A few years ago, the most exciting thing we could do with our mobile phones was to download a ringtone. However, the development of new technology has made a vast array of apps (applications) is made readily available for iPhone or Android phone users. This phenomenon has led to tremendous interest in Mobile learning (m-learning) among educators. In view of this, more language learners are invited to leverage the enhanced capabilities of multiple mobile devices as a complement to their learning process.

Such a huge step in functionality arrived with the Apple iPhone in 2007. The iPhone’s own advanced features have not only fundamentally changed the game in the mobile area, but also led competitors to create other equally capable devices.

Features of Smartphones Today:

  • a responsive touch screen which makes Web navigation much easier.
  • a relatively large virtual keyboard or a full physical mini-keyboard
  • video capture, video (and image) editing, voice recognition.
  • faster 3G or 4G cellular connectivity along with even faster Wi-Fi
  • larger Built-in storage
  • Incorporation of Bluetooth and USB connections, GPS chips, accelerometers, compasses, high-resolution cameras, and proximity sensors.

Figure 1. Smartphones

App Development

Apps On the Rise

The release of Mobile Safari of the iPhone in 2007 is one of the significant software enhancements. Combined with the hardware enhancements: a larger, high-resolution screen, a more powerful processor, more internal (RAM) memory, and faster Internet connectivity, Mobile Safari was able for the first time on a device its size to access and display the “full” Web. Given the above enhancement, Apple initially encouraged developers to create Web apps. It was not until 2008 thatApple allowed third party native applications for the iPhone. Since then, the quantity of apps in the App Store is has burgeoned. Similarly, Google Android Operating System has also been booming in terms of the  quantities of its users and apps.

Godwin-Jones (2011) introduce three types of language learning apps, including flashcard programme (Quizlet), dual language dictionaries (Youdao), and phrasal book. For example, phrase books(Lonely Planet) can now accommodate more content, including video and audio, and integrate with online websites.

1. Vocabulary development programs have become more sophisticated and powerful, integrating the different functions into one app. For instance, e-Stroke for Chinese stroke learning includes animations of the sequence to write a character, flashcard system, and dual language dictionaries (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. e-Stroke User Interface

2. English Fun Dubbing is an app applicable to both iPhone and Android operating systems, aiming at  improving oral English. (see Figure 3)

Figure 3. English Fun Dubbing

Figure 4. Baicizhan App

3. In the Baicizhan App (see Figure 4), there are various ways for learners to memorize the words, such as listening to a lyric which contains the “target word” from a song, watching a video which explains the pragmatic and grammatical knowledge of the “target word”, reading the word-building rules to learn prefixes and suffixes, etc. Besides, there are different types of practices for learners to choose.

Evaluation

Not only the mobility, enhanced hardware, but also better software of new mobile devices can foster new ways of learning. Actually, all of them encourage a new kind of relationship between users and electronic devices. According to Godwin-Jones (2011),

“As personal devices, smartphones are ideal for individualized informal learning. The user determines which apps to acquire and how to use them. As language educators, we should encourage and assist the learner autonomy this enables and provide means for learners to combine formal and informal learning. It is known that learning becomes more real and permanent when tied to learners’ lives outside the academic environment. Mobile devices are a great way to achieve that goal. As mobile devices become even more powerful and versatile, we are likely to see more users make them their primary, perhaps their sole computing devices. This is not a trend that language educators can ignore.”

To catch up with the trend of learning via mobile devices, therefore, it is necessary for teachers in school to think about how to encompass the informal learning on apps into the cooperation with formal learning in school.

Here are the questions for you:

  1. Given that in recent years a number of students, especially the final-year students in elementary school or secondary school, use the Baicizhan App to memorize words and improve their vocabularies, as a teacher, how would you combine this kind of informal learning with your instruction (formal learning)?
  2. Do you have any recommendations on mobile English learning apps which can be applied to formal learning and/or informal learning? Can it connect these two learning well?

 

 

(Edited by Eva, Evelyn and Laurel)

47 thoughts on “MOBILE APPS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING

  1. In regards to Q1, I just want to point out that apps like Baicizhan are not popularly used in Hong Kong. As most Hong Kong schools are exam-oriented, the teaching of vocabulary is often centralized by the schools. That is, vocabulary books or lists are disseminated across the forms, especially in the last two senior secondary years. Some schools even impose monthly uniform tests to ensure that certain vocabulary items are taught and memorized. So, I think it is more feasible for teachers to recommend these apps informally and encourage students to use them as much as they want. Otherwise students may feel stiffened and de-motivated from independent learning. As for Q2, if teachers really want to incorporate mobile apps in class, they can turn light-hearted apps like English Fun Dubbing into a language-learning game, so that students find learning English pleasurable. However, since local students expect teachers to be their models, teachers have to consider how they can demonstrate their expertise when using these apps.

