Affordances of smartphones and Facebook tools to enhance the teaching and learning of English for English as a Second Language learners

Abstract

The growing field of mobile learning (m-learning) research concerning the use and effectiveness of mobile assisted language learning (MALL) in second and foreign language (L2) education reflects the possibilities of smart mobile technological devices to facilitate students’ control over their own learning. This research aims to find the pedagogical affordances of mobile learning in combination with Web 2.0 tools with a particular focus on the use of smartphone and Facebook as tools to enhance teaching and learning of English for English as a Second Language learners. Using Design Based Research (DBR) as an approach to conduct this study, the initial design framework was developed from the literature and the exploratory phase. It was tested and developed through a series of iterations and the impacts of each iteration were evaluated using interviews and qualitative data analysis. 37 participants were involved in this study; 12 in the Exploratory Study, 17 in Iteration 1 and 8 in Iteration 2. One of the most important findings reported in the first iteration is the impact of a sense of social obligation whereby participants felt under pressure from their peers to post and to participate. This social obligation effect can have both positive and negative consequences for learning and was further explored in the second iteration. Based on the findings from both iterations, this study suggested a design framework to be used by future research that explored ways in which pedagogical designs for m-learning with social networking can take this social obligation effect into account in order to avoid its negative consequences and make best use of its positive consequences.