Towards Mobile Assisted Language Learning Based on Computational Thinking

In mobile assisted language learning, devices are mostly used to provide digital, captivating versions of traditional exercises to teach the four language skills foreseen by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The goal of this paper is to introduce an innovative and novel approach to German learning, which goes beyond learning with the assistance of mobile devices. The idea is to create a mobile app, which includes exercises that require computational thinking to be applied. This allows us to reach two goals. First, learners can discover the grammatical structures and become able to apply them in other contexts, which shows competence acquisition. Second, the assessment of these exercises allows us to measure competencies (also partial ones), beside knowledge. Such a diagnostic assessment can be helpful both for learners (to understand where improvement is needed) and for teachers (to check the effectiveness of their activities). In this paper, we show sample applications to illustrate concretely the potentials of our approach.