Extending language learning beyong the classroom through WhatsApp

Abstract

WhatsApp is a powerful tool for L2 learning because of its capacity to promote interaction between teacher and student, as well as among students. Its use has also been shown to support ubiquitous learning. In an attempt to extend language learning beyond the classroom, this study reports on the use of instant messaging through WhatsApp by a group of EFL learners (n=23) who were regularly sent optional language-learning tasks by their teacher during an intensive summer course. By the end of a five-week-period, a total of 764 messages had been produced, most of them by the students and in the context of the teacher-initiated tasks. The WhatsApp group was also used for informal communication among the students and with the teacher (a total of 289 off-task messages). While students had the chance to practise English outside class time and engage in real communication through the language-learning tasks, off-task communication, which grew over time, saw students engaging in more spontaneous and symmetrical interactions. Negotiation of form and content was scarce, but both on-task and off-task messages turned out to be equally productive in engaging students to use English beyond the walls of the classroom.