Abstract:

The affordability and pervasiveness of mobile devices (e.g. smart phones or tablets) in homes and lives has drastically changed the way young children spend their time. Children 8 and younger spend an average of 48 minutes a day staring at screens of their mobile devices in 2017; 42% of children have their own tablet [1].

Despite the fact that parents are concerned about children’s overexposure to mobile devices, they are optimistic about the use of mobile devices for learning [1-2]. Indeed, the number of educational mobile applications has skyrocketed; some of the resources specifically focus on developing language skills of young children learning their first, second, or foreign language. Researchers have investigated the effectiveness of mobile-assisted language learning for primary school children and conducted evaluation studies [3]. However, the vast majority of research focuses on mobile applications that teach widespread languages (mostly English) and there is a gap in research that studies mobile applications for children learning Russian. This paper aims at partly filling this gap.

The presented study examines and evaluates 10 Russian language learning mobile apps designed for children from birth through age 8. The selected applications were classified according to the following criteria:
1) relevance to the target audience,
2) availability of ‘select level’ option,
3) video content,
4) audio content,
5) text content,
6) visual materials,
7) database of exercises,
8) cultural component,
9) feedback,
10) encouragement,
11) customization,
12) guidelines.

The analysis revealed that developers of mobile applications seldom provide users with an opportunity for personalizing and selecting individual learning trajectories. Some of the applications are found to be inadequate in terms of complexity as tasks do not fit cognitive, socio-emotional and physical development of young children. The applications are abundant in text content as well as exercises aimed at drilling words and clichés, which in most cases make little contribution to speech development of young language learners.

The study results, particularly the criteria developed for apps evaluation, provide important insight to parents, language educators and educational technology designers. If we allow our children to send that much time on screen, this time should be used for the benefits of our young generations. Well-designed and wisely implemented digital language resources could positively impact language acquisition and speech development.

References:
[1] The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Age Zero to Eight 2017, Accessed 17 March, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-kids-age-zero-to-eight-2017
[2] G. Sadykova, G. Gimaletdinova, L. Khalitova, and A. Kayumova, “Integrating mobile technologies into very young second language learners' curriculum,” in CALL communities and culture – short papers from EUROCALL 2016 (S. Papadima-Sophocleous, L. Bradley, and S. Thouësny, eds.), pp. 408-412, Research-publishing.net, 2016.
[3] 4 Z. Kazanci and Z. Okan, “Evaluating English Language Teaching Software for Kids: Education or Entertainment or Both?” Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 8(3), pp. 30-38, 2009.

Keywords:

Language learning, MALL, early childhood education, educational technology.