Authors: Scarlett, Fiona, Thomas

MALL

The proliferation of mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones in many countries, as well as a growing number of language learning applications that run on such devices, has made mobile learning a more compelling study option for L2 students in recent years.

Research into ‘Mobile Assisted Language Learning’ (MALL) has identified many affordances as well as constraints of mobile devices. According to Godwin Jones (2011), the main affordance of such devices is their mobility; a student is able to learn while on the go and is not tied to using a desktop computer (or lugging around a notebook computer) to practice the foreign language. Research also reports that many more students own such devices compared to personal computers (Thornton and Houser, 2005), and so it is worth pursuing new language practice applications for such devices (Chinnery, 2006). The number of language-learning applications designed for Android and Apple devices is also expanding, and many of them are free or have a minimal cost. Such apps include advanced phrase books that consist of video and audio content combined with online sites. Vocabulary learning apps such as eStroke, Pleco, and ChinesePod are becoming more powerful and sophisticated, and allow for a growing number of language practice possibilities since many such mobile apps are linked to online services. Students can now practice verb forms or enter discussion forums with their mobile devices. Godwin Jones also describes a recent effort, the Cloudbank project, to create a mobile network that connects Android device users for peer-to-peer interaction, and it would seem that such a networks could have implications for interactive language practice.

In summary then, the features of smart phones and tablets such as their mobility, enhanced hardware, and better software, give them the potential of being a creative and practical tool for language teaching and learning. However, Kukukska-Hulme and Shield (2007) reviewed mobile assisted language learning and found that the affordances of mobile devices were not fully taken advantage of by most of teachers and learners. It would appear then that there is gap between the affordances of mobile devices and their actual uses, and it is up to teachers to harness the potential uses for learning on mobile devices outside the classroom. In a study that investigated one such use of MALL, Wong, Chin, Tan and Liu (2010) created a wiki and asked students to take photos with their iPhone to illustrate Chinese idioms and share with each other. They found that their learners were more willingly to learn in a more authentic environment in their daily lives, and mobile devices had made it possible, if learners realized that such possibilities existed.

Beyond students developing the habit of using mobile devices for language practice (or teachers designing MALL learning tasks), research has identified other constraints regarding MALL. At one time the limited and cumbersome typing features of mobile phones made typing longer texts nearly impossible (Chinnery, 2006), but this deficiency has largely been overcome with the touch screen keyboards and larger screens on newer smartphones and tablets. Most devices today have nearly the same text and video capabilities of larger personal computers, and so the technical constraints of MALL devices have largely diminished (Godwin Jones, 2011). It must be acknowledged that not all students will own a mobile device in all contexts, and so this is an important consideration for designing MALL activities. There is still the issue of language, too, as a plurality of language practice apps are designed in the English language.

In conclusion, it would seem that ‘mobile assisted language learning’ is a trend that deserves the attention of both teachers and learners. It affords vocabulary and grammar practice, provides access to online social networks, and greatly expands the contexts for practicing foreign languages. According to Godwin Jones, learning becomes more ‘real and permanent when tied to learner’s lives outside the academic environment’ (2011: 8). For the authors of this blog, MALL is an opportunity for individualized learning that encourages learners to use the language without teacher directives. What do you think?

 

Questions to consider:

Have you ever practiced a foreign language using a smart phone or tablet? What was the experience like?

In your opinion, what is the greatest affordance of using mobile devices for language learning? The biggest constraint?

What kinds of activities could be usefully devised for mobile devices?

72 thoughts on “Mobile Assisted Language Learning

  1. Hi, everyone. Here is this week’s blog. It seems like ‘mobile assisted language learning’ has some potential for pedagogical purposes, so let us know your opinion.

  2. MALL is a new trend for language learning with the development of smartphones. More apps have been developed recently mainly focusing on practicing vocabulary and phrases. In addition, other functions such as acoustic practice are more and more popular with many learners. MALL makes it possible that any place can be a good place to learn a language as all you need is to open your app on your phone. That’s fantastic!

    • Yes, dear Fiona, I do agree with you on the point “MALL makes it possible that any place can be a good place to learn a language as all you need is to open your app on your phone.” It is true that MALL makes language learning very efficient, it seems that a language learner could learn things at any moment. That is so cool.

