O n f e r e n c e

Short paper 
As Attewell, Savill-Smith and Douch have indicated generally, mobile learning is 
“handheld technologies together wit
h wireless and mobile phone networks, to facilitate, 
support and enhance and extend the reach of teaching 
and learning” (in Ducate 446).

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2014 CALL Conference 
LINGUAPOLIS
www.antwerpcall.be 
It is certainly this, a mere tool in the pedagogical workshop, but it is also a platform for 
the “processes of coming t
o know through conversations across multiple contexts among 
people and personal interactive technologies” (Sharpies, 7). We sought to enable these 
conversations for our students after a cursory needs analysis of our French program at 
the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (NTU). Like most foreign-language 
students, ours are not getting enough oral contact hours. While other universities may 
offer a separate weekly oral practice hour, this option was not open to us. Since NTU is a 
technological university, we turned to a technological solution to address this deficit: a 
smart phone application entitled the 
Virtual Language Table
for language practice 
anytime anywhere outside the classroom by text-based chat, video or voice. Unlike 
already existing platforms like 
Skype
, the 
Virtual Language Table
enables students to 
converse in a secure environment with students at their linguistic level. Since the app is 
linked to the university’s virtual blackboard, the students’ weekly use of the app to 
accomplish given tasks can be tracked and recorded. 
A language table is a common informal setting in places like North America in which 
university students gather (usually around a table) at a given time for an opportunity to 
use a foreign language with peers of a similar level. It is an opportunity for peer learning 
and a chance at informal interaction without the watchful eye of the occasionally 
intimidating professor looking on. This idea is not nearly as appealing to Singaporean 
students who are very technically-inclined and live a good portion of their life in the 
virtual realm. To generalize, the average student is not as extroverted as the average 
North American student, for example, so we hypothesized that the virtual language table 
would be more appealing to them.
As this project is a work in progress, I am not yet advanced enough to provide the 
methodological issues in reporting our findings with the data from the app. Instead, this 
paper highlights the main areas of concern when developing a smart phone app right 
from the initial design. In fact, at the outset the designing was one of the most 
straightforward processes. As functionality was our focus, the design work was 
completed in two weeks, with the hardest task being acquiring approval from corporate 
communications for the use of the university logo with all the specifications that that 
entails. The development of the app proved a more difficult task than originally planned 
as we decided to make it available for ipad/iphone (ios) and android phones as well as 
have a web version to those that would not be able to use one of the previous platforms.
We were behind schedule after the first two months, since the developer had to build his 
own video capability instead of using a ready-made solution. Debugging all the versions 
is an ongoing and very time-consuming process, but what has emerged as the biggest 
challenge was transferring the developer’s server to an on
-site server at the university.
This is part of the risk in hiring an external developer who is not as well-versed in the 
functioning of the university system. The unforeseen issues involved in this transfer 
added 4 months onto our timeline. The bulk of this paper will highlight student issues 
when conducting trials of the app. A student survey will be administered shortly, so we 
will be able to provide the student’s perspective in the challenges that they have 
overcome in accomplishing their weekly tasks with the app.