25.4901, Review: Applied Linguistics: Lamy, Zourou (2013)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-25-4901. Thu Dec 04 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.4901, Review: Applied Linguistics: Lamy, Zourou (2013)

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Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:38:03
From: Ferit Kilickaya [ferit.kilickaya at gmail.com]
Subject: Social Networking for Language Education

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/24/24-4134.html

EDITOR: Marie-Noëlle  Lamy
EDITOR: Katerina  Zourou
TITLE: Social Networking for Language Education
SERIES TITLE: New Language Learning and Teaching Environments
PUBLISHER: Palgrave Macmillan
YEAR: 2013

REVIEWER: Ferit Kilickaya, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University

Review's Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

Edited by Marie-Noёlle Lamy and Katerina Zourou, the volume aims to explore
whether and how social networking promotes language learning. Through various
chapters that focus on not only theoretical insights but also empirical data
obtained from a variety of methodological approaches, the book touches upon
issues such as the relationship between social networking, language learning
and teaching, and how socialization in social media contributes to language
education. The volume is composed of four parts, entitled ‘The Wider Ecology
of Language Learning with SNS’, ‘Pedagogies and Practitioners’, ‘Learning
Benefits and Challenges’, and ‘Overview’; it contains 10 chapters in total.

In Part I, ‘The wider ecology of language learning with SNS’, Chapter 1, by
Jonathon Reinhardt and Hsin-I Chen, is entitled ‘An ecological analysis of
social networking site-mediated identity development’ and investigates  the 
social networking site (SNS) practices in Facebook and RenRen of a Chinese
student doing her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics in the USA. Through an
ecological approach and a qualitative perspective, how this participant
invested in a new identity was analyzed. The results of the study indicated
that the participant used Facebook and RenRen to make new friends and as a
means to socialize with other students to create her own identity as a Ph.D.
student. As for the socialization process, the participant developed and
presented her intercultural and multilayered identities (human, friend,
girlfriend, student, teacher, and cultural and community participant). 

In Chapter 2, entitled ‘Architecture students’ appropriation and avatars-
-relationships between avatar identity and L2 verbal participation and
interaction’, the authors, Ciara R. Wigham and Thierry Chanier, analyze the
verbal interactions in SecondLife and VoiceForum of architecture students
learning in L2. This chapter, like the previous one, focuses on identity
construction in addition to the contribution of avatar appearance and
nonverbal means of communication. The participants included eight female and
nine male students aged 21 to 25 years old. The data were collected from group
reflective sessions, recorded screen and audio output, and pre- and
post-course questionnaires, as well as text-chat logs saved from reflective
sessions. The results indicated that the participants attributed great
importance to the use of avatars for L2 communication and that avatar
appearance changed the way they addressed each other as well as their
interaction in L2, suggesting that when the participants do not rely on their
first world identity, their verbal interaction increases.  

Chapter 3, ‘Online reading groups and network dynamics’ by Chris Lima and
Marie- Noёlle Lamy, responds to how online reading groups (ORG) relate to
historical reading groups, the role of online media in this relation, the
online networking features of the ORG and how these features affect English
Language Teaching (ELT) teachers’ professional development. One hundred
twenty-six members of the ORG site participated in the study, and the data
collection instruments included the documentation stored on the website,
online survey, and the short pieces of writing provided by some of the
participants on their participation in the ORG. The results revealed that the
traditional practices of reading groups, such as sharing ideas and reading
materials, were well suited to online media and that some members extended
their online activities to offline activities and vice versa. The results also
indicated that SNS such as Facebook does not seem to serve ELT teachers for
professional development better than traditional websites such as forums. 

