M-learning and U-learning environments to enhance EFL communicative competence

Abstract

Today mobile learning and ubiquitous learning are hand in hand when planning higher education courses. On the one hand, m-learning implies that learners have access to digital information by using any mobile device such as their tablets or smartphones. On the other hand, u-learning suggests that the walls of the traditional classroom are extended to more open spaces that facilitate not only the access to information but also to participation anywhere and at any time. Moreover, tasks can be designed having in mind either an individual or cooperative learning approach, in which the interaction between learners is the key to succeed in their learning process. U-Learning activities such as online glossaries, discussion forums, and interactive digital exercises allow today's English as a foreign language (EFL) students to effectively enhance and perform their communicative language competence in the foreign language. Thanks to technology, current higher education students can improve the key skills of a foreign language (use of English, vocabulary, reading, listening, writing, and even speaking with other participants) using mobile devices and a u-learning approach. This chapter aims to demonstrate the work EFL tertiary learners have produced by using both m-learning and u-learning environments. The outcomes reveal that the communicative competence and the foreign language skills are being improved by using the appropriate technology, content, and tasks that are especially adapted to today's digital students.