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0ОШ МАМЛЕКЕТТИК УНИВЕРСИТЕТИНИН ЖАРЧЫСЫ
ВЕСТНИК ОШСКОГО ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА BULLETIN OF OSH STATE UNIVERSITY
ISSN: 1694-7452 e-ISSN: 1694-8610
№2/2024, 336-344
ПЕДАГОГИКА
УДК: 371.3
DOI: 10.52754/16948610 2024 2 33
USE OF LEARNING APPS IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT UNIVERSITIES
ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ ОБУЧАЮЩИХ ПРИЛОЖЕНИЙ ДЛЯ ОБУЧЕНИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОМУ
ЯЗЫКУ В УНИВЕРСИТЕТАХ
ЖОГОРКУ ОКУУ ЖАЙЛАРДА АНГЛИС ТИЛИН ОКУТУУДА САНАРИП
ТИРКЕМЕЛЕРИН КОЛДОНУУ
Sagimbayeva Jannat Elemesovna
Сагимбаева Джаннат Елемесовна Сагимбаева Джаннат Елемесовна
Associate Professor, ENU named after L.N. Gumilyov
доцент, Л.Н.Гумилев атындагы ЕМУ доцент, ЕНУ им Л.Н. Гумилева j sagimbayeva@mail. га
_ORCID: 0009-0007-8613-1325_
Musabaeva Gulnaz Manarovna
Мусабаева Гульназ Манаровна Мусабаева Гульназ Манаровна
Lecturer, ENU named after L.N. Gumilyov
окутуучу, Л.Н.Гумилев атындагы ЕМУ преподаватель, ЕНУ им Л.Н. Гумилева gulnaz max@mail.ru
_ORCID: 0000-0002-3004-7307_
Tazhitova Gulzhakhan Zarubaevna
Тажитова Гульжахан Зарубаевна Тажитова Гульжахан Зарубаевна
PhD, Associate Professor, ENU named after L.N. Gumilyov
PhD, доцент, Л.Н. Гумилев атындагы ЕМУ PhD, доцент, ЕНУ им Л.Н. Гумилева gulzhahan@mail. ru
_ORCID: 0000-0002-4893-9493_
Mamrasulova Aigul Bderbekovna
Мамрасулова Айгул Бдербековна Мамрасулова Айгул Бдербековна
Senior Lecturer, Osh State University
улук окутуучу, Ош мамлекеттик университети старший преподаватель, Ошский государственный университет amamrasulova@oshsu.kg ORCID: 0009-0009-4124-278X
USE OF LEARNING APPS IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT UNIVERSITIES
Abstract
This paper demonstrates the results of the study on using mobile learning apps for teaching English at Kazakhstan universities. Use of learning apps is considered to be an important factor in keeping young people interested in learning. Moreover, learners take this opportunity to use the mobile apps to learn the language skills and focus more on learning them both inside and outside the classroom. Use of learning apps has added new dimensions in teaching and learning English. They opened new potential for students and increased their level of language preparation and formation of language skills. Through learning apps, a personality-oriented approach to learning is implemented, individualization and differentiation of learning is provided taking into account the abilities of students.
Key words: digital technology, learning apps, language learning, English, learning resources.
ЖОГОРКУ ОКУУ ЖАЙЛАРДА АНГЛИС ТИЛИН ОКУТУУДА САНАРИП ТИРКЕМЕЛЕРИН КОЛДОНУУ
Аннотация
Бул макалада Казакстандын жана Кыргызстандын ЖОЖда англис тилин YЙрeтYY Y^YH мобилдик билим беруучу тиркемелерди колдонуу боюнча изилдеещн жыйынтыктары берилген. Санариптик окуу тиркемелерин пайдалануу жаштардын окууга болгон кызыгуусун арттырууда маанилYY ролду ойнойт. Мындан сырткары, студенттер тил кeндYмдeрYн eздeштYPYY YЧYн мобилдик тиркемелерди колдонуу мYмкYнчYЛYГYн пайдаланып, сабакта да, андан сырткары да окуусуна кeбYрeeк кeнYЛ буруп жатышат. Санариптик окуу тиркемелерди колдонуу англис тилин окутууга жана YЙрeнYYгe жаны аспектилерди кошту. Алар студенттер YЧYн жаны мум^нчулукгерду ачып, алардын тилди eздeштYPYY денгээлин жана тилди колдоно билYY денгээлин жогорулатты. Билим берYY колдонмолорунун жардамы менен окутуунун студентке багытталган мамилеси ишке ашып, окуучулардын мYмкYнчYЛYктeрYн эске алуу менен окутуунун индивидуалдаштыруу жана дифференциацияланышы камсыз кылынат.
ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЕ ОБУЧАЮЩИХ ПРИЛОЖЕНИЙ ДЛЯ ОБУЧЕНИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ В УНИВЕРСИТЕТАХ
Аннотация
В данной статье представлены результаты исследования по использованию мобильных учебных приложений для преподавания английского языка в университетах Казахстана и Кыргызстана. Использование обучающих приложений считается важным фактором поддержания интереса молодых людей к обучению. Более того, учащиеся пользуются возможностью использовать мобильные приложения для освоения языковых навыков и уделяют больше внимания их изучению как в аудитории, так и за ее пределами. Использование обучающих приложений добавило новые аспекты в преподавание и изучение английского языка. Они открыли новые возможности для студентов и повысили уровень их языковой подготовки и сформированности языковых навыков. С помощью обучающих приложений реализуется личностно-ориентированный подход к обучению, обеспечивается индивидуализация и дифференциация обучения с учетом способностей учащихся.
Ачкыч свздвр: санариптик технологиялар, окутуу платформалары, тил YЙрeнYY, англис тили, окуу ресурстары.
Ключевые слова: цифровые технологии, обучающие платформы, изучение языков, английский язык, обучающие ресурсы.
Вестник ОшГУ, №2/2024
Introduction
Digital technologies affected every aspect of our world's business, economic, and educational sectors. In this way, there is a close relationship between education and the widespread use of ICTs, particularly the range of alternatives provided by the worldwide Internet. Information technologies are important because they expand the possibilities for knowledge sharing. By facilitating faster updates to educational materials, more efficient information searches, and the development of curricula that are customized to each student's distinct dual interests, the use of information technologies opens up new possibilities for all parties engaged in the educational process.
The digitalisation of the educational services sector in the Republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan began in the end of XX century with attempts to automate the education sector, including through the spread of online learning. In light of this circumstance and due to the great importance of digitalisation for the country's competitiveness, the State Programme "Digital Kazakhstan" was approved on 12 December 2017. Following the logic of this programme, digitalisation is intended to become the infrastructural and technological basis for the optimisation and acceleration of education policy (Раимкулова А.С., 2022 № 3 p.211).
Moreover, President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Jomart Tokayev stated that Kazakhstan ranks 20th in the world in terms of the speed of digitalisation. In November 2023, Almaty hosted the EdCrunch X conference - Europe's largest event on new technologies in education. Many experts, scholars and state figures have emphasized the significance of digital technologies in education. For example, N. Kiyasov Founder and Programme Director of the EdCrunch conference ^mmenting on the trend towards digitalisation of education claimed that "At the centre of any digital transformation should be a person and their personalised experience. In the case of schools and universities, it is the student and his/her learning experience. Digitalisation in education is not about automating the accounting department, it is not about electronic passes or digitising lessons. It is about expanding the student's educational opportunities through 24/7 access to knowledge and personalisation of learning and community communication (Титова С.В., Авраменко А.П., 2013 № 1. p.10.)
Mobile phones are one of the most commonly used digital technologies. There are currently 5.11 billion unique mobile users worldwide, a 2 percent increase of 100 million over the previous year. New technological capabilities are being added to mobile devices, and personal data transit is becoming faster and more secure as a result of ongoing technological advancements. They are adopted by everyone on the planet. Individuals of all ages utilize mobile phones for a variety of purposes: watching movies, reading books, articles, and news, finding directions and using them as cameras, playing music and audio files, and finding the information they need. This is only a brief summary of the ways in which mobile phones have become an essential tool.