    • Hi Camie! Thank you for your sharing about the teaching situation in Hong Kong. Actually, in mainland, both elementary and secondary schools are also exam-oriented. The Ministry of Education has set a list of vocabulary which students are required to recognize or use in every level. However, students show few interests in memorizing the vocabulary in the compulsory curriculum, yet they are keen on memorizing the vocabulary with the aid of BaiCiZhan. These years, BaiCiZhan begins to involve the vocabularies in the compulsory education. So, in this case, would you offer us some insightful and creative teaching ideas on using it?

    • Thanks for your question. Teachers can revise some theme-based vocabulary from BaiCiZhan and give students a writing task or game that help them to recycle the items. Alternatively, for a more self-directed approach, teachers can ask some students to present on certain vocabulary that they learn from the app and provide 2 sentences on their own during the lesson.

  2. 1. I think APPs like Baicizhan are suitable for the review of vocabularies, not learning. As a teacher, I would recommend my students to pay attention to example sentences following the vocabularies that students are required to master since it is a good way for long-term memory.

    • I agree with you in that focusing on the example sentences following the vocabularies enable students to deeply memorize the vocabularies. Beacuse sometimes with time went by, students can remember the pictures from Baicizhan whereas forgetting its corresponding meanings.

    • Thank you, Una. You have come up with a very good idea. Baicizhan provides an interesting instruction for people to memorize English words, by connecting the word to different kinds of linguistic activities that involve the target word, such as a video, a song, a word-building rule and among others. So it makes sense that teachers should encourage students to pay more heed to the instruction on the APP. From your discussion, it seems that Baicizhan can serve as an adjunct to students’ vocabulary learning. Are there any other mobile APPs that can be used in the language classrooms?

    • Evelyn, I have the same question as yours — as there are so many apps and alternatives available, online or in print, I wonder why Baicizhan is particularly popular. How does it excel when compared with an online dictionary entry, for example?

    • Hi Camie. Baicizhan is actually not a kind of digital dictionary, but a leaning app for memorizing vocabulary. Have you heard of Anki? I think this app is more or less like Anki, which presents different digital flash cards to the user according to Ebbinghaus curves. If they forgot the word, they can press the “Forgot” button so that the system will re-present the word based on the Ebbinghaus curves. The user reinforce their memory through reviewing the flash cards constantly.

  3. I think mobile apps are of great benefit to language learning. Some of my students use mobile apps to memorise English words, which proves to be an effective way. These apps usually incorporate multimodality to stimultate students’ learning. Sounds, images and animation help students understand new words better, including their usage. Besides, various modes combine to make it much easier and interesting to memorize new words, which is widely considered as a laborious and boring job.
    As for the question about how to integrate this kind of informal learning with classroom instruction, I think English Fun Dubbing has been successfully used by many elementary school teachers in Mainland China. This app provides the video for each module of the textbook. Finishing a lesson, students will be asked to dub the relevant video. In this way, teachers can check their learning outcomes, including their pronuciation, intonation and fluency. Some teachers also show students’ work in class to motivate them. So mobile apps, as an auxiliary method, can be employed appropriately to facilitate formal classroom learning.

    • Hi Eric, I do agree with your point that those apps are actually using multimodal mode to stimulate students’ language learning. With these apps, students may have more interests and motivation in learning language.

    • Hi, Eric. Thank you for listing so many merits of mobile apps. I agree with you that language learners can take great advantage of such a wide variety of learning apps on their phone. For example, Baicizhan helps learners memorize and comprehend English words by incorporating sounds, images, and animation into the learning process. This new way of learning makes vocabulary memorizing seem less tedious and laborious. According to your comment, English Fun Dubbing has already been used in the language classroom. It seems to be an innovative way to improve students’ speaking skills. Do you think whether there are some difficulties that the instructor may encounter during the classroom instruction? Will you try to incorporate mobile apps into your teaching in the future?

