Supporting listening comprehension by social network-based interaction in mobile assisted language learning

Listening comprehension is challenging for students because it is more than just the direct extraction of meaning from sound. The literature reflects the need to develop relevant strategies. Teachers typically try to help students structure their learning into three phases: before (pre-), during, and after (post-) listening, emphasizing different cognitive and metacognitive processes. In this paper, the role of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) is proposed as a way to support this learning process and specifically to scaffold its third phase. A study was carried out with an app that the authors have developed for listening to audio news recordings. There are two versions of this app; the first is a standalone program which the students use on an individual basis. The second links to Facebook to enable students to summarize, share and discuss what they have listened to, thereby refining and consolidating their comprehension. A research question in this study addressed the role of a social network in a MALL app in terms of motivation and learning habits. The results of the study provide pedagogical insights into the answer and the value of including social network-based interaction in a MALL app for the development of listening comprehension.