Innovation in Language Learning

This paper reports on a case study investigating how a group of university students experienced receiving and responding to SMS mini-lessons sent to them by me as part of an Afrikaans Second Language course. This form of Mobile Learning has been introduced in an effort to increase their motivation to learn the language; increase their exposure to the language; and help them build their subject-specific vocabulary. Their comprehension of the meaning of the words defined in the SMS mini-lessons were tested in class and reinforced during text-based language activities.

Afrikaans is one of the 11 official languages of South Africa and at the University of Johannesburg it is offered as a second language to students like these who are studying towards a law degree. Given the multilingual nature of the South African society and the fact that Afrikaans is its third largest language and widely spoken in most of its nine provinces, a working knowledge of Afrikaans will help students to increase their marketability as law practitioners. These students however have a limited exposure to listening and reading Afrikaans resulting in a limited vocabulary and lack of confidence to speak and write it. 

Although Mobile Learning is a fairly unexplored mode of learning the use of cell phones has become increasingly ubiquitous in South Africa. At the moment the number of cell phones and active SIM cards are more than the total population. There has also been a dramatic increase in the use of cell phones by adults – increasing from 17% in 2000 to 76% in 2010. Furthermore people are using their cell phones less for making and receiving calls and more for sending text messages and using social media, Instant Messaging and the Internet.[1] This tendency is also reflected in these students’ daily use of their cell phones as the findings of a pre-research questionnaire indicates.

This case study therefore investigates the potential of using SMS for Afrikaans vocabulary development by looking closely at how a group of six students over a period of six weeks experience the use of the cell phone as learning instrument and which combination of media (text, voice, pictures, video) they prefer and why. Over the six weeks students have been send a variety of SMS mini-lessons including those with text and a voice note; text and an image; and text and a video clip. Open-ended questionnaires at the end of each week have been used to get an ongoing and in-depth understanding of how students experienced the use of SMS-lessons; if and how it helped them to develop their vocabulary and to what extent the whole M-learning experience has impacted on their motivation to learn Afrikaans.