Beyond the paywall blogs seek to enable teachers to access more research based content which is often limited in access. If you have access, you can read this paper on MALLs here .
Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) apps offer a transformative approach to enhancing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ speaking skills. A recent study emphasizes the significance of MALL apps in promoting interactive speaking activities and self-regulation among EFL learners. As secondary teachers in England with pupils having English as a second language, integrating MALL apps can revolutionize language learning experiences.
To maximize the benefits of MALL apps, teachers should encourage students to engage with the app outside class and monitor their progress. By doing so, teachers can create a dynamic learning environment that fosters autonomy and self-directed learning habits among students. Providing training on how to effectively use the app for language learning purposes is crucial. This empowers students to leverage the app’s affordances and personalize their learning journey.
Supplementary materials play a vital role in enriching the learning process. By incorporating additional interactive speaking activities and relevant materials within the app, teachers can make learning more engaging and challenging for students. Moreover, addressing the availability of premium modes and necessary affordances within the app is essential to ensure all students have equal access to resources.
Consistency in coursebook utilization and task design is key to fostering a fair learning environment for all students. Providing equitable mediation and access to resources related to the coursebook can level the playing field and support students of varying proficiency levels. By maintaining fairness in treatment and offering additional support where needed, teachers can empower EFL learners to excel in their language learning journey.
In conclusion, the integration of MALL apps presents a wealth of opportunities for secondary teachers in England to enhance EFL learners’ speaking skills and promote autonomous learning. By embracing technology, providing training, and ensuring fairness in treatment, teachers can create a supportive environment where all students can thriv
This is an blog summarising the paper : Hwang G.-J., Rahimi M. & Fathi J., Enhancing EFL learners’ speaking skills, foreign language enjoyment, and language-specific grit utilising the affordances of a MALL app: A microgenetic perspective, Computers & Education (2024), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2024.105015.
Relatively recent research suggests that the ratio of autistic boys to girls is likely to be nearer three to one (Loomes et al, 2017), or even equal (Grey et al, 2021), however only one fifth of autistic girls are diagnosed before the age of 11 compared with over half of autistic boys (Belcher et al, 2022).
There are often challenges with girls being recognised as autistic which then means their needs are not recognised nor met and can lead to significant mental health issues in adolescence and into adulthood.
While there will always be exceptions, it can be suggested that the diagnostic criteria for autism are based on a ‘male presentation’ of autism (caveats, naturally) and certainly a presentation that does not involve ‘camouflaging’ or ‘masking’. Loomes et al (2017) have identified that there is a diagnostic gender bias which means girls are less likely to receive clinical diagnosis.
Girls are more likely than boys to display camouflaging or masking behaviours although some boys will also mask. They may demonstrate more desire to interact with others, may maintain some friendships and demonstrate more social, emotional and empathetic behaviours than boys, or may display behaviours perceived as shy or passive (Zakai-Mashiach, 2023). Stereotypical views of autism may be of children who cannot make eye contact, who are isolated, who have unusual and fixed interests and communication skills that demonstrate a difference in use of tone and body language. However, many girls observe and practice their social skills so they are appearing to interact like their peers, and their special interests may be age appropriate, so the intensity of these is not identified. They may well be perfectionists and high achievers who appear to be doing well academically and socially.
The resources needed to camouflage in autistic people can result in a loss of identity, internal conflict, anxiety, depression and increased risk of suicidality (Belcher et al, 2022; Howe et al, 2023). Risk of suicide is seven times higher in autistic people than non-autistic people (Howe et al, 2023) and autistic females are more likely to die by suicide than autistic males, with camouflaging being an additional risk factor in suicidality (Cassidy et al, 2018). They are also at higher risk of experiencing sexual violence (Hopkins et al, 2023). Autistic girls are more likely to underachieve academically compared with their non-autistic peers, but are less likely to get support because they internalise their difficulties (Zakai-Mashiach, 2023).
The complexities of adolescence can lead to mental health issues in non-diagnosed autistic girls, where if they are lucky, someone will consider the possibility of autism. Teachers need to be alert to the knowledge that camouflaging may mean that they have far more autistic pupils in their classes that they realise and the behaviours may look quite different in girls. Organisations such as the Autistic Girls Network (https://autisticgirlsnetwork.org/) are working hard to raise awareness of the needs of autistic girls and women and have lots of useful information on reasonable adjustments in school. Parents of autistic girls are more likely to report elevated levels of stress than parents of autistic boys (Hopkins et al, 2023), due to the mental health issues of their children, late diagnosis, needs not being met and the increased vulnerability of girls. This also has implications for how schools work in partnership with parents and enable them to feel supported.