    • Hi, Eric, what you mentioned in your reply about Fun Dubbing reminds me of my friend’s teaching experience. She is teaching in an English institution,her students are asked to dub the video of every new unit. Then these video will be shared from app to WeChat group, teacher needs to watch students’ video and give feedback about their pronunciation and intonation. This seems like a good way for students to practice their native-like pronunciation, according to my friend, however, the materials they dub are only British English materials, which are not suitable for students with American pronunciation. she is busy commenting students videos, their progress is too slow to be seen. So in mobile learning, I think the learning content should be more important than its form. What students can get from mobile learning is what the teachers should think about.

  4. 1. Personally speaking, I think Baicizhan App is an interesting way to memorize the vocabularies. It combines vivid pictures with the correspondent meanings as well as word pronunciations, etc. I used to use it when I was preparing for the TEM4 and TEM8 and I found it quite useful. As a teacher, I would like to apply Baicizhan App into the out-of-class activities. For instance, I’ll set up a class Wechat group on the internet, and then I’ll divide the whole class into several groups and pick out a team leader of every group. Everyone in the class Wecaht group has to memorize the vocabularies through Baicizhan App and punch in every day. The team leader has to collect their group members’ pictures of clocking in records, at the end of the week, I will reward the group which owns the largest punching in records. I believe in this way it will provide an escape for learners who experience high levels of pressure in the daytime and offer them a balance between school and off-school life. In addition, it also enhances students’ cooperative spirits and broadens their vocabularies.

    2. As for other mobile English learning apps, I believe English Listening Daily is a helpful app for students to practice their English listening abilities. I think it can be applied to both formal learning and informal leaning. For instance, the teacher can download the valuable segments of the original record from this app and ask students to do an extensive listening practice as a formal learning. Or the teacher can also set it as an informal assignment such as asking students to listen to the tape when they are free, etc.

    • Hi Alice! Your idea on the application of BaiCiZhan in school is pretty impressive and insightful! I suppose that I will conduct this method in my future teaching situation. In addition, your comment on the second discussion reminds me of the situation before that students always trusted their English teachers “too much”, and it led a consequence that students did not like to listen to the tape or any other recorded listening materials, but only their teachers presentations. The consequence was that students’ accent assembled their teacher’s. But in these days, with the update of the educational philosophy, teachers realize to foster students’ relative standard pronunciation, making students to get used to foreign speakers’ speech is the best way to improve their listening and speaking skills and abilities.

  5. Hi Eva, Evelyn and Laurel. Thank you for your sharing. If I’m the teacher in elementary school or secondary school, I will ask students to recite words on Baicizhan, and then do spot checks in class. On one hand, students can recite words with multimodal modes, on the other hand, students’ learning outcomes could be tested.

    Actually, I think mobile English learning apps could be used in out-of-class learning and the teacher can test the outcomes in class. In this way, these two kinds of learning can be combined together effectively.

    • Thank you, Grace. I personally quite agree with you about combing the out-of-class m-learning and the conventional classroom. Since the curriculum in mainland China does not have a place for M-learning for now, the implementation of learning app can only be proposed by teachers as personal skills. With the good instructions and proper monitors, mobile apps can play a useful part in L2 teaching and learning.

  6. Actually, I myself also use several educational apps for assisting my language learning, such as Shanbay, English Fun Dubbing and Daily Listening(English). There is no doubt that this kind of apps play a significant role in language learning these days, especially among young learners. However, only wise users might get more benefit from them, which means how to make use of educational apps properly for learning language effectively tends to be an important question for both learners and teachers. As for me, according to my students’ actual situation and learning needs, I would first figure out whether these apps are suitable for my students or not. Then, I would instruct them how to use the recommending apps in proper ways. For example, I would help them find out which parts might be beneficial or challengeable and which functions might be useful. Besides, I think it would be more useful for learners to set themselves specific goals for using these apps. Although these applications provide learners new ways and extensive learning materials to learn language, they should choose suitable ones according to their needs and conditions.

    • Hi, Michelle. Thank you for your insightful opinion. It is true that the learning effect of “Apps-assisted” way of language learning depends largely on individuals. Students without self-control tend to be distracted by other information on their phone, instead of focusing on the learning materials on the learning app. In this case, teachers should provide proper guidance for students in terms of how to leverage various learning Apps effectively.

    • Hi, Michelle, I am impressed by your thoughtful consideration in preparing students for the class with employment of learning apps. but I was wondering in what way could you monitor whether students could use them in a right way or use them effectively? If this is solved, then I think applying these apps in learning would not be a problem anyway.

