Context in our pockets: Mobile phones and social networking as tools of contextualising language learning

The analysis of current EFL (English as a Foreign Language) education and literature indicates that most EFL practices can be characterised as traditional language learning settings in which teachers direct the learning process, and students are then assumed as passive receptors of knowledge. Furthermore, EFL learning has also been criticised as an in-class-only learning practice due to the rare opportunities an EFL learner is expected to encounter outside the boundaries of the classroom. These limitations of EFL learning could be addressed through more student-centred, meaningful, and contextualised language learning that extends beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Mobile technology and social networking have the potential to establish learning practices that are not only based on learners‟ needs and experiences, but they can also involve learners in the overall learning process that sometimes goes beyond the classroom. In addition, much of the literature on mobile learning emphasises the effectiveness of mobile technology in creating contextually meaningful and authentic learning opportunities. A DBR (Design-Based Research) study was conducted with 33 EFL university students over a 16-week semester. Students experienced a contextual learning experience using Facebook via their mobile phones. The paper concludes that mobile social networking media, e.g., Facebook, provide rich learner-generated and contextual out-of-class language learning opportunities that exploit the norms of the learning context. Moreover, mobile Facebook provided students with reality-based learning experiences that utilised their own knowledge and personal values about their context.