Language learning and social media
Facebook and target language learning
The advances in technology enabled Web 2.0 tools to replace Web 1.0 tools, and the superiority of Web 2.0 tools is in their faster and more stable internet connection (dsl, fiber optics, cables); websites are using more advanced technology such as advanced coding and XHTMl , Ajax, ‘Ruby on the Rails’ and similar; with the most important innovation being that online users can communicate to each other, exchange opinions and knowledge about various topics which was impossible with previous Web 1.0 tools(http://call4teachers.blogspot.co.nz/2009/09/what-is-web20-how-are-web20.html). This “many to many” online collaboration using platforms for sharing ideas further enabled creation of collaborative learning spaces such as “wiki”, “blog”, “discussion forums” which all use reading and writing as ways of communicating between participants. The creation of Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Twitter, Ning, and Myspace, as well as the emergence of very popular professional networking website such as LinkedIn, and video sharing sites such as YouTube and vimeo all immensely contributed towards very rich collaborative and interactive socializing and learning environments we have today (http://call4teachers.blogspot.co.nz/2009/09/what-is-web20-how-are-web20.html).
But this is by no means an end to technological innovations; if fact, one of the latest technological discoveries is mentioned by MR Steve Kaufmann, a polyglot who says that the newest translation technology via Skype enables people to speak in different languages simultaneously to each other “and the conversation is automatically translated for each person to hear in his or her own language” (https://medium.com/the-linguist-on-language/is-automatic-translation-technology-replacing-language-learning-dd30d4d24950#.6uk123n1z). According to MR Kaufmann, this and similar types of technological innovations will only inspire people more to learn foreign languages, rather than discourage them, despite the fact that language learning is far more than simply being able to literally translate a speech or a text. According to MR Kaufmann language learning is also very much “about connecting with a different language group, getting an insight into how these people think and getting exposure to their history and culture” ( https://medium.com/the-linguist-on-language/is-automatic-translation-technology-replacing-language-learning-dd30d4d24950#.7zve9n7ce).
Baring that in mind, in my belief it is very interesting and thought provoking to ask this question: How much can Web 2.0 technology and other computer technology tools in general do in order to maximize target language learning of people who decide to study a foreign language by using these modern technologies?
My firm belief is that Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook in particular can help learners acquire the target language pragmatic knowledge as well as understanding of its history and culture through learners engaging in synchronous and asynchronous written communication with each other and in particular, with native speakers, since Facebook provides opportunities for such encounters to occur. The collaborative learning project also has to be so carefully designed and continuously facilitated by educators in order to allow for these specific learning outcomes to be achieved by learning participants in the particular Facebook setting.
According to the author Steven L. Thorne & Ingrid Fischer (2012), Facebook can help learners acquire target language knowledge by enabling them to interact with each other while working on a school project for example; by enabling students to work on that project internationally, with learners from different countries where they communicate in target language and so develop their mutual relationships which often works to the satisfaction of learners’ psychological, informational and educational needs (p. 3).
According to other authors, Geraldine Blattner & Lara Lomicka (2012), Facebook can also be very beneficial for 2L learning in other various ways: a) students can communicate with their peers and teachers in a more informal, personal manner which enhances learners’ motivation for learning and interest in the collaborative task, b) students have to be active participants in communicative exchanges, therefore Facebook promotes learner autonomy by learners being more in charge of their own learning; c) effective collaborative learning on Facebook demands from the teacher to constantly facilitate and guide the collaborative construction of knowledge of a group of learning participants, d) Facebook allows one-to-one and one-to-many learners’ written exchanges, e) Facebook allows learners to send each other videos as an attachment to their messages, f) Facebook allows learners to get to know each other better and learn about each other’s hobbies and interests through public “wall postings” of learners’ text, pictures and videos, g) Facebook enables learners flexibility of writing informally, more casually as well as formally, academically and linking them together, as per group task requirements, h) Facebook enables for target language authentic, real-life communication and interaction to take place in a group, which greatly facilitates 2L acquisition ( Geraldine Blattner & Lara Lomicka (2012). Facebook-ing and the Social Generation: A New Era of Language Learning).
Also, Facebook enables teachers to design very creative and engaging group learning tasks and projects for students to work on, share information, work extensively with each other outside of the class time and develop sound, constructive relationships in that learning process. According to this article, it is also vital for the teacher to continuously but discretely monitor student interaction, especially in regards to disclosure of personal information publicly which so many students way too often do. Therefore it is absolutely vital for the teacher to keep an eye — continuously — on what individual students are “revealing” to their classmates (and wider!) and which they should not; and teachers should obviously warn and caution those learners to keep their private topics — private and outside of social media reach; and also remind students of broader public consequences this can cause — despite all security and privacy measures that Facebook does have in order to secure and protect people’s privacy.
But despite this, Facebook is a phenomenal collaborative learning tool which is why teachers also have a big responsibility to do everything possible to enhance and promote learners’ social presence there, so that all participants in the Facebook learning project (teacher included) develop and nurture a good sense of belonging to a particular community where individual and group support, encouragement and respect for all dominates that collaborative learning climate. According to this article, Facebook has a massive potential to foster such relationships but it is the teacher’s vital role in ensuring that such actualization really occurs in this particular learning setting.
Games and target language learning
In respect to gaming and target language learning, games are also considered to be powerful learning environments where students are both learning the foreign language, communicate with each other and experience fun and pleasure which the competitive gaming environment provides in abundance. According to authors, Steven L. Thorne & Ingrid Fischer (2012) “games are designed to provide developmentally productive processes that bring together pleasure and learning through a focus on difficult and engaging goal-directed activity” (p. 19). Steven L. Thorne & Ingrid Fischer (2012) basically state that games can greatly contribute to foreign language learning because they provide virtual environments for “natural and unscripted interaction” between gaming participants; “reciprocal alterations”, “explicit self- and other-correction at the level of linguistic form, extensive repair sequences, development of a positive affective bond”, and sustained “motivation by both parties for learning the other’s language” (p. 22). Further benefits of games for language learning, according to the present Steven L. Thorne & Ingrid Fischer (2012) article and many other similar articles, include participants’ “frequent opportunities for engagement in multiple languages” with players who speak these languages which then results in participants’ mutual “naturalistic acquisition of a second or third language”; as well as considerable improvement in the player’s target language fluency, vocabulary knowledge; improvement in primary students’ motivation for target English learning; reduced 2L anxiety and last but not least, improvement in casual, informal target language proficiency (p. 25,26,27).
Authors, Steven L. Thorne & Ingrid Fischer (2012) conclude their article about games and 2L learning by saying that “interactive and socially situated engagement, whether in face-to-face settings or Internet-mediated environments, constitute the essence of human communication” (p. 49). I would like to add to that and conclude that virtual environments of games where players / 2L learners compete and communicate with each other as well as with non-playing characters within the game, really can engage, absorb and immerse players into playing and spontaneously communicating in 2L, which then results in authentic language learning environment that greatly facilitates target language acquisition. Above all, in my opinion, games have a massive potential to cognitively engage learners in 2L learning process by intrinsically motivating them to pursue towards winning the game, gain rewards and establish friendships with fellow players from all over the world. However, how to maximize that 2L learning potential of games in educational settings is something that, in my opinion and based on my readings, still requires plenty of discovering by linguists and educational researchers in the field in particular.
Resources:
Geraldine Blattner & Lara Lomicka (2012). Facebook-ing and the Social Generation: A New Era of Language Learning
Steven L. Thorne & Ingrid Fischer (2012). Online gaming as sociable media
http://call4teachers.blogspot.co.nz/2009/09/what-is-web20-how-are-web20.html
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