The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

Dorian Bailey Brown

for the degree of

Doctor of Education

July 16, 2014 at 10:00 am

IDT Studio, Ball Hall, University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Business Administration, Marketing Management, The University of Memphis

Master of Arts in Teaching, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership – Secondary Education, The University of Memphis

Advisory Committee

Dr. Michael Grant, PhD, Associate Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, Committee chair

Dr. Trey Martindale, EdD, Associate Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Dr. Inmaculada Gómez Soler, PhD, Assistant Professor, Foreign Languages and Literatures

Dr. Carmen Weaver, EdD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Major Field of Study

Instruction and Curriculum Leadership – Instructional Design and Technology

Period of Preparation:  2010 – 2014

Comprehensive Examination Passed: February 2013

Mobile Learning for Communicative Language Teaching: An Exploration of How Higher Education Language Instructors Design Communicative MALL Environments

Abstract

Brown, Dorian B. EdD. The University of Memphis. July 2014. Mobile learning for communicative language teaching: An exploration of how higher education language instructors design communicative MALL environments.

Major Professor: Michael M. Grant PhD.

The purpose of this study was to describe how higher education language instructors design mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) environments for communicative language teaching. As our focus in second language acquisition has moved toward a communicative approach, the media richness and communication savvy of mobile devices can play a vital role in this new communicative goal. Offering authentic content and dialogue opportunities, language instructors can take advantage of these devices leading language learners to achieve true fluency in another language.  While the opportunity for communicative language teaching with MALL is viable, how to best design MALL environments for this purpose is still in its infancy. Answering questions regarding devices type, application usage, theoretical foundations, and communicative task type and frequency will add to the richness of research for planning communicative MALL experiences.

This study focused on two research questions. The first question explored how higher education language instructors designed mobile assisted language learning environments. The second dealt with the influences that ignite those decisions. Four higher education language instructors participated in this case study. Data consisted of semi-structured interviews, document reviews, and observations, and were analyzed using general qualitative analysis and the constant comparative method. Three themes emerged in the findings: (1) describing the communicative language learning environment enhanced by mobility, (2) meeting student, organizational, and instructional needs/goals, and (3) planning the implementation of MALL experiences for communicative language purposes.

A discussion integrated these findings with interpretations in order to answer the research questions. The data suggested higher education language instructors identify goals, and create authentic learning experiences via communicative modes in order to achieve those goals. Further, the data suggested they have theoretical alignments with constructionism and situated learning, hold strong beliefs in CLT, and have beliefs about mobility that inform how they design communicative MALL environments.