One of the major challenges in teaching English to speakers of other languages is the issue of inadequate contact time between teachers and learners and between learners and comprehensible English language input. This paper emanated from a burning desire to help learners in South African educational institutions, especially those in remote areas, increase the opportunity for learner-teacher-content contact. The deployment of mobile phones, as tools to supplement teaching and learning off-campus and after school hours, is presumed in this study to be one attempt to increase contact time for learners. A qualitative research methodology, which is interpretive in nature, was used. The study used a descriptive case study research design. It used a sample of 44 learners, drawn from Grade 9 English First Additional Language learners in one school in the Eastern Cape. The participants were sampled, using purposive and volunteer sampling techniques. Mobile phones were used to collect data, which was in the form of short message services (SMSs) and Mxit messages. A questionnaire with open-ended questions was also used to collect data about learners’ perceptions of the use of these devices in the educational process. The data were analysed by incorporating elements of both content analysis and discourse analysis. Despite the fact that some participants were of the view that SMS would corrupt their language and spelling, findings indicate that most SMS and Mxit texts produced by participants displayed full sentences, punctuation marks, correct spelling of most words, acceptable grammar and proper sentence use. Further, findings indicated that while SMS and Mxit communication were largely characterised by short hand and informal writing, when learners were aware that they were using these platforms for learning purposes, the traditional rules of formal writing applied. We conclude that mobile devices can improve the language acquisition of second language learners. We recommend consideration of the official inclusion of mobile devices as supplementary learning tools in the learning programme in South Africa.

中文翻译：

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使用手机作为南非学习者的辅助教学工具

向讲其他语言的人讲英语的主要挑战之一是教师与学习者之间，学习者之间接触时间不足以及可理解的英语输入问题。本文源于对帮助南非教育机构中的学习者，特别是偏远地区的学习者，增加学习者与教师-内容接触机会的强烈渴望。这项研究认为，移动电话的部署是补充校外和课余时间教学的工具，是增加学习者接触时间的一种尝试。使用了本质上是解释性的定性研究方法。该研究使用了描述性案例研究设计。它使用了44名学习者的样本，取材于东开普省一所学校的9年级英语第一额外语言学习者。使用目的性和自愿性抽样技术对参与者进行抽样。手机用于收集数据，其形式为短消息服务（SMS）和Mxit消息。带有不限成员名额问题的问卷也被用来收集有关学习者在教育过程中使用这些设备的看法的数据。通过结合内容分析和话语分析的元素来分析数据。尽管有些参与者认为SMS会破坏其语言和拼写，但调查结果表明，参与者编写的大多数SMS和Mxit文本显示完整的句子，标点符号，大多数单词的正确拼写，可接受的语法和正确的句子用法。进一步，研究结果表明，尽管SMS和Mxit交流的主要特征是简写和非正式写作，但当学习者意识到他们将这些平台用于学习目的时，就会应用传统的正式写作规则。我们得出结论，移动设备可以改善第二语言学习者的语言习得。我们建议考虑将移动设备正式纳入南非的学习计划中作为补充学习工具。