Benefits of mobile instant messaging to develop ESL writing

• Published in: System (Linköping) Vol. 62; pp. 63 - 76
• Main Author: Andujar, Alberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2016; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Chat-based conversation; Clauses; Collaborative learning; Computer assisted language learning; English as a second language; Instant messaging; Mobile assisted language learning; Mobile instant messaging; Mobile phones; Noticing; Quantitative analysis; Second language writing; Spanish language; Syntactic complexity; Mobile assisted language learning; Noticing; Mobile instant messaging; Collaborative learning; Chat-based conversation; Second language writing
• ISSN: 0346-251X; 1879-3282
• DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2016.07.004

This study investigated the benefits of Mobile Instant Messaging (MIM) through an analysis of grammatical, lexical and mechanical accuracy as well as syntactic complexity in second-language learners' writing. A WhatsApp group was created where 80 Spanish students taking a B1 English course participated in a daily interaction during six months. A quasi-experimental research design with an experimental and control group and a pre-post test was followed. Students were divided into two main groups according to treatment type with 40 students in each group. This research focused on the interaction in the application and attempted to measure, through a qualitative and quantitative analysis, the students' degree of writing development. The ratios of lexical, grammatical and mechanical errors as well as error-free clauses per clause and error-free T-unit per T-unit indicated significant differences between the control and experimental group in terms of accuracy. Nevertheless, measures of syntactic complexity together with lexical diversity were not conclusive as the independent parameters for syntactic complexity showed no significant differences between the two groups. WhatsApp constitutes a powerful educational tool to encourage second language interaction among participants and its tremendous potential to activate students' involvement remains one of the least exploited functionalities of mobile phones.