Posted on by Dr James Shea

Empowering EFL Learners with Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL)

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.

Posted on by Dr James Shea

The Parnassian Phoenix and the GCSE Language Carpet

pexels-photo-164446.jpeg

If you recognise words in that headline, there’s a reason. It’s an intertextual reference to Edith Nesbit’s Phoenix and the Carpet combined with an obscure movement in reaction to Romanticism used as an adjective in a pejorative sense. It then takes the GCSE Language and suggests it is on the floor, on the carpet, knocked down by some unknown force which I am about to expound upon. Or perhaps the carpet is the new GCSE Language itself, exciting and new at first, but once the Phoenix makes it a magic carpet it starts to get frayed with the children constantly having adventures with and on it, wearing it out.

I am referring to the nonsensical GCSE Language exam revision that we are seeing in a pseudo norm referenced scramble to meet the criteria in a better way than around 55% of one’s national peers. Children learning ever more complex and obscure language devices to better impress the examiner. I remember studying Parnassianism at university, its weakness and how well that resonated with me as a reader. In a nutshell, the surface of the Parnassian text is so ornate, so layered with technical features, that it obscures the actual meaning the text is trying to convey to the reader due to an opaque and impenetrable layer of verbosity. Hopkins uses it to describe competent but uninspired poetry.

I’m not alone. The Fake Headteacher posted a tweet which provoked a nerve:

Fake Headteacher

This started a debate partly inspired by OFSTED’s conversion to machine learning. Is the future of English Language GCSE marking one where a machine is counting the techniques? Is this what good writing now looks like?

Sophie and Joe

@_MissieBee and @joenutt_author both raise really important points. In a modern world of fake news and bot authors, we are not developing original authors. We are in effect developing bot authors. Writers whose work can be read by bots with no recognition of thought and ideas. How we can get them to appreciate the new A02 phrase from AQA ‘effects of writer’s methods to create meanings’ over in GCSE Literature if we are not doing the same in GCSE Language?