Comparing English Grammar Mobile Apps For Teaching Purposes
2014 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
The usage of computerized technology in English language learning has been an importantpart of teaching since the 1950s. Over the past fifty years, computer assisted languagelearning (henceforth CALL) has gone through a development and a continuous change that isstill in progress. At present, the stationary computer is seemingly being replaced rapidly withhandheld devices. Using these devices, the type and functions of the applications installed onthem becomes important. This paper takes three grammar applications on the basis of apedagogical grammar comparison in order to highlight the kind of features they offer for thepurpose of teaching. Special consideration has been given to the choice between deductiveand inductive grammar, type of example and exercise sentences and where these apps fit intothe various eras of CALL development. The results showed that the dominant approach togrammar teaching in the apps was deductive grammar as the structure of rules followed byexercises was the norm. The sentences used both in the explanations and the practicequestions indicated that they were more likely constructed than directly taken from corpora.Finally, as the visual appearance and graphic interface of each app might point towards aposition in CALL that is very up-to-date, the analysis showed that the apps put more focus onitems that resemble the earlier era of behavioristic CALL, whereas little attention is given tothe communicative CALL that is advocated today.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2014.
Keywords [en]
app, mobile learning, pedagogical grammar.
National Category
Didactics Languages and Literature Pedagogy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-37025OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-37025DiVA, id: diva2:747447
Subject / course
English
Educational program
Lärarprogrammet, inriktning mot verksamhet i grundskolans senare år och gymnasiet
Presentation
2014-08-20, Växjö, 10:25 (English)
Supervisors
Examiners
2016-05-042014-09-152016-05-04Bibliographically approved