening. Mobile phones can certainly be used inappropriately by students but with strict rules enforced, such as, mobiles remain on the teacher’s desk until required, I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

In 2006, Chinnery (2006:9) stated that technology, mobiles or otherwise, can be instrumental in language instruction. However, he found that the technical problems encountered, such as low-resolution screens, poor audio quality, awkward text entry and slow Internet connectivity made it difficult for language learning projects to be successful (Godwin-Jones, 2011:2). Chinnery’s research was done before the advent of the Apple iphone in 2007, which jettisoned mobile phones into a new age of inclusions such as Mobile Safari, which was able to access and display the “full web”, high-resolution screens, more internal memory, faster Internet connectivity and a range of applications that can be downloaded for free or for very little cost. These applications or apps are what makes this new generation of mobile phones so useful as teaching tools. The MicroMandarin project, summarised in this blog, details the development of an application that can be accessed anywhere, anytime, in the classroom, at the supermarket or at home.

Edge, Chiu, Searle, Zhou and Landays’ (2011:1) research was concerned with developing a mobile application that supported contextual microlearning, which they describe as the frequent but brief study of material whose meaning is relevant in the current context. They achieved this by leveraging the location-based, social networking website for mobiles, Foursquare, to automatically provide contextually relevant content in the world’s major cities. The MicroMandarin application uses GPS to determine a user’s location and supplies vocabulary information and practice appropriate to that location, for example, food and drink vocabulary if the user is in a restaurant. Edge et al. (2011:1) state that it takes around 2200 hours (88 weeks) of dedicated classroom instruction to reach general proficiency in languages dissimilar to their native language and that not everyone has that time to spend on acquiring a second language. Their solution was to use mobile phones as a platform for “microlearning”, helping language learners to identify and exploit the many moments during the day where other distractions are temporarily halted and attention can be diverted to language learning (Edge, et al, 2011:1).

The participants in the study were fluent English speakers actively learning Mandarin Chinese and were based in Shanghai or Beijing (the only two Foursquare cities in mainland China) and used an iphone as their primary mobile device. The participants were chosen because they expressed that they often suffered frustration, embarrassment and panic when trying to use Chinese and this affected their interaction with native Chinese speakers. In second language acquisition, for the learner to become fluent in the target language and to move beyond simple linguistic competence, it’s necessary for the learner to immerse themselves in social situations where they are forced to use the language. John Schumann(1986), in his Acculturation Model, states that the less psychological distance between a second language learner and members of a target language group, the greater the chances of second language acquisition success. Edge et als’ (2011:4) research therefore, was motivated by what they termed their target learners ‘habitual avoidance of participatory social interactions’.

The researchers leveraged the web API (see Wikipedia for simple definition) of Foursquare to retrieve nearby “venues” and their types (Edge, et al, 2011). They then created a database of English-Chinese translations associated with their context of use. The application supported 4 key functions: studying language based on where you are, using language you have learnt based on where you are, browsing all language you have seen through the application and tracking progress by referring to statistics of flashcards seen, correct, incorrect, learnt and used (Edge, et al, 2011).

The results indicated that overall the application was successful. For example, one participant’s response was: ‘I really loved the specific vocabulary…I once logged into the application from a coffee shop….MM offered words for items on the menu…’ (Edge, et al, 2011:8). Another participant’s response was: ‘Studying the words while in the location (and then, using them immediately) has helped me retain and remember them. I had a similar experience after logging into the app from home to review the names of household objects.’ (Edge, et al, 2011:8). However, the application does have limitations as expressed in the following participant’s response: ‘Being at the hospital and getting phrases for “he has a cold” etc. was not useful when we were there to talk about our baby being born prematurely.’ (Edge, et al, 2011:8). A large number of participants stated that the application encouraged them to study more often than usual compared to their previous habits (Edge, et al, 2011).

After reading this article, I posed the question as to whether this app could be used in the classroom and came to the conclusion that it could but in a limited, controlled way. For eample, the request could be made that the app be downloaded and used as part of homework or an assignment. My school is located close to a large shopping centre and most students go there after school either to catch a bus or to buy food. The council library is located in the centre and a homework task could be to use the app to ask for help searching for newspaper or magazine articles on, for example, climate change. Chinese students I’ve observed, are very reticent in asking for help and part of that may be due to language inadequacy. By setting a task where they have to ask for help in searching for a specific topic, may be a good way of ascertaining the usefulness of the MicroMandarin application in a classroom context and whether it can be used as a teaching tool to assist second language acquisition. The application is not available at this time but with the speed at which apps are hitting the market, I’m sure it won’t be long before the MicroMandarin app is available.



** The following article is also worth referring to, as the researchers designed an offline Flash-based prototype system for English language learning using mobile phones. The system consists of ten learning objects constructed using the multimedia approach. Salameh, O. (2009). A Multimedia Offline Cell Phone System For English Language Learning. International Arab Journal of e-Technology, 2 (1), 44-49. Retrieved from: http://www.iajet.org/iajet_files/vol.2/no.1/A%20Multimedia%20Offline%20Cell%20Phone%20System%20For%20English%20Language%20Learning.pdf



REFERENCES:
Chinnery, G.M. (2006). Going to the MALL: Mobile Assisted Language Learning. Language, Learning and Technology, 10 (1), 9-16.

Edge, D., Chiu, K., Searle, E., Zhoa, J., Landay, J.A. (2011). MicroMandarin: Mobile Language Learning in Context. Retrieved from:
http://research.microsoft.com/enus/people/daedge/micromandarinpublished.pdf

Godwin-Jones, R. (2011). Mobile Apps for Language Learning. Language, Learning and Technology, 15 (2), 2-11.

Schumann, J.H. (1986). Research on the Acculturation Model for Second Language Acquisition. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 7 (5), 379-392.

Janye