Abstract
Mobile Assisted Language Learning consists of using the mobile devices with the purpose of supporting the acquisition of languages. We aim to investigate how different people use mobile applications (apps) on their own initiative and out of a formal educational to improve language skills (Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing). In this exploratory work, we present how a particular user interacts with 18 different interlocutors, both English native and non-native English speakers in three months using the app Tandem to improve him/her English proficiency. We analyzed these interactions to find (i) usability issues which may interfere on the productive and satisfactory use of the app and (ii) potential learning situations, discussing about the feasibility and the efficiency of mobile learning in the language acquisition. We found 4 types of interventions that promoted some kind of learning and some difficulties related to the app’s usability.
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Notes
- 1.
The data that will be presented are restricted only to English language, although on IP’s (abbreviation used to identify one of the authors of this article who used Tandem) profile description, there is also Spanish language.
- 2.
The service term have several clauses that explain how the relation between the user and the app happens, how far the users and app developers’ obligations do, being, therefore, a rule protocol with rights and duties of both sides.
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Freire, F.M.P., da Silva, A.C., Pires, I.M. (2018). Communities of Language Learners: Mobility, Usability and Learning. In: Rocha, Á., Guarda, T. (eds) Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Technology & Systems (ICITS 2018). ICITS 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 721. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73450-7_60
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