New Literacies and language learning

42 thoughts on “Facebook! Where I Get My New ID”

1. For the first question, I think social networks may be helpful for language learning to some extent. As stated in the text, it can stimulate students’ interest in L2 learning and provides students with more opportunity to have access to friends of the same interests. But the way to carry it out should be considered, simply posting and making comments are not enough.
   When I was at my primary school, I tried to find a pen pal through Email(which is popular at my young age and my teacher asked us to do so) but I didn’t know whom to send, so I gave up. After that, I only attended lectures and classes online for language learning.
   To be honest, I don’t think I will use it in my course. It will be hard to control students to focus on English learning when they are holding their phones.

   • Hi Xiaohan, thanks for sharing your experience with us. I think with global social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, it would be much easier to find a modern-day ‘pen pal.’ And the best part is, you can find people who share a common interest with you to write to or comment to. Aleksandar from the case study is a university student, so maybe this social networking approach has more potential for advanced learners? What do you think?

   • Sure, there may be more opportunities to use social networks in language learning and teaching.

2. I think social networking sites could help reduce learning stress or create multiple identities while these affordances base on the condition that students already have a connection with some foreigners. Otherwise, they don’t find the need to use Facebook or Instagram, and it could also be frustrating if there is no like or comment under their posts.

   The effectiveness of learning English in social media to some extent depends on the audiences and their feedback. Now social media is flooded with so much information that It is difficult for English learners to produce social content appealing enough for other users. In addition, the posts on social media tend to be short, so readers might think it unnecessary to point out language errors or give any advice related to language learning.

   I am willing to give it a try if I work in an international school. However, I don’t think it is possible for English teaching in ordinary schools where students lack of the access to these social media.

   • Thank you, Connie for your insightful reply! I agree with you that the target audience’s feedback will affect users’ attitudes towards social media. Just like what you have mentioned above, if there are no likes and comments below the post, the users may lose their interest in posting and digital writing.

     If you use social media in the teaching process, how will you deal with it? Can you share more detailedly?

3. Using social networking sites helps build an English identity and makes using English comfortably. Everyone can hide their true identity on the social platform and show a new one through different languages. The interaction between users is the motivation for more language production. During this process, language learner can practice their language when delivering ideas. The English identity is established by expressing opinions and sharing everyday life in English.

   I once used a social application to practice my English. I added some native speakers as friends and chatted with them. But it is not helpful for me because they might ignore my chatting for a long time, and I lost interest in it. But if you have a steady learning partner, I believe it is really helpful.

   In future teaching, I want to try this in my class. I believe students will be interested in this innovative form to learn. For example, peer editing or experience sharing can be conducted online on social networking sites, and everyone can learn something from others.

   • Liz, thanks for sharing your experience with us. I totally agree with the statement that the interactions between users can be the motivation of certain languages because language is just a tool for communication. And what really matters is the content conveyed by language users.

     And I also had similar experience with you. When I downloaded Instagram, I thought I would find a bunch of like-minded friends from different countries. But, the fact was that it was hard to get new friends on social media platforms because of jet lag, cultural differences, and other unknown things.

     It’s good to hear that you intend to use digital literacy in your future teaching; however, I guess social media usage in class is hard to apply. Maybe, your brilliant idea can be achieved out of class.

4. 1. I definitely believe that using English on social network sites can help students build an English user identity, because the social network can offer students an authentic context of communication, in which they can express freely and make full use of what they have learnt. But I’m not sure all students would feel comfortable using English this way, especially the students whose English is not that good. Maybe they will feel challenged.

   2. To be honest, I’ve never used social media to learn English because it seems I didn’t have the awareness to use it as a tool for English learning. And my teachers wouldn’t use such method to teach us too.

   3. I think I would like to give it a try. Social network has become a very important part of everyone’s life, especially young people. If my course contains using social network sites, I think the students would be more interested because it is related to their real life. Besides, they can learn more authentic and useful expression by using social network sites.

   • Hi Ada, thanks for your excellent reply. I completely agree with you that using English on social media won’t be an easy thing for everyone if it is optional. However, I quite doubt whether we can make full use of what we have learned through social media because generally, the English we learned from classes is somehow different from what we use in daily life.

