Abstract

By using small focus group discussions, the present study aims to gain insight into students’ perceptions about the impact of WhatsApp use in their learning process. More specifically, this study presents a cross-cultural analysis of British and Spanish university students’ personal beliefs about the effectiveness of using WhatsApp to complete group tasks outside the classroom. In so doing, this research represents a step forward in technology-enhanced instruction insofar as it not only incorporates the voices of learners themselves, but also contrasts students’ beliefs with their group interactions on WhatsApp. The exploration of these WhatsApp interactions makes it possible to argue that the use of WhatsApp does not seem to create a natural context for non-native language users to produce contextualise relevant utterances while interacting with native English speakers. Furthermore, the results show that the lack of pragmatic competence on the part of the participants prevents them from communicating effectively. These pragmatic failures, in turn, have a negative impact on their interpersonal relationships and make them develop negative opinions towards the use of WhatsApp as a learning tool.

摘要

通过使用小型焦点小组讨论，本研究旨在深入了解学生对使用 WhatsApp 在其学习过程中的影响的看法。更具体地说，这项研究对英国和西班牙大学生对使用 WhatsApp 完成课堂外的小组任务的有效性的个人信念进行了跨文化分析。通过这样做，这项研究代表了技术增强教学的一个进步，因为它不仅结合了学习者自己的声音，而且还将学生的信念与他们在 WhatsApp 上的小组互动进行了对比。对这些 WhatsApp 交互的探索使我们有可能争辩说，使用 WhatsApp 似乎并没有为非母语用户创造一个自然的上下文，以便在与以英语为母语的人交互时产生上下文相关的话语。此外，结果表明，参与者缺乏语用能力会阻碍他们进行有效的沟通。这些务实的失败反过来又对他们的人际关系产生负面影响，并使他们对使用 WhatsApp 作为学习工具产生负面看法。