Mobile, L2 vocabulary learning, and fighting illiteracy: A case study of Iranian semi-illiterates beyond transition level

As mobile learning simultaneously employs both handheld computers and mobile telephones and other devices that draw on the same set of functionalities, it throws open the door for swift connection between learners and teachers. This study examined and articulated the impact of the application of mobile devices for teaching English vocabulary items to 123 Iranian semi-illiterates (70 female, and 53 male learners, aging 35-55) who passed the transition course, namely, the fifth grade in Iran's literacy movement organization centers of five counties around Isfahan. It was intended to see if the way of presenting materials and guidelines (formal vs. informal) through cell-phone would have any significant connection with their performance. To those ends, after five weeks learning of 36 new English vocabulary items in non-formal mode of delivery, they participated in a testing phase comprised of three sub-tests. The results showed that the succinct nature of today's short message service (SMS) texts allows for a more successful application of the informal style of language in the realm of teaching English to semi-illiterate citizens. It was also found that annotated materials led into the outperformance of the semi-illiterates.