Communicating and Learning with Smartphones

Susana M. Sotillo, Montclair State University Tuesday, May 22, 2007ESL in Higher Education 11:15 am – 12:15 pm Double Tree, Bedminster Room sotillos@mail.montclair.edu

What can you do with a cell phone/Smartphone?

How many of you owncell phones? Smartphones?

What do you do with them? What can students and faculty do

with their cell phones? What can students, especially ELLs,

learn with a cell phone?

What can we really do or learn with cell phones/Smartphones?

According to Marc Prensky (2005:1), “Anything, if we educators design it right.”

“Using cell phones as learning devices, whether in or out of school, requires a good deal of rethinking and flexibility on the part of educators.” (Prensky, 2005:2.)

Modern cell phones have many capabilities: Voice Short messaging service (SMS) Graphics User-controlled operating systems Downloadables Browsers Camera functions Geopositioning Beaming (this allows us to beam memos or

short articles to colleagues and students close by)

In terms of language learning

What can one do with voice?1. Short English lessons from ALC Press’s

Pocket Eijiro (McNicol 2004) 2. Japanese lessons from Enfour’s Tango

Town 3. BBC’s English-language training via

cell phones in China 4. Dictionary and phrase book software for

foreign language pronunciation.5. English-language testing software.6. Guided tours of Minute Man National

Historical Park (Concord, MA)

Cell Phones and Graphic DisplaysMany institutions are using handhelds and

computers for animations in subjects such as anatomy and forensics (Prensky 2005).

Specific software and products include: Flash Lite applications can be used to

learn sign language Bryan Edwards Publishing provides

PDA-compatible animations Chemical Abstracts Service has a

database of molecule images that can be accessed via a cell phone

Japanese software designers offer innovations such as “Manga” graphic novels

Useful Downloadable Programs

T-observe allows one to visit school districts and observe teachers-in-training.

One can also use T-Observe software installed in one handheld or Smart Phone to observe several full-time and adjunct faculty.

Synchronization with laptop or desktop allows one to download data, display charts, and notes.

Internet Browsers, Cameras and Video Clips

Third-generation protocol Internet Browsers allow Smart phones instant access to Google, other text search engines, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and so on.

What can you do with cameras: Snap pictures and document

news on the fly (download it for one of the local news outlets)

Encourage creative writing among students

Record important events such as Governor Corzine’s visit to MSU to discuss his proposed budget cuts

Record lectures by invited speakers

Create electronic diaries.

Video_030706_001.3g2

Global Positioning Systems (GPS)

Sophisticated GPS satellite receivers can now pinpoint a phone’s location within a few feet. Some possible applications:

Orienteering Archeology Science (biology, zoology) Geography Environmental conservation Math

Your Cell Phone/Smart Phone while Traveling

If you travel extensively or need to be in touch with colleagues and superiors, you might benefit from disposable cell phones that are currently being manufactured.

When you travel you can:

Read or listen to E-books at your leisure anywhere, anytime.

Schedule meetings in advance, and send documents and charts via E-mail from your Smart Phone.

Minimize stress, maximize personal time and learning productivity.

Short Messaging Service (SMS) or Text Messages

Some popular uses of SMS, an important mode of communication in Europe, Asia (the Philippines, China, Thailand), and Latin America, include:

1. Pop quizzes or math tests in schools2. Rapid connectivity among students and

between students and instructors3. Reminders of upcoming exams4. Daily mini-lessons in foreign languages5. Test preparation questions (e.g., The

Princeton Review)

Words, Signs, Symbols in SMS Researchers such as Fairon, Klein & Paumier

(2006), Manfredini (n.d.), Prensky (2005), Thurlow & Brown (2003), Ukriktiwiriya (2003), Wright (2006, April 18), Zarantonello (2001), have shown that SMS or text messaging is:

1. a global phenomenon2. primarily popular among teenagers and young

adults, but 3. also increasingly employed by older adults 4. often incorporated into social interaction 5. done within the spatial constraints of 160 characters6. Used for pragmatic purposes where words, signs,

and symbols must codify both meaning and intention

How Do I Use SMS?Sample of text messages downloaded using the

TreoDesktop:

07/09/2005 09:34:54 JC. I'll be in my office at 2:00 & will call u. 21/11/2005 18:09:53 Hi Gary. Please don't forget the case. I'll pay for

it if it's necessary. 21/11/2005 19:41:08 Hi Susanna! I just checked and your case is in. I

am picking it up tomorrow. Call or text me when you get home tomorrow. Bye for now.

