The Lang-Track-App

Researchers and educators are increasingly interested in understanding the role that different languages play in our everyday lives, with the aim of harnessing learners' perspectives to improve language education for all from the bottom up.

This poses a methodological challenge, as existing research instruments are not well suited to collecting data on language use outside educational or experimental settings. We therefore developed the Lang-Track-App, an open-source set of tools designed to help researchers collect richer and more reliable qualitative and quantitative data.

We developed the Lang-Track-App in a cross-functional team consisting of software and mobile developers as well as researchers in linguistics and psychology. We collaborated on the design and implementation of three connected tools:

• Mobile survey application. Native iOS and Android apps for signalling research participants via push notifications and collecting survey responses.
• Administrative website. A researcher-facing interface for uploading surveys, scheduling notifications, and exporting data.
• Web service and database. The backend for the app and website, storing user lists, survey schedules, and questionnaire data.

We began with a scoping review of available tools and methods to identify barriers and opportunities for better meeting researchers' goals and requirements. A key insight was that the application needed to support customised adaptations for a wide range of research projects, while also giving researchers complete control over data flow and data management in order to comply with ethical guidelines and GDPR regulations.

Following an agile development process, we built an initial minimum viable product and expanded it through iterative testing with researchers and research participants. We conducted several shorter pilot tests as well as two multi-year proof-of-concept studies with two contrasting groups: university students and adult refugees.

These studies were used both to demonstrate the usability of the Lang-Track-App in research and to develop best practices for integrating the tools into the full research process, from study design through data analysis and communication of findings.

The full open-source code, documentation, and conditions of use for the Lang-Track-App are available on GitHub under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

We encourage researchers to use and adapt these tools in the interest of Open Science, and require new iterations to be shared in order to support the long-term sustainability of the Lang-Track-App through continuous integration.

We have introduced the Lang-Track-App to the research community through presentations at international conferences and professional publications, demonstrating the value of the app through possible use cases and relevant research processes.

We are also planning a new version, Lang-Track-App-Viz, which will incorporate principles of Persuasive Technology to visualise and provide feedback on learners' everyday language use.