FROM TRADITIONAL LANGUAGE LEARNING TO LANGUAGE LEARNING ON MOBILE APPS

Abstract

The pervasive presence of ICT (information and communication technology) in everyday life and the appeal these technologies have for our students, forces teachers of foreign languages to consider how language teaching might be adapted to include these new tools in teaching practice. During the various stages of the Covid pandemic, the surge in the development of ICT supported language-learning devices, especially language learning mobile apps, and a wealth of research focusing on the exploration of the new means of eLearning, indicate new options for the delivery and acquisition of foreign languages as a life-long learning practice, which the LanGuide project seeks to exploit and advance. The paper reports on a survey carried out among respondents (students, academic and administrative staff) at 6 institutions of higher education in Slovenia, Romania, Croatia, Spain and Sweden. The purpose of the research was to examine the views, practices and attitudes of the respondents with regard to using ICT for foreign language acquisition, in order to help the international partnership to establish clear goals and objectives for developing learning materials in the languages of the partnership of the LanGuide project (KA2-HE/19), co-funded by the European Commission. Mobile language learning has altered the approach to language acquisition and our respondents proved well aware of the options available to them. The mobility, portability, and ubiquity of mobile apps seem to motivate them to make plans for more language learning. This manner of language acquisition, one that provides a sense of freedom and self-management, seems to suit and motivate self-learners. However, in the future, particular attention should be devoted to the further investigation of learning strategies and learning styles compatible with the use of mobile technology. Such knowledge could have a crucial impact on both language instructors and learners of foreign languages, as well as help materials writers and software developers. We can conclude that mobile language learning has changed the approach to language acquisition, while a number of issues still need to be addressed and analysed in order to provide a meaningful, productive user experience on language learning apps.