exPLAYn app is the second example of materials that I developed.  In this post I am going to evaluate the app. As I was approaching the end of this course, I felt that it was a great opportunity to apply the knowledge I obtained. I wanted to analyse my app from different angles: pedagogical, second language acquisition and material design.

 The fist check-list I used was for evaluating systematic vocabulary development by Julie Nortom (2014). Since the app relies on the teacher inputting selected vocabulary items, the first couple of questions can’t be answered. However, I feel that the app is particularly useful when it comes to practise, revision, and studying this vocabulary outside class.

1.Can you easily identify the target vocabulary in the lesson?
2.Why are students learning this vocabulary?
3.Is it useful and appropriate for their level?
4.How much new vocabulary is taught in each lesson/ in each unit?
5.Have students been presented with enough information to use the new vocabulary? (e.g. context; collocation)
6.How many opportunities do students have to use the new vocabulary in the lesson/in the unit? Is this enough?
7.What opportunities do students have to revise and study this vocabulary outside class?

Similarly,  Gairns and Redman (1986, cited in Mishan & Timmis (2015) provide a useful set of evaluation criteria for vocabulary work in a coursebook . The exPLAYn app can be a useful tool in facilitating recycling and consolidation stages.

• Is there a lexical syllabus? And a rationale for vocabulary selection?
• How are vocabulary items grouped?
• How many items are introduced at once?
• What learning approaches are selected? Are strategies taught?
• Does the teacher’s book suggest teaching procedures?
• Are practice and testing activities provided? Is vocabulary recycled?
• How are learners encouraged to consolidate and widen their vocabulary outside the classroom?
• Does the coursebook contain useful visual material?
• Does the coursebook anticipate vocabulary needed for skills activities?

From the SLA point of view, using technology to can be used to lower students’ affective filters.  According to Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis (1982), putting students on a spot could result in their affective filters raising and causing a ‘mental block’ due to negative emotions such as fear and embarrassment that prevents comprehensible input from being used for acquisition. The study by Ritter (2003), for example, reported  that:

‘92% of the students preferred learning new vocabulary using technology, because they considered it ‘good fun’ and 88% regarded it as a good addition to more traditional ways of vocabulary acquisition.  Students’ anxiety levels were reported to be lower when they used technology; also when their anxiety levels were lowered, students became more active participants in the learning process ‘ ( Ritter, 2003, cited in Liu, M. et al 2014)

Moreover, Sweeney & Moore (2012) point out that behaviourally, we also know that the combination of social interaction and gaming provide opportunities for multi-sensory learning (Pacansky-Brock, 2012) and social language learning experiences (Clarke, 2010; Schmidt, 2012).

Once again, I looked at principles for meaningful technology integration by Vicky Saumel (2016) to check if I am integrating technology effectively.

 Principles for meaningful technology integration:

-focuses on the learning task and not the technology (yes)

-involves the students (as opposed to just the teachers) actively using the technology (yes)

-works well for your specific context (yes, it’s BYOD classroom in my case)

– addresses 21^st century skills’ issues and digital literacy training (yes, skills such as collaboration, negotiation of meaning)

– facilitates learning activities that would be more difficult or impossible without the technology

– breaks down classroom walls  (yes, the app can be used outside the classroom)
Finally I used a learning app design framework by Sweeney& Moore (2012).

• Allows for personalization (yes, both teachers and students can add new words)• Provides visible progress indicators ( yes, point system at the end)

  • Covers relevant language (yes, as it is the teacher who adds the words)

  • Covers more than one skill (not just revision, but speaking)

  • Maximizes exposure to target language ( yes, as the app facilitates revision of target language)

  • Appropriate for the device in terms of content, activity and user interface (yes, simple layout, focus on one feature)

  • Encourages learning behaviours which correspond to what we know about general mobile-enabled behaviour patterns (includes social and gamification aspects) (yes, it’s a game and it’s played in groups).

Overall, I feel  that the exPLAYn app can be an effective tool in ELT classroom.  When it comes to learning vocabulary, students need to memorise a certain number of words and there is no way around it. Technology, however, can help to motivate students to revise, get learners interested in the language and  make the process of learning more enjoyable.  But technology is not going to ‘fix’ learning because learning is not fundamentally about technology. As Nicky Hockly (2016) notes, effective education has always been about good teachers, motivated learners and a strong rapport between them. Good teachers can very quickly see how to make the best use of available resources. Basic pedagogy needs to be in place, and then the technology can form another layer on top of that. At end of the day, good educational design is about knowing how to use the technology as a tool within the learning experience, instead of getting hung up on the technology itself.

Bibliography

Godwin-Jones, R. (2011) Emerging technologies – Mobile apps for language learning. Language Learning & Technology 15 (2): pp.2-11.

Hoclkly, N. (2016) The miracle language cure.  Fact or Fiction: report by Person & ELT Jam   Available from: http://dbxmrk3ash14o.cloudfront.net/englishfiles/Fact-or-Fiction.pdf  accessed 28/04/2015

Liu, M. et al (2014) A look at the Research on Computer Based Technology Use in Second Language Learning , Journal of Research on Technology in Education,34(3), pp250-273

McCarter,S. (2016) Reflection on publishing a language app. Modern English Teacher 25(2), pp 11-12

Mishan, F. & Timmis, I. (2015) Materials Development for TESOL. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Norton, J. (2014)  You’ve got to have a system: vocabulary development in EFL. Available at https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2014/08/07/youve-got-to-have-a-system-vocabulary-development-in-efl/ accessed 28/04/2015

Saumell, V. (2016) Principles for meaningful technology integration. Modern English Teacher 25(2), pp 15-17

Sweeney, P. & Moore, C. (2012) Mobile Apps for Learning Vocabulary: Categories, Evaluation and Design Criteria for Teachers and Developers. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 2 (4): pp. 1-16.

Walker, A. & White, G. (2013) Technology Enhanced Language Learning: Connecting theory and practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.