IMPLEMENTACIJA MOBILNOG UČENJA U NASTAVI STRANIH JEZIKA NA PRIMERU NEMAČKOG

Abstract

The paper analyzes the possibilities of effective implementation of mobile learning in foreign language instruction and the potential contribution of mobile learning to the enhancement of teaching quality and to the achievement of teaching goals. The paper aims to critically examine the potential of mobile learning in foreign language instruction, based on an analysis of the findings of a study conducted in 2017 on a sample of 120 students of German language courses at the Goethe Institute in Belgrade. The results of the study, which utilized a questionnaire supplemented with a five-point Likert scale, have been used for and analyzing and summarizing students‘ experiences, attitudes and suggestions with regard to mobile learning, primarily with the aim of improving teaching practice. In order to assess the effects of tablet use on the quality of instruction, a Likert scale was created with indicators formulated on the bases of Meyer’s “The characteristics of good teaching” (Meyer, 2009:17-18). The paper starts from the following premises: the use of tablets has a positive effect on the quality of instruction and on achievement; students show more interest in educational games and tools that facilitate vocabulary acquisition and structural language patterns practice than in tools and applications that aim to develop speaking or writing skills; in their choice of applications and tools, teachers don’t use the full potential of mobile media for developing all language skills, and the most frequently used tools and applications are those designed to expand learners‘ vocabulary and provide practice of structural language patterns. The findings have confirmed the hypothesis that tablet use has a positive effect on instruction quality by helping create a stimulating learning environment and more efficient achievement of teaching goals. Questionnaire responses indicated that students perceived the greatest benefits of implementing mobile learning in German language teaching to be rapid feedback, interesting teaching and the opportunity for collaborative work. None of the indicators of good teaching pointed to any deficit in teaching that used tablets compared to teaching without tablets, and students stated they would like to use them either in every class or several times a week, preferably in pairs, as they regard pair work as the most effective. Educational games were rated as the most interesting, followed by vocabulary and reading exercises and culture learning activities.  Respondents suggested that more time should be allocated to exercises for listening, writing and reading skills development, but also to culture learning activities. Although responses indicated that in their free time students used tablets primarily for information searches and communication and only very rarely for informal learning, respondents expressed interest in the possibilities of using tablets for German language learning in their free time.  The findings of the study indicate that there is a need for teachers to become more thoroughly acquainted with collaborative learning techniques such as collaborative writing, while learning scenarios should include a number of tasks that lead to the creation of "new cultural products", as defined by Bachmair (Bachmair 2010: 24), because they enable task-based language learning.