    • Hi Michelle, I agree that as teachers we need to select proper apps for students to practice English in their daily life because students don’t have this ability to judge it an app is appropriate, and they may be overwhelmed by countless apps in the app store. For those who are not self-deciplined enough or wise enough, teachers play a more important role as a supervisor to cultivate habits for students to form in the process of learning.

    • Michelle, I agree with your point that teachers still need to take up the role as an advisor and demonstrator to students when it comes to the use of mobile apps. They should illustrate how the affordances of certain apps can help students to improve their individual skills. In that way, students can benefit from these tools much more than using them without guidance.

  7. For Q1, though I think using these kinds of APPs to memorize vocabulary or improve one’s oral English can be a good way for students to try, I don’t think it can be well combined with the formal instruction setting. The way it presents English knowledge to students is very interesting and attractive. However, the efficiency and whether students will stick to it is till in doubt. I would rather encourage students to use these APP in their spare time to discover the fun of learning than put these APPs into the classroom setting.
    For Q2, to be frankly speaking, I would put learning through mobile APPs into the category which is only restricted to informal learning. Although I recognize that there is a huge development in mobile phone, e.g. a big full screen, a full access to the Internet, I still think the main function of them is entertaining. And it is hard for me to imagine that students can systematically learn a language from this relatively tiny device or even a simple software. I think they can be used to arouse students’ interest or to enhance their confidence about the language, since the level of language which can acquire from the APP is usually easier than that in the textbooks. However, with reference to the adoption of them in the classroom setting, I still hold a negative attitude. I think apply them in the out-of-class learning would be better and more effective.

    • Thank you, Jiaying for being frank. For your 2nd answer, I think you raise some good points: these apps are interesting and the language is relatively easy. So, I think the apps like the English Fun Dubbing can be used in the classroom for like FUN Friday in primary school to stimulate the interest of the students to learn English. Because in Primary school the workloads are less than that in secondary school, it is more possible to carry this out. Actually, in some secondary school, there are electives so we can set the English Dubbing as an elective course for the students. But, in most Chinese school, mobile is not allowed. So it is very difficult to put this into practice. What do you think about my thoughts? Looking forward to your reply.

    • Hi, Jiaying, I do agree with your point that educational apps should be applied more on out-class language leaning or practice, especially for elementary level students, who even need to be monitored in case of being distracted from other entertainment apps. From my view, it is admitted that mobile learning does benefit arousing students’ leaning interest, however, as the human-to-human interaction, which is of great significance to language learning, contributes to traditional physical teaching way, it can not be replaced by verbal leaning at this stage.

  8. Hi, Eva, Evelyn and Laurel. As for the first question, I think the informal learning, e.g., mobile apps should be only used as the auxiliary tool outside the classroom, and inclass instruction by teachers should be the leading role for English studies. As teachers can have face-to-face communication with students, for example, when teaching vocabulary, teachers not only talk about the meaning, but also the different forms of the vocabulary, how it could be used in different situations by making sentences and giving relevant examples. Besides, teachers are more familiar with the testing system, so that they could help students remember the key points of the vocabulary, which makes English studies more efficient and effective, and less time-consuming comparing with learning English through mobile apps. Furthermore, students can get instant and accurate feedback once problems occur in the learning process. And for your second question, I think mobile apps could be an effective way to prepare the English proficiency test, as studentscan learn and review in a systematic and comprehensice way.

    • Hi, Grace. Thank you for your ideas. No offense, but perhaps teaching and learning via APPs will be another new trend of the developed cities. Considering that in the past 5 years, many people though that it was impossible to use electronic devices on class, but nowadays some public schools in developed cities have already use I-pad as the main teaching medium on class, such as Guangzhou Middle School, The First Middle School in Jiangmen, and other 3000 schools in China. Therefore, maybe we can have an open-mind towards these emerging teaching facilities and do not confine the probable teaching methods in the old mode of teaching.

  9. Hi, Eva, Evelyn and Laurel. As for the first question, I think the informal learning, e.g., mobile apps should be only used as the auxiliary tool outside the classroom, and inclass instruction by teachers should be the leading role for English studies. As teachers can have face-to-face communication with students, for example, when teaching vocabulary, teachers not only talk about the meaning, but also the different forms of the vocabulary, how it could be used in different situations by making sentences and giving relevant examples. Besides, teachers are more familiar with the testing system, so that they could help students remember the key points of the vocabulary, which makes English studies more efficient and effective, and less time-consuming comparing with learning English through mobile apps. Furthermore, students can get instant and accurate feedback once problems occur in the learning process. And for your second question, I think mobile apps could be an effective way to prepare the English proficiency test, as studentscan learn and review in a systematic and comprehensive way.