21/11/2005 19:55:37 thanks so much Gary. You are the best:-D). I'll be in tomorrow after 7:00pm I'll call U when I get in;-)

21/11/2005 19:58:32 I forgot to tell U, I'm at our Council meeting. 21/11/2005 20:39:13 Is anything interesting going on at the council

mtg? Did RT bring up the Twp. Engineer position? If so, what exactly did he say?

21/11/2005 23:01:06 The sound was off so I didn't hear your message coming through. T was nowhere to be seen. I was..

25/02/2006 07:46:46 (Re: Michael, the Limousine is again) I called again on that truck with no plate. He is parked almost in our driveway. Maybe you can call as well?

27/02/2006 05:54:23 (The bathroom remodel) Starts this week so you'll see the contractor ---Sent from my BlackBerry Handheld.

In order to investigate SMS, I downloaded

971 text messages with the Treodesktop developed by Bruno Naglieri, and analyzed 909 of them using MonoConc.

The study was motivated by findings reported in Europe and Asia.

It addressed three major questions. The SMS corpus I compiled consisted of

12,295 tokens and 2,366 types. The following represent preliminary

findings: SMSs by type of Network:

Family (609), Former Students (172) , Neighbors (54), Political Contacts (43), Colleagues (31)Participants under 35 (46%)Participants over 35 (54%)

SMS used as a means of:1. Enhancing close relationships with family

members, friends, and neighbors2. Strengthening bonds with colleagues and

former students

User SMS Networks

Family Former Students Neighbors Political Contacts Colleagues

SMS and Language Use

Preliminary Findings (Cont.) Emoticons used primarily by

researcher and family members Most commonly used emoticons:

Kiss, smile, and grin laugh Homophones, contractions, and

initialisms used by 99% of participants

Older participants (35-63 years old) used homophones more frequently than younger participants (under 35 years of age)

Vocatives and other reduced forms used by younger participants (former students ranging in age from 19 to 28):

[[Hey]] Dr. im not sure if you said that you al ...

[[Hey]] i was just wondering if you were gonna

[[Hey]] its cy i just took the fallacy test n g ...

[[Hey]] professor, i think that the numbers tha .

Emoticon Usage in All Networks

164

75

59

34

24

2011

9 8 7322

kiss

smile

grin

wink

despair

worry

shouting

v. happy

tongue

upset

devil s.

lips shut

angel

Non-Standard Orthographic Forms

0100200300400500600

Types of NS Orthographic Forms

Fre

qu

ency

of

NS

O

rth

og

rap

hic

Fo

rms

Series1

Series2

Preliminary Findings (Cont.) As in face-to-face (F2F) and informal written communication, function words

and common orthographic signs occurred more frequently:

i 433 3.5200% u 375 3.0485%

the 305 2.4795% to 200 1.6259%

- 193 1.5690% a186 1.5121%

2 174 1.4145% -x164 1.3332%

besos 138 1.1219% ok 1351.0975%

Number of words in text messages ranged from 1 to 85. Examples:

OKI’ll help UAs for Gorp, he is a great find! If we can bring him on as a credited intern or volunteer (his advisor indicated to him that he probably wouldn’t be able to earn any credits), he will do a yeomans job. Please do what you can to convince Gorp to join us as a non-credited volunteer until such time as he meets the criteria to earn credit. I hope he can get credits 4 the work. But even as a volunteer, he would be great

Wh-, Yes-No, and two-three word questions were used frequently: “where?” “Ok?” Punctuation was chaotic or non-existent Misspellings and typos occurred frequently Text messages consisted of clauses and syntactic non-clausal units:

Summary of Findings: Text messages in the corpus analyzed are used to request

information, express feelings, send holiday wishes, ask for favors, and briefly discuss important matters.

Text messaging among participants in this corpus can be characterized as brief conversations between individuals who know each other and share a common knowledge base.

