Using Smartphone to Facilitate English Communication and Willingness to Communicate in a Communicative Language Teaching Classroom

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of using a smartphone application in a Communicative Language Teaching context. Specifically, a web-based application called Let's Talk was designed to facilitate an Information Gap activity in an English language class. Participants were assigned to an experiment group using Let's Talk or a control group using textbooks to practice English conversation. Communication performance, including vocabulary, sentence structure and comprehension, was measured. Their Willingness to Communicate, including self-perceived Language Learning Anxiety and Communicative Competence, was also collected through questionnaires. Results showed that Let's Talk-facilitated Information Gap activities led to better performance in vocabulary and structure but not comprehension. Also, a lower level of state anxiety was reported when mobile devices were used. There was no significant difference in Willingness to Communicate and Communicative Competence between the two groups. Implications for the use of smartphones in Communicative Language Teaching are also discussed.