In pedagogy, attempts have long been made to use such a powerful resource in teaching, especially when learning foreign languages, and this is not accidental. For example, in the United States there have been several studies that confirm the high effectiveness of mobile learning: "70% of students felt more motivated when learning on a mobile device rather than on a computer. Mobile learners typically study 40 minutes longer than students using a desktop or tablet. Students using a smartphone complete learning material 45% faster than those, using a computer Mobile Learning Trends For 2018. Available at: (Mobile Learning Trends For 2018 - EI (eidesign.net) 2023)
Students have more options for continuous access to a variety of teaching resources and supplementary materials when they use mobile applications for foreign language learning. Every day, more and more people are using mobile apps to study foreign languages. They are intended to dramatically improve the process of foreign language training for a wide variety of students, unveil its new sides, and transform it from a tedious process into an entertaining one. They have great potential to improve the efficacy of the process of learning foreign languages.
However, the lack of systematization of learning apps in the use of mobile devices for learning English can pose significant challenges for learners. Teachers may find it difficult to successfully integrate a range of learning applications into their lesson plans, particularly if the apps' features, pedagogical approaches, or designs aren't standardized. It might take more assistance and training for teachers to handle the challenges of incorporating various apps into their classes. In this paper we tried to identify the frequently used learning apps that university students apply in their English learning and compare their advantages.
Literature Review
At the moment, a mobile device in Play Market or iTunes detects about 260 apps on the topic "English language" (Simpler, Duolingvo, Lingvaleo, Polyglot, WordBit, etc.). This is one of the most popular queries, second only to games. But, with all the advantages of such learning, there is a danger of unsystematic use of mobile devices, which can only create difficulties in learning (Korshunova O.V., 2001 URL: www.dissercat.com ) That is why it is necessary to study mobile technologies in education, to create certain methods of work, etc.
Korshunova O.V. (2001) states that in integrative learning when using mobile technologies, the aim is to learn a subject through another language. Scientists have proved that the specificity of the method lies in the fact that learning a language in order to assimilate known material gives tangible results, rather than just aimless learning of a language as a second language. It gives the learner a sense of purpose and motivation, an interest in mastering the material. Some language learners tire of learning grammar, especially if they do not enjoy memorising it, and in such cases mobile technology can help the learner to master English. The use of mobile technology requires the teacher to have prior training to master the language and content (Fatima Mamedova, Serikbay Aisulu Erlankyzy; 2022 Вестник КазНПУ №2(38) p.11; Омурзак кызы & Калмаматова, 2021; Тыныбекова, 2021).
Zh Kuanysheva, G. Kudaibergenova analyzing the use of integrative technologies, note such technologies as level, differentiated learning, project-based learning, communicative learning, information and communication learning. A. Maljers, D. Coyle, A.Hartiala, B. Marsland, Wolff D. (2002) also consider that development of cognitive, creative abilities of English language learners, development of personality need the aspects of integrated learning with mobile technologies (Digital-технологии в школах и вузах Казахстана: шесть ярких примеров использования; 2023 https://informburo.kz).
The expert believes that for education reform to be successful in a modern way, conditions must be created in five areas:
- redesign of university management;
- retraining of teachers;
Вестник OrnFY, №2/2024
- development of digital infrastructure;
- new technologies for assessing student progress;
- integration with additional education (Lukas Sandaa and Blanka Klimovab, 2021, 192 pp.1848-1855)
As Kiyasov said: "The future of education is connected only with the technologies of artificial intelligence and online learning". Therefore, in our university we try to integrate new technologies in English language learning. In this article we would like to consider the relevance of the use of applications for students of non-language specialities of different faculties.
