Innovation in Language Learning

This poster is divided into three sections: background, study and results.

The ‘background’ section highlights the intersection of mobile technology to language learning and teaching. There are fundamental properties of mobile devices - such as portability, individuality, interactivity and connectivity - that are essential to language learning and teaching, in that they enhance exposure and noticing, promote interaction and develop corrective feedback.

The ‘study’ section presents the participants and the methodology used. The participants were bilingual French-English students who started learning Italian as an additional language in sixth grade. A class of iPadded sixth graders was compared to a non-iPadded class, first in sixth grade and later in seventh grade. The application ‘Notability’ created a paperless classroom. Most importantly, this application allowed audio-recording, therefore students could listen to their own

recordings and self-evaluate their performance. In line with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), all language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) were practiced.

The ‘results’ section illustrates the results through various charts. At the end of the year, a comprehensive CEFR standardized level test was administered. Results indicate that the iPadded sixth graders performed better in listening, spoken interaction and reading, whereas the average score for writing was the same across the two groups of sixth graders. While the seven graders had improved their score in all components since the previous year, surprisingly, in spoken interaction, the sixth graders outperformed them by 15%.

These results are even more compelling given the fact that the iPadded group was almost double the size of the non-iPadded group. What makes the results particularly significant is that both groups shared the same teacher, the same curriculum and the same textbook. What seemed to have made the difference is the introduction of the Ipad.