MALL and CALL Audiotaped Oral Dialogue Journal From Iranian EFL Learners' and Teachers' Perspectives

Abstract

This chapter investigates an effective example of tasks for mobile language learning attempting to mitigate the problem of lack of meaningful oral interaction in face-to-face settings. It examines audiotaped oral dialogue journals (ATODJs) as a MALL and CALL task from the EFL teachers' and learners' perspectives. The data gathered was 202 entries of ATODJs, using Bluetooth or email, from 15 female Iranian intermediate EFL learners. The teachers' and learners' evaluations of the whole program comprised of the qualitative part of the research. The results, a result of content analysis, revealed the merits, demerits, and challenges faced by the teacher and learners: ATODJs aided the learners to produce output, were effective for tasks concerning interaction and negotiation, involved meaningful interaction, involved the learners to a great extent, were fluency tasks, and assisted language learners' identity reconstruction. EFL teachers and materials developers are highly recommended to incorporate ATODJs into the language learning curriculum.