  10. Hi, Eva, Evelyn and Laurel. Thank you all for your posting for it has been well-organized. As to me, at the final year, students are facing challenges greater than that of any other level of memorizing. Exams which could determine their life could urge them to invest a great amount of time in memorization. As a teacher, in class, I may not be reluctant to use such kind of apps for students to memorize things, since they would be distracted. But I would rather encourage them to use this after class, for they would have more time and it is an entertaining tool to practice and review.

    As for other apps, I have seen a lot of students using Baicizhan as an English learning tool. It has games and tests. All the new words are displayed and demonstrated in videos in a vivid way, for learners to understand and grasp what they need to learn quickly and permanently. To be honest, I do not think it can be used in both informal and formal teaching environment either. Although it has been well designed, it costs lots of time for learners to choose and decide in what way they want to start with, and it will not sustain for a long time for students would get bored with it when they try everything fresh.

    • I agree with your last point that many apps only sustain for a while and users tend to forget them after having downloaded the new ones:-/

  11. Hi,Eva, Evelyn and Laurel. In my previous teaching experience, I recommended my students to use Baicizhan, it is very useful because the required words in different level of English study are included in the app. If students set the same study plan, the new words they encounter everyday are the same, thus, this app can be used for daily vocabulary memorizing, teachers can give students task such as remember 30 words on this app. The second day, teacher can pick 20 out of 30 words to have a dictation. The app is used for outclass learning. And since the phone is portable, students can use fragmentary time to remember the words, which is really convenient.

  12. I think Biacizhan is a good app to motivate students in terms of memorizing vocabulary only if Baicizhan could keep pace with the latest compulsory textbooks used in public schools. However, since it has not stretched to the field of primary and secondary education, I think there must be some underlying reason for them to not do so. Maybe teenagers are not self-disciplined enough and the traditional stereotype towards youngsters and apps are only for entertainment could be the listed reasons. Personally, I won’t recommend Baicizhan to primary or secondary school students.
    As for English Fun Dubbing, I would very like to recommend it to those elementary English learners. Because, the material provided are interesting for those beginners and could help to improve pronunciation.
     
    In fact, the most useful app I think, as far as I know, is Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Other apps tend to only catch my attention for no more than 1 month.

    • Thank you, Grace. Actually, nowadays, BaiCiZhan has already covered the vocabularies of different versions of compulsary English textbook in China, including Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, PEP edition, Beijing University Press, Oxford English edition, Project English edition, Shandong Education Press and so on.

    • Hi, Grace! It is true that we teachers must take the age of students into consideration when deciding which app is more suitable. And lack of self-discipline is really a problem facing young learners. Therefore, I think both teachers and parents should take responsiblity for monitoring and guiding students.

  13. Hi Eva, Evelyn and Laurel, I used to be a teacher before I came to Hong Kong, during my English class, I assigned homework on English Fun Dubbing, it was great becasue students were motivated to dub in authentic animation videos and this app gave overal feedback and feedback for each sentence. But it suddenly required users to pay for their service, so the combination of infromal and formal teaching was interrupted. As a teacher, I do think this kind of combination facilitates formal teaching in that teacher can show students’ work in class as a way to teach pronunciation and useful expressions and students also enjoy this kind of teaching.

    • Wow, that was a fantastic experience. Did you use it in the speaking lesson? Could you share with us the detailed examples you combine the vedio on Fun Dubbing with the content on compulsory textbook?

  14. I am not sure whether Baicichan app has the same words categories as the students’ textbooks. If it has, it can help them to preview and review the words. If it doesn’t have the same vocabulary categories as the textbooks, I think the teacher can teach the vocabularies as the app, with the combination of video, images, and pictures, which can stimulate students interest and strengthen the learning outcomes at the same time.

  15. Actually, nowadays, BaiCiZhan has already covered the vocabularies of different versions of compulsary English textbook in China, including Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, PEP edition, Beijing University Press, Oxford English edition, Project English edition, Shandong Education Press and so on. So, enjoy your new journey in vocabulary teaching.

