The main focus of this chapter is the ultimate user of MALL, the learner. The chapter begins with exploring learner agency to help us to gain a better understanding of how and why learners are or are not able to make appropriate choices applicable to their learning. Agency may be related to individual characteristics of the learner, but it may also be supported by proxy or collective agency from the teacher or larger environment. Even learners who exhibit agency experience difficulties in making appropriate choices about their learning, which is why learner training is essential. In MALL, learner training is key in ensuring that learners understand the reasons for engaging in mobile activities as well as what is expected of them from teachers. The chapter describes evidence that ongoing training in technological, strategic and pedagogical aspects can have a very powerful effect on the ways in which learners view mobile learning activities.

This chapter explores the physical, psychosocial and pedagogical issues associated with MALL. The physical characteristics of mobile devices such as the size of the screen and the input methods have long been an issue when considering their applicability for learning, but these have often been considered as necessary trade-offs in order to maintainmobile devices' portability. In addition to this, however, there are also psychosocial issues, considering the position of mobile devices in the minds of the learners and teachers, such as a personal tool for private uses or a tool that can be applied to any use as required. This perception of mobile devices is often a product of the social context in which they are used, and this will likely vary depending on the region, the socioeconomic status and the age group of the users. Furthermore, the dangers in distractions both inside and outside of the device are described here along the psychological impact of mobile devices on learners’ abilities to concentrate on multiple tasks. Finally, the issue of pedagogy when learning through mobile devices and the factors that may be thought to contribute to successfully achieving learning goals and sustaining task engagement are discussed.

This chapter lays the foundation for the issues that are raised in the book through positioning technology in language teaching and learning practice. It begins by exploring the different controversies associated with technology in education and then goes on to discuss the nature of mobile-assisted language learning in terms of the different technologies and the different ways that these technologies might be used. The complexities involved in defining MALL are also explained given the wide range of devices that are available, ranging from laptops and tablets to mobile phones and wearable devices. The chapter then seeks to clear up some of the myths associated with what MALL is and draws parallels with CALL. The remainder of the chapter is dedicated to providing an overview of each of the chapters of the book.

This chapter explores parallels between CALL and MALL and outlines how the technological affordances of various devices affect the ways in which they are used to achieve specific goals. The chapter describes the interrelationship of technology, research, practice and theory; outlines the evolution of mobile technologies and emphasises the importance of moving from affordance-based practice to pedagogy-based practice as technologies move through the hype cycle (cf. Gartner, 2016). The issue of push and pull modes associated with mobile technologies is outlined here, along with the ability of mobile devices to interact with other devices through a range of networking functions, the potential for mixed-reality learning and context-sensitive learning, and the use of other functions such as cameras and audio recorders for language learning. The chapter continues by pointing out some of the limitations of research on technology use in language education and then considers some of the complexities of both theory and practice in MALL in order to lay the foundations for the later chapters.

This chapter explores the concept of design in MALL. Design can take place at multiple levels, starting with the larger learning environment, to the digital artefacts that are used by learners, and the design of tasks for using the artefacts within the given environment. Some of the key models of general design of the learning environment, artefacts and tasks are provided with examples of how they relate directly to MALL. The complexities of designing assessment are also discussed. The chapter concludes with fundamental guidelines to bear in mind when designing MALL and outlines a list of principles for the successful implementation of mobile devices in language teaching and learning contexts.

The main focus of this chapter is to discuss how dramatically teaching and learning are changing, largely as a result of developments in technology. These changes have brought about changes in the roles of the teachers, of learners and even of the technologies themselves. Teachers not only have to manage their teaching environments, but they also need to manage their technological skills and the emotional load that goes along with the pressures of maintaining digital literacy. Learners are faced with having greater expectations to use technology, while it is expected that they are already skilled in using technologies for learning purposes. It explores the possible future directions of education, where teachers and learners need to consider not only what information needs to be learned, but also what information is acceptable to be referenced, along with the need to develop skills in evaluating information from the enormous amount of available resources. It also explores the view of teaching and learning in formal and informal contexts and looks at how mobile technologies have impacted both of these learning situations.

Discussions of the role of theory with regards to technology in language teaching have been rather limited to date and have typically relied heavily on second-language acquisition (SLA) theories or other theories related to learning and pedagogy. This chapter provides an overview of the nature of theory, exploring concepts such as informal and formal theories, and describes the fundamentals of what theories are and their function. Theories as they are applied to CALL are explained, along with how they relate to theories in MALL. Theories that are pertinent to MALL implementation are outlined in terms of theories of technology, theories of complexity, theories of motivation and social models of language learning. Each is described with examples from the literature which show how they can help to understand what happens while learning languages with mobile devices.

Research into MALL has proven to be somewhat complex when compared to much of the earlier research in the field of CALL, which is the focus of this chapter. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, by the nature of the device, there is an expectation that a significant proportion of learning through mobile devices will take place out of class. While this does not preclude using devices in classroom settings (and there have been several very interesting studies that have looked at the use of mobile devices in class), it is exponentially more difficult to determine how learners are using their mobile devices in uncontrolled and unsupervised settings. Secondly, learners are typically using their own devices,whereas early studies into mobile devices typically involved using loaned devices, meaning that it is not logistically possible to install tracking software on them. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the difficulties involved with undertaking research in MALL and to describe various innovative approaches that have been undertaken, illustrated through appropriate recent examples from the literature.

This chapter brings together the arguments covered in the previous eight chapters and returns to the title of the book: concepts, contexts and challenges. The concepts that need to be kept in mind for the future of mobile learning are explored, along with the impact of the context on language teaching and learning through mobile technologies. Along with these, the current and prospective challenges are also investigated, with the aim of seeing how these challenges can be overcome to make the most of what MALL can be. The potential future paths in which mobile learning may be considered to evolve will also be discussed here, not in terms of evolving technologies but in terms of directions that the field seems to be headed and how these can relate to meaningful research and practice that is needed in both the shorter and longer term.