    • Yeah, you are absolutely right ! It is so convenient to bring your mobile phone anywhere and anytime. It is a brand new breakthrough for learning languages. Take one of my students for example, he tried to memorize the vocabulary by using those apps. He found it quite engaging and attractive, since there are a lot of vivid pictures beside words, which is much easier for him to remember the words. This kind of learning is much more interesting, the students will be motivated to learn more by themselves rather than being pushed by their teachers. Gradually, they will develop a good habit to learn English.
      However, I also noticed some drawbacks of the mobile phone apps. Some apps contain lot of games, which may distract the students, particularly some less disciplined students. They will indulge in the games themselves, ignoring the learning contents themselves. So I believe that something should be done to address this kind of problems.

  3. I have been working in a company designing MALL software. I found a problem that many designers are not good at language learning. To apply this method, I think teachers have to pay much attention to the selection of software.
    BTW nice bolg

    • Thanks,Mia. There are really lots of different kinds of apps for language learning, and some are quite impressive. Indeed, it is important for teachers to make selection of apps, but students may have their preference, which I prsume, is more important to maintain their interest in language learning.

    • Interesting point, Mia. It would be best if teachers themselves were involved in the design of such software (or at least someone with lots of L2 learning experience). As this isn’t generally the case, it is up to teachers to be familiar with MALL applications and their constraints (as you point out). Thanks for sharing.

    • I have the same experience as you do. The app designers are not specialists in English, thus most of the time the app that they designed cannot meet the requirements of the language learners.

      The communication is important, or maybe programmer should know some theory of language learning approach should be better.

    • Wow, Mia, it is very cool that you have worked in the software company before, what you mentioned is very important, so it’s very significant for teachers to choose a suitable mobile app for students to learn language.

  4. I have downloaded several apps for language learning in my cellphone, like LangLearner, etc.To be honest, I seldom use them now, even though I was very motivated at the very beginning. But general speaking, language learning apps are very useful. Just as you mentioned, mobility is the main affordance. With those apps in my cellphone, I can listen to the English program whenever and wherever I want.

    Another affordance is that most apps are free to download, which means learners can easily get access to the target language. In this sense, MALL provides more opportunities for learners to learn a language.

    However, as I said before, motivation may become a big constraint. MALL requires high autonomy. Learners need to learn all by themselvel. Learners’ motivation, as a key to ensure autonomy, should be considered carefully. If teachers are going to introduce some language learning apps for students, they had better think about whether these apps can keep learners’ motivation or not.

    • Yes, I also downloaded many apps trying to learn Cantonese, but most of them are not well designed. I cannot find those ones can be used as dictionary, for example, these apps only provide limited daily used sentences and I cannot translate what I want optionally. It made my learning become inefficient and gradually I lost interest. However, I found apps for English learners have varied forms because of the market demand. And I quite agree with “the main affordance of such devices is their mobility”. If you have a cell phone with you, you are like carrying a translator and a cyclopedia. Even if you cannot speak a certain language, translation apps can do it for you. So I think students will rely a lot on these apps because they don’t need to memorize, only need to click “translate”.
      Thus from the aspect of language learning, designing purpose of these apps should be motivating students to learn, not push students more and more dependent with them. However, it seems aganst their marketing purpose.

    • I have similar experience with you. I downloaded lots of apps for English practising and was actually very motivated at first, but I seldom use them now. Motivation is an important element for successful autonomous learning, and teachers’ guide is really important.

    • As I mentioned in another comment, it seems that teachers need to get involved to encourage learners to use the apps, and this is called ‘reactive autonomy’. I wonder though if app use will have a long ‘shelf life’. It seems like quite a normal thing to use an app for a period of time and then gradually drop it as one develops other interests. Do you think this should be viewed as a negative?

  5. And also, I think learners can keep their motivation if the apps can achieve the following aspects:

    Interactivity;
    Multimodality (e.g. videos, pictures, hypertexts);
    Multifunction (e.g. recording, texting, etc);
    Adequate information (e.g. vocabulary and sentences);
    Adequate tests with immediate and helpful feedback;
    user-friendlly and pretty interface
    ……

    • Good points, especially the multifunction aspect. Actually, some apps mainly focus on listening or reading. If various functions are provided, language learning can be more efficient.

  6. I have sent msgs to my foreign friends through Facebook messenger. I’m feeling cool when I send them those msgs, it’s like I understand their culture and make use of what I learned flexibly.

    The greatest affordance must be the up-to-date knowledge will be showed to language learners, and its mobility allows learners to learn everywhere anytime.

