MLA 2016 Convention, Austin, Texas – January 8, 2016

1. LSL SECOND-LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING
INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO L2 WRITING AS INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
MLA 2016 – Austin, Texas – January 8, 2016
1
Fabrizio Fornara
Florida State University
Promoting L2 Interpersonal Written
Communication Using WhatsApp

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3. Writing to Learn
3
• Learning to write: A skill that instructors teach and
students learn and perfect through practice;
• Writing to learn: A means for language learning
(Cumming, 2011).
A repeated writing practice in a meaningful context helps
learners proceduralize and automatize forms that have
already been taught explicitly (DeKeyser, 1998).

4. 4
Students perceive the immediate, interactive, and
synchronous modes of communication as more useful
for the gratifications of their social needs. (Vrocharidou
& Efthymiou, 2012)
MIM enhances productive communication among
learning clusters through the sharing of mutual
intentions, social objects, learning resources and needs.
(Rambe & Bere, 2013)
(Mobile) Instant Messaging

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Text Messaging
“Text messaging […] [is]
the most widely-used basic
feature or app […] [and]
the feature that is used
most frequently” (Smith,
2015)

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WhatsApp is a cross-platform instant messaging application for
smartphones. It enables users to send and receive location
information, images, video, audio and text messages in real-time
to individuals and groups of friends at no cost. […] The nature and
intent of WhatsApp messages tend to be social, informal and
conversational in nature. (Church & de Oliveira, 2013)
WhatsApp has more than 900 million users worldwide (Mashable,
September 4, 2015)
WhatsApp

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WhatsApp has been used in secondary and higher education to:
• Communicate with students;
• Foster a positive social atmosphere and cultivate a sense of
belonging and community;
• Enable students to share information and work as a team;
• Improve student access to learning materials (Bouhnik &
Deshen, 2014)
WhatsApp promotes social interaction and knowledge
construction through spontaneous discussions and enables
students to assume control and ownership of the learning (Rambe
& Bere, 2013).
WhatsApp for Education

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Social interaction is viewed as a primary source of learning.
When students interact amongst themselves, acquisition-rich
discourse is more likely to ensue (Ellis, 2005).
Interaction is beneficial to acquisition when students have control
of the discourse topic (Ellis, 1999).
“To foster interpersonal interactions […] CMC partners may be left
with adequate access and time to develop” (Walther, 1996).
Interpersonal Interactions

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• To observe L2 student interactions during a semi-
structured daily practice on a mobile instant
messaging application (WhatsApp).
• Of particular interest is to observe which topics
encourage student interpersonal communication and
to understand students’ view on the activity.
Purpose of the Study

10. 10
Sample:
• Third level Italian language students: N = 24
• 3 groups:
• N = 7 (Summer 2015, 19 days)
• N = 11 (Fall 2015, 15 days)
• N = 6 (Fall 2015, 15 days)
Summer 2015:
• Messages: N = 448
• Students: N = 297
• Instructor: N = 151
The Activity (cont.)

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The Activity

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The Activity (cont.)

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Participant Interactions
R M1 F1 M2 M3 F2 M4 F3
R 10 27 4 13 3 21 2
M1 11 5 2 4 2 3
F1 28 5 6 7 12 9 2
M2 4 5 2
M3 6 1 4 1 3 6
F2 2 10 4 1 2
M4 26 3 8 4 10 1
F3 1 1 1 2 1 1

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Participant Interactions (cont.)

