Innovation in Language Learning

Over the last ten years mobile technologies, and the iPad in particular, have rapidly attracted new users, providing new abilities in and outside the classroom. This has influenced and it is still influencing cultural practices and, most importantly it is creating new contexts for learning. Educators still need to understand how mobile technologies can be effectively used in the language classroom to support various kinds of learning so the integration of such technologies has been more gradual. Therefore there is a clear need to investigate effective methods and materials for mobile assisted language learning (MALL). According to Kukuska-Hulme  “Language learning is one of the disciplines that looks set to benefit from these developments”. The iPad in the classroom, for example, allows learners to record themselves and to listen to audio at any point of the language lesson. Students are encouraged to perform spontaneous interactions, collaborating and creating on their portable devices. They are also easily exposed to a wide range of authentic materials, which strongly support the integration of language learning with everyday communication needs. Tablets such as iPads provide educators with various working configurations and enable learners to perform a wide variety of tasks. 

In the last few years, the Italian Education System has experienced a significant increase of these technologies in further and higher education, particularly in secondary schools. As Kukuska-Hulme and Taxler observe, the distribution of mobile technologies in schools is “having an impact on teaching, learning, and on the connections between formal and informal learning, work and leisure”. In this presentation, I will talk about an ongoing research concerning the way in which English language teachers and learners in Italian secondary school education use the iPad, particularly in relation to learners’ perceptions of mobile learning, and innovative English teaching practices. I will present an initial study conducted with two EFL teachers in two different 3rd year classes in a secondary school in Milan, Italy.