A
short and sweet study conducted with my adult ESOL cohort, as I know how
tough it is for many of my learners at the basic/entry levels to integrate
openly with the local community.
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| Poster Presentation |
This study was one way of empowering them and getting them to interact with the digital world more freely since research and my teaching practice has proven that technology can be easily introduced in the regular classroom with some careful planning and management.
Smartphones are also becoming increasingly popular for their versatility and multi-functionality that provide excellent opportunities for the language teacher to apply CALL (Computer-assisted language learning) techniques, on a handheld device instead. (You could watch this space for cool ideas on MALL techniques.)
After seeing the positive reception of learners in the study, I firmly believe that the use of mobiles will go a long way in getting the disengaged and demotivated learners or even those involved in day jobs to learn at their own pace and time anywhere.
I would like to personally applaud my cohort for their motivation and engagement levels in the classroom all through the study and thank them for their for their honest and constructive feedback!
Title: The efficacy of MALL (Mobile-assisted language learning) or M-Learning methods on vocabulary acquisition in multi-ethnic adult second language learners
Source: Learningfortress.com
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My study* investigated the efficacy of MALL or m-learning methods on
vocabulary acquisition through the use of two applications (Quizlet and Apple’s
Siri) with a small cohort of 14 adult ESOL learners in a Further Education
setting.
A one group quasi-experimental pretest-posttest method was carried out
where learners used the apps over a period of four weeks alongside standard
teaching methods.
An improvement was noted in the descriptive statistics of Quizlet and
Apple Siri, however, a more detailed statistical outcome i.e a Sign test
followed by a paired two-tailed t-test showed that while Quizlet’s scores were
significant, Apple Siri’s were not significant, which confirms the null
hypothesis in the latter.
The attitudes and perceptions of learners, however, was positive towards
mobile learning, with 90% indicating that they would like or love to learn more
words using mobiles in the future. However, they responded differently to the
two apps, highlighting that variations can occur between applications and
affect learner perception. Due to pronunciation interferences affecting
access to the Apple Siri definition of words, its effectiveness was lower than
Quizlet and the standard method.
At the end of the study, the following recommendations have been made:
to encourage usage of multimodal mobile-enabled vocabulary activities such as
Quizlet through incorporation in the curriculum design; to avoid
technologies that can act as barriers to access of vocabulary definitions; and
to encourage teachers to try out m-learning methods like Quizlet that are easy
to use and provide analytics that can help them employ blended learning methods
in a rapidly changing self-directed learning environment.
This research has been presented to members of staff and management and
will also feature at the PGCE Oxford Brookes Action Research Conference,
2018. Feel free to reach out to me for any further information,
paper requests or research collaborations.
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajashree/
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