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Participant Interactions (cont.)
Fornara (2015, November). Factors Influencing Second Language Student Production on Twitter.
AECT 2015

16. 6/4/16 17:05 F1 A tutti, cosa ti piace fare nel tempo libero, quale il tuo attività preferito?
6/4/16 17:10 M4 Mi piace guardare e giocare a calcio
6/4/16 17:10 M4 Anche cucinare un po'
6/4/16 17:15 M2 Mi piacciono anche guardare e giocare gli sport, viaggiare, uscire con i miei amici, leggere, ecc.
6/4/16 17:15 F1 Davvero? Cosa ti piace cucinare?
6/4/16 17:15 F1 E leggere?
6/4/16 17:15 F1 �
6/4/16 17:17 M1 Mento, mi chiedo chi è tornato in A-Chick-Fil linea ?! Questo ragazzi!
6/4/16 17:17 M4 Molti tipi di cibi ma più la pasta
6/4/16 17:32 F2 Mi piace correre. Ho corso venti minuti fa �
6/4/16 17:35
F1
Bravissimo! Ho mangiato pasta venti minuti fa. � una volta ho fatto pollo come Chick-Fil-A, era
molto bene.
6/4/16 17:35 F1 Ma Laura, ti piace correre in palestra o fuori?
6/4/16 17:36 M4 Haha ho visto. Ho voluto urlare CORRE LAURA, CORRE l'ok
6/4/16 17:36
M3
Mi piacciono giocare a calcio, cucinare, e suonare la musica. Stasera giocherò a calcio con la mia
squadra da meadows. Dopo mangerò a casa
6/4/16 17:38 F2 Dana, mi piace correre fuori ma il tempo fa molto caldo � �
6/4/16 17:39 F2 Luca, mi hai visto? Hah
6/4/16 17:41
F1
Florida fa caldo tutti i giorni, stasera ho camminato con il mio cane e lui era già finito dopo solo
cinque minuti!
6/4/16 17:43 F2 Aww! Che tipo di cane hai?
6/4/16 17:43 F1 IMG-20150604-WA0001.jpg (file attached) Lui è un American Bulldog/Labrador
6/4/16 17:45 F2 � � Che carino. Ho un Labrador
6/4/16 17:47 F1 Di che colore!? Mi piace molto i cani. � � �
6/4/16 17:48 F2 IMG-20150604-WA0002.jpg (file attached)
6/4/16 17:48 F2 IMG-20150604-WA0002.jpg (file attached)
6/4/16 17:50 F2 Tutti, avete i cani o i gatti?
6/4/16 17:51 M3 IMG-20150604-WA0007.jpg (file attached) La mia ragazza ha un cane carinissimo
6/4/16 17:51 M3 IMG-20150604-WA0006.jpg (file attached)
6/4/16 17:51 M3 IMG-20150604-WA0004.jpg (file attached)
6/4/16 17:51 M3 IMG-20150604-WA0003.jpg (file attached)
6/4/16 17:51 M3 IMG-20150604-WA0005.jpg (file attached)
6/4/16 17:52 F2 Giancarlo, che tipo di cane?
6/4/16 17:52 M1 IMG-20150604-WA0008.jpg (file attached) Mio animale:
6/4/16 17:53 M2 Vorrei un cane, ma i animali sono vietati nel mio appartamento
6/4/16 17:53 M4 Hahaha
6/4/16 17:54 F2 Anche, sono un sacco di lavoro!
6/4/16 17:54 F2 *loro sono
6/4/16 17:54 M3 Penso lab e terrier. Ma no lo so
6/4/16 17:59
F1
IMG-20150604-WA0009.jpg (file attached) Ho anche un gatto, ma lui è più grande del mio cane,
per ora. Haha
6/4/16 18:00 F1 Giancarlo! Il cane è molto carino!!
6/4/16 18:00 F1 Anche a tu Laura!
6/4/16 18:27 R Ha già 21 anni il tuo gatto, Dana? �
6/4/16 18:27 R Mio padre ha un bassotto in Italia, si chiama Macchia
6/4/16 18:42 F1 Naturalmente, Fabrizio. Non è il tuo bassotto?
6/4/16 19:02 R No, è di mio papà, io non ho nessun animale qui
6/4/16 19:03 R Wow, Chris! Devi portare la tua 'lucertola' in classe un giorno!
6/4/16 19:07 M1 Io può! Mentre non lo fara un distrazione.
6/4/16 19:19 R Sì �
6/4/16 19:22
F3
IMG-20150604-WA0010.jpg (file attached) Ho una gatta che si chiama Velma! Mia mamma la
chiama "Wilma" perche é piú facile di dire.

