A Research Article Summary

Title : Mobile-Assisted Language Assessment: Assessing speaking

1. Research question/problem statement

Investigate whether or not Mobile-Assisted Language Assessment is possible and how
learners feel about it. When smart phones were used with electronic portfolios and a
social networking app (WhatsApp), they were able to do this. In this case, to see how
good they are at speaking. Concerns about fairness and communication that wasn't real
were the main ones. These follow:
1. Did you participate in the speaking task on WhatsApp this term?
2. What do you like about this method of practicing speaking?
3. What do you dislike about this method?
4. What do you think of this method as a system of assessment?
5. What advantages does this method have compared to similar classroom activities?
6. What drawbacks do you associate with this method?

So, this paper is an attempt to figure out how well a group of EFL students can speak
by looking at their portfolios. Concerns about fairness and communication that wasn't
real were the main ones. It is suggested that MALA be used with other types of tests.

2. Motivation/relevance

Recent technological changes have been so good for teaching and learning languages.
Also, the new generation of students is able to use them well. For example, the whole
school would be excited about the process of making portfolios to set learning goals
and expectations and also to reflect on their learning as they went along. Students' work
would get more detailed feedback from teachers. They would also get more
encouragement from their teachers. Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL),
which is one of the most recent ways to use technology to help people learn languages,
is one of the most popular ways to use technology to help people learn languages. This
new trend lets people use learning programs in different places. There is a name for
this: Mobile-Assisted Language Assessment (MALA). It combines the two disciplines
of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) and Portfolio Assessment, which is
itself a part of Dynamic Assessment paper. If you combine the fields of Mobile-Assisted
 Language Learning (MALL) and Portfolio Assessment (which is part of Dynamic
Assessment), you get the term Mobile-Assisted Language Assessment (MALA).

3. Theoretical framework
The use of hand-held computer-based devices made Mobile-Assisted Language
Learning (MALL) as we know it today even better. As far back as the mid-1990s,
MALL has focused on five mobile technologies: PDAs, MP3 players, pocket electronic
dictionaries, mobile phones, and ultra-portable tablet PCs (Burston, 2013). MALL uses
personal, portable devices that allow students to learn in new ways. It emphasizes how
easy and quick it is to get to and interact with things in different places of use. Forms
of technology that work well with cognitive approaches are the ones that give learners
the most chances to interact with each other in meaning-rich situations, which helps
them improve their skills. It can use text reconstruction, concordances,
telecommunication, and software that makes it look like you're making a movie or TV
show. Putting the needs of the learner first is encouraged and praised. Such a system of
language education needs the same kind of learner-centered assessment, like Dynamic
Assessment (DA). In this case, DA doesn't think that teaching and assessment are two
separate things. Instead, DA thinks that these two things should happen at the same
time, so that learners get instruction while they are being tested. Because the process of
assessment is more important than the end result, DA looks more at that (Birjandi,
Estaji,2013). According to the modern view of process-based teaching, this is a step
that must be taken. for adding the type of assessment, you can also choose as well In
computers, people can communicate with each other through email, ftp, the World
Wide Web, and other tools that have been made for this purpose. Reflective
communication with peers and teachers helps students think critically about practical
problems with the help of their own experience and come up with solutions.

4. Method
The goal of this study was to figure out how well a group of EFL students could speak
by looking at their portfolios. 17 advanced-level English speakers were taking an FCE
preparation course when the issue of recording and presenting speech came up. Some
participants didn't have regular access to email services or didn't feel comfortable
 working with them as part of their assignment, so the issue came up. However, all of
the people who took part in the study had access to social networks on their mobile
phones, and they were also active members. Because of this, the focus was changed to
MALA.

5. Results/arguments
How do you think about the speaking portfolios and MALA in this study? This question
is about how much the person being interviewed took part in the experiment. Everyone
who took part in the experiment did so because they were going to be judged on their
class work and their portfolios. Using mobile phones for learning in general and for
language learning in particular can be a problem because some people might not have
access to the internet, which could make it hard to learn. There are programs that store
online content (like planned catching) so it can be used when the user isn't connected
to the internet. This is one way to deal with this problem. When asked what they liked
about this method of evaluation, more or less the same ideas were said. Learning
English outside of the classroom, commenting on other people's speech, having one or
two full minutes to speak alone and not having to worry about stress were some of the
things that people said. People can learn when they aren't in class and when they have
access to their own computers with e-learning or CALL. For the experiment, three of
the people who were interviewed said that they didn't like anything about the
experiment, which is true. There are some people who don't agree with this method, but
one of them said that better results are shown on WhatsApp because people have more
time to think and come up with better sentences. This can make people feel better about
their own English skills. What are the last things you want to know? They said there
were no downsides and that they were happy with the general overview of MALA, but
one person was still worried about cheating in MALA. One person thought it was too
easy to use as an assessment method because there was very little improvisation when
compared to real-time interviews, which required more thought.

6. Discussion
The results are the same, but the author asks about MALA's flaws in the sixth question.
Five people said there were no problems with MALA and were happy with the general
overview. One person was still worried about cheating in MALA. One person thought
it was too easy to use as an assessment method because there was not as much
 improvisation as in real-time interviews. Another person said that because this is the
start of a new way of assessing, people might be unhappy with it at first until it finds
its place in the world of assessment. At least seven of the eight people who took part in
this study wanted to do it again. One person thought it took a long time and didn't want
to do it again.

7. Conclusions
As I mention earlier, this study looked into the feasibility of Mobile Assisted Language
Assessment and how EFL students felt about it, as well as how they felt about it. During
the process of MALA, it was found that a method of assessment like this allowed
students to participate and practice their speaking skills while being tested. This study
only looked at how well MALA could be used, but it is in line with other studies that
looked at how well MALL works for language teaching. As part of the process of
MALA, self-correction, peer-correction, and then feedback from the teacher were all
given at the same time, Because MALA is thought to be prone to cheating, practice
showed that cheating would be so obvious that it wouldn't be possible in MALA. It was
said that when someone was listening to their own or their peers' speech, they were
paying more attention.

8. Your own opinion

It's the subject of this study. Participants thought MALA was more fair than static tests,
but they wanted to be judged on how well they did in class. It is thought that maybe
MALA isn't meant to completely replace other forms of assessment, but it can still be
used as part of a learner's total score. It is suggested that MALA be used with other
types of testing to help students improve their ZPD, help them learn while being tested,
and give each person a better chance to be tested.

References

Burston, J. (2013). Mobile-assisted language learning: A selected annotated bibliography of

implementation studies 1994e2012. Language Learning and Technology

Tarighat, S., & Khodabakhsh, S. (2016). Mobile-Assisted Language Assessment: Assessing

speaking. Computers in Human Behavior, 64, 409–413. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.07.014