A Short-term Digital Ethnographic Study
Open Access DepositedThe Mobile English Language Learning Practices of Adult Transnational Learners
This dissertation examines how a group of adult transnational English learners (ELs) in the United States use mobile devices to support informal, everyday English language learning. Using a short-term digital ethnographic approach informed by social semiotic theory, the study investigates how participants describe mobile-assisted practices, make meaning through multimodal elements, and enact their identities as English learners in their daily lives. Data collection included a demographic survey and a series of walk-up interactions, during which participants demonstrated mobile learning strategies in real time. These sessions were video-recorded and analyzed using multimodal frame analysis and transcription to attend to intonation, object handling, haptics, spatial arrangement, and textual input.Findings indicate that participants used a variety of semiotic resources to support their learning, including translation apps, video content, and real-time text input. Their mobile practices often reflected routines and prior experiences with language use across digital platforms. These meaning-making activities suggest that informal mobile learning may intersect with, or diverge from, expectations shaped by institutional norms or platform designs. The study contributes to emerging discussions in multimodal literacy, mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), and identity as practice. It offers implications for ESOL instruction, digital tool design, and future participatory approaches to adult language education. By attending to the everyday practices of learners in familiar environments, this work supports a more nuanced understanding of literacy as social, mobile, and multimodal.
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