The popularity and use of smartphone apps for language learning have significantly grown in Iran over the past years. Despite this growth, empirical data on students’ choice of such apps, their perception towards them, and the impact of external factors on their attitude remains scant. In an attempt to contribute to this research base, a descriptive survey study was carried out to explore the type of language learning apps commonly used by 381 university students at Amirkabir University of Technology and their perception towards the effectiveness of these apps for developing learning language skills. Dictionary and lexical apps appeared to be the most popular application types amongst participants. While students were generally positive about the use of apps for language learning, they had different viewpoints regarding the potential of apps for developing different language skills. The results of ANOVA indicate that gender did not play a significant role in participants’ perception. On the contrary, the type of apps used significantly shaped students’ attitudes towards app-based language learning. The findings contribute to research on mobile assisted language learning and educational app design, by shedding more light on students’ choice of apps for learning different language skills.
Discussion lists have gained a significant popularity in professional development research over the past few decades for the opportunity they provide for asynchronous interaction. This article presents findings from a small-scale case study that aimed at exploring the nature of teachers’ asynchronous exchanges in a discussion list. The data comprised the archived log of the messages in a Yahoo Group discussion list by five in-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers who volunteered to take part in a hybrid computer-assisted language learning (CALL) teacher education course in a state university in Iran. The discussion list was incorporated into the course to engage participants in professional dialogue on topics related to technology/CALL. During the initial data analysis, participants’ asynchronous exchanges were grouped as suggestions, questions, unclassified, answers, and delivery, drawing upon Oriogun and Cave’s (2008) SQUAD categorization, following the constant comparative method of analysis. Through a follow-up computer-mediated discourse analysis, cognitive, social, and teaching presence functional moves were identified in the data. Participants used the space not only for socializing and peer instruction but also for constructing knowledge. Despite an uneven pattern of contribution, asynchronous exchanges provided opportunities for knowledge construction at different levels of cognitive presence on topics ranging from technology tools and their affordances/constraints to computer-assisted language testing, materials development, and classroom management. The findings provide CALL teacher education researchers and course designers insights into the potential of asynchronous interaction for online and blended language teacher education.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.