Investigating the interaction and attitudes of EFL college learners towards using mobile instant messaging
Author
Al Mamariyah, Ibtisam Abdullah Ali.
English abstract
The present mix method study aims to investigate to what extent the use of mobile instant messaging (MIM) facilitates the quantity and quality of the learners' classroom interactions. Additionally, it attempts to explore the attitudes of level 4 foundation program learners towards the use of mobile instant messaging in their classroom interaction. Sixteen students participated in the study to discuss 4 language learning tasks (e.g. pros and cons of tourism and students' opinions about cosmetic surgery, etc.) in both modes (the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) discussion group and in-class discussion). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through the BBM chat logs and the in-class transcripts to find the frequency and quality of the students' turns to answer the first two research questions. A questionnaire was employed to examine the attitudes of the students towards MIM. Quality scores were given to 298 turns by using a modified rubric. Descriptive statistics and a two-way ANOVA test were used to analyze the quality of the students' turns. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) were used to find the students' attitudes towards using MIM. The findings revealed that the use of MIM facilitates the learners' classroom interactions quantitatively but not qualitatively. Students also showed considerably positive attitudes towards the impact of using mobile instant messaging on their in-class interactions.
