Abstract:

The evolution of technology could not have left the education sector unaffected. The advent of mobile devices in the everyday life of young and older people is now a fact. Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) is a sector that is evolving more and more.

To this end, we created and implemented an application for mobile devices in real teaching conditions which respects the principles of the European Framework of Reference for Languages. At the same time, experimental quantitative research was carried out, in order to explore the students' perceptions of its implementation to the French language course.

The purpose of this paper is to present the issues that the students faced in the use and operation of the application but also to record students’ perceptions concerning its overall assessment as a portable learning tool.

The target group we addressed were 100 Greek Vocational Training Institute (VTI) students aged between 18 and 60 years old. Specifically, for our research, we addressed them with a questionnaire of 17 questions. The target group followed six foreign language lessons, using the "traditional" learning method - student book and exercise book, and six lessons exclusively using the application.

The results of the research revealed that the VTI students found the lessons with the application installed in their mobile device more interesting than the “traditional” language learning lessons. They also believe that it was helpful for them in the development of their language skills, especially in understanding and producing written language.

Keywords:

MALL, Mobile-assisted language learning, Mobile learning, foreign language, application.