Yabla Inc. is an online

computer-assisted language learning Computer-assisted language learning (CALL), known as computer-aided instruction (CAI) in British English and computer-aided language instruction (CALI) in American English, Levy (1997: p. 1) briefly defines it as "the exploration and study of co ...

(CALL) company featuring interactive videos of various difficulty levels and genres (including television dramas, music videos, animation, interviews, and grammar/vocabulary lessons). Yabla is currently available in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Mandarin Chinese, and English. Based in New York, NY, Yabla was incorporated in 2001 and began accepting subscribers to its French and Spanish sites in 2005. Its customer base is mainly composed of native English speakers from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia.

Yabla player

The interactive Yabla video player includes dual-language captions that can be independently displayed or hidden according to the user’s preference. Users can also click on a word in the captions to view its definition in an integrated dictionary tool and add it to a list of flashcards. The Yabla player also includes pitch-corrected slow play, which allows users to slow down the speech in each caption. A vocabulary review exercise and a cloze-based listening game provide further opportunities for user interaction.

Video content and sources

Yabla videos feature native speakers, and the majority are licensed from third parties, such as

Telefe Telefe (acronym for Televisión Federal) is a television station located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The station is owned and operated by Paramount Global through Televisión Federal S.A. Telefe is also one of Argentina's six national televisio ...

in Argentina, RAI in Italy, and rheinmaintv in Germany, with additional videos produced by the company. All licensed material features authentic content, or content that is produced specifically for native speakers. Yabla’s interactive, multimodal features act as “mediators” between the user and the native speakers in the videos, thus offering an immersive approach to language learning. The Yabla player was the first of its kind in the CALL field to offer mediated, user-controlled access to authentic content.

Subscribers and educational partners

Yabla offers a subscription-based service geared toward individuals, high schools, universities, and other organizations. Yabla subscribers have included such institutions as the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. State Department, and the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Institutions have the option of tailoring Yabla features and content to their specific needs. Recently, Yabla supplied videos and technology to the

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

university Spanish textbook ''Dos Mundos.''

Iowa State University study

A study on LoMásTv (the former name of the Yabla Spanish site) was conducted by Cristina Pardo-Ballester of

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

, focusing on the use of the website in the university’s intermediate Spanish courses.

References

{{reflist Applied linguistics Language acquisition Language education Language learning software Learning methods Language education materials Language-teaching methodology Language-teaching techniques Pedagogy Second-language acquisition