During this pandemic, with schools and colleges opting for online classes, and internet service providers seeing this an opportunity to profit, learning became even more luxurious than it was. Youtube videos and learning apps are the most easily accessible and cost-efficient alternatives one can go for, but it is not an interactive platform. One cannot always expect a reply from the teacher in the videos.
I started looking for a cost-efficient, interactive, effective alternative method, and chat-based learning came to my mind. The investment in this method would be less for both the teacher and the student, but would it be productive? Can the students actually learn through this method? What would it lack? These were the questions that first occurred to me.
So, I conducted free WhatsApp chat-based online ESL classes as an experiment for three months to determine how efficient it could be.
What is WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is a popular messaging mobile application that allows users to send text and voice messages, pictures, videos, and to make audio/video calls. It is one of the most user-friendly messaging apps in the market.
My students
I couldn’t continue teaching my regular students during quarantine since most of them did not have enough facilities for regular online video classes. And I personally believe that classes during summer vacation months are a cruel thing to do to kids. It’s bad enough they can’t play outside because of the pandemic. I also did not think the chat-based lessons would be suitable for children.
So, I approached some of my classmates. I offered free English classes at their own convenient time. Only two showed interest. I am keeping their names anonymous. So, let us call them student A and student B.
Student A
Student A was very adept. Just by the first five classes, I could say she was more than a B2 level student. She had a good set of vocabulary. She was confident in her speaking skills, and her reading skills were commendable.
I had no prior experience teaching a B2 level student. So, to assess her proficiency, I had to send her some links to skill assessment websites for reading and listening skills, written assignments to assess her grammar and writing skills, and voice recordings to assess her fluency.
She did not know some of the complex grammar topics and had a habit of using monotonous sentences to compensate for this. She had trouble with punctuation and usage of articles.
Student B
Student B’s level of proficiency was that of a beginner. The medium of instruction in the schools he studied was Tamil, so he only had a vague understanding of the basic structure – the syntax and semantics of the English language. But he was smart. He understood each concept I taught even though my medium of instruction was in English. He progressed exponentially.
Lesson plans
The lesson plans for chat-based classes are not much different from normal classes. I followed the same ESA method of teaching to create lesson plans. The ideas for engaging and activity stages are, like always, only limited to one’s imagination.
Sample Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan Execution
Materials
- I used the links of authentic websites. Some of the links I used:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/
https://www.examenglish.com/index.html
https://agendaweb.org/verbs/modals-must-have-to-exercises.html
- Images and video clips from YouTube.
- Self-designed materials. You can create your own editable/non-editable materials and send them in the document form to download. A suitable app like Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF viewer can open it. These apps are easily available in the Google Play Store.
- Loads of workbooks for download are available on the internet. You can download them in document format and use them during the classes. You can make a hard copy or use a split-screen to refer to the soft copy during the classes. I did not use any grammar workbooks in my classes.
Materials Usage
Pros
Setup cost
- You don’t need a modem.
- A two-hour class won’t charge you more than 10 mb.
- You don’t have to worry about an unstable internet connection.
- You don’t have to pay heavy bills for a big data pack.
Convenience
- You don’t have to dress up; you don’t need a workspace with a table; you don’t need any props.
- You can lay down, stretch your legs, and text casually like you are chatting with a friend.
- Students don’t necessarily have to take notes. They can scroll through the chats or search for keywords to find and revise the previous lessons.
Application features
- You can send anything through the app: Photos, videos, audios, questionnaires in document forms, pdfs, and screenshots, just like in Skype calls.
- You can use emojis! Your chat-based lessons won’t be blunt and emotionless with emojis. They can liven up your class. The students like using it too.
Cons
Speaking practice
This chat-based learning method is not suitable for practicing speaking. Speaking skills like Pronunciation, intonation, which sound to drop and which sound to add while speaking, cannot be taught by this method.
Listening practice
Listening and processing information is very important in communication. Reading a text message and processing is not the same as listening. You can read a text message over and over to understand it. But listening requires you to process the words as fast as you can. This method fails to practice listening and responding skills.
Time
- A class that usually takes an hour takes more than one and a half hours to complete.
- The replying time; the loading time; the typing, deleting and retyping time; the download and upload speed, etc., takes a good amount of time.
Autocorrect and Word suggestion feature
- Error corrections done by a teacher is different from the error corrections done by an inbuilt software. A safe amount of error correction can help the students attain a conscious idea of the language.
- Autocorrect and word suggestion features decrease the students’ capability to think on their own. The keyboard completes the words for them and autocorrects the spelling errors they rarely notice making.
Distractions
Smartphones in their hands?! The device that holds all their SNS accounts, phone numbers, notifications, messages, and games? And the teacher can’t see what they are doing. Well, that’s not good.
Conclusion
This method has its fair share of successes and failures.
Was it academically progressive?
Yes, it was. You can see the growth in student B’s proficiency from his first-class compared to his latter. Grammar can be taught as efficiently as in online video classes. Students showed tremendous improvement in their reading and writing skills. Student A was given advanced level reading tasks and was able to achieve perfect scores most of the time. She was able to present a written explanation of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive movie in 400 words in a comfortable and understandable sequence from beginning to end explaining how each scene is related to another. Breaking down and explaining David Lynch’s movie in a second language is no ordinary feat.
Grammar classes with Student A
Student B, like the image shows, was able to write a flawless informal email expressing concern. He structured the mail in a well-mannered order: greeting, introduction, the body of the letter, and closing. Student B was able to give a fair written narrative of an episode from Oswald the octopus – the animated series.
Student B's progress
Where did I face problems?
Speaking and listening tasks. I can chat with them all day, send them all types of cartoons, songs, and movie clips I want to help them improve their listening and responding skills, but that’s not the same as listening to a conversation and responding to it. Pronunciation, intonation, assimilation, liaison, and elision are all the things I couldn’t teach. It was also difficult to explain some things which would’ve been easier to explain non-verbally.
I enjoyed teaching this way. I originally planned to do this for 15 days but the students’ interest in learning and their progress motivated me to continue the classes for 3 months. The students weren’t bored. They had fun and their language skills improved a lot. I think that’s what matters. To me, that’s a huge success.
What do you think about this method? Let me know in the comments.