     Actually, I view social media as a complementary tool, through which I can gain something that I cannot get access to in classes.

5. 1. Yes, I agree with this statement. Using English to write on social media has many advantages to help students learning and using English. Students can use English without pressure, being anyone and feel free to comment or post anything they want. However, online social platforms may not be benefit to some students who are not so good at English. Furthermore, language or cultural barriers are the main reason of why L2 students don’t want to use English to write on social networking sites, they may find it difficult to understand the idioms and abbreviation.
   2. Actually, I never used social media as a platform to learn English for 2 reasons: I don’t like to make friends online and I don’t even notice that social media are language practicing platforms.
   3. As an English teacher, I think it would be fun to create a classroom social networking site. Students’ real-life experiences and students’ interested topics can be the topics of my classroom’s social network groups. It will motivate my students, encourage them to become active English users and learners in class and after class.

   • Amy, thank you so much to tell us your thoughts! You really thought critically about these questions. I agree with you that social networking sites are beneficial for some of the students, but not all. So it depends.

     As for your reply to question 2, I believe you may have a little feeling that social media may be regarded as a platform for English learning after reading our blog, right? From my point of view, we can use WeChat to practice spoken English with our friends. This can be regarded as a way to learn English using social media. Hhh, do you agree with my idea?

6. 1. Yes, I believe it is more comfortable for learners to use English in social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, for their cultural diversity and easy access to comprehension and participation. In a globally used social media, users are all come from different cultural backgrounds, and they can share information together either with their local identities or with multilingual and global identities constructed by themselves, so the cultural barrier is no longer hindrance to communication. Besides, information posted on social media is often illustrated by pictures, videos, and emojis, so it is easier to understand the content especially for less advanced English learners.
   2. I have used social media to learn English, particularly when I want to learn some English slang and culture. Because social media can provide learners with authentic communications, in which learners can observe the language use in a real context.
   3. As a teacher, maybe I won’t recommend students to use social media to facilitate their writing, because most of the language used in social media is not formal, like using abbreviations and slang, and some of the language used is grammatically incorrect. Furthermore, most language on social media consists of short and scattered sentences, for example, on the comment board, people normally comment with one or two short sentences with a lot of emojis. In that case, it may be difficult for students to learn writing structures and principles, such as coherence and cohesion.

   • Hi, Jaclyn. Thanks for your comment. You have elaborated your views on how language learners construct both their local and global identities. You can also make a link between multimodal items like pictures and emojis with language learners. That’s great!

     You mentioned that you used social media to learn English slangs and culture. How did you find these sources? Could you please share with me?

     I agree with you that there are many informal expressions or incorrect grammar in social networking sites. However, I think you may give it a try. You can try to get rid of the drawbacks of social networking sites for English writing, and make use of its merits. Like what Amy commented above, she mentioned that we can regard social networking sites as a platform for learners to use, so learners can have motivation to write in English online.

     Do you agree with me? You can share your thoughts with me.

   • Hi, Rose! Thanks for your comment. I agree with you that social networking can facilitate writing since it can enhance learners’ motivation. As for the platform I used to learn slang, it is just any social media, like Instagram, if you go through the comment board, you will find a lot of comments with various slang.

7. 1. Yes. I think social network sites are relatively casual platforms for language using, thus students are likely to feel comfortable with using English on them. Given that most students learn English in their own countries, they tend to consider themselves as English learners rather than users. Social network sites allow students to communicate and interact with other native or non-native English speakers, and thereby contribute to the establishment of the identity of English users.

   2. Yes, I had used Twitter as a platform to learn English reading. I think it is useful for learning vocabulary and some idiomatic expressions. I followed the Twitters of some celebrities, and the curiosity about their news and opinions made me motivated to read their Tweets. The expressions used on social media are quite different from those in textbooks, which makes learning English on social media a complementary way to classroom learning.

   3. As a middle school English teacher in mainland, I may not use social network site in writing lessons. On the one hand, middle school students’ writing ability is not sufficient for social media communication. This method is more suitable for university students. On the other hand, the mainstream social media on which English is the common language, such as Facebook and Twitter, are blocked in mainland, making them unavailable to students without VPN.

