Implementing an Ecological Teaching through Mobile-Assisted Language Learning in EFL Education

Abstract

Despite the notion of eco-linguistics; ecology and language, has been extensively discussed until currently, its complexity invites studies to make further specific contribution to strengthening the underpinning theories. This paper aims to sustain the emergence of an ecological perspective in the Applied Linguistics by presenting a research finding which investigated the students' experience when joining an English course applying the Action-based (AB) and MALL. It begins with an overview of contextual background with an emphasis on the sophistication of industrial technology elsewhere including in particular EFL settings which influence demand on the capacity to communicate in the multi-language settings. It then clarifies a general understanding of the ecology of language and mobile-assisted language learning which is prone to that with sociocultural influence. The study reported in this paper used a survey method to 324 participants enrolling in 4 departments at a vocational college. Based on the findings, the application of Action-based (AB) and MALL had given some changes in the students' behavior which involve the nurture of ecological EFL learning habit through mobile technology, an increase of learning motivation, the improvement of English skills, the enhancement of content-knowledge, and the advancement of technological skill.

Reframing Language Education in the Light of Ecological Linguistics

“…The next level is to train the agents to be socially functional. At this level, an educator needs to provide the opportunity for the agents to engage in relevant discursive situations in which they can live and act authentically as themselves while actualizing the language learned [46]. The last level is culture.…”

“…Empirical studies related to ecological perspective in language teaching show that AB pedagogy is positive and impactful for student's development [46], [47]. Particularly, it can provide an experiential learning opportunity that helps the agents to transform their identity in the level of agency and gradually influence the Studies in [46], based on research in English for Special Purposes (ESP) setting in the higher education, found that: …an EFL teaching underpinned by ecological perspective facilitated by the features of mobileassisted language learning had become a robust tool to develop the students' intrinsic motivation, to nurture the habits of ecological learning, to improve content-knowledge, to make students more confident in language use, and to strengthen technology skills. (p. 164)…”

“…• How will the language pedagogic discourse be ecologically reframed for the sake of powerful language development and life sustainability? • What are the roles of technology [46], [47], [51], materials/artefacts, ethics, morality [52], and values [53] in the ecological discourse of language pedagogies? • How could language educators innovate in specific areas of pedagogies such as grammar teaching [54], ESP, and others?…”

Metadiscourse Markers: Frequency and Errors Made by EFL Students

“…Moreover, the way they organized their idea was not linear (circular). The last finding was intriguing because they found four rarely-produced discourse markers: comparison, persuasion, emphasis, and opinion (Novawan et al, 2020).…”