The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore what type of language learning opportunities teacher and students can create using cell phones and investigate the perceptions of students on the use of cell phones for learning activities.

1. Perceptions of English language
Dominican Students on cell phone
use for language learning activities
Gisela Martiz
AECT International Convention
Anaheim, California
October 31, 2013

2. Background

The use of mobile devices to enhance learning opportunities
regardless of time and place is known as mobile learning.

In general, mobile learning research in English language
education has yielded positive results (Chinnery, 2006; Kukulska-Hulme, 2009; 2010).

Mobile learning research in this field is popular in developed and
developing countries across East and South Asia (China, Korea,
Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran, Bangladesh,Turkey).

Cell phones are widely used in Latin American developing
countries like the Dominican Republic (DR) (Priestley, 2012; Sutherland, 2011).
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3. Need statement

English language is very important for young adult professional
development in the DR (Universia, 2008)

Access to technology for language learning is limited in many
Dominican educational institutions (Cultura Digital, 2012).

Mobile learning research (in language learning particularly) is
scarce in developing Latin American countries like the DR (UNESCO,
2012; SCOPEO, 2011).

It is necessary to explore how students’ own mobile technologies
can be integrated inside and outside the classroom to enhance their
language learning experience.
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4. Purpose of Pilot Study

Explore what type of language learning opportunities that the
teacher and students can create using cell phones.

Investigate the perceptions of Dominican English language
students on the use of cell phones for learning activities.

Provide ideas for options in the use of cell phones in
language learning activities for the dissertation study in the
Dominican Republic (DR).
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5. Research Questions
RQ1. What type of language learning activities can a Dominican
English language instructor and her students do using cell phone
features?
RQ2. What are the perceptions of Dominican English language
students on the use of cell phones for learning activities during a
summer immersion program?
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6. Theoretical Perspective

Embodied Interaction
Creation, manipulation and sharing of meaning through engaged
interaction with artifacts (Dourish 2001, p. 126)

Appropriation
Appropriation connects the technical aspects of the artifact with the
social aspect of the learner.
Teachers and learners adopt new uses of their own mobile
technologies that go beyond their intended regular use (Jones & Issroff,
2007; Pachler, 2009; Waycott, Jones & Scanlon, 2005)

Affordances
Features of an artifact (or an environment in general) that allow
particular sorts of actions to appropriately equip individuals.
(Dourish, 2001)
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7. Methodology
Exploratory case study
•
A Case study approach provides an in-depth description of a
phenomenon of a unit of analysis or a bounded system (Merriam, 2009; Yin,
2003)

Participants
Selected through purposeful sampling:
◦Instructor
 Female Dominican English language instructor
 Experience teaching English as a foreign language in the DR,
and as second language in the summer program.
◦Students
 15 Dominican university students with ages ranging from 18 to 25
 Part of a larger group of students participating in the summer
English immersion program
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8. Suggested mobile learning activities
Cell phone
feature
Potential uses
Language
skill/compone
nt emphasized
Reference from
the literature
Textmessaging
Instructional material delivery in
“chunks”
Delivery of vocabulary words
Quizzes
Reading
(Cooney & Keogs,
2007;
Saran et al., 2008; Lu,
2008)
Picture
camera
Vocabulary learning through cell
phone pictures
Vocabulary
(Basoglu & Akdermir,
2010)
Video
recording
Recording conversations in the target
language
Oral proficiency
Gromik, 2012
Audio
recording
Interviewing/listening to a native
speaker
Describing a place in the target culture
Speaking/
listening
Ros i Sole (2009)
Mobile
internet
Post an entry in a mobile blog
Look up information online
Writing/reading
Comas-Quinn, et al.
(2009)
Bluetooth
Transfer instructional material to and
from another mobile device or
computer.
Varies
Dennet & Traxler
(2007)
Vocabulary
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9. Suggested resources for learning activities
Cellphones:
• Students’ own smartphones (7
total)
• Cell phones loaned: AT&T
Z431 GoPhone® - prepaid
model from AT&T (8 total)