   • Hi Ellen, thanks for sharing. I also think this approach might be more beneficial for advanced learners. But I also see this approach’s potential for making it possible for the students to demonstrate different layers of themselves, which might be challenging to achieve in a traditional classroom. Language teachers can make use of these different layers in teaching and material designing. In the case of the Mainland, maybe QQ, Wechat, or Weibo is more accessible.

8. Yes, I think to some extent the social networking sites can help students become more comfortable using English and also construct their L2 identity. I think this works especially for some students who are not quite confident to use English offline in communication. Besides, some of the online community can attract students interest and motivate them in learning. However, some of the students may be addicted to social networking and probably cause some issues.

   Yes, I have used some news websites to learn some expression and practice reading in news articles. Besides, by watching some videos online, I practiced my listening. Through reading comments in English, I can learn some e-words. I think it is valid especially for reading and listening practicing.

   I think I probably will apply this approach to proficient language learners, because they can learn from others’ works and polish their own writing online. This could be more efficient than traditional writing lessons. For lower level learners, I will probably still apply traditional writing lessons to enhance their writing ability at first.

   • Hi Alex! Thanks for your thoughtful comment. It’s good to hear that you have gained a lot through websites in learning English. As you mentioned that social media was valid, especially for listening and reading, how about writing? Have you ever posted something online to show your opinions and attitudes? If you do, does this kind of experience facilitate you to construct your L2 identity? Could you please share more?

     Plus, I do agree that social media is not an ideal teaching tool for all English learners. Those who are proficient in English can really benefit from social media platforms.

   • Hi Sylvia! Thanks for the inspiring questions. To be honest, I have not practice writing in L2 quite often through websites except for writing emails to professors. I have posted some of my views about something online in L1. Since the net environment I grew up in is not an ideal one for practicing L2, I seldom use L2 to give comments online.However, I think if given the chance, students would be able to construct their L2 identity through websites by writing. Nanako who writes fan fictions online is one of the examples mentioned in this session.

9. 1. I believe that interaction on social media in English, including making their own posts and commenting on others’ posts, contributes to using English and developing an English-user identity. Social networking sites create a new and authentic context for English learners to practice and use their English. Learners feel less stress since the audience is far away from the other side of the Internet. And also others’ attention and feedback would bring about the motivation for English learning and using.
   2. I follow some English bloggers on Weibo and TikTok, whose posts and videos talk much about English culture and English usage. I would also leave some comments on their posts or videos to expect getting feedback or replies from them. I benefit a lot from this way and of course, I think it is valid.
   3. I would like to try using social networking sites in my language writing course given the benefits I have mentioned above, but there are lots of factors that should be taken into consideration. For example, what if students get attacked and feel depressed due to some negative feedback on the Internet, what if students are addicted to the Internet and lose the balance between studying and surfing on the Internet…

   • Hi Vicky, thanks for sharing. Based on the comments left by other readers here, I think many of them share your concern about the drawbacks of social networking sites. You might want to check out Chung’s comment below for different perspectives on this matter.

10. For the first question, whether a student will identify themselves as an English user and use English comfortably depends on the feedback given by other users of that platform. In an ideal scenario where we assume everyone to be nice and offer constructive and positive feedback, it is obvious that students will start to construct an English users identity for themselves. However, if cyber bullying or negative feedback is given, some learners may be demotivated to use English. Also, it is also worth investigating whether the construction of English user identity online can be spilled over to other spaces as the skills of using English in different occasions are different.

    Regarding the second question, I have never intentionally to use social networking sites to learn English. However, I can’t rule out any possibility that I have undergone passive learning when I use social networking sites. In this sense, I would suggest that social networking sites offer a valuable language rich environment to promote passive learning.

    As an English teacher, I will use social networking sites as a teaching activities in a writing lesson, especially in the post-writing stage. Social networking sites can be a decent platform for students to receive peer feedback of their writing. However, it is equally important to ensure all the discussion threads to be under strict control by the teachers. It is essential for teachers to scaffold the students in the class to ensure they know the ground rules of discussions. The website, depending on the age of the students, should restrict public access.

