Article in Ñemit ỹ RÃ Revista Multilingüe de Lengüa Sociedad y Educación · January 021 doi: 10. 47133/nemityra010210 citations reads 693 authors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
113 
 
the reviewed apps were designed to encourage autonomous learning, teachers cannot heavily 
depend on the use of a particular app to develop the main and subsidiary language skills. 
Instead, he or she may need to use a variety of apps in order to get enough variation and 
reinforcement of the target skills. However, what this research suggests is that apps can be 
remarkable tools to make the language learning process much more student-centered. 
Our results suggest that most of the free Android apps reviewed can help to develop the 
four main language skills and subskills. With only one exception, the apps reviewed featured 
secondary technology type of tasks, hence offering students interactive activities and 
feedback that allowed them put into practice previously learned concepts. In addition, only 
the writing skill apps promoted the creation and sharing of new content. Perhaps the factor 
that most contributes to the development of the language skills is the fact that the majority of 
the apps reviewed can be indeed accessed to “anytime and anywhere” as they provide online 
as well as offline accessibility. 
Considering how the reviewed language skill apps performed based on the adapted 
rubric, we found that apps presented both asset sand shortcomings. First, the reviewed apps 
performed extremely well in terms of curriculum connection, performance, appeal, and user 
friendliness. This could be connected to the fact that apps were selected based on the 
screenshots provided in Play Store and users’ ratings of the app. Second, all apps provided 
extensive practice material in order to avoid repetition of activities or scarcity of content. 
Third, almost all apps succeeded in providing content and activities that reinforced the target 
skill so this might have affected Play Store users’ ratings. Fourth, even though sharing is 
available for app users, apps are still failing in terms of providing vital specific feedback, 
which can make learning personalized and clearly enhance the learning of the target skill. 
Apps still need development in terms of authenticity as all apps introduced tasks which were 
far from being considered real-life like. Similarly, apps fall short in personalizing material, as 
most of the reviewed apps lack the necessary flexibility to differentiate content in terms of 
students’ interests and learning styles. As the ideal scenario is for the students to work 
autonomously, differentiation is of extreme importance. As we aimed in this study to identify 
and review free Android apps that can enhance the teaching and learning of English, our 
findings suggest that the language skills apps reviewed have the potential to complement the 
teacher and aid the students in the process of learning English. 
Our findings have important implications for the teacher. A significant implication is 
that teachers should not underestimate the importance of the dimension of sharing as this 
feature provides not only evidence of students’ work but also critical information for future 
remedial classes and feedback. Teachers cannot deny the importance of social media in the 
educational field as a place for learners to collaborate and share their ideas and student 
created content (Krau, 2013). Even though feedback is still limited in apps, the access to 
students’ product is of paramount importance. Another implication is that teachers should 
recognize that they can share the role of facilitator with the appropriate use of technology. 
When selecting apps for use in and out of the classroom, teachers should also take into 
account the benefits of game-like activities as rewards are an important element for 
increasing students’ motivation. Similarly, they should make the students engage with apps 
whose activities promote collaboration as it is one of the 21st century skills. An additional 
implication of this study is that LSARR is concise as well as helpful and has important 
implications for helping teachers in the search for the optimum apps for enhancing the 
teaching and learning processes. Finally, the main implication of this study was the 
identification of the characteristics that an efficient language skill app should possess. 
Accordingly, the major practical contribution of the present research is that it provides 
teachers with the tool to select the most convenient apps. In brief, teachers should choose 

---