Affordances of a mobile learner‐generated tool for pupils’ English as a second language vocabulary learning: An ecological perspective

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reports on a case study of English as a second language (ESL) vocabulary learning that examined a group of Grade 4 students’ mobile learning experiences of bridging in‐class and real‐life vocabulary learning mediated by a mobile learner‐generated content (m‐LGC) tool. This study was premised on the proposed framework of mobile vocabulary learning from an ecological perspective using the concept of affordances, taking the topic of “Food” as an example. Data collection included learning logs created by students and a questionnaire about students’ perceptions of the m‐LGC tool for vocabulary learning. The results revealed four types of affordances of the m‐LGC tool that the learners perceived and acted on in real life outside the classroom, namely: vocabulary form‐meaning mapping, consolidating vocabulary by productive use, vocabulary revision and social affordance. The students’ perceptions of the m‐LGC tool for vocabulary learning were positive. This study shows that the various affordances helped students in applying newly learned words to real‐life contexts. Social affordance provided the social contexts for communication via peer interaction, vocabulary expansion as well as the creation of a learning community.