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Using Mobile Instant Messaging Apps for ESL Writing Classes

 

Caylee Hope


These days, teachers are constantly reminding their students to put away their smartphones during class. Smartphones often become a source of distraction in the classroom, but there is a way that writing teachers can use them to their advantage. Second language or foreign language writing classes can benefit greatly from the use of mobile instant messaging apps (mIM). Mobile instant messaging apps, such as WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and Whatsapp are already widely popular and commonly used among many ESL/EFL students, meaning that teachers can easily take advantage of a system that students already have some familiarity with.

 

Why Should ESL Teachers Use mIM Apps?

            Research supports the finding that mIM apps can benefit second language writing students. A study conducted using Whatsapp showed that students who wrote in the app displayed a significant decrease in writing errors, including grammatical, lexical, and mechanical errors, compared to students who did not utilize the app (Andujar 2016). Beyond that, Andujar also found that students were more willing to communicate with the teacher because the mIM medium reduced teacher-student distance (2016). Also, research shows that using these apps can cause students to be more motivated because the in-class activities more closely reflect real-life situations (Winet 2016).

 

Three Ways ESL Teachers can Use These Apps in the Writing Classroom

            In his article Mobile Instant Messaging in the ESL Writing Class, Dave Winet provides several practical tips for integrating an mIM app into the classroom, a few of which I believe can be helpful to ESL Writing teachers.

            First, teachers can use these apps as an alternative to daily journals. The teacher can send out the prompt and allow the students to respond. Some of these apps, like WeChat have a computer-based platform, so that the teacher can project the messages in the classroom, and the class can collectively analyze responses. Using this method, the teacher can point out errors in students’ writing and use it to discuss corrections. Not only that, but students may be able to ‘recall’ their messages so that they can be corrected and resent.

            Second, the teacher can create smaller groups in the apps so that students can communicate more with one another. This allows the teacher to give prompts that allow for debate and discussion, which encourage more communication. This group method allows the writing activity to become more of a conversation, using writing as a tool rather than simply as a subject to be studied. Because the messages are read by students and the teacher quickly, students may feel more motivated to produce good writing, knowing that their peers will see it, and students may be able to give one another peer feedback.

            Third, as has already been touched on in the other points, mIMs are useful tools for providing feedback. Not only can there be feedback given in class, or peer-to-peer feedback, but teachers can also provide feedback by using the voice-recording features of these apps. Because of this, students are able to replay the feedback as many times as necessary so that they can fully understand what the teacher is asking of them. Of course, teachers can always use text to provide feedback as well, giving the students a model of good writing skills. Again, the ability to provide feedback through these apps decreases the distance between the teacher and the students, and it may encourage students to ask questions about concepts they don’t understand.

 

            Mobile Instant Messaging apps can be greatly beneficial to a second language writing class. At the end of the day, such a unique approach to writing can awaken students to the possibilities of writing and can change a run-of-the-mill class into an extraordinarily fun but still educational experience for the students.

 

Sources:

Andujar, A. (2016). Benefits of mobile instant messaging to develop ESL writing. System, 62,     63.

Winet, D. (2016). Mobile instant messaging in the ESL writing class. Tesl-ej, 20(3), 1.

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