    Except for online peer-to-peer interaction. Update twitter account and facebook page will greatly motivate learner to explore more and share their opinions with world wide readers.

    • I think social networking sites like Facebook are an authentic way to communicate where the emphasis is on communication not just language practice, so yeah, it is great if one has foreign friends on such sites. Thanks for your input, Joy.

  7. With the development of technology, especially smart phone in recent years. MALL becomes a new means to learn. I myself often download some apps in my mobile which related to study. However, I have to say that, after the very beginning, I will not have the motivation to learn, that’s when I delete the specific app and download another one. But it seems that there was never one app of learning can last long. So I think the urgent problem is to make MALL both interesting and helpful which can promote motivation as long as possible.

    • I have same experience as you. The updates and transformation of the apps is crucial for learners. The designers of the apps should be aware of that. For teachers, they should experiment the apps first and then recommend some really good apps to their students. Otherwise, the students will lose interest in the apps gradually and the effects of engaging learning will be offset.

  8. I like to practice foreign language by phone. It has record that helps correct pronunciation and we can download favorite apps that provide you with various language programs.
    It makes language learning fun and interactive. You can book the programs that aims at the target skills you want to improve. Take speaking skill as an example, you can book 5 different programs aiming at speaking improvement. After learning, you can leave messages to interact with the host or other users who share the same goal as yours.

    • Interactivity is very important. It can motivate learners to carry on learning the language, and also it provides learners with authentic communication. But unfortunetely, all the apps I downloaded for language learning can not allow me to interact. If you have some good apps designed for langauge learning, maybe you can introduce to me :p

    • Thanks Melody, thanks Anika. There are some cites of language learning provide a forum for learners to interact in the target language and share their experience of language learning, such as Busuu and Live Mocha. However, it is not easy to fine someone to talk to through these kind of forums.

  9. I was waiting for a topic like this. Personally speaking, I have used a few apps to help with my Cantonese learning but they are very scarce. The app that I used quite a bit was Supermemo because it is a flashcard type app that you can make your own plan of things that you want to learn and it goes along the algorithms of your brain (kind of) that help to get your material into the long term memory area. But the newer version isn’t so great so I don’t use it anymore.
    And it is that that I think is a primary problem with a lot of apps designed to help learn languages. When an update comes through and you download it, it changes maybe one of the most useful tools that someone likes to use on the app and that person loses interest.
    To use it in a classroom setting, I think that maybe the English department would need to sit down with the designer of apps and create an app or apps that meet the challenges of their students. Not trying to use an app that is mass marketed and built to make money but one that is custom built just for them.
    After all of that……. then you can try to get the funding for 40 iPads to use in the classroom.

    • Thank you for your sharing Jeff. I think it is really a great idea to let teachers take part in the designing process of language learning apps. Teachers and profesionals in language education can combine their knowledge with advanced technologies to attract and help language learners.

    • Thanks for your input, Jeff. I am not so familiar with the apps designed for MALL as I prefer the larger screen of a personal computer, and I am not the kind of person to take out an iPhone on the subway and practice vocabulary. That said, MALL does seem like an area where an enterprising teacher could really make a name him / herself by designing something useful and intuitive for mobile devices. I predict that this may happen in the not-too-distant future.

    • Wow, Jeff, I really like your comments, and I think you are right. Sometimes, it is not every students could afford to buy an iphone or an ipad. So funding issue is a good point. 🙂

    • I agree with you, maybe they do not have to sit down together, just find one or two programmer on free lancer website could work. But, the level of programmers’ language proficiency should be considered, or at least they have to know some basic knowledge of language acquisition 🙂

    • I agree with you, Jeff. I have ever tried to use several apps like yours of Cantonese to memorize vocabularies, and the same problem came up with the English vocabulary apps. The delicately designed backgrounds and selected pictures cannot maintain users’ interests for a long time. I also observed that my little niece (6-year old), who occasionally learns English and other subjects with some apps, pay more attention to the score she got at the end of some tests rather than how many words she had learnt. If they learn knowledge more like playing games, then they wouldn’t learn much, I am afraid.

