Mobile-Assisted Language Learning: Application Development Projects Within Reach for Language Teachers

Abstract

To many, developing language-learning tools for mobile platformsseems out of reach. Mobile app development projects require a widearray of specialized skills that many language teachers do not possess.This article reports on a set of mobile language learning applicationdevelopment projects initiated by language teachers. By settingattainable goals and focusing on collaboration, faculty in theseprojects have been able to take advantage of the new possibilitiesmobile devices offer for language instruction. Faculty adopted Design-Based Research methodologies in an Ecological Constructivistframework in order to design, implement, and test their apps incollaboration with students and faculty from across the campus. Theresults suggest that app development projects are feasible for languageteachers, and that pedagogically sound apps can reduce some of theanxiety associated with learning a foreign language.