Main features:
◦ Picture Camera
◦ Video recording
◦ Audio recording
◦ Text messaging
◦ Music Player
◦ Mobile web
◦ Bluetooth
Image Source: Google images
Labeled for reuse
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10. Data collection procedures
Primary Data Collection Source
Week #1
• 13 completed pre-questionnaires
Week #2
Week #3
• 7 Individual semi-structured
interviews with teacher & students
• Teacher lesson-plan
• 2 Participant observations
Week #4
Details
Demographic questions
11 closed-ended items on
cell phone use
2 open ended questions
8 guiding interview questions
 lasted 30 min to 1h long
Classroom observations of
student activities using cell
phones
• 4 Participant observations
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11. Data collection procedures
Primary Data Collection Source
Details
Week #5
• 2 Participant observations
Week #6
• Individual semi-structured postinterviews with 4 students
-9 guiding questions
- Lasted 30 mins to 1hr long
Week# 7
Individual semi-structured postinterviews with 4 students
15 post-questionnaires
-19 closed items (frequency of
use)
-13 closed-ended items (likert
scale)
-2 open-ended questions
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12. Data Analysis
Primary Data Collection
Source
Research question
Planned analysis
RQ1. What type of learning
activities can a Dominican
English language instructor and
her students create using cell
phone features?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pre-questionnaire
7 Pre-interviews
Participant Observations
Teacher lesson plan
8 Post-interviews
Post Questionnaire
• Descriptive statistics
• Thematic analysis
(In Vivo & Open coding)
(Axial & Focused coding)
RQ2. What are the perceptions
of Dominican English language
students on the use of cell
phones as tools for learning
activities tools during a summer
immersion program?
•
•
•
•
Pre-questionnaire
Pre-interviews
Post-questionnaire
Post-interviews
• Descriptive statistics
• Thematic analysis
(In Vivo & Open coding)
(Axial & Focused coding)
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13. Student ownership and cellphone use (pre-questionnaire)
Mobile devices owned in
the DR by participants
Teacher-guided learning activities using
cellphones in the DR
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14. RQ1.What type of learning activities can a Dominican
English language instructor and her students do using
cell phone features?
Offline learning opportunities
 In the classroom:
• Taking pictures of information on
whiteboard or PowerPoint slides
• Video recording student presentations
• Audio recording teacher lecture
 Outside the classroom:
• Taking pictures of objects, places,
signs
• Listening to songs in English on cell
phone playlist
• Vocabulary words & reminders from
the teacher through text messages
• Transfer files from cell phones to
other devices via Bluetooth
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15. RQ1.What type of learning activities can a Dominican
English language instructor and her students do using
cell phone features?
Online learning opportunities
 In the classroom:
Voting in poll system
 In and out the classroom:
Looking up unknown words in online
dictionaries
Using Google Search/Google Translator
Outside the classroom:
•Listening to songs in English online
(Spotify, Pandora, etc)
•Checking class related emails
•Watching YouTube videos in English
with lyrics
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16. Polling activities (inside the
classroom
Text messaging activities
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17. Frequency of activities (Post-questionnaire)
Accessing online/downloaded
dictionaries
Using Google Search
e) never
e) never
d) rarely
d) rarely
c) sometimes
c) sometimes
b) often
b) often
a) daily
0
a) daily
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
2
4
6
8
10
12
6
7
7
Recording videos
Taking pictures in the classroom
e) never
e) never
d) rarely
d) rarely
c) sometimes
c) sometimes
b) often
b) often
a) daily
a) daily
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
0
1
2
3
4
5
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18. RQ2. What are the perceptions of Dominican English
language students on the use of cell phones as tools
for learning activities tools during a summer
immersion program
• Useful to provide peer and selffeedback
• Help to improve writing & speaking
skills
• Promotes communication
• Helps remember and better
understand new concepts
• Some activities promote
confidentiality and anonymity
• Saves times
•Can be distracting with the use of social
networks
•Cell phone use restriction
•Lack of information in effective use of
cell phone
•Concerns about DR teachers’
willingness to integrate cell phones to
learning activities
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19. Student perceptions (post-questionnaire )
•
I would enjoy the use of cell phones in my classes because their use
promotes creativity and new ways of thinking.
•
I feel that my teachers would be more willing to facilitate the effective use of
cell phones in their classrooms if cell phones were allowed in my English
classes.
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20. Preliminary findings (cont…)
•
Integrating cellphones into the language learning activities can motivate
students in classrooms with limited access to technology
•
If the teacher has a clear learning objective, distraction would not be a
problem when using cellphones as learning tools in the classroom
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21. Discussion: affordances of cell phones for
language learning activities
Feature phone
Images Source: Google images
Labeled for reuse
Smartphone
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22. Appropriating cell phones for learning activities
•
•
Appropriation occurred as students adopted new uses of their own
mobile technologies that went beyond their intended regular use.
Students engaged mostly in language learning opportunities on their
own initiative:
“ I recorded many activities that we did in class, and then listened to
them at home. These were some things I used to do, I would listen to
what they said and see if I understood.” (Video/audio used for
feedback)
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23. Appropriating cell phones for learning activities
“I usually took pictures of the activities we were doing. In art and
ceramics (class) there were words I didn‘t know what they
mean(t) so I took pictures. For example, (pointing at a cup) this is
“clay”, so I take a picture of it and write “clay” to remember the
word.” (cell phone pictures used for vocabulary learning)
"I started listening to the radio (on my cellphone) and my playlist
because I was really bad at listening to the lyrics of the songs. I’ve
improved now” ( listening songs to improve listening skills)
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24. Limitations
• Small sample of participants
• Students with advanced English language proficiency
• A “Speaking” class (limited activities could be implemented
with cell phones)
• Different setting than a usual English language classroom in
the Dominican Republic.
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25. Conclusion & further research
• Students perceived that cell phones were useful to enhance
their language learning experience.
• Students also acknowledged that some activities would be
difficult to implement in a DR context.
• Further research is necessary to explore the affordances of
cell phones in an English language classroom in the DR, in
order to localize effectively mobile learning activities to that
context.
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26. Questions?
Comments?

27. Websites sources:
• Celly: http://cel.ly/
• Polleverywhere: http://www.polleverywhere.com/
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