David and everybody, in the summer I posted an article about using WhatsApp in adult ESL, and you raised a question about research which I could not answer at that time. Well, finally I found a research paper on the use of WhatsApp in teaching collocation to ESL students, see the summary below.
I am very interested to know if other programs include the use WhatsApp and smart phones in their classes. Considering the cuts in classes for beginning students, mobile learning can now be viewed as an effective way for working adults to learn English.
"Impact of WhatsApp on Learning Learning and Retention of Collocation Knowledge among Iranian EFL Learners" - "The results in each group were statistically evaluated and the findings manifested that the experimental group who used WhatsApp application in learning collocation significantly outperformed the control group in posttest. Thus usage of WhatsApp application to acquire collocations can reinforce and enhance the process of collocations acquisition and it can guarantee retention of collocations. This study also prepares pedagogical implications for utilizing mobile application as an influential instrument in learning a second language."
http://journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/alls/article/view/2620
Comments
Thanks, Paul. Below are some other studies and articles on the use of WhatsApp for English language teaching and learning. I found these doing a Google Scholar search with the key words "whatsapp" and "English language learning". If you do a search like this you might find more articles of interest on the use of WhatsApp for English language teaching.
David J. Rosen
Using WhatsApp to Enhance Students' Learning of English Language" Experience to Share".
MM Hamad - Higher Education Studies, 2017 - ERIC Education system has developed rapidly, technology has invaded our life, everyone hassmart phone these days, using WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Telegram, etc. No
one can deny that the generation we teach these days, has become addicted to these …
The Effectiveness of Using WhatsApp Messenger as One of Mobile Learning Techniques to Develop Students' Writing Skills.
SFESA Fattah - Journal of Education and Practice, 2015 - ERIC … Lam, Y., & Lawrence, G 2002, 'Teacher-student role redefinition during a computer-based secondlanguage project: Are computers catalysts for empowering change?' Computer Assisted
LanguageLearning,vol … ” English Language Learning Using WhatsApp Application” …
Improving learners’ reading skills through instant short messages: A sample study using WhatsApp
MGC Plana, MIG Escofet, IT Figueras, A Gimeno… - 2013 - books.google.com … Its learning programs must be based on pedagogical methodologies grounded in secondlanguage acquisition research … Churchill and Hedberg 2008), the authors designed a survey in order to explore the potential use of WhatsApp to help learners of English improve their … [PDF] ijreeonline.com
The use of technology in English language learning: A literature review
D Ahmadi, M Reza - International Journal of Research in English …, 2018 - ijreeonline.com … and helps them feel more confident, and increases learners' motivation to effectively learn a foreignlanguage … International Journal of Research in English Education … The effect of “WhatsApp” electronic dialogue journaling on improving writing vocabulary word choice and voice …
Do smartphones spur or deter learning: A WhatsApp case study
F Yavuz - International Journal of Educational Sciences, 2016 - Taylor & Francis … writing in WhatsApp and his results show that digital writing in WhatsApp has special … context,it is necessary to define the learner and teacher roles in language learning. In the domain of
English Language Teaching (ELT), several methodologists (Littlewood 1981; Richard and …
David - ok then, the question is answered!! Now the next question is....do teachers use WhatsApp? But I now also wonder what is happening with classes for beginning students who just need the basics. In any case, the key to using WA effecively is to have an "abundance of resources available" ala Montessori's philosophy.