digital literacy, English language teaching, Aps for language learning The Art of language learning applications are old school acquisition at the core Learning a language through thousands of differing applications can now be done anywhere, anytime, whether you are on or off line. With language learning aps we can compare newly learnt language with recordings of those who speak it every day and be rated for accuracy. We can match pictures to words which suits visual learners or socialise with other learners. Learners can swap language learning across languages in on-line communities, often for free. The language learning itself in the aps system is usually organised in colourful digestible chunks, moving from simple to complex. There is much innovative creativity as digital literacy multiplies. The paper will therefore be grounded in a survey of popular language learning applications but will argue that most language applications are really old school at the core. Delivery differs but the process of what happens in our brain when we learn new languages has been known for decades. New capabilities abound, but in essence how language learning aps work is the same as how an effective teacher helps learners acquire another language. Analysis will show how language learning applications use fundamental ideas known to any teaching today or in the last fifty years.

1. The art of language learning
aps is
old school acquisition
at the core
Professor Stephen J Hall
Centre for English Language Studies

2. The same old same old challenge
“Nothing is more depressing as struggling word-by-word at
snail’s pace through a piece of material so that you can do
something with it or talk about it only to find that understanding
the material has taken so long that the interesting follow-up
activity lasts only a moment or two or disappears altogether.”
Lewis, M. & Hill, J. (1992). Practical techniques for language teaching. Hove: Language Teaching Publications.
And now the kids are on the phone all the time……the language aps and even
old school websites are new,novel, motivating but perhaps not really that new in
how they work…

4. Where are we going ? The new
Scope
• Describing Aps and Their Unique Selling Points
• Social aps
• Commercial developments
• Ownership of new learning processes
• Pushing productive use
• Engineering Acquisition

5. Where are we going?
Scoping The evergreen of pushing output
• Specificity
• Communicative, career or commercial
drives
• Ownership of learning
• Positivity Praising paced practice
• Engineering Acquisition 1 and 2

7. Language as a Performing Art
We believe that language is not just an
academic subject but also a performing
art – something that must be actively
practiced in order to master. A learner can
watch people speak a new language,
memorize all of the grammar rules, and
talk about the language ad nauseam. But
to truly speak a language, a learner must
actually try it out with a partner. Real
conversational fluency takes good
instruction, a dose of courage, and a lot of
real-life practice. From Live Mocha a
Social Ap
Social networking :an example
Live mocha
:

8. Live Mocha – across the globe
• Demonstration: The learner watches and/or listens to
a conversation. The real-life setting helps with the
construction of a mental model..
• Deconstruction: The situation represented in the
conversation is broken down into its vocabulary and
grammar parts.
• Practice: Finally, the components are reassembled and
the learner is given the opportunity to practice via a
series of interactive activities. .. involve interaction with
and feedback from real native speakers of the language.

9. Aps and ‘selling points’ of just a few
• Moving from website based to mobile aps
• Anki: Ap for Japanese : uses flashcards
• Babbel :custom goal posts enable individual goal
setting
• Busuu : 150 topics based on everyday situations
50 million users Apple Best Ap 2014
• Conversation English :uses ongoing storyline to
link non-verbals and speech through video
dialogues

11. Commercial Aps and new learning
capabilites
• Blended learning supplementing courses as with
large scale publishers
:Berlitz,Mosalingua,Fluentu. Cambridge etc.
BBC British Council
• Needs analysis as with Word Engine and
vocabulary level testing
• Using speech recognition can provide real time
feedback for pronunciation as with Duolingo

12. http://www.wordengine.jp/iphone-
android

13. Ownership of ubiquitous
computing
• Own pacing
• Anywhere
• As visual as you like and it will grow with
technology
• Private or public
• Instant feedback in a safe space.

16. Pushed output
• Rewarded Lingots in Duolingos virtual
space. Memerises points system
• Ranked and in game format for some
• Reminders due to tracking
• Regular accuracy memory checks

18. Engineered
• Chunked from simple to complex
• Visually supported (content memes
• Word forms and words in context
• Graphically entertaining

19. SCOPE
With Aps Learners can choose
• Specific learning through seeing, reading
listening and producing in a non judgmental
setting
• Communicative commitment –time, effort, place
• Ownership of different learning styles
• Push their learning in a safety zone
• Engineer their personal goals and experience
useful vocabulary * Michael West 1953 anyone
• Are classrooms ready for this ?

20. Specific
• I know why I am learning this language
• I know where I can use the language
• I invest time to gain and develop
• I learn just what I want

21. The five Cs in language motivation
• Communication (see Widdowson 1982)
• Community of practice (Wenge,1998)
• Camaraderie, and or
• Career and or $$$$$
• Commitment (Zornyei on motivation)

22. Ownership
• Open ended
• Operable anywhere as with vocab cards
• Own pacing which even in a classroom is the
reality
• Ownership of one’s learning style

23. Positivity
• Praise, points and positive strokes
• Positioned where and when in my own space
• Paced personally
• Pushing output

24. Engineered 1
• Form and function
• Listening input /reading at level of success
• Spoken assessment and accuracy feedback
• Visual support –memes and all

25. SCOPE
With Aps Learners can choose
• Specific learning through seeing, reading
listening and producing in a non judgmental
setting
• Communicative commitment –time, effort,
place
• Ownership of different learning styles
• Push their learning in a safety zone
• Engineer their personal goals and experience
useful vocabulary * Michael West 1953 anyone
• Are classrooms ready for this ?

26. Engineered 2
• Purposeful
• Chunked
• Spaced
• Significant
• Repetition across forms and collocations
• Enjoyable

27. Professor Stephen J Hall
Centre for English Language Studies
Sunway University
https://www.facebook.com/cels.sunwayu