Alberto Andujar | Universidad de Almeria (original) (raw)

Papers by Alberto Andujar

this study investigates the benefits of Mobile Mediated Communication (MMC) to develop oral skill... more this study investigates the benefits of Mobile Mediated Communication (MMC) to develop oral skills in second-language learners. A total of 80 spanish students taking a b1 english course at the university of almería were studied in this research. According to treatment type, subjects were divided in two groups, experimental and control. a “Whatsapp” group was created where 40 of these students participated in a daily interaction during six months. the samples collected in the application as well as a speaking were used to measure the students’ degree of oral development and the type and triggers of the language related
episodes (lre) given rise to mobile chat-based oral interaction. this study focuses on such interaction and seeks to measure the students’ degree of oral development through a mixed analysis approach. a temporal axis is used to measure the differences between the groups studied. Significant improvements in term of oral proficiency were observed in the experimental group and negotiations were the lre most common throughout the activity. It is worth mention that Mobile learning offers an environment where learners can ubiquitously negotiate meaning, reflect and evaluate on their own performance through authentic interaction
and feedback, constituting a powerful tool for developing second language proficiency.

This study investigates the benefits of Mobile Mediated Communication (MMC) to develop oral skill... more This study investigates the benefits of Mobile Mediated Communication (MMC) to develop oral skills in second-language learners. A total of 80 Spanish students taking a B1 English course at the University of Almería were studied in this research. According to treatment type, subjects were divided in two groups, experimental and control. A " Whatsapp " group was created where 40 of these students participated in a daily interaction during six months. The samples collected in the application as well as a speaking activity were used to measure the students' degree of oral development and the type and triggers of the language related episodes (LRE) caused mobile chat-based oral interaction. This study focuses on such interaction and seeks to measure the students' degree of oral development through a mixed analysis approach. A temporal axis is used to measure the differences between the groups studied. Significant improvements in term of oral proficiency were observed in the experimental group and negotiations were the LRE most common throughout the activity. It is worth mentioning that Mobile learning offers an environment where learners can ubiquitously negotiate meaning, reflect and evaluate on their own performance through authentic interaction and feedback, making it constituting a powerful tool for developing second language proficiency. Resumen La presente investigación analiza los beneficios de la comunicación mediante teléfonos móviles para desa-rrollar las destrezas orales de los estudiantes en la segunda lengua. Un total de 80 estudiantes españoles que realizaban un curso de inglés nivel B1 en la Universidad de Almería participaron en el estudio. De acuerdo con el tipo de tratamiento, los sujetos fueron divididos en dos grupos, experimental y control. Mediante la creación de un grupo de «Whatsapp», 40 de dichos sujetos participaron en una interacción oral diaria durante seis meses. Las muestras recogidas en la aplicación, así como un examen oral, fueron utilizados para analizar el grado en que los estudiantes desarrollan la destreza oral y los tipos y desencadenantes que dan lugar a episodios relacionados con el lenguaje en los chats orales. Este estudio se centra en la interacción utilizando un análisis mixto y un eje temporal con el fin de medir las diferencias entre los grupos analizados. Los resul-tados demuestran mejoras significativas en cuanto a la competencia oral en los alumnos del grupo en el que se implementó la actividad, siendo las negociaciones de significado el episodio relacionado con el lenguaje más común durante la interacción. Cabe destacar la accesibilidad que la mensajería móvil confiere a los alumnos, pues son capaces de negociar el significado, reflexionar y evaluar sus propias actuaciones mediante interacción real y feedback .

Keywords: Mobile instant messaging Chat-based conversation Second language writing Mobile assiste... more Keywords: Mobile instant messaging Chat-based conversation Second language writing Mobile assisted language learning Noticing Collaborative learning
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.