Social Networking for Language Education

by Lamy, Marie-Noëlle; Zourou, Katerina

• ISBN13: 9781137023360
• ISBN10: 1137023368
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-10-18
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Social media are applications that have a networking dimension at the heart of their use. They attract language learners, teachers and providers for different reasons, although they are a controversial issue in language education as we lack evidence whether and how they promote language learning. This book studies the impact of networking with the social media on language learning, through a collection of chapters offering theoretical perspectives and empirical studies of learner experiences in a wide range of networking settings, illustrating through a variety of teaching as well as research methodologies. Through focusing on communities and socialization, together the editors and contributors help to identify priority issues (such as identity and community-building) that need attention if today's social media culture is to work to the benefit of language learners.

Author Biography

FRED DERVIN is Research Professor at the University of Turku, Finland. He is also Associate Professor at the University of Montreal, Canada. His research interests include intercultural competences in academic mobility, language learning and teaching; digital technologies of the self; the use of lingua francas and their impact on identification; anthropology and intercultural education; research methods for working on identity. He is the author and co-editor of many publications. His latest publication is entitled Analysing the consequences of international academic mobility(Cambridge Scholars, 2011).

MARIE-NOELLE LAMY is Professor of Distance Language Learning at the Open University, UK. She has 15 years of experience in designing and implementing languages courses for online study, involving extensive use of e-tutorials, text-based as well as voice-based. Marie-Noelle has researched extensively in the field of computer-mediated communication for language learning, with a particular interest in real-time group conversations in multimodal settings. Her current main interests are investigating methodologies for the description of online learning conversations, and researching co-construction of group cultures by language learners in online and social networking environments. her publications include Online Communication in Language Learning and Teaching(RPAL series, Palgrave 2007).

KATERINA ZOUROU is a post-doctoral researcher in the field of computer supported collaborative language learning at the University of Luxembourg. Her research interests involve the role of computer tools in foreign language education as well as telecollaborative practices online. Working in multicultural teams in France, Germany, Belgium, Austria and Greece, she currently provides consultation on educational issues to the European Commission in Brussels, and also coordinates the European Commission funded network 'language learning and social media: 6 key dialogues'.

Table of Contents

Introduction
PART I: THE WIDER ECOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING WITH SNSS
1. An Ecological Analysis of Social Networking Site-Mediated Identity Development; Jonathon Reinhardt And Hsin-I Chen
2. Architecture Students' Appropriation of Avatars – Relationships Between Avatar Identity and L2 Verbal Participation and Interaction; Ciara Wigham and Thierry Chanier
3. Online Reading Groups and Network Dynamics; Chris Lima and Marie-Noëlle Lamy
PART II: PEDAGOGIES AND PRACTITIONERS
4. Bridging Design and Language Interaction and Reuse in Livemocha's Culture Space; Katerina Zourou, Mathieu Loiseau
5. Profiles in Online Communities; Richard Harrison
6. It's Not Just the Tool; Carolin Fuchs and Bill Snyder
PART III: LEARNING BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES
7. A Study of the Use of Social Network Sites for Language Learning by University ESL Students; Liu, M., Evans, M., Horwitz, E. K., Lee, S., Mccrory, M., Park, J.-B., and Parrish, C.
8. On-Line and Off-Site; Meei-Ling Liaw And Kathryn English
9. Formative Assessment within Social Network Sites for Language Learning; Paul Gruba and Cameron Clark
PART IV
10. Social Media-Based Language Learning; Marie-Noëlle Lamy and François Mangenot
References