Mobile-Enabled Language Learning Eco-System Agnieszka Palalas George Brown College Toronto, Canada apalalas@georgebrown.ca ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of a Design-Based Research (DBR) study which resulted in a prototype of the Mobile- Enabled Language Learning Eco-System (MELLES) and replicable design principles to guide development of practical innovative mobile learning interventions. The MELLES solution was generated to augment in-class practice of ESP skills with learning embedded in real-life dynamic communicative situations. The solution was developed over multiple cycles of design, development, and testing which involved students and practitioners representing all relevant fields. The study and design activities were conducted at a Canadian community college and were guided by the Ecological Constructivist framework which evolved as a result of the initial stages of the project. The DBR methodology and the study outcomes are discussed along with the key features and various interdependent components of the MELLES system. Author Keywords Mobile-Enabled Language Learning (MELL), English for Special Purposes (ESP), Ecological Constructivism, MALL, Design-Based Research (DBR), contextualized learning INTRODUCTION A longitudinal Design-Based Research (DBR) study exploring the design of a Mobile-Enabled Language Learning (MELL) solution resulted in two key outcomes, specifically a MELL system prototype and a set of corresponding design principles. The study addressed the problem of inadequate aural skill acquisition among adult English for Special Purposes (ESP) students at a Canadian community college in Toronto. Previous research identified both aural and oral competencies as critical for students’ academic and professional success (Palalas, 2009). The reported interventionist study drew on four years of research which had explored this problem in-situ and identified m-learning, situated in the real-world context, as an appropriate approach for augmenting in-class ESP instruction. Hence, the DBR study sought a flexible solution which, while engaging learners in interactive communicative tasks, would also afford individual listening practice at the time and place convenient for the learner. Moreover, a need for belonging to a community of learners and communicating with peers had to be addressed in the design under investigation. Accordingly, the main purpose of the study was to produce a MELL intervention which would offer flexible contextualized ESP practice - learning that involves interaction with others but at the same time is personalized to learner preferences. Effective utilization of students’ own mobile devices as well as working around data plan and wireless connection limitations were two other pieces of the MELL puzzle. Eighteen months of rigorous data collection and analysis coupled with the design activities resulted in the Mobile- Enabled Language Learning Eco-System (MELLES). The system evolved from individual m-learning object prototypes to a whole network of actors, learning tasks and resources integrating the environmental supports with the help of mobile technologies. The evolution of the investigated educational intervention necessitated a revision of the theoretical framework guiding the study. Hence, the initially selected Socio-Cultural Theory was replaced to provide a more holistic and contextual theoretical model required to fit the MELL design advocated by the participant feedback. Ecological Constructivism was thus adopted as the theoretical framework for the remainder of the project. This ecological paradigm demonstrated to be appropriate for MELL design and practice. It melded together all the essential elements of an effective MELL solution which is described in this paper using an ecological lens. METHODOLOGY This research adopted the DBR approach which demonstrated to be suitable for this participative interventional study engaging learners and practitioners to investigate educational problems and solutions in their original setting. An overview of the DBR method, its procedures, participants, as well as data collection and analysis activities are presented in the sections below. Design-Based Research (DBR) The following definition of DBR captures the salient characteristics of this method as demonstrated through the study: A systematic but flexible methodology aimed to improve educational practices through iterative analysis, design, development, and implementation, based on collaboration among researchers and practitioners in real-world settings, and leading to contextually-sensitive design principles and theories. (Wang & Hannafin, 2005, p. 7)