    • Well said there. Thanks for sharing. I think this Edublog assignment is also an excellent example of how CMC can facilitate L2 writing learning. This kind of experience is almost impossible to get in a traditional writing classroom.

11. 1. Yes. Social networking sites provide a relatively safe platform for users to access new, exciting ways to exchange ideas and find answers to questions, which enriches the learning experience. Students may not identify themselves as English users but more likely as the audience because social networking sites still could not serve as the mainstream teaching/learning setting.
    2. Yes. But I think it is valid in a shorter period. So much new information comes and goes on social media every day; we do have more knowledge encountering now and seldom can be remembered and used.
    3. Yes, it is a resource bank that provides a vast database. Proper guidance and selection should be given to students in the process.

    • Hi, Willa. It is good to receive your comments. You talked about your opinions towards our three questions, and I am curious about some of them.

      1.You mentioned that you used social media to learn English, but you didn’t elaborate it. Could you please tell me how did you do so? For example, what kind of social media did you use for English learning and what English skills did you learn from it?

      2.Could you please also elaborate how would you use social networking sites in your language writing courses?

    • Hi Rose,
      I follow some language learning accounts, and when valid words and expressions appear in their posts, I will screenshot when necessary, but many of them just show up at that moment, and I will forget most of them later.

      Some topics with highly educational purposes on social media that may not appear in textbooks can be adopted as meaningful writing resources and speaking exercises.

12. I think Social Networking Sites (SNS) is a platform to reduce students’ anxiety and stress in using English. In most of the cases, when students create or update their personal profile, SNS can find and recommend common-interest user groups for them. Students can relax more to exchange messages and add other users as friends, because they may focus on their “interest” more than the language.

    I have followed celebrities on Twitter and Instagram, and it is a good way for me to actually increase my vocabulary by their post. However, the social media language use, both speaking and writing, is relative informal. It doesn’t help my academic reading and essay writing that much.

    I agree students to use SNS for engaging and learning of the English language, but not in class. To a lager extend, SNS is an effective platform to improve students’ English language because it provides students more practical knowledge and interactions. They can communicate with a large number of people that we are not able to do on a local level. However, I concern about students’ spelling (Without spell-check on computer), writing speed and writing neatly for their public writing exam.

    • Hi, Ceci. Thank you for your comment.

      I agree with you that SNS can reduce students’ anxiety in using English and they can find friends who share the same interests with them. As a result, learners are more willing to use English to communicate with others.

      As for the concern about spelling of writing, I have never thought about it before. Thanks for giving me a new perspective. I think there does exist the spelling problem and I myself also encounter it sometimes. I rely too much on digital technology, so I have seldom written essays with pens. Sometimes when it is really necessary to write with pens and papers, I cannot remember how to spell those words, even though they are words that I often use.

      By the way, you mentioned that speaking and writing are relatively informal on social media, but you said they are not good for your academic reading and essay writing. Is anything you didn’t type right here?

      Furthermore, could you please share with us how would you use social networking sites out of class as an English teacher?

    • Hi Ceci! Thanks for your insightful comment. I share the same experience with you about social media. Indeed, we can pick up some slang and authentic expressions on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms, but it is just for fun, not for academic purposes.

      I am also concerned about students’ spelling as digital literacy flooded our lives. The associated input method is intelligent and convenient, but the downside is obvious as well. So, do you have any solution to improve this situation? Can you share with us?

    • Thanks for your reply, Rose and Sylvia^^

      Our required reading and essay are written in a formal way to elaborate complex ideas with academic words and phrases. However, most of the posts from SNS are informal writing for entertaining purposes. I don’t think it can improve English writing a lot.

      I think teacher can use SNS to interact with students out of class. We can create a WhatsApp group for the whole class, like some of the schools did in Hong Kong. It can encourage students to read and reply in English. One of my friends, as a secondary teacher, also create an account on bilibili to teach and elaborate the concepts for students. Her students gave a lot of positive feedbacks in discussion forum.

