MALL and CALL Audiotaped Oral Dialogue Journal From Iranian EFL Learners' and Teachers' Perspectives


Elahe Moladoust (Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-5140-9.ch017


This chapter investigates an effective example of tasks for mobile language learning attempting to mitigate the problem of lack of meaningful oral interaction in face-to-face settings. It examines audiotaped oral dialogue journals (ATODJs) as a MALL and CALL task from the EFL teachers' and learners' perspectives. The data gathered was 202 entries of ATODJs, using Bluetooth or email, from 15 female Iranian intermediate EFL learners. The teachers' and learners' evaluations of the whole program comprised of the qualitative part of the research. The results, a result of content analysis, revealed the merits, demerits, and challenges faced by the teacher and learners: ATODJs aided the learners to produce output, were effective for tasks concerning interaction and negotiation, involved meaningful interaction, involved the learners to a great extent, were fluency tasks, and assisted language learners' identity reconstruction. EFL teachers and materials developers are highly recommended to incorporate ATODJs into the language learning curriculum.
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Literature Review

The literature on CMC has revealed it to be beneficial in many ways (Moladoust, 2014b). Two main benefits of CMC will now be outlined. Firstly, CMC enhances motivation of EFL learners, as shown in studies by Butler-Pascoe (2011), McCarty, Sato, and Obari (2017), and Spitzberg (2006). Secondly, CMC enhances fluency, as proposed by Spitzberg (2006). What is meant by fluency in EFL literature is how Kock (2008) defines it: “number of words conveyed per minute” (p. 15). Kock (2001) states that communication fluency has been found to be close to 100 words per minute face-to-face; however, it often drops to as little as six words per minute through e-mail, when what is being communicated is complex knowledge (Kock, 2001).Yet, no studies have been conducted to explore the weaknesses and strengths of ATODJs as a CMC tasks.

Key Terms in this Chapter

Audiotaped Oral Dialogue Journal (ATODJ): Is a task conducted by language learners when they speak extemporaneously about a topic, introduced by the teacher, while their voice is being recorded. The teacher listens to each learner’s recorded voice at home and gives feedback in the form of a conference (i.e., a one-to-one interaction between a teacher and a student in which the teacher directs feedback to the student’s specific needs). In the current study, ATODJs were cases of MALL and CALL tasks since they were produced using mobile phone’s recorders and delivered to the teacher via either Bluetooth or email. The teacher would next give her feedback to the language learners through either Bluetooth or email, as best suits them.

Involvement Load Hypothesis: Refers to the fact that when learners are involved in a task, they learn it more easily and readily. Activities that require involvement with new words focus the learner’s attention on form, meaning, and collocations.

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