Using WhatsApp to facilitate language learning in preparation

for and during the year abroad

E- symposium 2015 22nd January, 2013 - 23rd January, 2015

University of Southampton

Isabel Cobo Palacios, Billy Brick and Tiziana Cervi-Wilson

Coventry University

Growth of Internet messaging

The project

Tasks

Participation

Responses

Positive and negative aspects

Feedback

Future Directions

Overview

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Students don’t feel confident with the language before spending their 3rd Year abroad

Motivation for the project

‘Even sending us an email asking how we were getting on would’ve made a huge difference’

The Guardian, (2014)

Universities don't offer enough support

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Immediacy

Grouping feature

Accessibility

Multiple formats: videos, images, sound

Cross-network and device coverage

“The greatest and most important part of our daily learning is made through informal learning” (Rogers, 2004)

Advantages of the use of

WhatsApp Brick and Cervi-Wilson

(2014)

Expertise

Wlodkowski’s Motivational Framework for Culturally

Responsive Teaching

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Empathy

Enthusiasm Clarity

Cultural Responsiveness

Wlodkowski (2008)

WhatsApp Project

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10 University students

Year abroad experience

Third year

Spanish and French undergraduates

October November December January February March April

Formal/Informal/Non formal

Learning. Rogers (2004)

May June July August September

To enhance learners’ efficacy

To improve learners’ linguistic output

To develop learners’ cultural awareness Byram (1997)

To support learners on their year abroad and to build a community

Objectives

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Audio or video introducing themselves

Role-play (Landlord and Tenant)

Short tasks

Open questions

Sending links or articles to ask them for their opinion

WhatsApp Tasks

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New experiences

and trips

Pre-departure preparation

Personal problems encountered

Hobbies

Accommodation

Cultural issues

Tasks suggested by the tutor

Breaking the Ice

Quantitative Analysis

Monthly participation

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Student A Student B Student C Student D Student E Student F Student G Student H Student I Student J

November

October

September

August

July

June

May

Start Conv.

Six months (May-November)

1222 messages sent

Let’s get started

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Introductions

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Audio recordings

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Abbreviations

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Opening a Bank Account

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Cultural Differences

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Role-play (Tenant & Landlord)

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Weather

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Football

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Feeling ill

Spanish Cinema

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Writing emails

Apologies

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Expanding Vocabulary ¿Cómo se dice?

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Images

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Common Errors

Feedback by Email

Language Sample analysis

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Yes

Keep the Group Alive

Motivation

Time Consuming?

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Feedback

“Personally, I think this is a big concept and it is very interactive. I am a

bit disappointed by myself because I did

not take part as much as I wanted”

“The best part for me was sharing our experiences abroad

and learning with Isa the Spanish

culture”

Feedback

What did you enjoy most?

Speaking and writing in Spanish since I work

teaching English and I found hard to practice

my Spanish here as much.

Why did you join this project?

Because I want to practice my Spanish and

keep in touch with my classmates.

Continue with this group until the end of the academic year

Show learners improvement through language samples and a decrease in their errors

Lessons learnt

Future Directions

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Ashenden, A (2014). ’Year-abroad students say universities don't offer enough support’. The Guardian [online] 15 December available from <http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/dec/15/universities-failing-provide-welfare-support-year-abroad-students> [20 January 2015]

Brick, B. & Cervi-Wilson, T. (2014) WhatsApp: Language Learning on-the-go. LLAS Annual E-Learning Symposium. Held 23-24 January 2014

Byram, M. (1997) Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon. Multilingual Matters.

Gander, K (2015) ’ WhatsApp for PC: messaging web client now available on internet browsers’. The Independent [online] 21 January available from < http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-now-available-on-web-browsers-9993675.html?cmpid=facebook-post > [21 January 2015]

Gasmi, A (2014) ’ Mobile assisted language learning: potential and limitations of using 'whatsapp' messenger to enhance students writing skills ’ . INTED2014 Proceedings, p. 7243. [online] 12 March available from <http://library.iated.org/view/GASMI2014MOB > [21 January 2015]

Rogers, A. (2004) Non-Formal Education: flexible schooling or participatory education? Hong Kong University Press .

Wlodkowski, R. J (2008) Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn: A Comprehensive Guide for Teaching All Adults. California: John Wiley & Sons.

References

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