      As mentioned above, the SNS can provide students to engage in language learning. They can interact with other English users and access news or information. It definitely helps with their English learning. However, the process of handwriting can train students’ fine motor skills, concentration and eye-hand coordination. When we use those SNS in class, it may be important for us to make sure they can “write” neatly before “type” quickly.

13. 1. I believe that English is widely accepted as a lingua franca and is extensively used by students around the world on many western social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Therefore, students do seem comfortable using this lingua franca when conversing with other English and non-native English users. In the past two decades, L2 students have taken more proactive roles to learn and acquire some basic level of English via these CMC platforms compared to peers who depended solely on traditional school language settings for English immersion before the Internet was born and before the turn of the century. Since identity construction and genuineness rests in the hands of the students, they can opt to conceal who they truly are and what they look like in reality. So one advantageous affordance of these social networking sites is that students who pass off as being someone else can become comfortable with using English without having to worry about their language standard and self-esteem being mocked at by seasoned and native users. Besides, student users who are novel to the language can take the time to model after and copy their messages from responses seen in the posts they read, enabling them to learn English at their own pace and even on the go when commuting to and from school. In a way, belonging to and being a participating English user on these networking sites lends students a great deal of self-confidence, as communication via these channels are often asynchronous and thereby cuts down head-on criticism, negative feeback and corrections that would take place if the exchanges with interlocutors were face-to-face and immediate. English users in Asia may, in my opinion, be quite fond and eager of using these social platforms, for these can save them a great deal of face in case they found themselves in embarrassing situations. It is worth mentioning, however, that some social networking sites such as Facebook may not be readily accessible in countries such as China and Russia, so students from these countries may need to search for other social networking sites that can provide them with a similar English learning platform and audience.

    2. Personally, I have learnt a large number of English colloquial words and jargon through some YouTube channels and Facebook pages that I follow, so I would say that using social media as a platform to learn English is valid. As far as colloquial and jargon English words go, subscribing to YouTube channels such as Unspeakable and Shark have greatly boosted my understanding and acquisition of colloquial words and jargon used by my primary and secondary school students when they play online games such as Among Us, Roblox and Minecraft and describe their virtual victories and defeats. Otherwise, I might be at a loss and have a hard time keeping up a conversation with them. Professionally, I follow some Facebook pages and communities designed for teachers and related professionals to share their expertise, knowledge, ideas and case studies. By browsing through these pages from time to time, I get up-to-date information, trends and news about the usage of English in classroom settings.

    3. I would certainly like to try using age-appropriate blogs and English learning podcasts, TED talk videos and informative (NatGeo) as well entertaining (Titan Academy) short videos on YouTube to introduce writing topics so that students get a taster and it gets them brainstorming before they venture into their writing tasks. The only concerns I would have before using social media with my students are that I would have to first screen the blogs, podcasts and videos to make sure they are free from inappropriate contents. Then I would need to seek for the school’s approval and/or parents’ consent and, since this may be a time-consuming process, I might resort to not using social media at all in the end. What is more, feedback posted on social media is entirely out of my control, so as an English teacher – and unless the social networking site I deploy is securely managed and monitored by me, cyberbullying and foul language may find their way in the comments exchanged by the users. After all, I guess that secondary school and university students will likely be more accepting and flexible at coping with comments posted by users who may or may not observe and exercise multicultural sensitivity.

    • Hi Heidi, thank you for your detailed feedback. I think this blogging assignment is an excellent example of how digital writing can facilitate L2 writing teaching, especially commenting on each others’ opinions in English. Anyway, looking forward to your team’s post.

14. For the first question, I think it is helpful. Because in these kinds of networking sites, they use English as a communication tool, which means they focus more on the meaning than accuracy. Thus, students will feel more comfortable making mistakes.

    I once used Postcrossing, a network where I could collect postcards from different countries. I need to write self-introduction, emails, and postcards in English. It improves my willingness to write in English and gives me the chance to communicate authentic language material.

    Will I use social networking sites in my writing course depends on which kind of students I am teaching. If the students, their parents, and the school manager can accept this kind of course, I will have a try.

    • Hi there, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Postcrossing sure sounds like an interesting site and can be helpful in motivating L2 learners.

