Library Research: MALL

     This week I stopped actively looking for articles (I have collected about fifteen), and began trying to categorize them and write a short review of each. The articles span approximately a decade (2004 to 2013) and deal broadly with task-based learning, mobile assisted language learning (MALL), and—my particular interest—the use of cell phones to support second language acquisition (SLA) in and outside the classroom. Several researchers noted the continuing dearth of MALL-related studies (particularly in the West). I noticed after a time that certain articles were being cited repeatedly, so I made sure to include those. Although cell phones and particularly short message service (SMS) have become extremely widespread and popular among the general population, there is still substantial resistance among educators to using them as a learning tool in the classroom. I feel, however, that my adult English Language Learners (ELLs)—all of whom have cell phones with voice and text messaging capabilities—might benefit from activities involving this technology, without being distracted by it. Truthfully, no studies that I could find have targeted my particular population of learners; researchers generally study university or high school students. Some suggest incorporating as many technical capabilities of the phones as possible, particularly in support of social (learner-to-learner) projects. I prefer to focus more on basic SLA pedagogy, using the standard functions of the cell phone to support and expand task-based opportunities for language practice, production, and feedback. Only a few articles went into the details of the actual cell-phone lessons; these generally involved delivering pre-taught vocabulary to students’ cell phones at regular intervals (while the words were given to a control group in some other format), and then monitoring the students’ progress from pre- to post-testing. I do not intend to do a quantitative study with controls. Instead, I will do a qualitative analysis of the types of lesson formats and content that lend themselves to delivery via SMS or voice text, and of the students’ responses to and progress during the project.