The process of learning to read is more difficult for English language learners (ELLs) because they are often learning a new language as they are trying to learn to read. Learning irregular/high-frequency words (sight words) may be especially challenging for ELL students. Limited research exists on the effects of interventions designed to help ELL…

Many studies have demonstrated the crucial role of vocabulary in predicting reading performance in general. More recent work has indicated that one particular facet of vocabulary (its depth) is more closely related to language comprehension, especially inferential comprehension. On this basis, we developed a training application to specifically…

Technology-based interventions have been used to improve reading skills for students with reading difficulties. Thus, many literature reviews and meta-analyses have investigated the effectiveness of this type of intervention; however, constant changes in the technology field make it important to review the most recent studies and how these studies…

A repeated acquisition (RA) design was used to compare the effectiveness of research-based instruction embedded in repeated storybook reading facilitated by an adult or tablet application (app) on the vocabulary knowledge of six preschool children. All participants selected scored below the 40th percentile on the "Preschool Language…

An adapted alternating treatments design, replicated across two books, was used to examine the effects of Dialogic Reading delivered using traditional paperback books and technology-enhanced books utilizing a Surface tablet on the vocabulary acquisition of four preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. For each book, 30 words were randomly…

Tablet devices, as assistive and instructional technologies, can be highly effectual pedagogical tools with multifaceted benefits, such as the ability to integrate multimedia and the ability to track student progress over time. The unique value of particular assistive and instructional technologies explains, in part, why they are more widely used…

The use of iPad and other handheld devices in classrooms is spreading. Their use can empower learners and expose them to a plethora of resources. Yet, when it comes to learning a foreign language, reasonably little has been done to empirically ascertain the influence of iPad apps on facilitating language learning as well as engaging language…

The present study examined students' perspectives on using smartphones and social media to fill a lacuna in mobile-assisted feedback in L2 vocabulary learning. As part of a vocabulary-building activity, 208 undergraduate students in Korea drafted sentences incorporating target vocabulary taught by their instructor and uploaded their sentences to a…

Literacy is regarded as a fundamental skill for people to communicate successfully in all areas of life. In the light of the poor performance of learners, an investigation concerning reading is imperative to enhance literacy in South Africa. This study explores the use of tablets to enhance English reading among learners in Grade 5 from selected…

Supplementing classroom reading with smartphones can develop better vocabulary knowledge, comprehension, technology skills, and writing. This article connects smartphones to reading complex, informational text and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The author suggests that smartphones motivate, scaffold comprehension, and invite…

In recent years, rapid developments in technology have placed books and notebooks into the mobile phones and tablets and also the dictionaries into these small boxes. Giant dictionaries, which we once barely managed to carry, have been replaced by mobile dictionaries through which we can reach any words we want with only few touches. Mobile…

This article, intended to inform educators on how to use iPad apps for literacy development for young children with developmental disabilities, briefly reviews the literature on iPad apps for literacy development, examines key apps for literacy development for children with developmental disabilities, and discusses how to incorporate iPad apps…

This paper reports on the use of an English-language reading practice application for an Android tablet computer with students who are not native speakers of English. The application materials for vocabulary learning in reading-passage contexts were created to include words from a database of low-frequency and technical noun-verb collocations…

The aim of this book was to present innovative applications of technology in second language teaching and learning, as well as to explore the transformation of the different techniques to different theoretical frameworks. It has also been desired to have a representation of researchers from different parts of the world as contributors. When the…