CALL for Mobility

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Joanna Pitura

Pedagogical University of Cracow, Cracow, Poland

Shannon Sauro

Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

Introduction

This volume brings together a collection of ten chapters which explore different facets of CALL for mobility, discussed during the 2016 PL-CALL conference.¹ The theme was conceived in response to the use of tools and devices found in CALL that facilitate the formation of communities and learning environments in which learners and teachers are often not in the same place. This can pose a challenge for educators as this situation generates constrained access to content and can limit participation in language class activities. However, the prevalent ownership of portable devices brings about additional opportunities, resources, and norms that can be taken advantage of for language learning and teaching purposes.

Mobile phones and other portable devices are well suited to learning scenarios which address learner mobility issues, for instance, limited contact time in the classroom faced by weekend students. Such technology also makes new ways of learning possible by affording the activity with regard to the current location and conditions of the learner, disengaging all involved in the educational activity from fixed time and place. More specifically, as Duman, Orhon, and Gedik (2014) explain, “mobile learning (m-learning) refers to teaching and learning with the use of mobile technologies (…), which are potentially available anytime and anywhere” (p. 198). Mobile assisted language learning (MALL) is a branch within m-learning that entails the use of portable devices in language learning that render learning, not possible otherwise (Duman et al. 2014). MALL activities have been delivered via mobile/smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, tablet PCs, MP3/4 players, pocket electronic dictionaries, laptops, notebooks, e-book readers, digital voice recorders, multi-function camcorders, game consoles (Kukulska-Hulme & Shield 2008; Duman et al. 2014). These devices can be effective in delivering rich language learning content, enabling collaboration and interaction, as well as authentic and meaningful use of a foreign/second language ← 7 | 8 → in speech and writing that is not restricted by the classroom walls (Duman et al. 2014).

MALL activities – that can be designed by teachers and accessed by learners “anytime and anywhere” – appear to be well justified in language learning contexts as such activities have the potential to adequately address learner and teacher mobility. Yet, despite the fact that both teachers and students make use of mobile technology for communication and entertainment on an everyday basis, the application and use of mobile technology in instructional settings can present a challenge. It is still not well known how to design language instruction in which learners are to decide – in Kukulska-Hulme and Shield’s words – “what, when and where to learn” (2008: 281). Remarkably, action research that could develop, test, and evaluate the pedagogic solutions to address this issue has rarely been used as a form of inquiry in MALL research (Duman et al. 2014). Consequently, learning activities that support learner and teacher mobility require further investigation.

This volume therefore attempts to bridge this gap by providing reports of small-scale classroom-oriented research, allowing for insight into how mobile learning activities can be used in educational settings. The focus of the first part of the volume is on the application of mobile technology for the training of language professionals, i.e. teachers and translators, while the second part of the volume investigates the use of technology fostering mobile language learning.

The volume opens with two chapters that address the issue of telecollaboration, i.e. collaboration between geographically separated classes that make use of digital communication technologies. Barbara Loranc-Paszylk recognises the role that peer assessment plays in developing teacher trainees’ professional expertise. Accordingly, she applies peer assessment in a Polish-Spanish telecollaborative learning experience, with the aim of enhancing students’ learning outcomes. Anna Turula and Maike Grau, in turn, view telecollaboration as a viable means in supporting virtual mobility. With this goal in mind, they report on an online Polish-German intercultural exchange in language teacher pre-service education.

The next two chapters present teacher trainees as language material developers. Elżbieta Gajek focuses on the creation and use of videos as particularly well suited for language teaching purposes. Gajek’s study involves the production of video clips in the course of a teacher training course, seen as developing digital and media competence. Jarosław Krajka considers the issue of developing language teachers’ ICT (information and communication technologies) competences so that technology can be applied in the education of Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP), in which the ability to design electronic materials that foster learner and teacher mobility is regarded as an essential skill for a modern language teacher. ← 8 | 9 →

The final chapter in this section is written by Małgorzata Kodura who is concerned with translator education and the concept of translation competence. Recognising the requirements of the job market of today, in which translators are expected to be able to work remotely, she investigates the suitability of remote translator training, where the instructor is not physically present to assist the students.

The second part of this volume touches upon the issue of technology for mobile language learning. In a study which explores the use of mobile devices for language learning, Mariusz Kruk argues that mobile devices are now seen as having the potential to facilitate language learner autonomy as learners are given tools that allow them to have more control – and flexibility at the same time – over their learning activity in terms of time and space. Robert Oliwa attempts to establish the usefulness of hand-held devices in providing a mobile language learning environment. In doing so, instructional activities are designed, implemented and evaluated among a group of professionals. The results reveal that the intervention incorporating the language learning component accessed online produced gains in study participants’ communicative competence in speech and in writing.

The two ensuing chapters centre on pronunciation and the application of digital solutions that foster its development. Anita Buczek-Zawiła asserts that mobile dictionaries have the potential for developing English pronunciation skills. Her study of two different groups of language learners confirms this claim. In the next chapter, Marek Molenda, Michał Adamczyk, and Paulina Rybińska investigate the feasibility of applying automatic speech recognition (ASR) software to pronunciation training. They argue that Google Cloud Speech API fosters mobility by allowing for flexible access to the application, regardless of space and device.

The volume concludes with a chapter investigating the use of mobile technology for language development, written by Agnieszka Bryła-Cruz. She recognises numerous benefits of podcasts in developing foreign/second language because they can be readily accessed and used by language learners. Bryła-Cruz argues for the pedagogical value of such didactic tools and offers a number of learning activities for the language classroom.

The chapters in this volume reflect research on classroom practice that we hope will help readers gain a better understanding of the function and implementation of mobile technologies in local classroom contexts to support mobility, professional development, and language and culture learning. ← 9 | 10 →

References

Duman, G., Orhon, G., & Gedik, N. (2014). Research trends in mobile assisted language learning from 2000 to 2012. ReCALL, 27(2), 197–216.

Kukulska-Hulme, A., & Shield, L. (2008). An overview of mobile assisted language learning: From content delivery to supported collaboration and interaction. ReCALL, 20(3), 271–289.

1 PL-CALL is a conference organised annually by researchers and practitioners interested in computer assisted language learning in Poland.

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