In addition, Andersen 2013 mentions that there are a great variety of English language learning apps which focus on one skill. Some apps were developed for
practicing speaking and pronunciation, such as Think English, World Wide English, Speak English, and SPEAKit. There are also some apps which focus on listening
skills, such as LearnEnglish Podcasts, EnglishPodcast for Learners, and ESL Daily English. In addition, Andersen mentions that apps which focus on teaching
vocabulary, such as MyWordBook, Babbel, and Basic English, are easily found. The Android applications developed by the participants in this research focus
on some skills and are integrated in the English teaching and learning process at school. The applications are aimed to facilitate students in learning English at
anytime and from anywhere. Furthermore, the English language learning apps are developed based on the students’ needs, proficiency level, and curriculum being
used at school. The language learning materials used in the apps are taken from the textbook used in the classroom and adjusted to the standard of contents of English
lesson in Senior High School. Therefore, it is expected that the applications can help students in practicing the language skills they learn at school.
5. Developing an Android Application
As Android OS has grown worldwide, developers are offered with a wide range of programming tools to build apps. Most developers choose programming
tools which can be set up on the personal computer since they are easier to produce and can be tested using an Android emulator before distributing them in the market
“How to build an Android app”, 2011. There are two programming tools which PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
developers can use to develop Android apps with a PC, namely Android Software Development Kit SDK and App Inventor.
Schmidt et al. 2009: 14 define SDK as a set of development tools used to develop applications for Android platform. SDK is a free software which includes
required libraries, debugger, an emulator, relevant documentation for the Android application program interfaces APIs, sample source code, and tutorials for the
Android OS. Applications are written both in command prompt and using Java programming language. Although Android SDK can be used to develop Android
apps in the command prompt, integrated development environment IDE is more commonly used by the Android developers. Schmidt et al. 2009: 14 point out that
the recommended IDE is Eclipse which comes with Android development tools ADT plug-in.
App Inventor is another programming tool provided by Google. According to Wolber et al. 2011: 2 App Inventor is a visual, drag-and-drop tool for building
mobile apps on Android platform. With App Inventor, developers can easily design the user interface the visual appearance of the apps using a web-based graphical
user interface GUI builder, then specify the apps’ behavior by dragging and dropping the “blocks” as if they were working on puzzles. In doing so, App Inventor
provides developers with some components, namely visual components, non-visual components, events, behaviors, even-handlers, and variables Penta, n.d.. Visual
components are the things that developers can see on the phone’s screen, such as buttons, labels, and images. Non-visual components are invisible things which
comes with the application, such as sound and twitter service. Events are things that happen after certain actions being initiated, such as button being touched and an
option is selected. Behaviors refer to actions executed by the applications, e.g. playing a sound, moving an image. Event-handlers are behaviors executed in
response to some events. The last component which is variables refer to memory kept by the apps, such as the score of a game.
Penta n.d. proposes four elements developers should understand in developing apps using App Inventor. The first element which is App Inventor
Designer refers to the interface visual appearance of the apps and components used in the apps. The second element i.e. App Inventor Blocks Editor is where the
code is written by dragging and dropping the “blocks” which works like puzzles. The third element is Android Emulator. This element enables developers to test the
apps on a virtual phone. The last element, Android phone, is an optional element which functions similarly as Android Emulator. These four elements, therefore, are
needed by app developers in order to successfully develop an application.
Figure 2.5. The Four Elements in App Inventor Penta, n.d.