The use of mobile applications for learning is relevant all over the world. Researchers of University of Hradec Kralove Lukas Sandaa and Blanka Klimovab compared four mobile language learning apps for foreign language teaching. They are as follows: Duolingo, EWA: English, Mondly: Learn 33 languages, and LinGo: Play. These are the apps that are in the leading positions in Czech online stores for teaching English and very often reviewed and marked as one of the globally best applications that are available.
According to the authors, the most important element is the content of the application itself. Its diversity, vocabulary, and end-use in everyday life indicate whether the application is useful or just a supporting tool for practicing the language, but not learning it. Out of the four selected applications, only Duolingo does not restrict the user's educational content. For other applications, it is necessary to purchase premium content, which often represents 90% of the entire content.
Compared to others, Duolingo is the best in terms of clarity. Although screens include a relatively large amount of information that is not always completely relevant to the content and may seem redundant, it is still a relatively easyto-navigate application. The EWA: English application, which has relatively large controls, is similarly good.
According to Statista, the number of monthly active users (MAUs) of Duolingo, one of the leading language learning apps in the world, on iOS has reached 20.57 million as of January 2022 (Ceci, 2023). A previous study (Viberg & Gronlund, 2013) showed that the majority of respondents had a favourable attitude towards mobile learning. Among the multitude of users, students constitute a large proportion. Students tend to use English language learning apps to improve their knowledge and achieve better results on standardised tests.
Norbrook (2003) believes that mobile devices are available wherever students want to learn. The convenience of mobile applications attracts many students. Mobile applications also have a positive impact on English language learning, especially on students' vocabulary development (Wu, 2015). The positive influence is related to the different media modes (video, images, text and sound) offered by the apps (Klimova, 2015). In addition, a study by Teodorescu (2015) showed that language learning apps can help students adapt practice to their proficiency level through personalised learning materials and suitable language learning processes. The study also shows that students who use mobile apps are more motivated to learn English.
However, a study by Lee (2014) reported that most students prefer traditional printed textbooks in their studies despite the fact that they perform better when using mobile learning apps. Students used to highlighting important points in printed books as it promotes better memorisation. In addition, students may concentrate worse when using mobile learning apps without instructor supervision
(Viberg & Gronlund, 2013) (Yingxin Lu, Tingyu Xiong, 2023 https://www.sciencedirect.com) Kee, Peter and Roland (2008) investigated the potential of mobile phones for internet browsing in EFL lessons, students' attitudes towards the use of mobile phones and the effectiveness of mobile phones in collaborative work with students. Collaborative, learner-centred, constructivist and task-based approaches to learning are used with mobile devices. They found that Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) sites can be used effectively to develop listening. Meei-Ling (2007) demonstrated the use of web-based environments and online support tools or electronic reference books such as a bilingual concordance' (an example of a concordance is also a 'dictionary') for reading articles, comprehension tasks and interacting with other students through online forums as a means of learning English as a foreign language both for learning English as a foreign language as a foreign language and for developing intercultural competence. Wikipedia mentions portability, social interactivity, context sensitivity, connectivity and individuality as the five most important features that MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) provides. Sarah (2010) listed a number of articles that have appeared on the topic of MALL since 2000. However, there are many barriers to MALL around the world that make it not interchangeable with the traditional classroom (Dr. Mansour Habbash, 2015 European Scientific Journal, 11 (35) pp. 1857-1881)
Methods
The survey method was used to determine which internet resources undergraduate students in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan utilize to learn English. The survey comprised 10 questions concerning which learning apps use undergraduate students, how these learning apps help them in learning English, if they are interested in learning through them, how they ease students' learning and others. 120 undergraduate students from Osh University in Kyrgyzstan and L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Kazakhstan participated in the survey. Students are majoring in architecture, philology, civil construction, medicine, science, economy, physics, and hotel management. Their age is between 17 and 20.
