As a last question, participants were asked to explain which qualities an app should have in order to be appealing for them to study English. Participants have given a great deal of input;
therefore, this section of the paper creates the theoretical representation of the idyllic app based on the their contributions. Despite the fact that it is a theoretical representation, the app will be named AngloSpeak since it combines two of the most important features of such prototype: the
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language to be studied, and the importance that this model gives to speaking in relation to other smartphone applications.
First, it must be highlighted that the proposed app is centred on learners between the ages of 20 and 30 from the Balearic Islands since the proposal is created from what they have answered in the questionnaire. However, it might be used by Spanish speakers from all ages.
The application will contain two different subscriptions: a free one and a premium one which will have a cost. In the free subscription all learners will have access to a chat a forum, and different exercises to put into practice the contents and concepts learnt. Those who enrol for the premium subscription will have also access to conferences, private lessons, and personalised feedback. Since there will be tutors and teachers who explain and provide feedback, the premium learners will pay their contribution monthly. Furthermore, there will be advertisements for non-premium users to support the smartphone application.
Image 1. Cover of the free subscription.
The free subscription will contain four different sections in which everybody with a profile in the app will have access. All students must create a profile with a picture of themselves, their age, the level of English and a brief description explaining their interests and hobbies. Other users will be able to see this information and send friend requests to those profiles that may benefit them in learning English. When the other person accepts the request, they will be able to engage into a conversation in the chat. It is important to take into
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consideration this aspect because students should feel comfortable using the app; therefore, they will be able to choose the type of person they want to start a conversation with, e.g., some learners may only want to interact with people of their same age, or with similar interests. The chat will allow students send audios and make video calls, which is one of the main asked aspects by the participants since they consider that interaction with other learners is essential to learn the language proficiently. Furthermore, they claimed that it was important to create a platform which allowed them to practise speaking and pronunciation; the audios and the video calls make possible to practise speaking, pronunciation and fluency.
There will be a section containing online exercises; this part will be similar to the applications already mentioned in this paper. There will be different levels: from level 1 which will correspond to an A1, to level 6 which will correspond to a C2. However, all participants must start in the first level, and they will have to complete a brief test in order to upgrade, i.e, they will have to pass different tests to prove that they have a higher level. In each level, there will be several lessons explaining briefly the grammar and vocabulary, and exercises to practise the theoretical part of the language. Furthermore, at the end of each lesson students will have to complete several tasks and tests to proceed to the next lesson. This system allows students advance from a B1 to a C2, which is something that some apps lack, the possibility to progress.
Since most of them have claimed that these exercises can be repetitive and monotonous, the app will also include a forum in which all students can participate; they may post texts, videos or images. The platform will give students a topic to comment every day in case they do not know what to write about; for instance, students could publish a post describing what they did on the weekend, or even showing photos or videos and a brief commentary. In fact, the only condition is that they respect all students, and they use English to communicate with each other.
Therefore, the forum is a space where students learn the language by using their social media skills, which means that both sections combined do not only allow students learn vocabulary and grammar, but to put into practice what has been learnt.
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Image 3. Example of how the theory would be presented in the app.
Image 4. Prototype of the forum.
Image 3. This image represents a model of how the app would pnt the exercises.
Image 2. Example of how the app would present the exercises.
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The last component of the free section will contain a large list of links to access different reading material since another complaint that students had is the lack of reading and listening practice. A subject suggested creating an app in which there are readings depending on their preferences, that is why this section will contain a large number of links conducting the reader to official websites. They will be able to read about the news, literature, science, economics, education, etc. Apart from reading practice, the app will also suggest podcasts and conferences such as BBC Podcast or TedTalks to practice listening. In this manner, this section will help students fulfil two skills which are important to master the language: reading and listening.
Image 5. Cover of the premium subscription.
The premium subscription will complement the free section. It will contain three complementary sections: conferences and seminars, weekly tutorials and assignments. The main complaint was the lack of explanations in applications since most of them introduce the subject matter briefly; furthermore, students claimed that the lack of teachers explaining the lesson made harder to follow the explanations, and to be consistent with the exercises.
Therefore, this section aims at fulfilling the learners’ requirements regarding the existence of a human tutor.
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There will be a section in which a teacher or several teachers will make two conferences per week explaining grammar, vocabulary and different techniques to use in writing and speaking. These conferences will be recorded and saved in the app; thus, subscribers will have permanent access to them. It is crucial to have a teacher explaining the lesson, which is a characteristic that not many apps have. As a matter of fact, at the end of each online session students will be able to make questions about the theory explained or doubts which might arise.
There will be interaction between teachers and students to provide learners with solutions and answers to possible doubts. The interaction between the two parts is undoubtedly necessary to learn a language proficiently because having a clear explanation facilitates the internalisation of knowledge; in addition, the teacher will propose different activities which should be conducted and handed in the enabled section.
The premium learners will hand in assignments weekly; these assignments will be related to the theory or topics explained in the conferences. These tasks might be exercises, writings or even recorded speaking practices. Later, they will obtain personalised feedback, which may be furthered explained in the weekly tutorials. When the teacher corrects a task, a detailed report with the corrections will be given to the students; hence, they will see their merits and weaknesses. Apps only provide automatic corrections, which do not contribute to the learner’s progress; therefore, it is imperative to create a smartphone application that provides students with individualized feedback, which is essential in order to advance in the learning process.
Students will be also entitled to an individual tutorial with a teacher every week. The opportunity to talk to a teacher, who can explain in detail the doubts they may have, is an aspect that many participants have demanded in the survey. In order to have the tutorial, students will book their place on the platform: there will be a calendar to select a date and a time. When a student books a date, the date will be no longer available for other learners; in this way, it is easier for the teacher to keep track of who has a tutorial. After choosing a slot, students will be able to add observations to clarify why they want to meet with the educator, e.g., to review the present tenses, or to correct an activity; thus, the teacher will manage to prepare the tutorial beforehand. The students could ask questions, doubts, or even practise speaking with the teacher, that is, they will have the opportunity to practise what interests them most.
Additionally, the meetings will be done online, which makes AngloSpeak be a comfortable app to use since it allows students choose the place and the time of the tutorial.
It must be concluded that AngloSpeak is a prototype of the idyllic app created from the contributions and demands of the survey’s participants. The app is created to provide students
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with enough material to learn English autonomously, but also to give them the opportunity of having a person who can facilitate the learning process. Furthermore, the app is also developed to assist students in advancing and progressing in their learning process.