Historical bodies meet mobile devices in the English classroom

Authors

• Tuomo Koivisto University of Oulu

Keywords:

EFL, nexus analysis, mobile learning, aX ordances for learning

Abstract

This study is part of research that explores how the introduction of mobile technologies affects the social actions and interactions in an English-language classroom in a Finnish lower secondary school. The focus of the study is on the data provided by a questionnaire survey conducted before the mobile devices were introduced into the classroom. The other data collected include classroom observations over a period of several months, as well as the pupils’ technological timelines prepared later after the mobile devices were introduced. The pedagogical approach is informed by sociocultural and ecological viewpoints into language learning. The classroom actions, as well as their historical trajectories, are analyzed through nexus analysis. The practical goal of the study is to find pedagogical practices of language learning and teaching that exploit the affordances provided by mobile technologies. The paper concludes with a discussion on the pedagogical implications of the study.