Results and discussions
On the following table the results of the survey can be seen. (Table 1)
Table 1 Survey results
№ Questions Answers Results
1 Do you know any apps for A) Yes A) 94
learning English? B) No B) 26
2 If yes, do you use them? A) Yes, Regularly A) 48
B) Yes, sometimes B) 45
C) No C) 27
3 Which ones do you use? A) Duolingo A) 63
B) Puzzle English B) 45
C) Lingualeo C) 12
D) Memrise D) 0
4 Do you think these learning apps A) Yes A) 65
are helpful in learning English? B) Often, as a supplementary B) 49
source of knowledge C) 6
C) No
5 How do you know about these A) From friends A) 25
learning apps? B) On the Internet B) 43
C) During lessons C) 15
D) Through adds D) 37
6 Is it interesting for you to know A) Yes A) 97
English through learning apps? B) No B) 23
7 Do you think that use of learning A) Yes A) 72
apps eases learning English? B) No B) 12
C) I think there are not enough C) 36
apps
8 Which one do you prefer? A) I would prefer learning apps A) 43
Learning apps or textbooks? B) I would prefer a textbook B) 13
C) I would prefer both C) 55
D) Use of textbooks is not enough D) 9
9 How often do you use learning A) Every day A) 23
apps? B) 5-6 times a day B) 30
C) 3-5 times a week C) 30
D) 1-2 times a week D) 37
E) Less than a week
10 Have you noticed your own A) Yes, I am satisfied with a result A) 75
progress in English through B) Yes, but this result is not B) 30
learning apps enough C) 15
C) No, I haven't noticed
From these data one can observe that majority of students (94) are aware of English learning apps. The most popular learning apps are Duolingo (63) and Puzzle English (45). It was revealed that most students know about learning apps from Internet (43) and adds (37). Only 15 students responded that they learn about them from during the lessons. It says that learning apps are not widely used in lessons. 72 students believe that learning apps assist them to develop language skills. However, most students (55) prefer both textbooks and apps for learning English and 75 students have noticed the progress in their language skills.
On the basis of data two learning apps such as Duolingo and Puzzle English have been selected for further research.
Duolingo is designed to assist users in translating web pages, papers, articles, and other materials as they learn, Professor Louis von An of Carnegie Mellon University, who invented the ReCAPTCHA system, and his PhD student Severin Hacker worked on this project. A mobile app that is freely accessible can be used by anyone learning a new language, including English, as a reference with writing, speaking, reading, and listening tasks.
Puzzle English chooses a different program for each day after assisting in the identification of gaps. It offers classes and homework at different skill levels, so both beginning and seasoned students can benefit from it. You can practice your grammar, pronunciation, listening comprehension, study, and vocabulary using this software. It includes competitive games, brainteasers, video and audio puzzles to improve listening abilities.
Further, the authors compare the advantages of these apps in English learning. The following figure demonstrates the advantages of both learning apps.
Table 2 Comparison of learning apps
№ Criteria Duolingo Puzzle English
1 Free education yes no
2 Language practice yes yes
3 Interaction with other people yes no
4 Access to the materials yes yes
5 Practice of the vocabulary yes no
6 Different levels no no
7 Adding transcription no no
8 Adding tasks yes yes
9 Choice of existed exercises yes yes
10 Independent tasks yes no
Both applications offer many benefits for learning English, as demonstrated by a comparison analysis; nonetheless, the Duolingo program is more widely used. The following advantages of Duolingo can be highlighted:
1. No cost to utilize. The service is free to use for as long as you like (interruptions included), and it offers plenty of opportunity to learn different languages.
2. A large forum. The ability for users to continuously engage, communicate, and help one another out, which increases motivation and adds interest to the learning process.
3. Usability. The responsibilities are straightforward, and the interface is made in such a way that the user can recognize and comprehend every icon and name that appears on the screen.
4. A gradual level of complexity. Conclusion
Learning apps have made learning foreign languages much more fun than the usual monotonous classroom learning. Language learning is much more fun than the usual monotonous classroom learning. The relationship between mobile technology and movement both indoors and outdoors, through formal and informal environments allows learners to take the lead. Unfortunately, on this research the authors could not compare the results of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan students, since Kazakh students participated in the survey were more than Kyrgyz students.
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