Smartphones and CLT: threat or opportunity?

Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) is one of the fastest growing ELT sectors. To date, the teaching methods of MALL appear overly influenced by the desires of businesses, large institutions and technicians to produce easily measurable outcomes, rather than foundations built on upon pedagogical research that emphasises the importance of developing the communicative competence of learners. Findings from initial studies on MALL indicate not only the feasibility of using mobile devices for communicative purposes within classroom teaching, but also the opportunities they provide to implement a communicative approach more successfully than previously possible. Outworkings of this potential need to be established while the development of MALL remains at the “work in progress” stage.