Week 12

Introducing Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL)

This week's article "Twenty Ideas for Using Mobile Phones in the Language Classroom" by Hayo Reinders introduced a different way of using technology to improve language education: Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL). In my personal opinion, it was a very useful article because it not only provides meaningful information about what MALL is and how it works but it also provides 20 different and useful examples of exercises in which MALL can be used.

I found very interesting the description that the author provides about MALL. Reinders said that mobile devices, and more specifically  mobile phones "help minimize the separation between the classroom and the outside world". I wanted to recall this quote because I think what it says is true, and I have experienced that. This semester I've been able to use my mobile phone to do many of my tasks for different class, specially those classes that are online. Today's technology allow us to download apps for free that can be very useful, and I have been able to get apps for the platform we use for those classes, and for other websites that result very useful too.

As stated in the title of the article, the author also proposes ideas for using MALL to improve language education. I really liked those ideas because they are very easy to execute. Also, I think that students would feel motivated to practice their target language when they realize that they will be using their mobile phones in order to do so. Such activities are designed to practice the for skills of a language (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) individually or more than one at the same time, and also to learn more aspects of the language like vocabulary. In this activities students are required to send texts, take pictures, record audios, and post information. In other words, students are asked to do all the things they do with their mobile phones just for fun. I believe that that is the main point of MALL, and the key of its successful. With MALL students do not feel like they are doing just one more boring homework, but they really have fun by completing these tasks.

Finally, the article also provides some examples of challenges that can be presented while using MALL such as lack of access to mobile phones, privacy considerations, etc. I really appreciate the fact that the author recognizes that using MALL does not mean that there will not be any difficulties, and the fact that he took the time to think about some possible solutions to such challenges.

In conclusion, this article was extremely useful and interesting.

RATED: 5