15. Thanks for sharing your ideas. I think it is desirable to encourage students to use English on globalized social media. It provides opportunities for ESL or EFL students to be exposed to authentic use of English in a highly interactional online space. Being able to communicate effectively in social media can also boost their confidence in identifying themselves as an English user as well as creating their diverse online identities. However, teachers may need to take care to make sure students don’t get carried away by some features or contents of addictive potential or get exposed to information or connected with people that may do harm to their development. Another problem may be their inability to discern what kind of language model they should follow so they may be misled into following some inauthentic/inappropriate language produced by inadequate English users. (Discriminative though it may sound, a realistic approach is perhaps to encourage students to interact more with native English users than non-native ones.)

    • That is ture. Without supervision and filtering some misguided information, students can absorb different incorrect expressions. And when it is rooted in learners’ memories, it is difficult for learners to use the exact one.

16. yeah, it’s a good way to use english on social networking sites which can provide rich opportunities for informal language learning. students can improve their spoken language by communicating in authentic contexts. But the problem is, you may lost your interest quickly if you can’t find likeminded people there.

    i’ve used Wechat to learn english, just to read some english articles. But it’s difficult to communicate with others in english on Wechat. and i will not encourage my students to use the sites. It’s not helpful in terms of improving their writing skills.

    • Thanks, Elaine! You have elaborated your attitudes towards social networking sites and deem that they can facilitate users’ spoken language. Does that mean spoken English in written form or direct speaking with foreigners? And I do agree that it is vital to find an online community where people here are like-minded to you.

      By the way, it seems that you completely negate the efficacy of digital writing in the teaching process and won’t encourage your students to try it. Is there any reason why you are pretty passive towards digital writing? Could you share more? Thank you a lot!

17. 1.I think social networking sites provide a safe environment for language learners to express themselves freely without worrying about making mistakes or teasing by others. They can even learn something new outside their classroom. So students can feel more confident and become more willing to use English in daily life. But personally, I won’t consider myself an English user just by using English at online social media because most of the time I just use them to express my sentiments, producing no meaningful outcome.
    2. Yes, I used to follow some famous people at instagram and try to learn some new lexicons and expressions from what they posted. But it didn’t work as expected since usually the contents were much less advanced and I also noticed massive abbreviations were used, which is annoying to figure out the meaning. And usually I paid more attention to the images and emojis. So I quit this way of learning English very soon.
    3.I probably will use this method, like asking students to write short diaries so that they can experience the authentic use of English. I just think supervision is necessary and teachers should make sure there is no abuse of online resources.

    • Hi, Joyce! Thanks for commenting. For your experience in English learning on Instagram, I want to shout” ME 2!” When I came to HK last year, I created my Instagram account and followed a bunch of celebrities I am interested in. I thought I could learn a lot since I am immersed in authentic contexts. However, that is not how the story goes. I was totally attracted by those stunning photos posted by those international stars. I barely learned anything from them. And then, I realized Instagram is just for entertainment if I posted nothing because, in this way, I am just an Instagram visitor, not a user. But, the fact is that we hardly have opportunities to have a conversation on Instagram because of jet lag, cultural differences, and other complex things.

    • Do you know how to use hashtags on Instagram? Hashtags will help you find people who share similar interests with you faster. For example, I am interested in all the parks in the world and watercolor paintings. These are the two hashtags I follow on Instagram, so whenever a person posts anything using these two hashtags, I will also see their post in my timeline. This way, I get to know people, and I also often comment on their posts or like their posts. As long as they are not super famous, they will sometimes reply to your comments. This is a great way, at least for me, to get some exposure to English every day.

18. Social networking sites provide a significantly effective and convenient platform for English learners to communicate with other people on a large global scale. English learners can easily break down the physical distance to share thoughts and express ideas with other international English users, which presents an interactive and functional identity of using English. From my experience, I used to post some thoughts in English on Quora and Reddit, these two platforms, through which I found that English is not just for an exam. Instead, it can be a gate for me to immerse in the bigger world. In this way, I would love to encourage my students to integrate English writing practice with social networking sites. I think it would be a stimulus for learners to present their global identity by networking with other people. In the end, language is just a tool that offers different identities and unites people together.

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