چكيده لاتين :
With the swift growth of technology and the vast number of applications born into existence
by creative minds, the cell-phone is no longer just a device used for communication in the
conventional sense of the past. This emphasizes the need for researchers to catch up with the
task of specifying suitable means through which the learner can employ this new wireless
technology. This study aimed at uncovering the extent to which individual and collaborative
letter writing practice via text messages (SMS) affects student performance. On this note, 60
intermediate university students who completed the second stage of a letter writing test
(Hulteinus, 2010) were divided into two groups, modern (G1) and traditional (G2)
respectively, to learn 30 new letter writing features in 10 sessions, three per session. The first
set of learners, divided into three groups, collaboratively practiced the new material using
cell-phones in a non-classroom environment, while the learners in the second group practiced
the same content in the classroom setting in dyads using paper and pencil. Finally, the
students took part in a test of letter writing with three subtests, the data of which was
analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that the learners
who practiced the learning content using cell-phones outperformed the other. Also, regarding
student attitudes toward using cell-phones in the compass of language learning, findings
reflected positive feelings towards the application of technology as a learning tool.
