Innovation in Language Learning

With new generations of students relying on online information and virtual communications for their interaction, it is not surprising that in the last years researchers have turned to Social Network Sites (SNSs) as new potential tools for L2 learning, advocating that their usage should be incorporated into class-related activities in higher education “to capture these students’ imagination and fit their socializing habits” (McBride 2009: 38, Blattner and Fiori 2009).

However, in contrast with previous studies that have investigated different ways to exploit SNSs mainly within intermediate-advanced second language class to either foster communicative competence or manage class activities (Prichard 2013, Hitosugi 2011), the present paper suggests an alternative use of one of them (Facebook) for beginners with no prior knowledge of the L2 (Japanese) at the University of Milan.

Given that classes where the L2 has a different writing system from students’ L1 need to invest a lot of time to introduce and practice the script, less space is dedicated to activities that digital natives would need most to become proficient in a multicultural, hyper-connected society.

This project, which run for ten weeks from October to December 2013, aimed at helping students familiarize and exercise with a different script while being exposed to authentic language through Japanese websites. About a hundred students were offered to take part -  on a voluntary basis –  to a closed FB group and participate to language activities delivered through FB, a tools they are already very familiar with.

The project explored: 1) students’ perceptions and attitudes towards the use of FB for Japanese language learning; 2) the potential benefits of FB in terms of language learning.

Data were collected through: questionnaires (pre and post project), language tasks posted on FB on a weekly basis and three language tests.

Results show that students who participated to the FB project did not only provide very positive feedbacks but also performed better in the language test. 

Data, assessed through statistical analysis, offer insights to better grasp the potentials that SNSs may play in developing participation, motivation, language and cultural learning awareness even at beginner levels and in speeding up their learning process.