The content of the message is determined by personal relationships and shared knowledge (e.g., former students often request favors—letters of recommendation, whereas current students request clarification of assignments, extensions on projects, and explain absences).

Politeness inserts are frequently used in spite of the limited space and time constraints: thank/thanks (54), apologies (18) best wishes (9), commissives (8), stereotypic greetings (66) and farewells (16).

Linguistic forms, signs, symbols that characterize SMS communication among young members of global mobile SMS communities are also present in the SMS data examined.

Non-standard orthographic forms, especially homophones (835), are used frequently by all participants in this social network array.

As in Asia and parts of Europe, SMS is used extensively in the US as a communication and language development tool and cannot be ignored in second language education.

Young ESL learners will likely be “fluent” users of SMS in their L1

Interested in Volunteering for an SMS Project?

Please send an e-mail to sotillos@mail.montclair.edu if you are interested in chatting via SMS (i.e., sending text messages) for the purpose of sharing activities and mini-lessons for language learning via cell phones or PDAs.

References Boada, A., Cervera, A., & Prieto, J. (2003). SMS Technology as an academicCommunication Tool. A

Case Study: The Open University of Catalunya (UOC). In A. Médez-Vilas, J.A. Mesa Gonzalez, & I. Sólo de Zaldivar Maldonado (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and

Communication Technologies in Education (ICTE2002) (pp. 72-76). Badajoz,Spain: Formatex. Calcutt, A., 2001, Generation Txt: Mixed messages. Retrieved January 8, 2007,fiom

http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000054DF.htm Casolari, D. (2001). Como cambia il linguaggio. Retrieved December 28, 2006, fiom

http://www.daniela-casolari.it/sms.htm Coughlin, K. 2006. Celling Books. The Star-Ledger, p.47, June 8,2006. Chandler, D. (2001). Semiotics: The Basics. Routledge. Manfiedini, M. (n.d.) SMS: Tratto Sugli SMS (Parte 1 & 2). Retrieved December 3, 2006, fiom http://www.telesms.it/StudiSmS/ Fairon, Cédrick, Jean René Klein et Sébastien Paumier, Le langage SMS. Étude d’un corpus

informatisé à partir de l’enquête “Faites don de vos SMS à la science”. UCL, Presses Universitaires de Louvain, 2006.

Prensky, M. 2005. What Can You Learn from a Cell Phone? Almost Anything! Innovate 1 (5). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=83 (accessed July 27, 2005).

Short Message Service. (2007, January 8). Retrieved January 8, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_message_service Sutherland, J., 2002, Can u txt? John Sutherland asks what texting is doing to the English language - and finds it all a bit :-(, The Guardian Newspaper, November 11. Retrieved January 8, 2007, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/mobile/article/0,2763,837709,00.html Thurlow, C. & Brown, A. (2003). Generation Txt? The sociolinguistics of young People’s text-messaging, Discourse Analysis Online. Retrieved November 3, 2006, from http://extra.shu.ac.uk/daol/articles/vl/nl /a3/thurlow2002003-paper.html Uknktiwiriya, C. (2003). Understanding Mobile Phone Culture - An Ethnographic Semiotics approach: the meaning in advertising of Thai consumers, 1-27. Retrieved November 17, 2006, from http://www.bs.mut.a.th/copy/paper/pdf/2.pdf Wright, A. (2006, April 18). Mobile Phones Could Soon Rival the PC As World’s Dominant Internet Platform. Ipsos News Center. Retrieved January 7, 2007, from http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=3049 Zarantonello, G. (2001) Nuovi media ed italiano parlato: gli sms (1) & (2). Comunitàzione.it. Retrieved January 2, 2007, from http://www.comunitazione.it/stampa.asp?kart=87

Notes

Coughlin, K. 2006. Celling Books. The Star-Ledger,

p.47, June 8,2006. (Trade group wants to boost sales of e-books for cell phones - Cell phones are great for saying hello, dashing off short messages and snapping paparazzi pictures. Soon you could be reading "War and Peace" on them, too. At least, that's the hope of an electronic-book industry, which is struggling to justify years of hype. "They're squinting in Japan and squinting in Europe. They'll squint here," said Nicholas Bogaty, executive director of the International Digital Publishing Forum. His trade group met in New... )