ELS Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities
Vol. 2 No. 2 (2019): JUNE

WhatsApp and Learn English: a Study of the Effectiveness of WhatsApp in Developing Reading and Writing Skills in English

Sabri Saleh Ahmed (Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Jun 2019

Abstract

This study has examined the effectiveness of using WhatsApp, as one of mobile-assisted language learning applications, in enhancing learners’ reading and writing skills in English. Twenty EFL undergraduate students of Aden University participated in a WhatsApp English medium group with the researcher where they and the researcher chat, share news articles and comment on news articles for two months. During this period, the researcher was observing their progress and then, they were given a questionnaire to report their experience about the effectiveness of WhatsApp in developing their reading and writing skills. Findings from students’ pre-test and post-test, researcher’s observations of students’ progress and students’ responses to the questionnaire revealed that WhatsApp was very effective in developing their reading and writing skills. It helped them a lot in developing their vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension and writing skills. The study concluded that WhatsApp English medium groups provide space for practising natural language, especially in written communication, keep students learn and practice English outside the classroom and motivate them to learn from each other. As per the findings, the study has recommended EFL teachers to use WhatsApp in their teaching of English and to motivate their students to create and join WhatsApp English medium groups as that will help them in developing students’ language proficiency through natural interaction and contextualized language use that can’t be provided by the classroom.

Copyrights © 2019






Journal Info

Abbrev

jish

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

Description

ELS-JISH is, a journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities: Linguistics, Literature, Language Teaching, Translation, and Culture, a scholarly peer-reviewed international scientific journal published quartely by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Hasanuddin University Publication, focusing on ...