  10. I download several apps in my cell phone to assist language learning, like dictionary, English news, and English radio and so on. But unfortunately, I seldom open them.
    To use mobile devices to assist learning is a great idea. Almost everyone now owns a smart phone, they are portable, can download apps, let people learn at anytime anywhere. With the internet, those devices are just like computers, students can use them to chat with native speakers, go through information in L2, and use some apps to motivate and simplify their study. At the same time, this mode of study faces big challenges. Currently, mobile devices are forbidden in class esp. in secondary school and seldom schools are equipped with WIFI. Also, teachers lack the experience and training in applying mobile devices into learning and teaching activities. Furthermore, apps that assist language learning need improve and develop.

    • Thanks very much for your opinion. I agree that it remains a question whether it will be applied in a secondary class or not in the future. Currently, the ideal state would be learners use MALL as a learning aid instead of main learning tool in class. Application of MALL to secondary class may face great challenges such as class management and teacher’s competence in embedding MALL in language teaching well.

    • Thanks, Aileen. You are absolutely right. Most teachers and learners have not realized the brilliant functions of mobile devices for langauge learning. But lots of university students in Mainland China are very passionate with various technologies for language learning purposes, and they are abololutely loving it~~

  11. Many classmates above value the learner autonomy in using mobile device to learn language. I highly agree with this point. When I was in college, I used an app designed by a English learning website to listen to BBC news and other English proprams everyday because I knew the importance of listening for an English major . With an insistent use of this app, the increasing listening ability help me better involved in lectures and knew more about western world. For those who know clearly what they need, MALL is pretty convenient. However, if the motivation and learning desire is not enough. Learning autonomy will also be inadequate. I think part of the motivation comes from the design of the app, but most importantly, it should comes from inside, from the learner’s mind. When figuring out the need, the learner may seek the best way or choose the appropriate assistance to learn by themselves. Another example, my American literature teacher in college brought a kindle with her wherever she went so that she could make use of every minute to do the reading. For me, I won’t read anything about English on the train or bus as long as I have a second choice to kill time…

    • Perhaps it would be good to introduce students to language learning apps while in class and have students do a long-term project using them. This probably promotes ‘reactive autonomy’ more than the ‘proactive autonomy’ you speak of, but it may be a start. Sometimes we all need a little push to start a new habit. Thanks for your input.

    • Yes. I believe that intrinsic motivation is the stronger predictor for successful learning. We tend to give up easily because we do not have the interest and enthusiasm to learn a language or do something.

  12. It seems that we all agree APP is a kind of learning tool whose effect depends much on students’ will power.
    I think it would be much better if we take APP as a platform on which students can learn collaboratively. And teachers should take the role of coordinator. They shall consistently stimulate students to open the learning apps hiding deep in their mobile phones, may be through pushing some interesting discussion topics or posting attracting articles in the target language.
    Anyway, if students lack the automaticity, teachers should try to trigger their interests and motivate them. Otherwise, the mobile device can no longer be the extension of the language teaching classroom.

    • Thanks for the feedback. As you mentioned, automaticity and will power are of importance in using apps effectively. Even we adults are sometimes not willing to open a language learning app which will also become a problem for students. I also agree that we should have the ambition to combine MALL learning and classroom language teaching.

  13. Just a thought here. It appears that one needs to have the right environment to be willing to use a mobile device to practice the L2 in addition to having the willpower to study it on one’s own time. Many people seem to seem to download apps and then seldom use them. What do you think?

    • Yeah, I’m that kind of person who download lots of app first and then never use them. There are two reasons. First is about apps themselves,like they are boring, not so functional, and the notifications are too disturbing. Second is about learner themsevles, which is the major problem. I am not so self-controlled. There are so many interference factors in my cell phone. When I try to learn, I might chat with others or play games. So I think learner’s motivation and autonomy are unreliable. It might be work at first, but afterwards, they need something else to support them to continue.
      As teachers, we might can schedule tasks for students first and require them to finish them one by one.

  14. Dear all, I really love your article, thank you so much. I have experienced once when I was in Holland, but it was not me that using mobile as the tool to learn something. it was the Dutch secondary students that using mobiles. Actually, when I first saw this mobile assisted methods, I was so surprised. I thought it was a very efficient way for them to learn language, when teachers said something, they could search other materials immediately. However, there was another aspect, I found many students they would play Facebook, Twitter when teachers’ attention wasn’t on them, because the mobile phone screen was so small. Sometimes, they just ignored what the teachers said, and focused on mobile phone all the time. So I think the classroom management is very important.

    • I agree with you, Yueming. Actually, as long as there is internet connection, I am more interested in other things than learning and it is too time-consuming. It is demanding for teachers to manger.

