Qualitative Case Study on Cell Phone Appropriation for Language Learning Purposes in a ...

196 Pages·2016·3.25 MB·English

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All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies
8-2015
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Gisela Martiz
Utah State University
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Martiz, Gisela, "Qualitative Case Study on Cell Phone Appropriation for Language Learning Purposes in a
Dominican Context" (2015). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 4414.
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A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY ON CELL PHONE APPROPRIATION FOR

LANGUAGE LEARNING PURPOSES IN A DOMINICAN CONTEXT

by

Gisela Martiz

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirement for the degree

of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

in

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences

Approved:

Mimi Recker, Ph.D. Victor Lee, Ph.D.
Major Professor Committee Member

Anne R. Diekema, Ph.D. Jim Rogers, Ph.D.
Committee Member Committee Member

Karin DeJonge-Kannan, Ph.D. Mark R. McLellan, Ph.D.
Committee Member Vice President for Research and
Dean of the School of Graduate Studies

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
Logan, Utah

2015
ii

Copyright © Gisela Martiz 2015

All Rights Reserved
iii

ABSTRACT

A Qualitative Case Study on Cell Phone Appropriation for Language Learning

Purposes in a Dominican Context

by

Gisela Martiz, Doctor of Philosophy

Utah State University, 2015

Major Professor: Mimi Recker, Ph.D.
Department: Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences

This research study investigated how a Dominican English language teacher and
her students appropriated cell phone features for educational purposes inside and outside
the classroom. The dissertation used a qualitative single-case study design that focused
on five subcases, comprised of the teacher, and four students selected from a class of 23
students. A mobile human-computer interaction (MHCI) perspective was used to explore
participants’ appropriation of features in their cell phones to support educational
activities in a Dominican context. Data collection took place for 8 weeks in an English
language center located at a public university in the Dominican Republic in the summer
of 2014. Primary data collection sources consisted of semistructured interviews,
informal conversations, classroom observations, and questionnaires. Data were analyzed
through thematic analysis by using initial, in vivo, and focused coding techniques to
identify emerging themes. Findings identified four major themes on how the teacher
iv

appropriated different cell phone features that allowed her to use this mobile device for
educational purposes: cell phone as connectivity tool, content delivery tool, research and
reference tool, and assessment facilitation tool. Emerging themes from analyzing the four
student subcases indicated that they appropriated features in their cell phones in different
ways, including: iPod as a cell phone (student 1), assessment and feedback facilitation
tool (student 2), peer- and self-assessment facilitation tool and e-reader (student 3), and
multimedia delivery and social interactivity tool (student 4). Themes across subcases and
from the classroom in general indicated that participants used features that allowed them
to appropriate cell phones as tools for data gathering and note taking, reference and
research, collaboration, and repository. Findings from this dissertation shed light on
how a teacher and students can make use of their own mobile technologies to support
English language learning in a Dominican classroom with uneven access to technology.
(195 pages)
v

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

A Qualitative Case Study on Cell Phone Appropriation for Language Learning

Purposes in a Dominican Context

by

Gisela Martiz, Doctor of Philosophy

Utah State University, 2015

This research study investigated how a Dominican English language teacher and
her students appropriated cell phone features for educational purposes inside and outside
the classroom. The dissertation used a qualitative approach that focused on the teacher,
and four students selected from a class of 23. Data collection took place for 8 weeks in an
English language center located at a public university in the Dominican Republic in the
summer of 2014. I collected data through interviews, conversations, classroom
observations, and questionnaires. Data were analyzed to identify emerging themes that
described how the teacher and students used their cell phones for different educational
activities related to English language learning. Findings identified four major themes on
how the teacher used different cell phone features for educational purposes: cell phone as
connectivity tool, content delivery tool, research and reference tool, and assessment
facilitation tool. Findings from the four student subcases indicated that they appropriated
features in their cell phones in different ways, including: iPod as a cell phone (student 1),
assessment and feedback facilitation tool (student 2), peer- and self-assessment
vi

facilitation tool and e-reader (student 3), and multimedia delivery and social interactivity
tool (student 4). Themes across subcases and from the classroom in general indicated that
participants used features that allowed them to use their cell phones as tools for data
gathering and note taking, reference and research, collaboration, and repository. Findings
from this dissertation shed light on how a teacher and students can make use of their own
mobile technologies to support English language learning in a Dominican classroom with
uneven access to technology.
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I cannot tell how grateful I am for God’s infinite mercy in bringing into my path
so many people who made this possible. I would like to thank my family for their
encouragement, especially my mother, whose constant prayers have paid off. She has
been the main reason and my major motivation to be who I am today. Thanks to my
advisor, Dr. Mimi Recker, for her continuous guidance and advice throughout these years
in the doctoral program. Thanks for being such a great mentor! Thanks to my doctoral
committee for their constructive feedback and advice: Dr. Anne Diekema, Dr. Victor Lee,
Dr. Karin Dejonge-Kannan, and Dr. Jim Rogers. I deeply appreciate every detail in the
input each of them provided to improve my work. I would like to thank Professor Nick
Eastmond, who was the first who motivated me to pursue this doctorate and believed I
would succeed, even when I at times I doubted it. Also, I will always be thankful for
Sheri Haderlie for taking into consideration my capabilities to be a teaching assistant in
our department, which has helped me grow as an academician.
How could I have gone through this long road without counting on people who
were always there for me and became family away from home? Thanks to Bobbe Allen,
whom I adopted as my American mom the moment I met her; even from afar, she
motivated me when I felt down. Thanks to Linda Sellers, my dearest friend, a great
listener and awesome classmate, who was of great assistance since we met during the
master’s program. Special thanks to my research meeting group, where everybody was
very supportive and always provided timely and useful feedback to my drafts. Thanks for
making every get-together a reason to celebrate—I will miss those days. Guys you rock!
viii

Thanks to my Dominican friends here in Logan who witnessed my ups and down while
walking this road and were always there for me. Similarly, thanks to my Logan friends
for sharing so many memories, for the mutual support, and the assistance. My friends in
other locations and back home who were always looking after me and whose calls and
messages always cheered me up, thanks.
To the Ministry of Education in the Dominican Republic, thanks for being
awarded this opportunity to become a better professional so that I can contribute to my
country. Thanks to Shelly Ortiz for her assistance in reaching my research participants.
My sincere gratitude to the teacher and student participants for their unconditional
cooperation during my research study.
Finally, thanks to God because I can do all things through Jesus who gives me
strength.
Gisela Martiz
ix

CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... iii

PUBLIC ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... v

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. vii

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... xi

LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xii

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1

Statement of the Problem ............................................................................. 3
Purpose of the Study .................................................................................... 4
Research Questions ...................................................................................... 5
Definition of Terms...................................................................................... 6
Outline of Dissertation ................................................................................. 7

II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................................................. 9

Introduction .................................................................................................. 9
Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria ........................................................................ 10
What is Mobile Learning? ........................................................................... 11
Theoretical Perspective: Mobile Human-Computer Interaction .................. 31
Conclusion ................................................................................................... 35

III. RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................ 37

Purpose of the Study .................................................................................... 37
Research Questions ...................................................................................... 37
Interpretive/Social Constructivist Paradigm ................................................ 38
Researcher's Role ......................................................................................... 38
Research Design: Qualitative Case Study.................................................... 40
Trustworthiness ............................................................................................ 54
Ethical Considerations ................................................................................. 55