In Part II, under the theme of ‘‘Pedagogies and Practitioners”, Chapter 4,
‘Bridging design and language interaction and reuse in Livemocha’s culture
section’, is engaged with Web 2.0 language learning communities, particularly
Livemocha, focusing on the section in which users can see other members’
cultural photos and/or share their own photos, in order to explore places
around the world. The authors, Katerina Zourou and Mathieu Loiseau, examine
whether different designs of Livemocha’s culture section affect language
interaction and try to specify technological and pedagogical designs that will
lead to an active social networking site. To this end, 105 culture threads in
the culture section were randomly selected, and only the data that were open
to public were subject to analysis. Following the data analyses, several
design suggestions were made regarding social learning and feedback, one of
which proposed including feedback loops in the design to sustain new users’
activities. 

In Chapter 5, ‘Profiles in social networking sites for language learning-
Livemocha revisited’, Richard Harrison aims to determine the role of user
profile in SNS, focusing on how it affects the interactions between learners
and peer experts. In this regard, he revisits a previous study conducted by
Harrison and Thomas (2009) that discussed how user profiles and identities
affected language learning and points out that in Livemocha, because of  the
lack of users that could help others, the users were in search of ‘experts’ to
help them. The participants of the study included seven students in
postgraduate applied linguistics, which deals with the use of technology in
language teaching and learning. The study benefited from an
enthomethodological approach and focused on how users interacted in
Livemoacha. The data were collected from classroom observations, discussions,
and presentations. The results showed that user profiles were at the very
heart of interactions as they reinforced initial relationships that fostered
learning. 

Chapter 6, ‘It’s not just the tool: Pedagogy for promoting collaboration and
community in social networking in CMC’, brings a different perspective to the
use of technological tools in collaboration. The authors, Carolin Fuchs and
Bill Synder, use the SNS Google Wave in their study, whose participants
include pre-service language teachers in the USA and in Taiwan; they propose
that how learners use the tool beyond pedagogical tasks matters more than
which tool they use. Based on action research, the study focused on the
participants’ collaborative exchanges, and the data were collected from the
questionnaire where the participants were asked to reflect on the tools they
used and on their exchanges. According to the results obtained, the
participants highly valued Google Wave as it provided them with immediate
communication and the opportunity to discuss projects; however, the results
revealed limited evidence of social networking, leading to the conclusion that
including a SN tool into the curriculum or a course did not ensure social
networking. 

Part III, under the theme of ‘Learning Benefits and Challenges’, opens with
Chapter 7, ‘A study of the use of social network sites for language learning
by university ESL students’,  which focuses on examining the online
communities Busuu, Livemocha, and English Café. The authors, Min Liu, Matthew
K. Evans, Elianie Horwitz, Sunjung Lee, Monica McCrory, Jeong-Bin Park and
Claire Meadows Parrish, investigate how university ESL students use these SNS
for language learning and their perceptions regarding their experiences. The
participants included twenty-one ESL university students from 11 countries
that attended an Intensive English program in a southwestern University. The
data were collected from the three ESL courses in which the participants used
the aforementioned sites over six weeks to perform structured learning
activities in class as well as outside. The findings demonstrated that all
three sites allowed the participants to communicate with others, to make
friends, and to collaborate with other users. However, the participants said
that the main aim of using these sites was to practice language skills, rather
than only socialize. 

In Chapter 8, ‘Online and offsite: Student-driven development of the
Taiwan-France telecollaborative project beyond these walls’, the authors,
Meei-Ling Liaw and Kathryn English, examine how groups of students in two
different countries construct meaning, present themselves, and develop their
relationships with each other. The participants included forty-eight English
majors in Taiwan and eighteen students of engineering or management in France.
These two groups of students aimed to develop their intercultural
communication skills in addition to learning through text-, audio-, and
video-based exchanges. The data collected included the texts published by both
groups on the official website of the project and the Facebook site created by
the students. The results of the study revealed distinctive differences in the
two sites, the official website, and the Facebook site, regarding the
participants’ attitudes. On the official website, the interaction was mostly
unidirectional since the participants only posted the tasks assigned by the
instructor and focused on the assignments. However, on the Facebook site,
initiated by the students, the exchanges were informal and more interactive. 