    • Dear Yueming, thanks for the update. I really think the problem you mentioned is a big one. To satisfy students’ need for college entrance examination, we should consider well and thoroughly whether schools should apply MALL in their classrooms. If MALL is embedded in the learning teaching, what role should it play? What measures can a teacher take to carry out efficient classroom management. All these will worry schools, teachers, and parents a lot. Students are really not very motivated in learning through MALL with the temptation from Facebook and other social networking websites.

  15. The only app I keep using for years is the e-dictionary. I can’t imagine myself carrying a super heavy Oxford dictionary and struggling to find a word among millions of words. Mobile devices, well-used, can be good tools to language learning.

    If there is one suggestion I can add to designing better apps, I will say, make it “competitive”.There was a popular “test your English vacabulary” app last year. Almost everyone around me tried this app, because you can share your grades on the social network sites to see your ranking among friends.

    • I really like your comment! I can’t imagine thatI learn language without e-dictionary! 🙂

    • Yes, Tracy, I do agree with you on that point, also for my part, the most frequent-used app is e-dictionary, I can’t imagine without e-dictionary, I have to bring my thick dictionary with me everyday.

    • Thanks for the post. E-dictionary is a necessary App for all of us. I appreciate that Apps should be competitive. Only those good ones are unforgettable and will have long term effect on learners’ language learning. Designers should pay attention to the look, color, procedure, processing program of the app. All these will play important roles in attracting learners. I like what I have now, an e-dictionary which will change its background image every day automatically. I like it very much. Thanks again for your suggestion.

  16. It seems that smartphone makes language learning more interesting and free. More and more apps are available for learners, such as digital dictionaries, VOA, BBC, foreign films and series. Whenever and wherever we are, just turn on those apps and put on your headphone, you can totally involved yourself in a language world. It is so cool!

    • Thank you, Jenny. Smartphone is “smart” with all kinds of apps. Apps entertain us and teach us language. Equipped with all kinds of convenient learning tools, we can learn a language in various ways. Like all the products shown in front of you, there will always be one suitable for a certain learner.

    • Thanks for your post, Jenny. I agree that there is plenty of content available on smartphones now to practice a foreign language. The key to actually using such affordances is whether the content is viewed as language practice or if there is a more intrinsic use of the app for enjoyment IMO. As many of the other bloggers point out, they have downloaded such apps but seldom use them.

  17. Good conclusion! As to me, I learn language via Mobile devices most in a unconscious way. For example, I watch some English videos, read English e-newspapers or communicate with others in English. I think the greatest affordance is its convenience in that learners can learn anytime and anywhere they are free. But the constrain is that if students spend too much time using mobile phones, it will do harm to their health and will limit face-to-face communication.

    • Yes, Cassie, I love your sentence, “As to me, I learn language via Mobile devices most in a unconscious way.” which means, we learn language through mobile apps frequently.I really love mobile learning methods.

    • Thanks Cassie. You are so lovely in worrying about learners’ health. I guess for learners, the charm of learning language through mobile devices is not as much as can threaten their health except that they watch a series of Lord of the Ring on end. Hahahaha.

    • Hi Fiona! Actually I think I am addicted to mobile phone, but not for learning. Hahaha~ And I have poorer eyesight now. T_T Luckly, students seldom are addicted to learning. 😛

  18. I think the affordances of using moble devices for language learning are obvious and have been mentioned a lot in the comments. But I couldn’t help but have one concern. It is about the question “does teacher use the mobile devices in class or outside the classroom”. If tachers use the devices in class, they should ensure students have a certain kind of mobile device with them, which is against the school rules in most schools in China. If the teachers use the devices outside the classroom, it will be hard to monitor whether students use their mobile devices to learn or to play games. After all, there are a lot of distraction on mobile devices and it requires high self-control ability for students.

    • I agree with you. Personally, I think the potential problem of mobile assisted language learning is quite similar to the one of digital game-based language learning. Learners may be addicted to the interesting games or apps, but pay less attention to the language points.

    • Thanks Gloria. You are right in concerning about the efficiency and possibility of MALL in classroom. Teachers will suffer a lot if they do so and use it as the major tool to teach a second language. First, they need to negotiate it with principals, department leaders, parents and even colleagues. Second, they need to control the class while using MALL for students are not very self-controlled. Learners are easily distracted by other social networking apps. Third, they need to face the challenge from students. Competence in operating language learning apps is necessary and sometimes it is difficult for teachers who has already been accustomed to teaching in a conventional way. In this case, teachers will not be authority of teaching for students. As some students will think their teachers as low B, which really happens.

