عاطفه نصراللهی موزیرجی

 Juxtaposing the ubiquitous facets of mobile technology as everyware (Greenfield, 2010) and vocabulary as one of the most axial aspects of language learning (Bowles & Cogo, 2016; Schmitt & Schmitt, 2020) , besides the importance of considering learners’ attributes and needs (Taghizadeh, 2019) while developing a mobile vocabulary application (app), necessitates analyzing the relationship and impact of all these elements in a single structural model. To tackle the issue, first, via a mixed-methods design, the researcher developed a bespoke mobile application using the task model and the principles of agile methodology. and then investigated the impact of using the app on a sample of 62 Iranian EFL university students’ vocabulary recognition and recall, the results of which were published in two other articles. In this study, the researcher integrated the obtained data within a proposed structural model and assessed the model's fitness to investigate the interaction and interrelationship among the latent variables mentioned above. The results obtained from SEM-PLS analyses revealed that within the unified structural model, the learners’ preferences and needs were favorably influenced by their learning style orientation and technology savviness. Similarly, the findings verified the positive impact of considering learners’ preferences and needs during the agile app development lifecycle on the target participants’ vocabulary knowledge, encompassing vocabulary recognition and recall. Finally, the fitness of the proposed structural model was verified based on the criteria for model assessment mentioned by Sparks and Alamer (2022) . The SEM-PLS data analyses and the implications of the study are presented and discussed.

Since 2012, the ELT experts of Iran’s Ministry of Education have developed and published series titled ‘ Prospect ’ which includes three successive textbooks designed for teaching English to the students of grades 7th, 8th and 9th of junior high schools of Iran. It is a fact that the key components of all educational programs are the textbooks, the efficiency of which contributes to the accomplishment of the pedagogical goals of the curriculum. With the goal of helping Iranian materials developers modify ‘ Prospect ’ series and improve the overall quality of the very textbooks, this study aimed to conduct evaluation over one of the series namely ‘ Prospect 1 ’ through screening EFL teachers' perception who have been incorporating the textbook in their online and conventional classrooms at least during the last five years. By emulating a model provided by McDonough and Shaw (1993) on the basis of external and internal evaluation of textbooks, a 55-five-point Likert scale questionnaire was adapted by the researchers and the required data were gathered from 46 female and 58 male English teachers in urban and rural junior high schools of Gilan and Mazandaran provinces of Iran. The findings revealed that EFL teachers were relatively dissatisfied with some important facets of ‘ Prospect 1. ’ Our respondents believed that the textbook is really poor in printing quality, and it lacks attractive and motivating pictures and illustrations. Moreover, not incorporating variant dialects and authentic language, not using modern techniques such as typography and perceptual saliency, and not considering the needs of the learners or different learning styles, are among other shortcomings that seem to be in dire need of modification.

There have been some observed studies and developed applications (apps), with a concentration on Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), and no consideration of communicative needs of the learners; besides, these studies focused on either the theoretical aspects or the utilization of the available apps in the market (Burston & Athanasiou, 2020). Hence, Vocabulary Guru (VG), a custom-made mobile application, was developed based on a critical framework and an agile approach to fill out the gap. To tackle the issue, after carrying out a qualitative needs analysis via interviews, the first version of the app was developed and released to the target intermediate EFL university students. The next iterations were developed interactively and creatively, in congruence with the feedback received from the target learners. This cycle of incrementing and re-coding of the app continued until the attractor basins superseded. In the current paper, to shed light on how dynamically the interaction between learners and developers can yield in applications, which are more user-friendly and appropriate for a unique pedagogical setting, the life cycle of VG has been discussed. The agile app development processes of the current study may be useful for vocabulary specialists, teachers, educators, app developers, and pedagogical foundations involved in or considering the design and development of mobile apps by critically analyzing the unique needs of the target population in an interactive dynamic, agile life cycle. The developed app (i.e., VG) may also be utilized by EFL learners who would like to learn academic vocabulary in an educational context.