Journal of Technology Assisted Language Education
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Sep 2023

For decades, language educators have sought innovative methods to improve language learning experiences, and the advent of technology has provided a revolutionary platform to accomplish this objective. Professor Marandi's pioneering work in CALL, particularly in Iran, exemplifies the power of combining cutting-edge technology with language pedagogy to produce effective and engaging learning environments. Professor Marandi shares her remarkable insights, challenges, and accomplishments throughout this interview. She provides a rare glimpse into the early days of establishing CALL in Iran and its impact on language learners and educators. Her contributions to the CALL literature have helped shape the discipline and advance language education in the Iranian context.

Digital multimodal compositing (DMC) has recently garnered considerable interest in second language education. There is an increasing demand for L2 teachers to invest in DMC. This instructional activity engages students through digital tools for integrating texts with other semiotic modalities, including images, sounds, and motion. The proposed approach in this study included choosing a topic, planning a narrative, collecting authentic resources, employing digital platforms, incorporating dialogue-based multimodal elements, peer reviewing and revising for quality, exporting the final product, and reflecting on the creative process. While DMC is predominantly designed to entertain players, it may significantly impact multi-literacy development. This qualitative study employs narrative inquiry, which entails collecting data from the experiences of young twins who have spent a substantial amount of time creating DMCs. The data was compiled from various sources, including individual interviews, diaries, and observation. In this study, the twins describe how creating digital multimodal composition led to their subconsciously developing multi-literacy and acquiring English. A narrative analysis reveals how creating DMCs contributes to multi-literacy development, language acquisition, and cultural knowledge of digital native twins. The implications of incorporating DMC into language learning and multiple literacy skills were considered.

Today, people live in a digital world and everyone from children to adults is able to master technology in the form of computers and gadgets. In recent years, the use of gamification has been an important focus of attention in English as foreign language learning. This study aimed to examine the influence of using mobile games on the vocabulary improvement of young learners. A mix- quasi-experimental pre-test – post-test design was implemented in which 30 male and female young learners studying English as a foreign language at Iran Language Institute in Kermanshah were participated. The quantitative data was analyzed using the independent samples t-test. The qualitative data was gathered through interviews and analyzed using Maxqudia software. The results indicated a statistically significant difference between the control and experimental groups in terms of vocabulary achievement. The experimental group performed better and achieved higher results compared to the control group. However, it was found that there was no statistically significant difference between male and female students regarding their improvement in vocabulary. The results of qualitative part indicated that both male and female students exhibited a positive attitude towards the use of mobile games. The participants expressed interest, enthusiasm, and motivation while playing the mobile games. They displayed a keen desire to expand their vocabulary knowledge and acquire new words. Moreover, the mobile games facilitated easier memorization of the words. The findings of this study can be useful in language education.

Captioned videos, as a rather modern technology, have contributed to foreign language learning, in general, and listening comprehension, in particular. This study investigated the effect of captioned videos on Iranian EFL learners’ listening comprehension. The reaserch design used in the current study has been a quasi-experimental one with pretest-posttest control-group design. Thirty homogenized students were randomly assigned into control and experimental groups. To run the appropriate statistical analysis, the required assumptions of normality were run which was folloewd by the ANCOVA to compare the control and experimental groups. The experimental group watched movies with captions while the control group used no captions. The results indicated that captioned videos did not affect the listening comprehension of the experimental group. The results of this study can have clear implications for both learners and teachers and other stakeholders of ELT. As there seem to be more contradictory results, the findings of this study should be treated with caution and more work is required to be done.

This study reports the findings of a quasi-experimental investigation into the impact of chatbot-supported speaking activities in the classroom on EFL learners’ speaking fluency and Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety (FLSA). Sixty Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners were divided into experimental and control groups practicing speaking skills with and without a voice-based chatterbot throughout an 8-week general English course. Data was collected through participants’ speaking fluency pre- and post-tests scores (measured based on speech rate and the number of pauses in their spoken words), and the FLSA scale. A one-way ANCOVA was used to investigate whether EFL learners’ participation in chatterbot-supported in-class speaking activities using Replica makes any significant difference in their oral fluency compared to conventional class. The pre-test fluency scores were considered as the covariate. Similarly, two One-way ANCOVAs were run to investigate measures of FLSA. Results revealed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group regarding oral fluency; this group was also less anxious when speaking in the target language at the end of the experiment.

Language development in the current educational context is highly affected by the sky-rocketing spread of technology for educational purposes. The present study attempted to investigate the differential effects of teaching with PowerPoint vs. Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL)-based teaching via telegram on L2 learners’ vocabulary improvement. Based on an Oxford Placement Test results, 60 participants were divided into two experimental groups exposed to PowerPoint presentations and Telegram-based tutorials, respectively, and one control group who received no technology-mediated vocabulary instruction. Results of ANOVA analysis revealed that technology-mediated instruction through PowerPoint slides and MALL paved the way for learners to significantly improve their L2 vocabulary knowledge. Additionally, MALL instruction was found to be more effective than PowerPoint instruction. On the implication side, it is suggested that both PowerPoint and telegram devices can be beneficial for teaching and learning the language sub-skills while creating a more enjoyable and interactive learning environment.