Mobile applications and their use in language learning

Abstract

It is undeniable that the world is taking a turn for the digital. Banking, shopping, working, education, entertainment, everything has its own digital equivalent or means thereof. This includes language learning. Nowadays, there is a myriad of (mobile and digital) possibilities to study, learn and improve a person’s knowledge of virtually any language. Thus, there should be potential benefits in their use in academic level (foreign) language learning, but also in an individual “self-learning" process. In this study, we choose to tackle mobile apps and their impact in the teaching/learning of languages, the perception of their usefulness and their impact (positive or otherwise) on the subject. To achieve this, a literature review on the subject was conducted, in addition to twenty interviews performed with students of the University of Aveiro. Supported by our literature review, we can safely state that language learning is just one of the many segments of both life and academia that can only be positively affected by digitalisation, and that we will continue seeing a rising trend towards that goal.