  16. If I were a teacher of secondary school, I would ask students to memorize the vocabularies they’ve learnt in classroom as their primary task, and if they finish doing this, they can increase vocabulary with the help of such mobile learning applications.
    Personally, I used to practice oral English by a mobile English learning app named ELTS Bro, which I think is a good app for both formal learning and informal learning. In class, teachers can choose topics that are suitable to student’s level and their interest in order to help improve speaking skills, and after class, students themselves can practice as much as they can.

    • Hi, Lux. Thank you for your response. I have actually used Ielts bro before, and I found it quite useful too. From your point of view, mobile apps mainly serve as an adjunct to formal learning, and learning activities involved mobile devices are conducted out of class. Do you have any idea about how to incorporate this new technology into the language classroom?

  17. Hi, Eva, Evelyn and Laurel! Thanks for introducing Mobile learning. Actually, I have several experience in mobile language learning. When I was in college, my teacher suggested us memorize vocabularies in mobile apps, which cut our spare time into many pieces and made full use of it as informal learning. But personally, I suppose that mobile learning would be more suitable for adult learners who owe mobile devices and have good self-control ability. As for young learners, mobile learning could also be effective under the help of instructors or parents.

  18. Hi Eva, Evelyn and Laurel. Thank you for your informative post of m-learning. I think the vocabulary apps like Baicizhan may work well for students who are at sea in English learning but having a desire for improving English. This may motivate students of this kind a bit for they may see the immediate learning outcomes in the sense that vocabulary improvements seem to be obvious in an exam-oriented testing system. But I think the best way for learning English in a long-term perspective is through reading in which the contexts are more precise. For the 2nd question, I think if I were a teacher, I would recommend dubbing apps as complements to their learning.

    • Hi Doreen. I agree that reading is the optimum way to learn English in the long run, while words-memorizing Apps like Baicizhan might enlarge learners’ vocabulary with regard to short-term memory, especially for those who aim at passing a certain kind of exam in a short period of time.

  19. Hi, Eva, Evelyn and Laurel. Thank you for your sharing. From my point of view, i would introduce this app to my students and let them memorize words after school and maybe set up a reward systme to cultivate their motivation to use this app to learn vocabulary. But i don’t think this app can take place of the formal learning of words in class since that learning words is not only to know the meanings of them. The usage of words in authentic context is more important for students. Thus. i would use this app as an after-schoold assignment.

  20. Hi Eva, Evelyn and Laurel, many thanks for your sharing.
    For Q1, I have to admit that Baicizhan is really a creative educational app, which borrows vivid pictures to enhance users’ vocabulary memorizing. Even so, as a teacher, I might only apply this app to students’ holiday task as kind of auxiliary tool, encouraging them to make full use of their fragment time. When it comes to formal learning, since Baicizhan lacks kind of systemic structure, whose random vocabulary list might lead students to fail to distinguish between core vocabulary and non-core words, and rarely provide specific contexts to illustrate how to use the word properly, I prefer to take traditional vocabulary list attached after textbook as in-class vocabulary memorizing tool.

    Concerning to Q2, English Fun Dubbing is a good choice to connect mobile apps and formal instruction. On the one hand, it would truly bring much fun and enjoyment to language class. More importantly, interpersonal interaction and the sense of cooperation would be to some extend enhanced and developed as teachers assigning the task of do a dubbing work in a group.

  21. Hello, Eva, Evelyn and Laurel, thank you for your post. I am really impressed that you mentioned the development of smart phones and applications and then introduce your topic. I agree that there are many effective learning apps used by language learners. They are vivid, fun, and really portable compared with traditional learning approaches. I used to believe that students should be instructed patiently and carefully by the teachers. However, after I came here and get access to so many new literacies, I wish I could use them at a very young age.
    However, personally, I don’t think teacher should use it in formal setting, they should not demand the students to do anything which is auxiliary, even it is very interesting, it can also be their stress. Instead, teacher should play a role like tester, and facilitator, trying to find the most effective tools or apps, and instructing and facilitating the students to use them in their spare time, just for recommending. I believe in this way learning apps can better perform in the students’ language learning.

    • Hi, Eating. Thank you for your advice. You said that students could be encouraged to leverage some useful learning apps for language learning, but it is not necessarily a compulsive requirement. I understand that students should be free to decide their way of learning of their choice, but do you agree that some mobile devices should be included in the formal classroom?

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