17. 6/6/16 12:33 R Pronti per la partita?
6/6/16 12:37 M4 IMG-20150606-WA0000.jpg (file attached) Si
6/6/16 12:40 M1 Io sono così pronti!!!!!
6/6/16 12:41 R Ahaha, bella! Però questa maglia va bene solo per oggi (vero M3?)
6/6/16 12:49 M3 Si forza pirlo!
6/6/16 12:57 M2 Sto provando a finire tutti affinché io possa guardarla �
6/6/16 12:59 M2 Penso che fare tifosi a Juve. Sono spagnolo e mi piace Messi, ma è Barça �
6/6/16 13:13 R A me non piace molto il Barça anche se ho vissuto sette anni a Barcellona.
6/6/16 13:17 M3 IMG-20150606-WA0001.jpg (file attached)
6/6/16 13:17 M3 Pollo alla griglia per partita
6/6/16 13:34 F1 Bene a tutti. Cosa fate oggi dopo la partita?
6/6/16 13:56 M1 Dopo la partita Juve è la Stanley Cup e la gara Belmont!
6/6/16 14:03 F1 Lo sport....
6/6/16 14:38 R Sono a Madison Social, quasi inizia la partita
6/6/16 14:55 M1 Ho appena iniziato a guardare la partita e Barca sta già vincendo ?!
6/6/16 15:09 R Hanno segnato al terzo minuto �
6/6/16 15:10 M3 Vidal e molto nervoso
6/6/16 15:18 R Sì, troppo
6/6/16 15:47 M3 Andrò a madison social per partita di Orlando city stasera
6/6/16 16:00 M1 � � � � �
6/6/16 16:01 M3 Che passare marchisio!!!!
6/6/16 16:02 M4 STO PIAGGIANDO MAMA MIA!!!!
6/6/16 16:05 R Grande Marchisio! Grande Tevez! Grande Morata! �
6/6/16 16:15 M1 Io odio Buffon con una passione.
6/6/16 16:50 R È stata una bella partita
6/6/16 17:07 M4 FORZA JUVE! Io sono molto edizione! L'anno prossima stiamo m
6/6/16 17:07 M4 Molto bravo! 17

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Student Interactions

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Topics

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Student Reaction
N=24

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Advantages
What did you like most about the activity?
 Being able to actually apply what we’ve learned to real life.
 Using Italian in a conversational setting. / Talking with classmates.
 Seeing Italian used in everyday context.
N=24

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Challenges
What did you like least about the activity?
 My classmates posted a lot, to the point it was annoying.
 Sometimes it was hard to find a way to insert myself in the conversation.
 It was one big conversation so side conversations between a few people blew up my
phone.
N=24

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Student Preferences
N=24

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Student Preferences (cont.)
N=24

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Student Comments
• It was essentially doing small Italian activities throughout the day,
which really helped retain and extract knowledge.
• Great way to build relationships, practice the language, and earn
credit.
• Using WhatsApp helped me learn vocabulary that I regularly use in
English in an Italian context.
• WhatsApp overall improved my ability of thinking in Italian.
• Maybe different groups based on likes and dislikes. I found myself
unable to be involved in many of the conversations almost daily
about sports.
• It was an interesting activity, though I felt a little excluded at times.

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Future Activity / Study
• Promote student collaboration and social knowledge
construction through structured tasks that model the
conversational patterns and topics observed during
student semi-spontaneous interactions.
• Observe how a practice in a mobile instant messaging
environment affects student production of the target
language in face-to-face conversations.

27. ff11@my.fsu.edu @ffornara
MLA 2016 – Austin, Texas – January 8, 2016 27
Fabrizio Fornara
Florida State University
Questions?