David Kyeu, Lecturer, African Studies department
This project addresses a central challenge in foreign language instruction: how to meaningfully integrate digital platforms into curricula in ways that support clearly defined learning outcomes rather than technology use for its own sake. Situated within interactionist and collaborative learning theories and guided by backward curriculum design, the project examines how structured peer interaction can enhance Swahili essay writing in U.S. university classrooms. Building on earlier dissertation research comparing face-to-face interaction and Facebook chat, this work extends the inquiry to WhatsApp, a widely used mobile platform that was not previously available to language educators.
The project developed a sequence of scaffolded, chat-based essay-writing tasks in which paired students engage in WhatsApp discussions outside class and then produce individual essays of increasing complexity. These tasks are designed to promote idea development, lexical growth, and grammatical accuracy through collaborative meaning-making. The approach is adaptable across proficiency levels and languages and allows flexibility in platform choice to accommodate learner preferences and accessibility needs. This model can be readily adopted by language instructors seeking to align digital interaction with writing objectives, support student collaboration, and leverage everyday communication tools for purposeful language learning.