Michelle Sogga is a Senior Tutor in Education (Early Years) and can be found on X at @msogga
Belcher, H., Morein-Zamir, S., Mandy, W., and Ford, R. (2022) ‘Camoflaging Intent, First Impressions, and Age of ASC Diagnosis in Autistic Men and Women’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52, pp. 3413-3426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05221-3
Cassidy, S., Bradley, L., Shaw, R. and Baron-Cohen, S. (2018) ‘Risk markers for suicidality in autistic adults’, Molecular Autism, 9 (42) https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-018-0226-4
Craddock, E. (2024): Raising the voices of AuDHD women and girls: exploring the co-occurring conditions of autism and ADHD, Disability & Society, https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2023.2299342
Gray, L., Bownas, E., Hicks, L., Hutcheson-Galbraith, E., and Harrison, S. (2021) ‘Towards a better understanding of girls on the Autism spectrum: educational support and parental perspectives’, Educational Psychology in Practice, 37 (1) pp. 74-93. https://doi.org/10.1080/02667363.2020.1863188
Hopkins, N., Iles, J. and Satherley, R. (2023) ‘The Experience of Raising Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of Qualitiative Research Studies’, Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-023-00419-w
Howe, S., Hull, L., Sedgewick, F., Hannon, B. and McMorris, C. (2023) ‘Understanding camouflaging and identity in autistic children and adolescents using photo-elicitation’, Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 108
Loomes, R., Hull, L., Palmear, W. and Locke, M. (2017) ‘What is the Male-to-Female ratio in Autism Spectrum Disorder? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis’, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Pyschiatry, 56 (6) pp. 466-474. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890856717301521?via%3Dihub [Accessed 26/1/24]
Milton, D. (2012) ‘On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem’, Disability and Society, 27 (6), pp. 883-887.
Mitchell, P., Sheppard, S. and Cassidy, S. (2021) ‘Autism and the double empathy problem: Implications for development and mental health’, British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 39 pp. 1-18
Zakai-Mashiach, M. (2023) “I Was Like a Bird Without Wings”: Autistic Women’s Retrospective Experiences in General Schools’, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53 pp. 4258-4270. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05717-6
In any situation, a child’s brain is neuroceptively (fast and unconsciously) assessing environmental safety. Many children find school a reasonably safe place and respond accordingly; some will find school and learning unsafe. This blog does apply to all children, but focuses by illustration on children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences. If a child’s life means that their experience of things is fraught with danger signals, then the child’s ANS will be sending danger signals to the rest of the brain and to the body. The child will then excessively look for danger in the EXTERNAL environment and excessively experience danger INTERNALLY – even from the most unfathomable of stimuli; when we experience an internal feeling of danger we tend to look externally for the source. This chart by Ruby Jo Walker highlights it well.
This understanding sheds some light on the issues surrounding these often very difficult to manage children. We tend to look at our external environmental strategies to see if they will work and often cannot see why they don’t work. However, these strategies simply will not work if the ANS is experiencing the external or internal child environment as dangerous. Where does this leave us then? Our focus needs to be on getting the ANS in the right place rather than on the poor behaviour resulting from the ANS response. Quite simply we also would behave in inappropriate ways if our ANS was misfiring in this way. When working with these children it is helpful for us to acknowledge poor behaviour and response to learning as adaptive rather than maladaptive. That leads us to the question, ‘Why might this behaviour be adaptive?’. Once we have asked ourselves that question it can lead us forward in our search for good solutions.
We can take three routes to modifying the ANS response and in ‘learning the child’, we can try to find the right combination of routes. The first route works primarily on the body and physiological response generated by the ANS. The second route works primarily on the emotional state itself to create a sense of safety. The third route works on the cognitive (executive function) ability to apply a brake to the ANS. This whole brain way of working represents a powerful model for working with these children.
As teachers we need to ‘stand still in order to move on’. This means finding the time to stand back and ask the question ‘ Could this behaviour be signalling something more than is immediately obvious? By being prepared to view behaviour as a signal of adaptation gives us the space to become thoughtful and reflective rather than reactive. It enables us to be better teachers and children to learn better.
Having run a workshop on this a number of times it has become clear educators need solutions. The main solution is re-labelling the behaviour you see as fight or flight. Imagine someone with a propensity for car rage next to you in a car, raging at the traffic – how do you talk to them? What makes them worse? Tell them to stop swearing and they’ll swear directly at you in response! What about if there was a child on a climbing centre rock wall, frozen mid climb? How would you talk to them? What would you say? You certainly wouldn’t threaten them with a sanction if they didn’t move forward! You tell them about how the rope is making them safe. That everyone does this every day and is always safe. To take their time and then when they are ready take tentative steps. Relabel the behaviour and then approach the situation with the right tools. Once you have a relationship, they’ll respond quicker to you when you use the tools. It’s hard having a heightened ANS system, be sympathetic to them. Recognise how hard it must be to live life on the edge of fight or flight constantly and how that gets in the way of learning.
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