4 Smart devices and informal language learning
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Robert Godwin-Jones
Abstract
There has recently been a growth in consumer products that incorporate intelligent personal assistants (IPAs), such as Siri, featuring voice recognition/ synthesis in multiple languages. The always-available status of smart devices, along with their ever-increasing functionality through advances in AI, holds the promise of new options for language learning/maintenance, and especially for autonomous learning. This chapter looks at opportunities for IPAs to engage L2 user-learners in social and recreational activities that foster informal language learning. The most obvious role is for the IPA to function as an expert L2 learning resource and as a conversation partner. As in entertainment-oriented activities such as watching videos in the L2, IPA interactions can foster incidental language learning. The human-machine interface involved in conversing with an IPA is complex and can be best investigated through frameworks that take into account the dynamic and contextually determined relationship between digital devices and human users. Those include ecological theories such as sociomaterialism and complex dynamic systems.
Abstract
There has recently been a growth in consumer products that incorporate intelligent personal assistants (IPAs), such as Siri, featuring voice recognition/ synthesis in multiple languages. The always-available status of smart devices, along with their ever-increasing functionality through advances in AI, holds the promise of new options for language learning/maintenance, and especially for autonomous learning. This chapter looks at opportunities for IPAs to engage L2 user-learners in social and recreational activities that foster informal language learning. The most obvious role is for the IPA to function as an expert L2 learning resource and as a conversation partner. As in entertainment-oriented activities such as watching videos in the L2, IPA interactions can foster incidental language learning. The human-machine interface involved in conversing with an IPA is complex and can be best investigated through frameworks that take into account the dynamic and contextually determined relationship between digital devices and human users. Those include ecological theories such as sociomaterialism and complex dynamic systems.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Author biographies VII
- 1 Introduction to Language Learning and Leisure 1
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Section 1: The nature of informal second language learning
- 2 Toward an anthropology of Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) 21
- 3 Does informal mean implicit? 43
- 4 Smart devices and informal language learning 69
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Section 2: Language outcomes
- 5 Informal second language learning and EFL learners’ spoken use of discourse markers 91
- 6 Influence of television series on pronunciation 121
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Section 3: Learner activities
- 7 Mapping space, leisure and informal language learning in the lives of international students in Australia 143
- 8 Learner perspectives on informal L2 vocabulary learning 159
- 9 Mediation in informal language learning activities outside of the classroom 185
- 10 Linguistic risk-taking and informal language learning in Canada and Austria 207
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Section 4: Psychological dimensions
- 11 Why does IDLE make EFL learners gritty? 241
- 12 Preservice English language teachers and informal digital learning of English (IDLE) in Kazakhstan 269
- 13 Learner profiles and ISLL trajectories 291
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Section 5: Engagement
- 14 Behaviour, thoughts, and feelings 327
- 15 Learner engagement and learner change under lockdown 359
- 16 Engaging with L2 Netflix 379
- 17 Conclusion 409
- Index 425
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Author biographies VII
- 1 Introduction to Language Learning and Leisure 1
-
Section 1: The nature of informal second language learning
- 2 Toward an anthropology of Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) 21
- 3 Does informal mean implicit? 43
- 4 Smart devices and informal language learning 69
-
Section 2: Language outcomes
- 5 Informal second language learning and EFL learners’ spoken use of discourse markers 91
- 6 Influence of television series on pronunciation 121
-
Section 3: Learner activities
- 7 Mapping space, leisure and informal language learning in the lives of international students in Australia 143
- 8 Learner perspectives on informal L2 vocabulary learning 159
- 9 Mediation in informal language learning activities outside of the classroom 185
- 10 Linguistic risk-taking and informal language learning in Canada and Austria 207
-
Section 4: Psychological dimensions
- 11 Why does IDLE make EFL learners gritty? 241
- 12 Preservice English language teachers and informal digital learning of English (IDLE) in Kazakhstan 269
- 13 Learner profiles and ISLL trajectories 291
-
Section 5: Engagement
- 14 Behaviour, thoughts, and feelings 327
- 15 Learner engagement and learner change under lockdown 359
- 16 Engaging with L2 Netflix 379
- 17 Conclusion 409
- Index 425