Chapter 9, ‘Formative assessment within social network sites for language
learning’, moves the discussion to how formative assessment is conducted on
SNS. The authors, Paul Gruba and Cameron Clark, reflect on their own
experiences as learners in Busuu, Livemocha, and Babbel and discuss how they
go through three areas “placement”, “progress”, and “interaction”. The
participants included the authors as beginner learners of Spanish. The results
indicated that the participants considered peer assessment unsatisfactory and
unrewarding, and the assessments on these sites were rather short and were
provided in a model answer. Moreover, the responses provided as feedback by
other users lacked consistency.

In Part IV, under ‘Overview’, Chapter 10, ‘Social media-based language
learning: Insights from research and practice’, reviews all the previous
contributions of the book in terms of research (types of research, themes
explored, and data collection issues) and design and pedagogy (mediation,
types of networking and community building, forms of interaction, genres,
formal and informal learning). The authors, Marie-Noёlle Lamy and François
Mangenot, reconsider all the contributions in the aforementioned perspectives
and suggest different ways to make use of social networks, such as class-based
exploitation of informal practices from the social web, small-group
collaborative projects, and the introduction of learners to sites that include
verbal productions and genres as models. 

EVALUATION

This collection is a useful textbook for postgraduate courses in
foreign/second language learning as well as researchers in the field of
language teaching and learning willing to analyze learner exchanges as well as
learning experiences on online platforms, SNS. 

The major strength of this book lies in the empirical investigations into
learner experiences on SNS. We have a variety of books recently published on
the use of technology in language learning and teaching (just to name a few,
Thomas, 2009; Stockwell, 2012; Thomas, Reinders, & Warschauer, 2012; and very
recently, Toetenela, 2014). This book builds on and extends the knowledge
collected through these books and articles through data-based investigations
using a variety of methods. 

Each chapter in the book provides an effective overview of the issue being
investigated with summaries of the points in key readings; this is followed by
the study described in detailed. The studies discussed in each chapter are
either researcher manipulated or naturally occurring. Moreover, the issues
discussed include a variety of disciplinary resources such as sociology and
educational technology, following qualitative and quantitative research
methodologies.  

Another strength of the book is the fact that the studies presented use a
variety of research methodologies. For example, Chapter 9, entitled
‘‘Formative assessment within social network sites for language learning’,
benefits from an autoethnographic survey of the researchers’ own experiences
on some of the SNS, which will give some researchers the courage to conduct
studies using this approach as most have difficulty accessing subjects. In
this regard, the book also provides ‘food for thought’ for those interested in
the application of a variety of research methodologies in their current and/or
future studies on the use of technology in language learning and teaching. 

Regarding improvements for the future editions of the book, I suggest that the
effect of SNS on learner motivation be addressed. The editors, in the
introduction part, explained that they did not receive any contributions,
although the call for chapters also asked potential contributors to address
this issue. Another suggestion is the inclusion of a glossary at the end of
the book, including the terms that are specialized or newly-introduced. 

Overall, this collection is an invaluable source of empirical studies for
researchers, teachers, and graduate students interested in using social
networking tools in language learning and teaching. Thus, the book will be of
utmost value for those in search not only of studies that will inform them
about recent literature but also of empirical investigations that can be used
as a model for future studies.  

REFERENCES

Stockwell, G. (Ed.). (2012). Computer assisted language learning: Diversity in
research and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 
Thomas, M. (Ed.). (2009). Handbook of research on Web 2.0 and second language
learning. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. 

Thomas, M., Reinders, H., & Warschauer, M. (Eds.). (2012). Contemporary
computer assisted language learning. New York, NY: Continuum. 

Toetenela, L. (2014). Social networking: A collaborative open educational
resource. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(2), 149-162.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Ferit Kılıçkaya is currently working as an associate professor at the
department of English language teaching at Mehmet Akif Ersoy University,
Burdur, Turkey. His main area of interest includes computer-assisted language
learning and testing, language teacher education, and language teaching
methodology. He has published several book chapters, articles, and reviews in
journals such as British Journal of Educational Technology, Educational
Technology & Society, Teaching English with Technology, and Educational
Studies.








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