Mobile language learning: More than just “The Platform” (A commentary on Glenn Stockwell’s “Using Mobile Phones for Vocabulary Activities: Examining the Effect of the Platform,” Language Learning & Technology Vol. 14, No. 2)

Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) is attracting a great deal of attention at present (Stockwell & Sotillo, 2011).However, it is important that teacher and researcher exploitation of technological developments be guided by more than just enthusiasm.Language Learning & Technology's commitment to empirical studies is admirable but, for conclusions based on empirical research to be valid, it is important to be clear about exactly what any data being gathered pertains to.In many ways, Stockwell (2010) presents a solid piece of research on the effects of the mobile phone platform on vocabulary activities; however, it could be argued that efforts made to ensure the comparability of the data gathered resulted in the data gathered having little relevance to genuine MALL activities.To some extent, this can be explained as a consequence of the speed of technological innovation in this area, but in other respects, it suggests that more care needs to be taken to develop a research framework within which the platform is not artificially separated from the learning activity.If such a framework can be developed, the scope of findings would have considerably greater validity and represent a far greater contribution to an empirical account of MALL.