Do smartphones spur or deter learning: A WhatsApp case study

Abstract

Smartphones have been threatening traditional teachers and classroom conventions, although students insist on referring to them when stuck or feel they are bored with the teaching approach in the classroom. The inclination is towards the integration of smartphones into traditional teaching. Therefore, this study aims to search the use of WhatsApp Messenger and see its effects on student success in the EFL context. The study compares the control group with the experimental group for the teaching of listening and pronunciation courses. The results show that a significant success difference cannot be mentioned between the groups. It also indicates that interactive applications such as WhatsApp Messenger increase the homogeneity of the students' success. The findings also suggest that a combination of traditional and technology supported approaches could work better.