  19. This is a really interesting discussion – thanks for all of your comments. In reply to Gloria’s concerns about learning and playing games, it seems this might not be as big a problem as it initially appears. I’ve just come across a relevant quote from Sharples et al. (2009) who say “Using the technology for entertainment and socializing does not appear to reduce its value as a learning tool, but rather helps to bridge the gap between institutional and personal learning.” Interested to hear any other thoughts on this issue.

    • Thanks, Sir. Mobile apps should both be entertaining and beneficial. If learners want to enjoy themselves, they can turn to games. And if they want to learn, they can use MALL. I think apps are various and can satisfy all kinds of learners’ different needs.

  20. I used to utilized some apps on mobile phone to practice my listening skill. Through downloading English news from the app, I could listen to the recording during some spare time. However, I think that mobile needs strong motivation and interest in language learning because most users take the method for self-improvement. The constraints of the mobile learning is that learners may easily drop the method. So the learners should have the sense of achievement to continue their learning or teachers can be the supervisor with mobile learning.

    • Thanks, Lizzy. As you mentioned, long term motivation for mobile phone language learning is hard to sustain. Take myself as an example, I seldom listen to BBC news even though the app has appeared in my iPhone since the day I bought it. So, I think one reason could be that, outside classroom, there is rare atmosphere for learning a language independently. Maybe one could listen to BBC when he is in a library, HHHH, just kidding.

    • I agree that there needs to be a reason to use the app beyond language practice (especially when a student is no longer enrolled in a language course). I hadn’t really thought about the ‘sense of achievement’ angle, and I think you are correct that this could be one reason to continue using the apps. Another might be to join a community on-line (though you don’t necessarily need to mobile device for this). Thanks for your input.

  21. I enjoy playing crosswords on mobile phone whenever I am free.I think the most fascinating part is that I can share the scores with my friends on the friend circle, so friends play the same game compete with each other, in this way, we are
    highly motivated to learn new word.

    • Yes, Amber. Playing crosswords on mobile phone is such a good idea. Especially when we share it in the circle of we chat , we can play it in our small community. In this way, we are highly motivated to learn a lot of new words.

    • WoW. Thanks, Amber. That’s really cool. If there is advance level for crosswords, then it will be more helpful for us. Is there one? BTW, I am really interested in the app, so what is the name of the app?

  22. I’ve downloaded an app called English Radio on my cellphone. At first, it seemed quite fun. Because I can listen to various radio programs in English. That’s authentic English , which is more interesting than those in our textbooks. Also, people could communicate with people in the related social networking space. But a month later, I just deleted that app for it’s not so helpful as I had expected. The radio programs have no subtitles which sometimes makes it difficult for me to follow. In addition, the people I can communicate in that app are mostly non-native speakers, which often leads to odd or grammatically incorrect conversations. In a nutshell, it lacks practical guidance. Mobile learning seems fascinating but there is definitely more we should and could do to improve it.

    • Dear Elaine, thanks for the post. It seems that the app you mentioned was really attractive and interesting at the beginning. So after a while, we feel bored and found its drawbacks in case of its imperfection. I guess one reason could be that the learners are mostly beginners from different countries and you are an advance English learner, so there is a big gap between you and them. If an App cannot satisfy the learner’s need for learning and input, then it is not suitable for the certain learner. Also, if there is no guide for using it efficiently, we should save our time to turn to other user-friendly apps.

  23. Thank you for sharing, everyone. Seems like there is some considerable interest in the topic of MALL from your comments. Many posters to this blog express the skepticism that current apps focused on language learning are adequate in maintain long-term learner interest, although the idea itself is initially motivational. Others believe that apps which don’t focus on L2 practice are a better way to use the L2 over the long term. To me this is a topic that warrants our attention over the coming years in order to stay updated on the most recent apps and student uptake of them in their language learning.

  24. I am wondering whether anybody is using a mobile device to read this blog right now??? If so, what is the functionality like?

    • I downloaded the app for edublog before, to be honest, it was different from webpage, and it was not user friendly, I failed to log in at the begining.

      Also, reading blog via mobile phone is frustrating, but I think commenting through it is not difficult, it also has some functions that superior to webpage, the mobility.

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